Quality and Cost of Police Improvements

At the October 19 City Council meeting there was quite a bit of discussion of the quality and cost of our police department during the public comments portion of the meeting.  It began with a citizen questioning the need for two Deputy Chiefs in Crest Hill when Joliet manages a much larger police force with only one.  While the resident definitely presented himself poorly through his combative attitude, his point was a valid one that deserved a better response.  The following citizens who addressed Council spoke well of the quality of the police force.  Alderman Oberlin and Mayor Soliman used these examples to show that the police department is headed in the right direction.  However this is not the right way to determine if the right moves are being made to improve the police force.  Quality and cost must be looked at together.

Too often we look at public services and desire only the best and do not care what it costs because we each only pay a small share of the cost.  There is also the other side that looks only at costs regardless of quality because they do not want to spend another cent on taxes.  In our personal lives we do not act these ways, we find a balance between cost and quality.  We seek the best value.  Sure the BMW would be a better quality car and a used Datsun would mean spending a lot less, but most of us find something in between that will not bankrupt us but will get us where we are going reliably.  Why can our elected officials and citizens not have this view more often?

A good example of this is the promotion of two Deputy Chiefs.  City officials pointed out that these were not new employees, but two Lieutenants who were promoted and that their old positions were vacated.  Of course, they were given pay raises because they were promoted.  What was not addressed was why they needed to be promoted.  What do they do that they could not do as Lieutenants?  What special abilities and skills did they gain the day that they were promoted that they did not have the day before?  Are they actually worth a cent more than they were previously?  These two officers are better off with new titles and larger paychecks, but how are the citizens of Crest Hill any better off than if we had given them new duties without new titles and raises?

The Mayor and City Council owe the citizens an explanation of the costs and results they are aiming for as they improve the police department.  How much are we planning to spend each of the next 5 years with raises, promotions, and new hires?  This extra cost will translate into how many additional hours of patrol time?  How many additional school visits?  What our our goals for response times?  What are our goals as far as crime rate reductions and successful investigations?  What are the results if the Chief and his officers do not meet these standards if and when our Council takes the responsibility to set them?  Do we just keep giving raises and continuing to employ them regardless of quality or do we make their employment and raises contingent on results?

If you want to see a higher quality police department without breaking the bank, you need to control costs.  The best way to control costs is to make sure that each dollar gets the best value.  It is not about spending as few dollars as possible, but spending each dollar as wisely as possible.  A City Council that spends wisely will get far better results than one that either spends lavishly for quality or cuts to the bone to limit taxes.

Soliman Looks to Appoint Wilkerson as Chief

In tonight's City Council work session, Mayor Soliman announced his intention to appoint Dwayne Wilkerson as Police Chief.  Mayor Soliman listed among his reasons, the excellent job Acting Chief Wilkerson has done over the past year, his desire to promote from within when possible, and the years of service that Acting Chief Wilkerson has already given to the city.  The City Attorney is reviewing a proposed employment contract, the City Council will be given a chance to speak further with Acting Chief Wilkerson, and the appointment will be on the June 15th agenda.  

This appointment will allow the city's police department to continue to function under a proven leader.  It will also finally end the long vacancy that has existed in the office of Chief of Police.  Mayor Soliman also expressed his belief that by appointing someone already in the department the message is being sent that any officer can work hard and be promoted within this city.  This is a valuable message and will help to build morale and hopefully also attract officers who are looking for stability and a career in Crest Hill.  Mayor Soliman also spoke of the difficulties that have been faced by communities bringing in outsiders who often have trouble dealing with the culture of a department with which they are not familiar.

Police Looking to Install GPS Tracking

At this past City Council meeting, Chief Wilkerson requested funds to install GPS trackers in the squad cars and spoke about Canadian National installing them on their trains as well.  The purpose would be so that the dispatchers could see the locations of all the squad cars when sending officers out to respond to incidents.  Also they would be able to know if a train was blocking on of the at-grade crossings or would be by the time a squad car needed to get through.  This would allow them to let the officers know if they needed to take an alternative route.  This is a great use of technology and helps to offset effects of additional trains.  There is also the benefit of knowing where officers are if they need assistance, but cannot radio their location to the dispatcher.

There are other uses for this technology though that the police department may not be as excited about.  This technology could create a record of where the officers have patrolled on each shift, including how long they spent at City Hall, sitting in parking lots talking to each other, and other less productive activities.  It could also be used to see where they actually patrol and determine if they are where they are most needed as well as if they are neglecting some areas.  This would be a valuable tool for the Chief and any supervisors in the department to use, but I can imagine that the officers would not like that sort of scrutiny and oversight.  Although based on some of the stories I have heard about the department, it might be warranted.

I would be concerned about the liability issues it could raise though.  I envision lawyers walking into court and now having evidence that no officers had patrolled an area all night despite known problems in that area.  Or were all sitting at city hall and were slow to respond to a call across town.  I am not saying that such arguments might not be justified, I am just concerned about the potential liability this city would have if practices were not improved.  Hopefully, this technology can be put to good use to improve our current practices and actually become more effective than would have otherwise been possible.  Then the liability issues would be of far less concern and we would all benefit from better policing.

A Mayor or a Dictator

At one point during the May 5th City Council meeting, I found myself thinking that maybe I had been too harsh on Mayor Churnovic in the past and that perhaps he did deserve some praise. This came after he had spoken on the successful efforts to keep Statesville open, his trip to the Philippines, and his upcoming trip to Las Vegas. These all seemed to show him to be an active and dedicated mayor. It took only moments though for those thoughts to quickly be shattered.

Mayor Churnovic explained his plan to circumvent the City Council and begin the process of hiring a new Police Chief. He then proceeded to scream at Alderperson Convery when questioned about this matter. It is just shameful that a mayor would not only ignore the desires of the City Council and the advice of the just retired Police Chief, but would then throw a fit when questioned.

This show was not enough for Mayor Churnovic though. He next was asked why he had held several events in different wards and not given the alderpersons for those wards a courtesy notice. Meeting with residents is definitely a positive thing to do, but the Mayor should show some courtesy and invite the alderpersons as well, especially if he is inviting other city officials. Instead of taking this constructive suggestion from 3 alderpersons, Mayor Churnovic defended his lack of consideration by being condescending and rude.

Crest Hill deserves a city government that can work together for the betterment of this city. That will not happen as long as we have a Mayor that yells at Council members and treats them with contempt. No matter how hard Mayor Churnovic works to develop Crest Hill, it is all for nothing if he allows his bad attitude and lack of self-control tear the City Council apart and make citizens afraid to question him.