* Check out this bizarre story of the Antioch police chief who allegedly tried to attack a state representative candidate after the candidate’s son and two friends were harrassed for - get this - campaigning without a permit…
Antioch Police Chief James Foerster is on paid administrative leave while officials investigate accusations he tried to attack state representative candidate Scott Pollak, village officials confirmed Tuesday. […]
Pollak, running as a Democrat in the state House District 61 race, said Foerster had to be restrained by Antioch Mayor Larry Hanson and a police officer during the July 27 meeting in the chief’s office. […]
Pollak said the meeting stemmed from a confrontation earlier that day between a police officer and Pollak’s 18-year-old son and two 16-year-old friends over whether a permit was needed to campaign door-to-door in the Hidden Creek subdivision. […]
He said the officer told the group they needed a permit, which the teens disputed. When Pollak’s son called him to explain the situation, Pollak said he could hear the officer yelling and using profanity. When he arrived at the scene, the officer had left, but his son had copied down the license plate number. [Emphasis added]
Hidden Creek subdivision is a nice place, but I checked with the village administrator and was told it is not a gated community. Why anybody in law enforcement would think that American citizens would need a permit to campaign door to door is simply beyond me. The fact that the police chief allegedly got all hostile doesn’t reflect well on the community, either…
In a written statement presented to the Village Board Monday, Pollack said, “the chief was very blunt and direct and very defensive of his officer and how he had handled the call.”
Pollak said the chief became visibly angry. “The chief suddenly rose from behind his desk and started to fiercely come at me and yelling,” Pollak’s statement read. ”At that time all three officers that were present in the room and also the mayor had to restrain him.”
Pollak said the chief stormed out of the room.
Foerster was placed on leave July 28.
* In other campaign-related news, the man who almost sank Gov. Pat Quinn’s primary hopes may be out after the election, Sneed says…
He let the prisoners out. Now it seems he will be out.
• To wit: Word is Illinois Department of Corrections Director Michael P. Randle, who spearheaded the early inmate release program that caused major headaches for Gov. Quinn, is sending out resumes.
• Quoth a source: “He’s still got his day job with IDOC, but word is he will be replaced after the coming election.”
We’ll see. I was hearing the same thing before the primary. But if he does get out after the election, it’s still too late. Way too late. And he might manage to tube Quinn in the general, so he’ll be looking for another job anyway.
* Meanwhile, the Illinois Civil Justice League doesn’t have much cash in its campaign account yet, but that isn’t stopping it from attacking Illinois Supreme Court Justice Kilbride, who is up for retention this November. From a press release…
llinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas Kilbride has a record that is hostile to Illinois law enforcement.
He voted in favor of the rights of convicted felons — and ruled against the police — in 81% of the split decision cases on which he has ruled.
That’s not just weak on crime — it’s an insult to the law enforcement professionals who risk their lives every day to protect our families.
Justice Kilbride’s father passed away last Saturday, by the way - about five days before that press release was issued.
* Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias was met with some “pro-testers” today during the president’s visit. From the NRSC…
* And here’s your Campaign 2010 roundup…
* Governing Magazine on Illinois state legislative control: The Democrats ought to be in worse shape than they are in Illinois, considering the black eye the party has gotten from the saga of ousted Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich (now on trial for corruption-related charges) as well as the failed-bank travails of the party’s U.S. Senate nominee, Alexi Giannoulias. But the GOP has longstanding corruption baggage of its own, and the electorate in the populous Chicago area is sufficiently moderate-to-liberal to keep the Democrats in the driver’s seat. It’s possible that eight years of unified Democratic control could grate on voters and push them to vote Republican this fall, but for now anyway, the Democratic margins in the legislature seem big enough to withstand the storm.
* State Rep Greg Harris will not run for Helen Shiller’s 46th ward seat, mum on endorsement: Though he will not be a candidate himself, Harris has also no plans at the moment—or if at all–to endorse any of the currently declared candidates or any candidate that may yet emerge. “One day at a time,” said Harris. “I’m focused on what I’m doing today.”
* Walker, Larson engage Stroger on red-light cameras
* Press release: Candidate Bill Brady Wasting Taxpayer Dollars for Personal Gain: Bill Brady and the Illinois Republican Party are behind the petition challenges to several legitimate candidates who have filed to run for office in Illinois. The “binder check” process has revealed countless examples of completely bogus objections to petition signatures. Election office employees threw out tens of thousands of those bogus objections from Brady and the Republicans because the signatures were obviously valid.
