More than a month ago, on June 3 to be exact, a high-speed collision of two automobiles occurred at the intersection of Devon and Cumberland, resulting in four people being injured.
Yesterday it was announced that the criminal investigation into the accident resulted in charges against Park Ridge resident William J. Kivit, 20, for three counts of felony aggravated reckless driving and one count of felony aggravated fleeing and eluding in connection with that accident. That announcement was made via a Park Ridge Police Department press release.
With that investigation now out of the way, we can only hope that the Police Department will finally stop stonewalling the Park Ridge City Council and City taxpayers, and provide an explanation of why it took almost four days, and an ABC7 I-Team investigative report based on a tip from a PRPD insider, to finally admit that a Park Ridge police officer was involved in that crash – after the department had issued several (we hear it was three) press releases about the incident that made no mention that it occurred in connection with a police chase.
You can get the background on that from our 06.10.15 post, “‘Whole Truth Goes Missing In Police Dept. Account Of Crash.”
The PRPD’s radio silence about those false press releases is a troubling sign for a department that already has shown itself to be at least a quart or two low on transparency, yet high on self-promotion and congratulation – as evidenced by all those fluff-and-stroke “Complimentary Letters” Police Chief Frank Kaminski keeps on sticking in the record at every Public Safety COW meeting.
Despite Chief K’s assurance to the I-Team investigators that those press releases were not intended to cover up the involvement of the officer, more than a month later he has said and done nothing to dispel the impression that he and his department are stonewalling all inquiries about how and why they repeatedly handed out misleading information until they were caught by a t.v. news team, based on an insider’s tip.
To the contrary, at every turn Chief K seems to conflates the “internal investigation” of the accident itself (i.e., did the officer act properly in participating in the police chase) with whatever “internal investigation,” if any, is being done of who lied about the incident, albeit by omission, in those press releases.
That’s simply not right, and it’s not even close to transparent.
Worse yet, the City Council is letting him get away with it, if the Public Safety segments of the last two Committee Of the Whole (“COW”) meetings are any indication.
Chief K’s first report to the Council about the accident starts at the 3:50 mark of the June 8 COW meeting video. Although it kind of sounds (from the 6:05 mark to the 7:05 mark) like maybe he’s alluding to the press releases when using words like “gap” and “inconsistencies,” one cannot tell for sure. Unfortunately, neither Committee Chairman Ald. Nick Milissis, an attorney, nor any other alderman asked for a more substantial explanation.
And this past Monday’s COW meeting was just the same old same old, with Chief K offering (beginning at the 7:10 mark of the July 13 meeting video) more palaver about an “internal investigation” involving “interviews and interrogations,” without even mentioning the press releases or answering the two basic questions that could have, and should have, been answered a month ago:
- Who issued the erroneous press releases?
- Why wasn’t the police officer’s involvement mentioned?
Ald. Milissis has repeatedly shown himself to be a vigorous and relentless advocate for his constituents when it comes to issues like flooding, so we were both puzzled and disappointed with his meek, almost apologetic, tone in posing a few lightweight questions to Chief K as the rest of the Council sat silently.
On this issue, not unlike others that touch on policing and public safety, Chief K seems to exert a Svengali-like influence over a Council that responds like a gaggle of Trilbys.
In his six-year tenure here (after 32 years with the Evanston Police Department) Chief K has shown himself to be, perhaps, the most masterful politician in City government. He holds an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellog School of Management and he clearly knows how to “manage” – or, in this case, withhold – information. He’s like a combination of Teflon and Kevlar, deflecting or harmlessly absorbing whatever comes his way.
At this point we will repeat again, for the record, that we are supporters of Chief K and the Police Dept. We believe they generally do a fine job of policing our community, and they deserve our respect and gratitude.
But that doesn’t mean we should turn a blind eye toward things like the PRPD’s sending out erroneous/false press releases that appear designed to conceal what might be seen as an embarrassing fact, or of stonewalling once the error/fraud is discovered –including by rejecting (so far, as we understand it) a FOIA request by the Channel 7 I-Team.
Just like we shouldn’t turn a blind eye to the way the PRPD handled/mis-handled last summer’s Hinkley Park incident where a middle-aged Park Ridge man was beaten by several young thugs egged on by a large crowd of teens – including the PRPD’s rejection (so far, as we understand it) of a FOIA request by the Park Ridge Herald-Advocate.
And just like we shouldn’t turn a blind eye to the curious way in which a PRPD officer was found not guilty of DUI when the PRPD arrest report mysteriously failed to include the results of a blood-alcohol test reportedly taken at Lutheran General Hospital following the arrest last October, as reported in a February 10, 2015 H-A article.
