Former Rockford police officer seeks clemency in 2012 Boone County DUI crash - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

By Jeff Kolkey

Posted Oct. 6, 2015 at 9:43 AM
Updated Oct 6, 2015 at 9:01 PM

BELVIDERE — Former Rockford police officer Daniel Cruz is asking for clemency after he injured three Poplar Grove women and paralyzed another in May 2012 when he rammed their Oldsmobile Bravada off the road while off duty and driving drunk.

Cruz, 41, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in May 2014 by Judge C. Robert Tobin III to eight years in prison for aggravated DUI causing great bodily harm. His projected date of release is February 2021, but his prison term could be cut short if granted clemency by the governor's office.

"I know the wrong I have done, and I vow to continue to make positive choices in my life," Cruz wrote in a clemency petition filed with the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. "Please know I will never drink and drive again, as God (is) my witness. In addition, I would follow any probation or rules placed upon me."

Saying he has made positive changes in his life since the crash, Cruz on Wednesday will argue before the board that releasing him would benefit his sons, ages 7 and 9, who are suffering because of his absence.

A Rockford Police Department officer for 13 years and a U.S. Army veteran, Cruz said that since the crash he has undergone alcohol addiction treatment, obtained advanced degrees, taken parenting classes and served as a model prisoner.

Cruz wrote that he would agree to ankle monitoring or home confinement.

But Boone County State’s Attorney Michelle Courier will travel to Springfield to fight Cruz's request.

Similar arguments were made at his sentencing hearing before Judge Tobin. The judge noted Cruz’s clean criminal record, track record as an outstanding father, military service and years as a police officer before passing sentence.

Cruz was off duty and driving with a blood alcohol content nearly twice the legal limit just after 9 p.m. on May 21, 2012, on Beloit Road.

Four Poplar Grove women had piled into an SUV after attending an informal book club meeting and were headed home. Cruz attempted to pass their Oldsmobile in a no-passing zone near a sharp curve in the area of Townhall Road.

He crashed into the Oldsmobile rather than collide head-on with an oncoming pick-up truck. The Oldsmobile was sent rolling over through a farm field before coming to rest on its tires.

Lynn S. Acker, Sara Cernohous and Kim Hawkinson all suffered injuries. Renowned area golfer Mary “Suzie” Danielson was left paralyzed from the neck down. An autopsy determined that Danielson died in September 2014 of a viral infection that was unrelated to injuries she suffered in the crash.

Tobin found that instead of rendering aid, Cruz tried to leave the crash scene and lied to a firefighter about his involvement in the crash as he tried to flee.

Page 2 of 2 - “You didn’t call 911, you called for a getaway car,” Tobin said at the May 2014 sentencing hearing. “You had two choices: Stick around or flee. You fled.”

Despite his claims to accept responsibility for his actions, "he has spent more time making sure he is viewed as the victim," Courier said.

He blames his work for the Rockford Police Department for his drinking problem, blames the women in the crash for refusing his "military combat lifesaving skills," and law enforcement for not understanding that he was actually trying to help, Courier said.

"Sadly, Mr. Cruz has noted his children are facing difficulties ... what Mr. Cruz needs to understand is that he is solely responsible for those difficulties," Courier said. "Cruz claimed to accept responsibility for what he had done, but he never identified in his petition anything he did was wrong. The state believes Mr. Cruz will only learn how to be held accountable by serving the remainder of his sentence.”

Dorothy Schneider contributed to this report.

Former Rockford police officer seeks clemency in 2012 Boone County DUI crash - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Letter to BCJ Editor: Public Safety Sales Tax Vote

Violent crime is down in Belvidere, but gangs are not gone, officials warn - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

BELVIDERE — Statistics suggest that violent crime has fallen since 2008, but city and county officials warned community members Monday that Belvidere's problem with gangs is not gone, and it might never be.

Data released Monday by the Belvidere Police Department show that 2014 was the city's fourth straight year without a homicide. Vandalism and destruction of property dropped for the fifth year in a row. However, increases were reported in burglary, fraud, drug and DUI offenses.

