ISU Police use grants to build relationships with marginalized groups on campus

NORMAL (25News Now) – The Illinois State University Police Department is working to build a better relationship with the LGBTQ+ population and international students on campus.

The department received a $22,000 grant from the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services dedicated to building mutual respect between police officers and marginalized communities.

ISU Police Chief Aaron Woodruff said he viewed this scholarship as an opportunity to engage with the LGBTQ+ community.

“We had good relationships, but especially on a college campus, it’s challenging when the population changes every year,” Woodruff said.

ISUPD plans to partner with a Colorado nonprofit called Out To Protect to become accredited. Woodruff said his department will create new policies, implement certain practices and certify some officers as LGBTQ+ liaisons before the organization can apply for accreditation.

Woodruff said he hopes students will feel more comfortable asking for help and reporting crimes as his department improves responses to hate crimes and bias incidents.

“There is a history of distrust of law enforcement. I try to nurture this relationship to encourage her again [LGBTQ+ population] to come forward if there is a crime, if they have concerns, and so that we can be a trusted source for them,” Woodruff said.

He said his department is the first agency in Illinois with this accreditation.

ISU police completed a six-week hate crime investigation earlier this month that ended without a suspect.

The CEO of a Bloomington-Normal LGBTQ+ outreach organization, Prairie Pride Coalition, said the closure of the investigation could be frustrating for students on campus; However, it shows the positive working relationship the two groups already have.

“A grant like this reinforces that [ISU Police] While we are unable to solve all crimes against our community, we can always be assured that they will investigate them as fully as possible,” said Dave Bentlin.

Bentlin was one of at least two people who wrote a letter of support to the grants manager during the initial ISUPD application. The other was Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-Moline).

Sorensen said the funding ISUPD received through this grant may be at stake. He said he had written a bipartisan letter signed by 40 other members of Congress to ensure this type of funding would be preserved.

“One of my goals in Congress is to make sure we do the right thing for the benefit of the next generation, and that means making sure we have the resources our police need to work with every community,” Sorensen said.

“We need to build community trust, we need to build local police department trust, and this funding goes a long way toward achieving that.”

Chief Woodruff is also committed to a better relationship with international students. He believes her experiences with law enforcement in her home country have given U.S. police a bad reputation.

Woodruff plans to host a film series and panel discussion at a local theater to open the doors to a relationship.

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