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Archive for the ‘Public Safety’ Category

Lindsey’s Law

Another try for Lindsey’s Law, an Illinois measure increasing penalties for drunk drivers that kill someone and injure others, will have to wait for the fall.

In 2015, cosmetologist Lindsey Sharp of Springfield went to Walmart with her son and her boyfriend. In the parking lot, Antione Willis, 31, who had been drinking and smoking marijuana, hit the three with an SUV, killing Lindsey and critically injuring her young son and her boyfriend.

Then State’s Attorney John Milhiser said Willis pleaded guilty and was given the maximum sentence that the law allowed. State Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, told The Center Square that the 14-year prison sentence was not long enough.

Under current Illinois law, Willis was sentenced for causing Sharp’s death. The state was unable to add more years to his sentence for the injuries he caused to Sharp’s son and her boyfriend.

If Sharp’s son or her boyfriend had died, the state could have added more years to his prison term, but because they survived, the prosecutor’s hands were tied.

“That to me does not do justice to victims in our state,” McClure said.

Lindsey’s Law would remove that barrier, he said, and if it is passed by the state legislature the state could have charged an additional four to 20 years in prison for the injuries to the son and the boyfriend.

More here.

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Lawmakers have advanced a measure that will soon be sent to the governor’s desk that would allow certain immigrants to become police officers in Illinois.

Current federal law prohibits a non-U.S. citizen from becoming a police offer throughout the country. House Bill 3751 looks to change that law in Illinois.

The measure states that any immigrant who the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has deferred under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals process is allowed to apply for the position of a police officer, deputy sheriff or special police officer.

The measure was amended by the Senate on Thursday and received pushback from Republican lawmakers.

State Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, criticized the idea of a non-citizen being able to arrest a U.S. citizen in Illinois.

“To hand the power to arrest and detain a citizen of this state, or a citizen of any state in the United States, to a non-citizen is a fundamental breach of democracy,” Rose said. “It is antithetical to the police power of any state.”

Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, supports the bill and said during debate that history shows people from different backgrounds have been law enforcement officers for a long time.

More here.

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Oakwood Farm Operation

The Daily Herald recently reported, “After 8-year fight, judge says Barrington Hills horse boarding law is constitutional.” We’ve learned before that article was published, another commercial horse boarding related suit was filed in Cook County on April 25th, and it can be found here.

Ordinance 16-22, referred to in the filing, can be found here. Audio recordings of the Trustee’s discussions prior to approving that ordinance can be heard here.

Related:After 8-year fight, judge says Barrington Hills horse boarding law is constitutional

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Body Cam

Money is included in South Barrington’s new annual budget to purchase body cameras for police officers.

Money for new police cars and body cameras for officers is included in South Barrington’s $13.1 million budget for the 2024 fiscal year.

So is cash for roadwork and other projects.

The village board approved the spending plan Wednesday. The fiscal year began May 1.

Spending is projected to increase about 10% from the previous year’s $11.9 million total.

Officials set aside $160,000 in the budget for four new police patrol vehicles, Village Manager Robert Palmer said.

Additionally, body cameras to be worn by officers should run about $27,000.

Chief Thomas Roman expects the cameras will be in use by April 2024.

“We are currently looking into our options,” he said. “We want to be sure we choose the right equipment so it’s easy for the officers to use.”

More here.

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The Barrington Hills Park District Board will hold a, “Park Board & Decennial Committee on Local Government Efficiency,” meeting this evening in person and via Zoom at 7:00 PM. Topics on their agenda include:

  • Horizon Farm Track Proposal
  • Local Government Efficiency Act Meeting
  • Review of Agreements with RCBH, FRVPC, FRVH

A copy of their agenda can be viewed here. Instructions for accessing the meeting remotely can be found here.

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Distracted-driving-1

On Tuesday, May 9, 2023, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office will join with numerous police agencies in northern Illinois to conduct a traffic safety initiative along the Route 59 corridor.

From Lake County to Will County, participating agencies will use education and traffic enforcement in an effort to increase the safety of motorists using the thoroughfare. The efforts will concentrate on speed, distracted driving, and occupant restraint violations, as well as other safety violations.

Police departments from the cities of Aurora, Barrington, Barrington Hills, Bartlett, Fox Lake, Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Plainfield, Streamwood, and West Chicago are expected to participate in this initiative. Sheriff’s offices from DuPage, Lake, and Will Counties along with the Illinois State Police and Canadian National Railroad will also be participating. Each jurisdiction will implement their own enforcement action based upon the needs of their communities.

The sheriff’s office campaign is administered and funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation with federal highway safety funds managed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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oakwood

A Cook County judge has ruled a Barrington Hills ordinance allowing commercial horse boarding at Oakwood Farms and other places to be constitutional, rejecting arguments that conspiracy and corruption were the basis of its adoption. (Daily Herald file photo, 2011)

A Cook County judge has called constitutional a Barrington Hills ordinance permitting commercial horse boarding as a home-occupation business in the historically equestrian-friendly village, rejecting claims of corruption.

The 8-year-old litigation that resulted in a 21-day trial was born of a neighbor dispute that dominated local politics in Barrington Hills for a time about a dozen years ago.

“I believe it vindicates a number of people,” said attorney James Kelly, who represented a party of intervenors in plaintiff Jim Drury’s lawsuit against the village. “I think it was a good decision.”