“The ones we are truly concerned with are the violent crimes and it’s important to note that we got through the entirety of 2014 without a single homicide,” police Chief Jan Noble said. "A lot of our violent crime is down, but a lot of our misdemeanor crime is up slightly."

There were 329 vandalism and destruction of property offenses in 2014. Boone County State's Attorney Michelle Courier said the number of graffiti offenses in Belvidere has fallen significantly since 2009. A drop in gang-related vandalism could suggest that gangs have been less active in the area.

“If you look at the statistics … there has been a decrease in one indicator of gang activity, and that’s graffiti,” Courier said.

In 2009, Courier successfully sued the Latin Kings under the 1993 Illinois Street Gang Terrorism Omnibus Prevention Act, which says street gangs and their activities present a clear and present danger to public order and safety that no society should be required to endure without redress.

At a Boone County Gang Task Force forum Monday at the Belvidere Community Building, DEA agent Brian Besser said the city, region and the country may never shake their problems with gangs because of social problems including drug use and collapsed family structures.

From April 4 through Oct. 3, 2014, the Gang Intervention Unit made 476 contacts with people willing to give information about gang members or activities, which led to 25 arrests and 60 citations.

There were 485 drug and narcotic offenses in Belvidere in 2014. In 2013, there were 349.

Noble said the department’s gang unit and the Boone County Gang Task Force have been integral in maintaining low violent crime in Belvidere.

"Our city still has the challenges of dealing with the ongoing issue of narcotics and gangs," he said. "Overall, it is all a work in progress.”

Ben Stanley: 815-987-1369; bstanley@rrstar.com; @ben_j_stanley

Violent crime is down in Belvidere, but gangs are not gone, officials warn - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Commentary: 10 things residents should know about the Illinois justice system | The Rock River Times

 

By Bryant Jackson-Green
Illinois Policy Institute

Illinois’ criminal-justice system has serious problems.

For example, despite having a $1.3 billion budget, the Illinois Department of Corrections, or IDOC, won’t be able to make payroll come April.

The Innocence Project continues to dig up and overturn wrongful convictions. In short, the system is ripe for change.

Reform won’t come easy, and it won’t happen until people understand how much they’re paying for the state’s criminal-justice system, and have an idea of its strengths and weaknesses.

Here are 10 things you should know about Illinois’ criminal-justice system:

1. Illinois’ prison population has increased sevenfold since the 1970s. The state has over 48,000 prisoners today.

1. Illinois prisons were only designed to hold 32,075 inmates. Therefore, our prisons are now holding over 150 percent of their design capacity.

1. Incarceration breaks up families. Nearly 62 percent of Illinois inmates have at least one child.

1. Incarceration disproportionately affects racial minorities. African-Americans made up over 57 percent of the state’s prison population in 2013.

1. Illinois has the sixth-highest rate of wrongful convictions per capita. It’s because of the risk of wrongful convictions that former Gov. George Ryan enacted a moratorium on capital punishment in 2000, which was made permanent by legislation passed in 2011.

1. The IDOC budget was $1.3 billion last year. But with the added cost of pension contributions, employee benefits and capital costs, Illinoisans contribute an additional $566 million to their criminal-justice system each year.

1. Illinois had a recidivism rate of 47 percent in 2012, meaning that 47 percent of IDOC inmates returned to prison within three years.

1. Illinois operates 25 prisons but only four adult transition centers, which allow offenders to serve out the end of their sentence under community supervision while finding work. A 2008 study showed that inmates who participated in a transition program with the Safer Foundation were 62 percent less likely to reoffend.

1. Alternatives to prison are proving successful. The Redeploy Illinois program, for example, gives counties funding for community supervision and treatment programs for youth who would otherwise be incarcerated. The sites that participated in the program were able to reduce their commitments to the Department of Juvenile Justice by 53 percent in 2010.

1. IDOC spent over $320 million in the last five years in overtime costs for employees, according to an investigation by the Better Government Association.

