McHenry County Blog

A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office:

FORMER DES PLAINES POLICE COMMANDER CHARGED WITH MAKING FALSE STATEMENTS ABOUT DUI ARERSTS IN FEDERAL FUNDING REPORTS

CHICAGO — A former Des Plaines Police Department commander was charged today with making false statements in reports that concealed the suburban department’s failure to meet the requirements of a federally-funded impaired-driving enforcement campaign between 2009 and 2012.

The defendant, TIMOTHY VEIT, allegedly inflated by 122 the number of arrests for driving under the influence and provided false information regarding blood-alcohol content levels for the fictitious arrests. As a result, the charges allege that Des Plaines fraudulently obtained $132,893 in federal reimbursement for overtime compensation.

Veit, 55, of Mt. Prospect, was with the Des Plains Police Department for 31 years and was commander of the support services division until he retired last year. He was charged with one count of making false statements in a felony information that was filed today. No date has been set yet for his arraignment in U.S. District Court.

Gary Shapiro

The charges were announced by Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Michelle McVicker, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General.

According to the charges, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration funded grants to state and local law enforcement agencies to conduct highway safety programs, including the Sustained Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP). Locally, the grants were administered through the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The STEP grants required intensive enforcement of specific traffic laws, coupled with other measures, at specific times of the year, particularly on major holidays when alcohol-involved and unbuckled fatalities were highest.

Veit served as project director for the Des Plaines Police Department’s participation in STEP enforcement campaigns and was responsible for certifying the department’s compliance with its terms and conditions, including the performance objective that grant recipients average at least one DUI arrest for every 10 hours of overtime worked by officers on impaired-driving enforcement.

STEP grant participants paid the program costs from local funds and then, after each enforcement campaign, submitted claims for reimbursement that covered overtime pay for officers, mileage, and equipment.

The reimbursement forms required such information as the identity of the project director, the total officer hours worked during each campaign, and the number of specific enforcement actions, such as DUI arrests, along with the blood-alcohol content level for each DUI arrest.

Between 2009 and 2012, the Illinois Transportation Department authorized a total of $170,366 in STEP funds for Des Plaines’ impaired-driving enforcement efforts.

After Veit collected and reviewed accurate information regarding the number of citations, including DUI arrests, issued by Des Plaines officers during each enforcement campaign, the charges allege that he then intentionally inflated the number of DUI arrests and provided false information about blood-alcohol content levels in the reimbursement forms.

Overall, between 2009 and 2012, Veit reported a total of 152 DUI arrests during STEP campaigns, when he knew that only 30 had actually occurred. The numbers allegedly reported and actually occurring in each year were: 2009 – 27 and 13; 2010 – 47 and 8; 2011 – 62 and 8; and 2012 – 16 and 1.

As a result of the false information that Veit allegedly provided, he caused a loss of $132,893 in federal funds that were reimbursed to the City of Des Plaines for impaired-driving enforcement campaigns.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Church.

Making false statements carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The public is reminded that the charges are not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

A press release from McHenry County Sheriff’s candidate Bill Prim:

VETERAN POLICE COMMANDER BILL PRIM DECLARES  CANDIDACY FOR SHERIFF;

VOWS TO RECONNECT OFFICE WITH THE PEOPLE OF MCHENRY

Bill Prim

Veteran Police Commander and longtime McHenry County resident Bill Prim announced Wednesday that he will be a candidate for the Republican nomination for McHenry County Sheriff in 2014, running on a platform of reforming and revitalizing the Sheriff’s Office.

Comdr. Prim, recently retired from the Des Plaines Police Department after a 27-year continuous career, said the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) desperately needs to break from its recent practices and forge a new identity based firmly upon the principles of

• accountability;
• improved community relations; and
• a new emphasis on tapping volunteer enthusiasm.

The 20-year Cary resident brings with him a wealth of experience and decades-long ties to other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. He vowed to repair the tattered fabric of relationships between the MCSO and other county agencies and their leadership.

“The Sheriff’s Office needs to work with and alongside other county departments,” Prim said. “No good has come out of all this constant intra-county friction.”

Similarly, Prim said, the various web of relationships with state and federal agencies needs rebuilding, not least because they can become the sources of much-needed funding, as can asset forfeiture (confiscation of funds and tangible assets from criminal defendants), a practice in which Comdr. Prim is an acknowledged expert.

In addition to supervision at every level, Prim has seen active service in various law enforcement specialty functions such as

• Gang Crimes
• Narcotics
• Criminal Investigations Division
• SWAT and
• Hostage Negotiation

and has graduated from some of law enforcement’s most prestigious training academies, including Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff and Command.

Prim said that if he is elected, the first task will be to repair and restore the image of the MCSO in the community.

“Whether real or simply perception, the image of the Sheriff’s Office currently is one of a private club managed for the benefit of its members, not a professional law enforcement agency drawing its legitimacy and authority from the citizens,”

Prim said.

“I intend to change that.”

In addition, Prim believes that top layers of management at the MCSO can be thinned without impacting safety or the quality of service.

If he is elected Sheriff, taxpayers can expect to see economies in administrative staff, Prim said.

Prim said that while the general election is more than two years away, and the Republican primary roughly a year and a half, he will begin to seek support among elected leaders, businessmen, law enforcement professionals and private citizens.

The various official and unofficial elements of his campaign will be developed in due course, he said, but he wanted to put interested parties on notice that he will be a candidate, and intends to be a successful one.

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You can read Prim’s resume here.

Almost a year ago McHenry County Undersheriff Andy Zinke announced his candidacy with Sheriff Keith Nygren’s full support.  August 1st, I learned of Jim Harrison’s intention to run against Zinke.  Now there are three.

The money lost at casinos in Illinois has increase over 20%, but money going to State Aid to Education is up only 2.1%.

One reason is that Illinois has a graduated income tax based on calendar years.

Because Des Plaines opened in July, it’s taxable income is based on six months revenue.

The other Chicago area casinos took huge hits on their gambling revenue, so their tax rates went down.

As you can see, the Des Plaines casino took money from all other Chicagoland casinos. Table: Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.

Besides that, the General Assembly sucked money off the top from what otherwise could have gone to education:

• 15% for the Horse Racing Equity Fund
• 2% as a subsidy to Cook County government for law enforcement
• 2% to Chicago State University (thank then-Senate President Emil Jones for that atrocity)

Gambling losses went up 33% in the first nine months of Fiscal Year 2012, according to the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.

But the four exiting casinos saw losers bet 12% less.  Elgin, the closest to Des Plaines, had betters lose 19% less.  That amounted to $41 million.

Indiana casinos saw betters lose 4% less or almost $40 million.

Undoubtedly because of the closeness of Des Plaines to Chicago, overall casino gambling loses were up 10.7%.