* Dold starts radio ad campaign in 10th Dist. race
* Halvorson slams profits from death of veterans
* Bernard Schoenburg: Rangel donations an issue in Schilling-Hare race
* Congressman Hare Visits Two Local Fire Departments
* Maher, Gorman race refining loyalties in Orland Park
* Sen. Roland Burris’ rough day in the Senate
- G. Willickers - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 12:15 pm:
“Walker, Larson engage Stroger on red-light cameras”
Go Mark Go!
Strangely, Dave Harris (GOP-1980s) has a post up on his campaign website *complaining* about the Stroger tax when it was actually Mark Walker - the guy Harris is trying to beat - that worked to get the veto override bill through so the Cook County commissioners could overrule Stroger and pull back the tax.
And of course it is the Republicans who are lying about Mark Walker and Stroger. Not that the Republicans haven’t been lying about Walker since literally day one during the 2008 campaign and just about every day since.
- loyalwhig - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 1:20 pm:
Will the mayor be arrested for preventing the police chief from throttling someone?
- Anonymous - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 1:32 pm:
Justice Kilbride’s father passed away last Saturday, by the way - about five days before that press release was issued.
Does his father passing have anything to do with his record? or are you just trying to buy him some sympathy
- JeffTrigg - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 1:48 pm:
Rich, thank you for the NTUI Brady/GOP wasting money release link. I liked this part.
“With the large number of objections that have been overruled, it looks like Bill Brady and his Republican operatives are either incompetent, crooked, or both,” said Tobin.
- RJW - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 1:54 pm:
Rich:
The Roland Burris link does not seem to be working.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 2:42 pm:
Antioch ain’t the North Shore. They play a little rough up there.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 2:45 pm:
Apparently. I mean, wow, a permit to campaign?
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 3:02 pm:
I am a bit curious why such light commenting on this post. It has everything. Stomping on 1st Amendment rights and Randle the magnificent. Strange.
- Wumpus - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 3:31 pm:
To be fair, those republicans are lying. Alexi is no longer a banker due to some Federal Govt Acquisitions of a certain family bank.
- Dan Bureaucrat - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 3:43 pm:
Anytime someone gets out of prison, there is a risk that they will reoffend. But, we have to release people at some point because we can’t afford to lock up them forever. And it turns out, when we lock them up for longer, it actually increases the risk that they will reoffend when they get out.
The smartest thing we can do would be to lower the recidivism rate. It reduces future victims and cuts costs by reducing future overcrowding. There are proven methods. Randle was hired, in part, because of his commitment to doing this. Randle entered a system with dangerous levels of overcrowding. The most dangerous risk factor for violence in an institution is overcrowding, so he has to worry about the safety of his staff and the whole system. With Walker NEVER on the job, the whole system was in disarray.
Still, you might be thinking: “Well, Randle let out violent prisoners with his early release program.” So, let’s break that down, and even if you don’t agree with it, just take a moment to see why he did it.
The people released from MGT Push would have all been out in less than 2 months (the average was ~27 days). So holding off on other concerns for a moment, the main thing the IDOC did was release a lot of people about 27 days early. You simply can’t get around this fact: whatever risk they posed to the public, they also would have posed that risk 27 days later. The IDOC had absolute discretion to do this and it was completely legal.* Previously, their convention had been to make prisoners stay 2 months first before they got this type of good time (MGT).
So why did Randle do it? He was in a financial crisis. These prisoners were chosen precisely because they had so little time to serve, and that made them the most stupidly expensive people for the IDOC to deal with. After all, they just got processed in and turned around and processed out with no programming inbetween to rehabilitate them. (They called them 61 day wonders.) Some people think that somehow the IDOC caused these people to avoid their long sentences, but that is false. There are other–unrelated–forms of day-to-day good time that they got, and also credit for time in jail, and all this was conflated in the media reports. Judges take all this into account when sentencing, so they didn’t get off easy. So, in exchange for letting these people out an average of 27 days early, the IDOC saved millions of dollars which they desperately need to deal with overcrowding. Given the astronomically high recidivism in the IDOC in general (50%), these people actually had a very low recidivism rate. I know it is sacrilegious for me to say it, but it wasn’t a stupid plan. And many states lower their populations with early release because they have to for their own safety. Those states, incidentally, have no increase in crime as they do this, and in fact have lower crime.