Commentary: 10 things residents should know about the Illinois justice system | The Rock River Times

More than 500 apply for Rockford Police Department openings - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

ROCKFORD — The Rockford Police Department will know by May whether ramped-up recruitment efforts to hire more home-grown officers were successful.

Dozens of applicants who passed a physical agility test this week are taking a written test of basic skills this weekend. More than 500 submitted applications; 60 percent is expected to make the cut after Sunday’s final round.

“The amount of people we have for the application process is really strong,” Lt. Mike Ahrens said. "We haven’t seen numbers like this in a couple years."

The 280-person department is attempting to reach 290, the maximum number of officers authorized by the City Council.

Stringent testing standards and background checks, in addition to medical and psychological examinations, make it difficult to find qualified applicants. A four-year hiring freeze was lifted in 2012, but the department has struggled to return to full strength.

Chief Chet Epperson and the Rockford Board of Fire and Police Commissioners announced plans in January for additional recruiting officers to reach out to community groups, schools and businesses. Education-based programs, academies and camps are encouraging young people to consider a career in law enforcement.

The department implemented orientation and practice sessions designed to help applicants prepare for tests and interviews. Physical agility tests were held for a dozen applicants at a time every two hours from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. all week, and multiple sessions were scheduled for the written test this weekend….

….one morning this week for a test of his physical agility, endurance and strength. Each applicant had to bench press 78 percent of his or her weight, do 30 full sit-ups in one minute and finish a 1.5-mile run in less than 15 minutes, 54 seconds.

Click on the following to read all of the story:  More than 500 apply for Rockford Police Department openings - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

News and Investigations Staff Overtime Soars At Illinois Prisons

The worker who out-earned almost every rank-and-file employee in the Illinois prison system in 2014 was not a corrections officer, administrator or counselor. It was a nurse who more than doubled her annual income working overtime at the Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet.

The Stateville nurse, Loreatha Coleman, earned more than $184,000, including almost $100,000 in overtime pay, in the state's fiscal year that ended last June.

She's hardly alone.

While Gov. Bruce Rauner this month promised to hire more prison guards, citing "an unsafe environment" in one of the country's largest prison systems, across-the-board understaffing cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years.

The Illinois Department of Corrections forked over $320 million in employee overtime and compensatory payments over a five-year period, a BGA Rescuing Illinois investigation found.

The annual payouts are among the largest of any state agency. The cumulative figure is almost twice as much paid during the same period to employees of the Illinois Department of Transportation, an agency that drew criticism in a state audit for excessive overtime in recent years.

Officials with the state's largest public employee union, sympathetic politicians and prison reform advocates see excessive overtime as symptomatic of dangerous under-staffing while corrections officials argued for years that it's an unwelcome, but manageable, strain on the system. In his State of the State address earlier this month, Rauner acknowledged a problem.

"The conditions in our prisons are unacceptable," Rauner said. "Inmates and corrections officers alike find themselves in an unsafe environment. It's wrong."
Rauner, who has yet to name a new director of corrections, didn't specify how many guards he plans to hire. He also touted reforming the parole system to help reduce the prisoner population, now at about 48,000, by a quarter over the next decade.
Overtime is a result of deep staff cuts at the prisons -- reductions that aren't saving money because hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent on overtime pay, critics contend.

---

Double Shifts Add Up

Department of Corrections overtime paid annually over the past five years*

2014  $71.6 million
2013  $72.7 million
2012  $57.1 million
2011  $54.4 million
2010  $63.8 million

*Fiscal years ending June 30.

Click on the following to read all of the report:  News and Investigations Staff Overtime Soars At Illinois Prisons

State owes some Illinois State Police troopers $10,000 each : State

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois budget woes mean Illinois State Police troopers aren't getting all the pay they're owed.

Some are due as much as $10,000 in back pay, as well as in unpaid raises and allowances, the Springfield Bureau of Lee Enterprises newspapers reported over the weekend. That's true even though troopers secured raises through arbitration last year.