John Adams, the 2nd president of the United States, wrote that “Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right and a desire to know.”
So far, Chief K doesn’t seem to understand or feel bound by that right.
And, so far, our elected representatives on the Council don’t seem inclined to hold him accountable for it.
To read or post comments, click on title.
22 comments so far
“There is not a crime, there is not a dodge, there is not a trick, there is not a swindle, there is not a vice which does not live by secrecy.”
For a council that keeps saying they are for HITA none is standing up for transparency on this issue. Didn’t the public safety chair give a teary eye speech about mayor dave’s legacy…bet mayor Dave is not so proud of him or the others on this issue. We cannot have confidence and trust in our police if they hide facts from the public.
EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s always tougher to walk the walk than talk the talk.
But in fairness to Ald. Milissis and the Council, a police officer like Chief K has been trained to manipulate, control and even intimidate as part of his job. And we wouldn’t be surprised if somebody with Chief K’s experience got extra training at places like the FBI Academy in Quantico.
But we agree with you about trust and confidence coming from honesty and transparency.
Hey, 9:49pm, that’s pretty good coming from an anonymous response to a blog post.
Hear they have meetings pretty much on a weekly basis. Maybe you should show up and demand what ever it is you demand.
EDITOR’S NOTE: We agree that people should show up at Council meetings…and school board and park district board meetings, too.
But our representative form of government is designed and intended so that The People DO show up at meetings through the presence of their elected representatives. And it’s up to those representatives to do their jobs, day in and day out, so The People don’t have to show up to get the government they deserve.
So when and how much do the city and the taxpayers pay out for damages resulting in a high speed pursuit?
EDITOR’S NOTE: Probably nothing, because a claim based on simple negligence – which would apply if it is determined that the officer used poor judgment in commencing or conducting such a chase – usually is barred in Illinois under the Tort Immunity Act. Unlike, say, when an officer intentionally tunes up a teenager handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser.
Dear Mmmm
What I “demand” to use your term is that those we elect to our council not just talk the talk ie: teary eyed speeches after mayor dave’s death that they will uphold Honesty Integrity Transparecy and Accountability but actually walk the walk by getti g the police department to be transparent about what happened and why they didn’t disclose until after an anonymous tip (see mmmm anonymity is not always a bad thing) to a news reporter.
Too much too ask for mmmmm?
So, Mmmmm, my point is: why not show up and make your point at a meeting instead of talking tough on this blog?
You’re not alone, whether here, on other social media sites or otherwise, tough sounding anonymous comments are great. But they do almost NOTHING.
Seriously, lose he condescending tone, dial it back and show up and do something that matters.
Time for the council to start building their own legacy.
EDITOR’S NOTE: As opposed to….
Your point about the chief being Teflon and Kevlar is pretty apt. No matter what it is, if it is anything but good it does not stick to him.
And when any alderman dares ask him a question, it is with an obvious trepidation bordering on fear. Ald. Milissis’ recent episode is another example.
People! It’s one thing to trash the rest of the public employees, quite another to trash the guys who take care of you in Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs: SAFETY is first and formost, before Shelter, Sex or any of the other stuff you normally focus on. It’s a primitive but utterly normal reaction and you’d be no different if you were in charge. Seriously. Seen it happen over and over and over and over…….
EDITOR’S NOTE: Only a total government groupie like you, Class Warrior, could spin demands that the police chief be transparent and accountable, in a timely fashion, about who in the PRPD issued false press releases and why into an accusation of “trash[ing] the guys who take care of” us and compromising our safety.
Well done!
How do you put the blame on the police?! The guy was speeding and then tried to evade arrest and HE caused the accident. And don’t bring up the kids who got money from the city for breaking many laws, underage drinking, trespassing, curfew, vandalism-and they weren’t charged with one thing. That is the true crime that many people in this town feel they are above the law and get away with things if they know the right people
EDITOR’S NOTE: Who’s “put[ting] the blame on the police” for anything other than for not being honest, transparent and accountable for the false press releases they issued over a month ago and have stonewalled ever since?
