Wednesday, May 15, 2013
A Letter to the Editor from the police chiefs of Niles, Des Plaines and Park Ridge.The Illinois marijuana bill is against all our towns have done to discourage youth from using drugs. Call your legislators; tell them to vote no.
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Wednesday, May 15
The following is a letter to the editor from Park Ridge Police Chief Frank Kaminski, Des Plaines Police Chief William Kushner and Niles Police Chief Dean Strzelecki. It represents the authors' views. Patch is acting as a platform to allow writers to state their opinions. On April 17, 2013 the Illinois House of Representatives passed HB-001, often referred to as "Medical Marijuana" legislation, by a vote of 61-57 in favor. The legislation is next expected to be called for a vote in the Illinois Senate sometime during the next few weeks. With our collective 90-plus years of law enforcement experience and being the Chiefs of Police in Des Plaines, Niles and Park Ridge, we find it imperative to voice our concerns concerning this pending …
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
It remains unclear whether former Des Plaines Police Officer John Bueno would be reinstated to the department or the termination would be upheld, Journal and Topics Newspapers reported.
The results from an arbitration hearing held to review the termination of Des Plaines police officer John Bueno were given to the city, Journal and Topics Newspapers reported. Des Plaines City Manager Michael Bartholomew did not comment on what the outcome was, according to the newspaper. Bueno was fired in March 2012; City of Des Plaines officials did not make public the reasons for his termination. Bueno and another Des Plaines police officer, Andy Contreras, were accused of beating a man in handcuffs in a parking garage while transporting him from Elmhurst to Des Plaines in a lawsuit filed by a DuPage man in July 2012. Contreras was suspended and is now working at the Des Plaines Police Department. Des Plaines officials did not make the…
Monday, May 6, 2013
Windows were broken at the Des Plaines high school over the weekend, Journal and Topics Newspaper reported.
Authorities are investigating a possible attempted arson incident at Maine West High School, which occurred over the weekend, Journal and Topics Newspapers reported. Windows were broken sometime between Saturday and Sunday at the Des Plaines high school, according to Journal and Topics Newspapers’ report. Updated, 10 p.m. on May 6: Staff at Maine West High School cleaned up the press box and near the gymnasium, near where the windows were broken late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, and removed the broken glass before police arrived on the scene, Des Plaines Police Chief William Kushner said. A charred neck from a Southern Comfort liquor bottle was recovered from the scene, Kushner said, but no evidence the building caught fire was …
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Des Plaines Police Chief William Kushner said a former police commander told officers reporting information for a federally funded traffic enforcement campaign was OK when it was not.
A former Des Plaines police commander told police officers reporting overtime hours for a federally funded traffic enforcement program was OK when it was not, said Police Chief William Kushner. In a public statement on Tuesday, the city announced 13 Des Plaines police officers would be suspended for varying lengths of time following an investigation into information reported to the Illinois Department of Transportation to qualify for grant funding. The Illinois Department of Transportation suspended funding of the traffic safety grant in August 2012, pending an investigation into data about DUI arrests that may have been fraudulent. Timothy Veit, 55, of Mount Prospect, former Des Plaines police commander, was charged with falsifying …
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Police Chief William Kushner said he was working on crafting a new department policy that would ensure irregularities in reporting data recently uncovered in an investigation into grant funding do not occur again.
While a former Des Plaines police commander faces charges that accuse him of falsifying records provided for a federally-funded grant, plans are underway for a new department policy that will ensure such irregularities will not occur again, said Police Chief William Kushner. Kushner said he was currently in the process of crafting an order to take effect immediately, which will ensure that this kind of thing cannot happen again. “In other words, we’re going to have verification, we’re going to have checks and balances,” Kushner said. “It’s no longer going to be the word of one person saying these five people were working, or whatever the case may be.” In addition to the retired police commander, Timothy Veit, 55, of Mount Prospect, facing …
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Des Plaines police are continuing an investigation into two men they say committed multiple residential burglaries.
The following arrest information was supplied by the Chicago, Des Plaines and Park Ridge police departments. It does not indicate a conviction. Two Des Plaines men arrested after committing a residential burglary while under surveillance of law enforcement were charged with multiple counts of residential burglary, according to the Chicago Police Department. At least three law enforcement agencies were involved in the arrests of Mariusz Poplawski, 24, and Sebastian Dybala, 23, both of Des Plaines on Feb. 7. According to a statement from the Des Plaines Police Department, Park Ridge police conducted surveillance on the two men, and Chicago police made the arrests because the reported burglary that police stated they witnessed Poplawski and …
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Felony, misdemeanor charges follow explosion report in a residential neighborhood.
A Des Plaines man is in custody on firearm-related and drug charges following an incident in a residential neighborhood approximately a half-mile from the Des Plaines Police Department on Jan. 17. Thomas Henry, 51, of Des Plaines, was arrested on Jan. 17 and later charged with two felony counts: unlawful possession of cannabis and reckless discharge of a firearm, and a misdemeanor, possession of drug paraphernalia, according to court documents verified by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. Henry is being held in Cook County jail, and his next court date is Feb. 6 at Skokie courthouse. Police responded to a report of a large explosion on the 500 block of Webford Avenue at approximately 9 p.m. on Jan. 17, police stated. When police …
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Random school checks, safety plan reviews part of local reaction to Newtown shootings.
Des Plaines police have been in communication with local school districts regarding safety plans following the shootings in Newtown, CT, Des Plaines Police Chief William Kushner told city council members at a meeting Monday. “We’ve reached out this morning to all the district superintendents, both in the lower grades and the high school, to sit down and review all the school safety plans, and to consider doing training inside the schools either over the winter break or on weekends in the coming months to ensure that we not only have completely upgraded floor plans on all the schools, but that we also have familiarity by all the first responders to, God forbid we have to respond to a school for a situation,” Kushner said. Police responded …
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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The tractor-trailer parked in front of the Des Plaines Police Department, 1418 Miner St., is beginning to fill up with donated items for victims of Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast. On a chilly Monday afternoon, Des Plaines Patrol Officer Tom Stancato organized some of the donated products in the Dayton Freight trailer. Dayton Freight Lines, 1000 E. Northwest Highway in Des Plaines, is donating the shipping portion of the relief drive. “Des Plaines Has New York’s Back” began when a police sergeant approached Police Chief William Kushner with the concept, Kushner told city council members at a meeting on Nov. 5. Items will be accepted for donation until Nov. 20, and the container will be shipped to those in need on Nov. 21. Needed items: …
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Concerns raised by residents prompted police to conduct an outdoor rollcall on Oct. 31. Police Chief William Kushner said the department will take “more diligent enforcement action throughout town.”
The Des Plaines Police Department is making a renewed effort to address the presence of gangs in the city. Police Chief William Kushner told aldermen he received feedback from concerned residents, including one citizen preceding the city council meeting, about what appeared to be a recent increase in gang-related activity at the meeting on Monday. Kushner said groups of young men and women hanging around parks and gang-related graffiti were brought to his attention. “I have expressed to him we are taking this very seriously; we are increasing police patrols throughout the city, and we are going to take his concerns, as well as everyone else’s concerns, to heart,” Kushner said. “We are going to start taking more diligent enforcement action …
James Hammans
1:16 pm on Friday, May 17, 2013
Just passed the Senate 35-21 more ›