Steve Clemente, president of Troopers Lodge 41, which represents more than 1,400 state police employees, was in Springfield earlier this month to lobby for the money to be included in the upcoming budget. And Clemente said, "We're hoping it comes through."

But with yawning budgetary shortfalls, there's competition for state money from a long list of agencies insisting they need cash injection, too.

State legislators put together a budget plan in May that counted on the state's temporary income tax increase being extended on Jan. 1; but it wasn't extended. And without that extra revenue, state programs this fiscal year could be short hundreds of millions of dollars.

New Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is expected to address these and other issues when the Republican delivers his first budget address on Wednesday.

Read the entire story by clicking on the following:  State owes some Illinois State Police troopers $10,000 each : State

Rauner order means no money for auto theft task force - News - The State Journal-Register - Springfield, IL

 

By Matt Buedel
GateHouse Media Illinois
Posted Feb. 12, 2015 at 3:17 PM

PEORIA — A task force that investigates stolen vehicles throughout central Illinois appears poised to disband at the end of the week after Gov. Bruce Rauner froze grant funds that reimburse officers' salaries.

The State and Local Auto Theft Enforcement Task Force, which is based in Peoria, consists of officers from area police agencies and the Illinois State Police. Like a handful of other similar task forces around the state, SLATE is funded by grants from the Illinois Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Council.

The grant money reimburses participating agencies for the salaries of officers assigned to the task forces. The council obtains funding for its grants from a $1 per vehicle per year fee that all auto insurance companies have been required to pay since the council was established by state statute in 1991.

Rauner froze that pool of money with an executive order issued Jan. 12 that prohibited disbursement of most grants until July 1 or until the grants can be reviewed by the Governor's Office of Management and Budget.

"I understand why the governor is doing what he is doing, but this is a fund set up through insurance companies to fight auto vehicle theft around the state," said Bartonville Police Chief Brian Fengel, who is one of 11 members on the council. "It's insurance company money, not taxpayer money."

For SLATE, the executive order apparently amounts to a stop-work order. Officers assigned to the task force will continue operations until Friday, then return to their home agencies. …

 

Click on the following for more details: Rauner order means no money for auto theft task force - News - The State Journal-Register - Springfield, IL

Breaking News: L.A. mayor to announce citywide rollout of on-body cameras for police -

 

Mayor Eric Garcetti is set to announce today the rollout of on-body cameras for LAPD officers citywide.

Garcetti is also expected to lay out how the department will carry out the plan.

Advocates say the cameras will be a valuable tool for the department. The ability to record audio and video of police encounters with the public, they say, could help guard against officer misconduct and clear cops who are falsely accused of wrongdoing.

Read more: http://lat.ms/16pKLYI

Belvidere police release traffic enforcement results - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

BELVIDERE — Belvidere police officers conducted 76 traffic stops that resulted in 100 tickets or arrests as part of its Sustained Traffic Enforcement Program.

The department received grant funding from the Illinois Department of Transportation to hire off-duty officers from Nov. 17-30 for the two-week traffic enforcement campaign, Police Chief Jan Noble said in a news release.

Citations and arrests included: 57 seat belt, 10 child seat, 12 uninsured, and five equipment violations, two driving on a suspended, revoked or without a license, three for moving violations, eight for using an electronic device/cell phone, and one ticket each was issued for speeding, driving under the influence and driving with a blood alcohol content over the legal limit of .08 percent.

Belvidere police will continue to increase traffic patrols throughout the holiday season. Motorists are encouraged to slow down, “buckle up” and refrain from distracted driving.

Belvidere police release traffic enforcement results - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Boone County sheriff candidates face off in question-and-answer session - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

By Susan Vela
Rockford Register Star

Vying to become Boone County's top law enforcer, Republican sheriff candidates Phil Beu and Dave Ernest distinguished themselves Tuesday at an hour-long question-and-answer session before nearly 100 audience members.