So I find the commentary of “turning a blind eye”, “fear”, “meekness” and not wanting to hold the Chief accountable interesting considering the video of what happened during the latest COW is readily available for review. How someone got out of my speech that I violated the HITA principles is beyond me. If you do watch and listen you will hear me clearly say that at the end of the internal investigation I expect and will myself ensure that a full accounting is given in an open public meeting. I specifically said I expect the Chief to report who was responsible for the releases, why the misinformation happened and what he and the department will do in the future to avoid this from happening again in the future. If the commentators “beef” with me is that it’s not happening fast enough for them is one thing but to claim I am ignoring the issue is a big stretch. As I have said in the past I will ensure the council and the public get answers on this incident and the FOIA denials. It might not happen in your timeline but it will happen. It will not go away because of time passing by because I won’t let it. I would again encourage commentators to review the minutes and video to see what I actually said and not go by characterizations of what people think I failed to do.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Thank you for the response, alderman. Speaking for this blog (but not the commentators, obviously), we trust that you will get those answers eventually because we know you believe in HITA.
Unfortunately, “eventually” doesn’t cut it – especially when more than a month has gone by and Chief K seems neither ready nor willing to be transparent or accountable about WHO issued the false/misleading press releases, and WHY? And let’s not kid ourselves here: answering those two questions doesn’t require ANY “investigation,” so let’s stop talking about the “internal investigation.”
All that being said, alderman, we have to wonder why you and our other six representatives on the Council continue to let Chief K thumb his nose at the “H,” the “T” and the “A” of HITA?
So mmmmm
In order for our elected officials to do what is right you require ordinary citizens to show up and “demand” that they do it?!
Wow …if that is the case I guess we elected the wrong individuals. This is a representative government and I cast my vote for those that I hope stand up for HITA and that they take the heat and take the police chief to task so that I or my fellow citizens don’t have to do so. If the chief is as pubdog says why should I or any other citizen have to take him on with tough talk in person – I could have sworn those teary eyed speech givers vowed during election season to stand up for me at council and to do what is right. I did my duty by voting for them, now it’s time for them to do theirs by standing up for what is right, living up to dave’s legacy rather than meekly allowing the chief to carry on without explanation for a huge trust undermining non-transparent set of events.
EDITOR’S NOTE: You make a good point, but miss the corrolary.
We elect our officials to represent us, and that’s their duty and obligation whether anybody shows up at the meetings or not.
But if our officials aren’t properly representing us, then it is our job as citizens to show up and say in the public forum what they should be saying for us.
Simply voting for somebody once every four years and then hibernating is not doing one’s civic duty.
So mmmmm…to PW’s point, don’t show up, keep up the condescending moaning here and see what happens.
Nada.
Watching the videos of council meetings and calling out elected officials -especially when one knows elected officials read this blog and its comments -is one way of not hibernating in between doing your civic duty every four years to vote out those that only talk the talk.
It also allows for anonymity to avoid having any retaliation for speaking out -either from the PD or the council members who sometimes like to hold grudges and act unprofessionally to those that oppose them or endorse their opponents.
But of course our PD and council members are above such pettiness. Then again if they were I’m sure most of the comments on here would not be anonymous.
EDITOR’S NOTE:Since we started to regularly publish this blog in September 2007 we have never heard of even one instance of “retaliation for speaking out” from any mayor or alderman – including our least favorite one. So fear of “retaliation” is just a convenient alibi for those who believe and/or write stupid things that they don’t want attributed to them.
That would explain “mmmm”‘s anonymity. Thanks.
EDITOR’S NOTE: And yours. You’re welcome.
OK….let me see if I understand this. A poster who expresses concern about “retaliation: from an elected official is just making an alibi yet you have on more than one occasion in the past have referenced fear of retaliation related to teachers and our school districts. How are these things different?? They are both nothing but completely unsubstantiated crap. I agree with your reply to poster 2:51. I only wish you would apply it to your own comments.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Obviously you DON’T understand this, so we’ll try to explain it for you.
First of all, we DO consider the retaliation argument made by anonymous posters in the schools context as an alibi which has contributed to the schools being the least transparent and accountable of our four local governmental bodies.
Second, teachers and coaches can retaliate against students in a variety of subjective ways – e.g. grades, playing time – that do not lend themselves to objective scrutiny, oversight or due process. But just about everything we can think of at the City level IS subject to objective standards, official oversight, and/or due process.
Yes mine too but ny sacastic remark was directed at mmmm since they are scolding someone for making an anonymous post criticizing them (oops I mean criticizing elected and appointed officials) while…..(wait for it)….posting anonymously!
Love it. It’s what makes this blog wonderful. And as for retaliation I don’t mean tires flattened or anything like that but other subtle retaliatory tactics that have occurred with the anonymous criticizer (oops I mean the elected and appointed officials) I originally stated where not living up to HITA by allowing the police to remain non transparent under the guise of an investigation. You know …wait and once we get our story straight and hide the bodies we will let you know our version of what happened. Justice delayed is justice denied. put another way our elected officials are telling us we will force the pd to be transparent BUT only after we give them enough time in secrecy to decide what and when the public has a right to know. Maybe a refresher course on HITA is in order?