Now, you could say that all this makes no difference to the victim of one of these people or to anyone who was hurt once they got out. And that is absolutely true. Some victims feel that they should have spent every day they were sentenced. I understand that, but you can’t lay it on Randle. Our system has a lot of good time built in. And, we have put him in the position of trying to strike a balance between these guys who on their way out, the safety of his staff, and creating beds for new prisoners coming in. If we want to keep everyone in prison, and continue to raise penalties for everything, then we simply have to commit to giving the IDOC more money. And, anyway, most of these people had very minor offenses. The unfortunate truth is that there will be new victims no matter when people get out. If we want to work on that problem, we need to commit to lowering recidivism or raise taxes A LOT and stop letting people out.
Somehow people have been conditioned to think that we can live without risk, but we can’t. It is also a problem to think that one official is responsible every time a crime is committed by a former offender. We have a high recidivism rate people, let’s deal with it! And in the meantime, put yourself in the position of being IDOC director for just one second before you lambast the one we have.
- Dan Bureaucrat - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 3:45 pm:
PS. I swear I wasn’t gonna say anything but you invited me, Rich.
- TwoFeetThick - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 3:50 pm:
Regarding the light commenting on this post, I offer this opinion (which might spur some commentary): having worked Democratic campaigns all over the state, I don’t find it whatsoever unusual that the police would be trying to intimidate a Democratic candidate or staff while they are campaigning, it happens all of the time (in my experience). Going door-to-door, I’ve had the police called on me, been threatened with arrest, been told I’m trespassing in the neighborhood (a public neighborhood, not gated or restricted in any way) and must leave, been told I needed a permit, told that I failed to notify police that I would be campaigning there (!?) So I must stop, saw police parking squads outside primarily African American polling places in an apparent effort to suppress presumably Democratic turnout, etc.
In my experience, law enforcement tends to come from the right side of the political spectrum, and some use their power to further their personal political agenda - I’m not surprised to see this chief and officers acting this way against a Democratic candidate. It IS surprising that it’s being reported.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 3:54 pm:
GOOD POST DAN. Mike Randle is not the problem but is part of the solution to what ails DOC. I cant believe Quinn would seriously think of firing Randle who is the most effective professional DOC chief we have had. But Quinn did off the most professional head o fthe Prisin Review Board Jorge Montes. what in the world is Quinn thinking?
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 3:57 pm:
===part of the solution to what ails DOC===
Because countermanding a direct gubernatorial order and keeping it secret is so part of the solution. Right.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 4:41 pm:
I wonder about the direct order or was this just a spin. Regardless Randle has successsfully addressed major issues at Tammas supermax,is conducting through review by Vera highly respected national correction group to provide direction by classification and lockdowns; vists a different prison every week; ask DOC veterabs who have been struggling for years to provide services and security but have been ignored b/c of DOC culture that rewards political relationship not professional behavour. Randle is like a breath of frest air in DOC. The problem in DOC is the lack of political will by every governor in recent memory to address issues in DOC that are lack of progams and political hankypanky.
Early release is not the issue in DOC and Randle should not be blamed for this. The recidivism rate is over 50% one out of every two come back. of course some who leave will reoffend even if they would have served the additonal 37 days that MGT allowed them. The issue is how to reduce recividism, protect public safety respect the rights of everyone. Mike Randle is the best person to accomplish these goals
- Anonymous - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 4:50 pm:
I question whether there was a direct gubernatorial order or is this justmore spin. Randle has addressed major issues at Tamms supermax, has nationall respected Vera group examine prison conditions and submit recommendatiosn, visits a prison once a week and has visited and interacted with frontline staff more in past six months than other direcotrs did ihn 16 years, staff morale has improved ask any veteran DOC employed who values security and programs and they will tell you mike randle is what DOC needs.
the real issues in DOC has to do with lack of programs, a culture that rewards stonewalling and political relationships and a recidivism rate of over 50%. Of course some peo0le will reoffend even if early release resulted in their leaving 37 days early and then lets all pile on Randle. Come on get real. If DOC and indeeed all illinoisans dont begin to reduce prison population there wont be enough money or prisons to hold the folks. SOme would say this is ok as means jobs and money for buildings but it sure wont make anybody safer. I hear the prison populatin has increased by couple thousands in last few months b/c nobody is leaving and we locking folks up as far as we cna. what a threadmill and randle aitn the problem
- bartelby - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 5:02 pm:
I have met Randle on several occasions — he was smart, energetic, professional and pragmatic. He deserves to keep his job. The whole MBT Push “scandal” is a joke. All he did was what the law allowed, what made sense, and what saved the citizens money: that is, stop insisting that guys serve a short, minimum sentence when that sentence was expensive and did nothing to prevent future crimes. Yes, some guys re-offended, but lets be real — with a 50% recidivism rate in Illinois, it is sure to happen. This was not some “secret plan” — it was by the book administration that got hijacked by an uniformed and scandal-hungry press.