Beu, 54, spent 32 years with the sheriff's office, holding various positions including master sergeant/lieutenant of operations. His duties also once included hiring for the agency now employing nearly 40 deputies, which he said gave him knowledge of its strengths and weaknesses.

"When you see patrol cars, that's a deterrent," he said, of the importance of officers out in the community.

Ernest, 50, is the deputy chief of the Belvidere Police Department.

"I love that department. And I love that city," he said, highlighting his experience fighting gang activity and his philosophy about working with the community.

Click on the following to read all of the story:  Boone County sheriff candidates face off in question-and-answer session - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Illinois police object to fraction of gun-carry permits - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

CHICAGO - Police across Illinois have objected to just 236 applications from people seeking to carry concealed weapons out of 33,631 submitted to the state police.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Friday that a state licensing board will consider objections within 30 days of a police department filing one. The board has a former judge, two former prosecutors, three former FBI agents and a psychiatry professor.

Read the entire story by clicking on the following:  Illinois police object to fraction of gun-carry permits - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Belvidere/Boone County’s MOST WANTED

Belvidere Daily Republican: FEATURED NEWS

 

Liquidation via ‘information highway’ best for BPD

Nov. 10, 2013

By Troy A. Bruzewski

Editor

BELVIDERE – The police have taken to a different highway to nab people and the effort starting with writing an item description, rather than a ticket.

The Belvidere Police Dept. is garnering financial results from its efforts on eBay, selling its decommissioned and seized vehicles. For nearly eight years, BPD has used the online location to sell various items, most recently they were of the two-wheel variety.

In October, the department listed two motorcycles that were seized; the pair of Harley-Davidsons brought a total of $9,000. The month prior, a decommissioned SUV and a seized Chevy Tracker netted $3,084.

Mayor Mike Chamberlain said using online auctions has provided numerous benefits for the city and police.

“We’ve found we do better on eBay (than one annual live auction),” he said. “It’s more effective and it’s at a lower cost.”

Annual police and city auctions were once the standard for government to alleviate itself of the accruing merchandise, but taking the effort online helps avoid the multiple potential pitfalls of relying on an auction held live.

Internet auctions present the items to a worldwide audience and aren’t affected by poor weather. One rainy day can affect a budget, when it comes to raising operating funds by a live auction.

“A live auction can go unattended, or have so few bids that they’re too low to accept,” Chamberlain said. “From the online perspective, it’s more efficient and has better success.”

And with the duration of online auctions, people who won’t be available in the auction’s closing seconds can still place their maximum bid days prior, with automatic bidding.

Chief Jan Noble said the results have been excellent for the department and the city.

“We get much more return for using eBay, than we would on a Saturday auction,” he said. “It has greatly benefitted the city and returned tax dollars to the city for items that no longer had use.”

The top bidders are required to visit the department to complete the transaction, paying by certified check or using Paypal. Noble said the reaching effect of online auctions is evident by the distances traveled by those who got the final bid. Top bidders for BPD auctions have come from at least four other states.

Chamberlain said future in-person auctions aren’t out of the question, but in the meantime residents can follow BPD auctions by accessing the seller name “belviderepolice” on eBay.

 

Retirement, promotion for BPD

Nov. 8, 2013

BELVIDERE – The Belvidere Police Dept. announced one retirement and one promotion.Sergeant Mark Pollock is being promoted to the rank of Deputy Chief of Administrative and Support Services; while Deputy Chief William Falkenstein is retiring after 25 years with the BPD.Pollock started with BPD in April, 1991 and was promoted to Sergeant in June, 1998. He’s been both Sergeant of the Detective Division and Sergeant of the Patrol Division.Falkenstein began with BPD in 1988 and was promoted to Sergeant in 1991, then promoted to Deputy Chief in 1996. .

To read the most up to date BDR stories go to:  rvpnews | Belvidere Daily Republican

A replacement BK, new police vehicle are on the way | Belvidere Daily Republican

Written by Troy A. Bruzewski,

Chamberlain said the city avoided using any tax funds for the purchase of a multi-use vehicle for the Belvidere Police and it significantly updates this facet of the department.

