West Cook News

The Board of trustees for the village of Broadview recently received updates from both its police and fire departments, including updates on emergency calls and training during the Village of Broadview's Regular Board Meeting.

Fire Chief Tracy Kenny spoke to the board, saying the village had experienced a house fire early in the month, resulting in a family becoming displaced. Kenny encouraged residents to offer them restaurant or other food-related gift cards, as the family could use some meal support. Overall, it was one of dozens of house fires in Cook County during December, Kenny said.

Police Chief Thomas Mills also reported to the board, saying the department had a 7.7% decrease in police calls in the month of December compared to the previous month. He also announced that the department has two new recruits going through the police academy, one coming from the department of corrections and the other a former school security officer.

He also said that in November, the city sent its officers for training on racial profiling, implicit bias and cultural competency.

"We chose those three subjects because we all live in a very diverse world now. And even though Broadview is a small community, it is very diverse and it's very important for us to provide professional services to our residents and our business owners and the people that we run across every day," Mills told the board. "It was very important for them to receive the training on racial profiling and that they may not realize they're doing it, and it's really just a matter of words." 

Mills thanked the city for the opportunity to receive the training, adding that staff members "all did very well."

Police officers also took part in mental health training given by Mayor Katrina Thompson to all city staff, adding on additional days for officers, Mills added.