- G. Willickers - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 7:25 pm:
@Rich - Several towns require people going door-to-door to get a permit to do so. If that’s the case there’s often no difference between campaigning door-to-door for politics or soliciting door-to-door for vacuum cleaners or magazine subscriptions or whatever.
Maybe that’s what the Antioch ordinance is.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 8:13 pm:
I guess Randle moving his family up to Chicago last month from Springfield will give him more time in Chicago to perform his job search since he’s hardly in Springfield (the seat of the State government, remember) anymore.
- southern illinoisan - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 8:22 pm:
Randle is a big part of the problem. The previous posts that indicate all of the great things he has done are way off. Staff morale is still terrible. There is no accountability and trust me the Randle MGT push is only one of many blunders. There are many other early release initiatives that have put dangerous criminals on the street much sooner than they should have.
The only real hope for DOC and all other state agencies is a change in Administrations after the Nov election. Quinn has steadfastly refused to get rid of Blago cronies and there still to many hacks that can’t do the work.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 8:54 pm:
wonder if two anonymous on here. I just heard Randle turned down job offer to be chief of doc in a neigboring large state. Now someone believes he is competent. I understand Randle turned it down so what ismessage here.
southerrn early release is not the problem and folks i talk with in DOC have prasie for randle and will vote democrat b/c of randle.
- Dan Bureaucrat - Thursday, Aug 5, 10 @ 9:16 pm:
southern illinoisan: I have to chuckle at your post simply because there is no information there. What are these “other early release blunders” and “many early release initiatives that have put dangerous criminals on the street”?
Also, Walker was a Blago crony and Quinn replaced with Randle. Was there accountability for all those years with Walker who never came to work and let Sergio Molina try to do everything? Most definitely not–that was a seriously scattered disaster of an agency.
I agree with you that IDOC staff morale is very bad, but that is because of new record overcrowding. Why? Because Brady passed a law taking away IDOC discretion to use MGT early release. That was an essential tool of the IDOC and it eased overcrowding. Now, Brady has just (unintentionally) done the equivalent of increasing sentences and putting the prisons into some seriously dangerous overcrowding. I think you are asking for too much if you want prison staff to be happy.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Friday, Aug 6, 10 @ 9:12 am:
Nice of Ed Murnane and the Illinois Civil Justice League to wait until the day after Kilbride buried his dad to unleash on him.
Ruled against the police in 81% of split decisions?
Whattheheck kind of statistic is that, anyway? And since when are ‘the police’ parties to any case before the Supreme Court?
This just shows how desperate Murnane is: his group was founded to work on CIVIL justice issues, and all he can dig up on Kilbride is a bunch of bogus CRIMINAL rulings.
- downstater - Friday, Aug 6, 10 @ 10:10 am:
I agree Rich Randall should have been fired right from the start. Randall will be the cause of the “NO WIN QUINN”! Giving out raises to personal staff was also a stupid move on Quinns part.
- ugh - Friday, Aug 6, 10 @ 10:23 am:
Murnane is ridiculous. That press release is almost laughable. And while the press release may not have anything to do with his father, it is telling that they released it three days after his dad died. This group is following him like a hawk, so they had to know his father was ill. It just shows poor taste.
== Ruled against the police in 81% of split
decisions? ==
I believe most of the police organizations in Illinois would completely disagree with Murnane’s take on the situation.
- Magic Carpet - Monday, Aug 9, 10 @ 3:11 am:
I’m from Antioch and have checked with the village and no permits are required for door to door campaigning. It’s funny how the teenagers know their constitutional rights and the cop didn’t. It’s just a case of the police behaving badly just because they have a badge and a gun and maybe Pollak’s opponent didn’t want him canvassing the neighboorhood because she feels threatened because she is an encumbant who has done absolutely nothing for this district.