BPD’s “Multi-Use Rapid Response Vehicle” was secured by funding from the Federal Asset Forfeiture Account, which covered the entire $71,220.

“This will replace our ages-old ambulance that was used as our SWAT vehicle, crime scene vehicle and sometimes at events it would be a command center vehicle,” he said. “It’s a good idea to get an upgrade and not taking it from taxpayer funds.”

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  A replacement BK, new police vehicle are on the way | Belvidere Daily Republican

Police alert business community of possible scam | Belvidere Daily Republican

 

BELVIDERE – The police department was recently contacted by Belvidere District 100 in reference to a possible scam.  It has been reported that several businesses have been contacted by a subject representing Carrie Bell’s World Class Advertising. The caller is allegedly selling advertising space in a program booklet for Belvidere High School and Belvidere North High School. According to the school district, no such booklet has been authorized.

If any business has paid for any advertising from this company, please call Detective Chris Washburn at 815-547-6393

Police alert business community of possible scam | Belvidere Daily Republican

Interesting Boone County Journal Articles from the August 16, 2013 paper

Go to: http://www.boonecountyjournal.com/news/2013/Boone-County-News-08-16-13.pdf#page=1 ---to read the article.

Page 1. Boone County Animal Services

Page 5 Boone County Veterans Assistance Commission requests $25,000 advance

Page 8.  Democratic Fair Questionnaire

Page 9.  Shooting in Poplar Grove

Page 10.  Police Reports are suspended

To read these and other interesting stories go to:  http://www.boonecountyjournal.com/news/2013/Boone-County-News-08-16-13.pdf#page=1 

Deputy shoots, kills armed man | Belvidere Daily Republican

 

POPLAR GROVE – The man killed in the officer-involved shooting on Sunday, August 11 in Poplar Grove has been identified as Russell D. Donahue, 44, of Rockford. An autopsy by Boone County Coroner, Rebecca Wigget showed he died from multiple gunshot wounds. His death remains under investigation.

Donahue had shot through the front door of a home in Poplar Grove around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday. Two Boone County deputies responded quickly to the scene and both allegedly fired shots at the armed man and killed him.

A woman and two young children were in the home at the time, and the deputies considered them in danger from the intruder.

The case will now go to the Boone County State’s Attorney’s Office for review to determine whether the shooting was justified.

Click on the following for more details:  Deputy shoots, kills armed man | Belvidere Daily Republican

Here is a link to the Rockford Register Star’s coverage of the incident:  http://www.rrstar.com/news/jenniferwheeler/x273448586/Intruder-identified-in-Poplar-Grove-shooting

The following is a news release from the Integrity Task Force which is investigating the police role in the incident.

Hunger Strike by California Inmates, Already Large, Is Expected to Be Long - NYTimes.com

Estimates that 30,000 inmates, 2/3 of CA prisons involved in strike.  Read the entire article for all the issues involved.

 

By JENNIFER MEDINA

Published: July 10, 2013

The protest is centered on the state’s aggressive solitary confinement practices, but it appeared to have attracted support from many prisoners with their own demands for changes in prison conditions.

California is facing the threat of being charged with contempt of court after a Supreme Court order in May 2011 to reduce its prison population by 10,000 inmates this year. The court said crowding and terrible conditions inside the prison system constituted inhumane treatment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. On Wednesday, the state filed for a stay of the court’s order to release prisoners.

 

Click on the following for the entire article:  Hunger Strike by California Inmates, Already Large, Is Expected to Be Long - NYTimes.com

Dave Ernest to run for Boone County Sheriff - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

 

I am a proven leader with the vision and ideas to bring this county into a new chapter. I am excited for the opportunity to lead the sheriff’s department in the future and build upon what Sheriff (Duane) Wirth has built over the last 35 years,” Ernest said.

Ernest is the only person who has thrown his hat into the ring for Boone County Sheriff. Wirth said he will not be seeking re-election

Click on the following for more details:  Dave Ernest to run for Boone County Sheriff - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star