Drury — who lives next door to Benjamin and Cathleen LeCompte’s Oakwood Farms, where a 60-horse commercial boarding operation existed — argued the facility’s imposition on his residential peace and quiet clearly was forbidden by existing village code regulating home-occupation businesses in 2011.

Drury tried through lawsuits, newspaper advertisements and official testimony to suggest village officials at that time were refusing to acknowledge this and instead were pandering to the Riding Club of Barrington Hills and other equestrian interests.

While Drury conceded the LeComptes had the right to keep 60 of their own horses on the 130-acre property, he said the number of employees and clients that visited his residential neighborhood most days clearly marked Oakwood Farms as a commercial enterprise.

In claiming political motivations in the village, Drury pointed to $5,000 donations LeCompte made to each of the trustee candidates then-Village President Robert Abboud supported in the 2011 election — Joe Messer, Karen Selman and Patty Meroni.

That money was returned to LeCompte when the State Board of Elections determined he had not been properly identified by the candidates as the original source of the funding.

Read more here.

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April 2023 Adg

Our Village Board of Trustees will be conducting their regular monthly meeting beginning this evening at 6:30 PM. Topics on their agenda include:

  • [Vote] Amended Village Budget FY 2023
  • [Vote] Resolution Authorizing the Issuance of Notice of Award for the 2023 Road Program Project by the Village of Barrington Hills, Illinois Resolution 23 –
  • [Vote] Ordinance Amending Escrow Requirements for Tree Removal Permits as Set Forth in Title 4, Chapter 6 in the Village Code Ordinance 23 –
  • [Vote] Resolution of Proclamation Appreciating Trustee Bryan C. Croll for 8 Years of Dedicated Service Resolution 23 –
  • [Vote] Resolution of Proclamation Appreciating Trustee Colleen Konicek Hannigan for 10 Years of Dedicated Service Resolution 23 –

In addition, nominations for new or renewal appointments to Boards and Commissions will be voted on.  Four member of the Equestrian Commission is on the list of renewals, however there is a problem with the renomination of one of those members.

That member ran for and won a seat on the Barrington Hills Park District Board earlier this month, and now this represents a conflict. Therefore, an alternate should be considered at a subsequent Board of Trustees meeting.

A copy of this evening’s agenda can be viewed and downloaded here.

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BHS Rodeo

Two Barrington Police officers accompany high school students out of the building as they evacuate Barrington High School following a second bomb threat at the school on Monday, April 17, 2023, in Barrington. Barrington 220 School District sent out alerts saying, ”Out of an abundance of caution, BHS is evacuating the building after receiving a second bomb threat… Students who walk or drive to school have been dismissed for the day… BHS students who rely on district transportation should make their way to the normal bus loading area and will begin to board buses to be transported home. Students who are picked up by parents should make their own way to the west lot for normal parent pick-up.” (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Police in Barrington are still investigating after multiple “computerized bomb threats” made to Barrington High School on Monday at first led to no lockdown but then prompted an evacuation of the school.

The initial alleged bomb threat phoned in to the school that morning was quickly identified by Barrington police and other authorities as textbook hoaxes, the police deputy chief told Pioneer Press.

“When the phone call came in, it was a digital, computerized voice. It came in from a six-digit phone number that didn’t come back to anything,” police Deputy Chief John Burke said about the first call BHS received Monday. “Right away, those were the cues we’d read about for the past two years and that [don’t] hold a lot of credibility.”

Burke said the department has not made any arrests in connection with the incident Monday, but is aware of videos circulating online that appear to show a threat being made to the school.

Burke said whomever made the threat used a “digital, computerized voice,” presumably to avoid being identified.

Pioneer Press obtained one of the alleged videos circulating but has not been able to independently confirm its authenticity. Police would not comment on the specific video Pioneer Press obtained.

“There’s some different videos floating around, (and Barrington police are) looking at all of them,” Burke said.

He said the Barrington Police Department and Barrington School District 220, which BHS is part of, have been holding regular security meetings where they have been preparing for the possibility of a swatting call — where fake threats are phoned in, leading to a large emergency response — and were able to determine quickly on Monday that the threat was not credible.

More here.

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Flock SBSuburban ne’er-do-wells, beware — South Barrington officials are set to increase the village’s already-hefty arsenal of crime-fighting automated license plate readers.

The village board on Thursday could vote to acquire another camera designed to read and record license plates and other automobile information.

The village began installing plate readers in neighborhoods in 2020, Village Administrator Bob Palmer said. About 50 are active in town.

The cameras passively scan passing vehicles and record images. The system alerts police when a car suspected of being used in a crime passes a camera, based on manufacturer, model, color, distinguishing features or marks and license plates. Information about cars without plates can be used, too.

The village’s cameras have come from Atlanta-based Flock Group, and the new one would, too. The lease for the new camera, if approved, will cost the village $2,500 annually, officials said.

Read more here.

Related:Barrington considers installing cameras to read license plates,” “Barrington trustees vote to spend $70,000 on license plate reading cameras,” “Privacy concerns raised over proliferation of license plate cameras,” “Libertyville police planning license plate readers at five locations,” “Lake County officials wary of license plate readers’ potential privacy issues,” “Editorial: Do those multiplying license plate readers mean Big Brother is watching?

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