EDITOR’S NOTE: Now you’re blowing smoke with your “subtle retaliatory tactics” nonsense.
Just because you’re a smoke-blower, however, doesn’t mean you aren’t spot-on about allowing Chief K and his troops the luxury of controlling the story-telling at their convenience and on their timetable. But that seems more like a lack of cojones than a lack of HITA knowledge.
Dude,
You’re anonymous, they’re, whoever they are, are anonymous and I’m anonymous. You’re guessing they’re some elected or appointed official? I’m guessing you’re the Easter Bunny.
Your argument about why you don’t want to show at a meeting is hilarious. Yeah…I heard one of the aldermen charged someone double for a beer at Taste of Park Ridge because the buyer complained about a pot hole.
Anyway, if this thing is so bothersome to you it’s hard to figure why you wouldn’t show up. Maybe PW hit on it…you lack the cojones.
The answer is very simple. What ever the “it” is does not bother him/her that much. It’s enough to bitch on a blog but not enough to invest an actual hour or two. Kind of like the school. The horror and outrage yet almost zero go to board meetings. You want people at a meeting?? Announce you are putting a homeless shelter in town.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Let’s not compare the school boards to the City Council. Over the last few years probably 98% of what the Council does is in open session, while D-64 seems to spend almost as much time in closed session as in open – and more so when the subject is controversial or potentially embarrassing, like the ankle-grabbing and gushing over Heinz’s contract extension and raise.
Last time I checked cojones apply to only one gender anonymous and I believe Pubdog was talking about the aldermen sitting back and waiting for accountability and transparency to magically apear months after the occurrence while the chief and possibly others use the buzz words “internal investigation” to lul the public safety chair into a false sense of security that transparency can be upheld months after the incident. The video and the alderMAn’s words above even admit he is allowing the chief to disclose information in the chief’s own timetable. Pub dog is right there is no “investigation” needed for disclosing who authorized the press releases that excluded the material facts of a police chase being part of the incident in question. Someone at council needs to have the cojones to not just sit back and wait. Last time I “looked” those 7 up there were of the gender that should still have cojones – but given the speeches or lack thereof on the omissions about the crash incident and the press releases about the crash – maybe I’m wrong?
And if you are saying all anonymous communicators lack cajones does that include the person from inside the pd who made the anonymous call that brought all this to light? Does it include your successive anonymous posts mr elected (oops ) I mean concerned “dude”? Just saying.
EDITOR’S NOTE: We think that “cojones” is one of those terms that has transcended gender and anatomy, and that’s how we were using it.
But we think you might be assuming a fact not in evidence when you suggest that the PRPD insider/tipster was “anonymous” to the Channel 7 investigators.
One reason for not showing up, in addition to not wanting your town’s police to know you are complaining about them, is pure laziness but still wanting to call out elected officials and appointed ones for the lack of transparency that continues month plus later. Pub dog himself and other commenters on this blog haven’t shown up to express their viewpoint directly to council. You calling them out too? You finding these comments about the elected officials so bothersome must mean something (according to your logic) about your motivations for several posts?)
EDITOR’S NOTE: Anybody/everybody who cares at all knows the identity of this editor, so comparing him with “anonymous” commentators is disingenuous.
Pd:
You only bolster my point. You are right about d64 but most of PR disagrees or does not see it as an important issue. They don’t show up to bitch about it. If an issue is supposed to be a big deal yet you cannot even get a good group to show up and make a statement it begs the question how big of a deal is it??
EDITOR’S NOTE: “[M]ost of PR” has no clue about what’s a “big deal” at D-64 or D-207 because: (a) those school boards and administrations couldn’t spell “transparency” or “accountability” if you spotted them three consonants and let them by buy a vowel; (b) they talk and act as if public education is such rocket science that only “educators” can understand and comment intelligently on it; (c) they have succeeded so well with the “for the kids” propaganda (or Heinz’s “for your children” version) that any criticism is branded anti-kid; and (d) the local newspapers’s coverage is virtually worthless, usually based almost entirely on the districts’ press releases and the occasional interview with the perpetrators.
But just because a tree falls in the forest and nobody’s around to hear it, it still makes a noise.
It’s time Bob to stop trying these issues/cases here on this site. Leave the police work to the professionals. Thank you.
Gene T. Spanos
Ret. Lt. 23 Years Law Enforcement
Graduate US Secret Service POB School
EDITOR’S NOTE: Telling the taxpayers who lied in police department press releases and why isn’t “police work,” Gene.
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