Undersheriff Andy Zinke at a County Board meeting.
McHenry County Undersheriff Andrew Zinke and losing candidate (but not by much) to succeed Sheriff Keith Nygren has resigned, effective midnight.
An email was sent by John Miller at 12:21 this afternoon.
Subject: US Zinke ResignationThe Undersheriff tendered his resignation it becomes effective midnight tonight. He has taken a job with another law enforcement agency.
In the event something pressing comes up from then until Sheriff Prim is sworn in at approximately 0830 Monday morning please notify me ASAP.
I will keep you all posted with regard to command structure and any changes that take place after tomorrow when Sheriff Prim is sworn in.
Nygren’s choice to succeed himself sent an email to Sheriff’s Department employees announcing he was leaving for employment in another law enforcement agency.
In 2013, Zinke earned $146,272.04. That was up from $136,021.08 in 2012.
Zinke was defeated in the Republican Primary Election by incoming Sheriff Bill Prim, who went on to beat Independent Jim Harrison in the General Election.
Prim will be sworn in at 8:15 Monday morning in the room 204 of the Courthouse in a ceremony open to the public
First smart move that Zinke ever made.
Jumping ship before the investigations start.
Smart.
Now Miller should be as smart and get the hell out of Dodge.
Deputies have been lining up to tell Sheriff Prim about the Patrol Commander.
From what I understand there is evidence of perjury, official misconduct, EEO violations, deception, retaliation and more.
It all flows through Miller.
Agreed.
If vermin leave a sinking ship, what happens to the next ship?
Guess he couldn’t face the new Sheriff……
whoever hired him should make him wear gloves…
I mean mittens..no loose fingers !
I hope the new Sheriff exposes all the mess that Zinke has left and all the wheeling and dealing Zinke has done before Prim takes office.
Why would anyone hire Zinke to do anything in law enforcement.
The investigations will still go on.
Zinke can’t run away from those no matter where he goes.
Hopefully there will be a new patrol Commander.
NWH reports he has another job in the area.
I wonder if it police chief of Algonquin – I think I recently read their chief is retiring.
Algonquin, I believe found a new chief and it is not Zinke.
I would like to think he will have a job at the Department of Corrections.
All too sudden and kept pretty quiet.
So glad that he is leaving.
There will be dancing in the streets at MCSO.
Sure hope Algonquin was smarter than to hire this incompetent
Classy.
A real leader would face those serving under his command.
Not send his resignation through a third party email.
That narcissistic goof couldn’t even shake hands with the sheriff elect and leave with dignity.
So true Magellan, he has always been classless
The guy is “classless” for looking for another job in the face of a politically based demotion?
Sounds like a simple decision for any family man to move to a more stable and better long term career move.
Hopefully the man lands in a position he can simply focus on Law Enforcement and Public Safety and get’s away from the petty county politic’s that cause a glass ceiling for anyone who simply wants to be move up in the department.
A close election was won and now political backers are being rewarded and opponents are facing retaliation.
It is the same old/same old here in McHenry County.
Let’s not pretend like it is something new, as Bianchi’s side of the old boys club and big money won this time.
At the end of the day it is not long term Deputies like Zinke trying to navigate the local politics who are the problem in this county it’s the “money” holders and the local political insiders who make their presence necessary for anyone wanting to move up in ranks… and if you don’t think the appointment of Ms. Salgado doesn’t show that Mr. Prim is as indebted to the local political cliques as anyone ever has been then you are just naive or foolish.
You must be kidding……Zinke was and always will be a thug and bully and he is a disgrace and embarrassment to all law enforcement professionals.
There was a rumor a couple of months ago that Woodstock’s Mayor Sager wanted to hire Zinke.
Is Chief Lowen retiring?
‘butseriously” Zinke and Harrison had more money than the Prim camp.
Clearly, Prim won because he is honest, professional and the right person for the job; that is why the people voted him in.
Further, Prim is indebted to no one.
Andy, ran a leads report on a license plate, which by the way is a felony and he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
If the States Attorneys office does not prosecute, the people will be deeply disappointed.
Then again, Andy has behaved as if the rules don’t apply to him.
Remember, the Rita Corporation fiasco, the leads report and more? Andy has proven over and over again that he does not deserve to be in a leadership role as he is no asset to the people of the community.
Andy’s resignation is one of the best things that ever happened to McHenry County.
Have to feel real sorry for the people he plans to dictate next!
Zinke and Harrison had more money than Prim?
You do realize that this is a traceable fact, right?
Andy Zinke is well respected in professional law enforcement circles despite his not being favored among some local political backroom power brokers.
Thus why he will be picked up quickly by another agency and have a long career unlike a few of the former disgruntled Deputies who can’t find any law enforcement agency willing to hire them.
I do get it though, one of the two bitterly split halves of the McHenry county old boy’s network won a close race so now they have to seek bitter reprisals wherever they can.
Nothing is worse than sore winners.
Winning often shows someones true character.
Don’t know what happened to Andy but he has become a small, sad excuse for a police officer with no integrity or class.
I do hope that Prim assigns an intelligent investigator to look into some of the serious crimes that have been “investigated” in the past.
I would start with any murders where MIAT where excluded.
Also, some of the “suicides” in the past need another look.
One that comes to mind from years back was when the young man in question was found in the trunk of his own car and the self inflicted gunshot wounds were executed with his weak hand.
Regardless of all this, with Christmas approaching one can only hope that better times are ahead for the Sheriff’s office.
Folks, this is nothing new.
Stinky zinke always ran and cried when he didn’t get his way.
Any agency that would hire a new Law Enforcement officer in a supervisor role would always want “PR”, and issue press release for papers to get name recognition .
But it sounds like here if its true that stinky zinke got took a job, that the “new agency” is not happy to talk about it..ha ha,.
Andy will never change, the cry baby liar he is.
I find it amazing that the NW Herald allowed the article to report that Zinke is leaving the department and accepting another position WITHOUT IDENTIFYING THE OTHER SPECIFIC POSITION he has accepted.
It is very odd to avoid that detail without at least an explanation as to why that detail is left out.
That detail is extraordinarily important to complete the story.
Not having that detail is perplexing an attentive reader.
Why would the identification of his new position matter?
Why such a secret?
The fact that the reporter didn’t insist on that detail shows that the paper is a strong ally to Zinke and Nygren.
Zinke didn’t want that detail out and the paper was obedient to comply.
My guess is he’s headed to his thug pal in DeKalb.
Zinke said he was taking another job with a law enforcement agency.
Gee, that doesn’t mean a high ranking position.
He could be working by delivering dog food to the canine unit somewhere.
It is kind of funny the “victory lap” many of the Zinke haters are running here.
Think it through just a bit.
Zinke retired at his UnderSheriff pay rate instead of taking the inevitable demotion to Lieutenant.
As a financial decision it was a complete No-Brainer.
As young as he is that could be an extra $20k to 30k a year in retirement pay.
On top of that he will be taking another law enforcement management role and likely be paid commiserate with an experienced Law Enforcement manager with an MBA.
Anyone with half a brain knew becoming Sheriff was about local service but meant less money for him over time, having to leave is pretty much an unintended large financial windfall for his family.