* Press release…
To help root out public corruption in Illinois, the Illinois State Police (ISP) Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has created an online form for the public to report suspected corruption directly to ISP.
“The Illinois State Police Special Investigations Unit is dedicated to seeking out those who abuse their position and power to take advantage of others, betraying the public’s trust,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly. “By making it easier for the public to confidentially report suspected corruption, we can begin restoring the public’s trust in government. ISP will continue to work with its partners in law enforcement to investigate misconduct and corruption.”
ISP created an online form where the public can provide information confidentially to the ISP SIU about suspected corruption. Examples of public corruption may include an elected official steering contracts to friends in exchange for a monetary kickback, overbilling a contractor and embezzling the money, personally benefiting from federal/state-funded programs, wire fraud, and money laundering.
The online form is for suspected public corruption allegations only. Individuals may be unsure to which law enforcement agency or department they should report claims of public corruption. Having allegations reported to one place will streamline the process and allow ISP to respond more quickly. ISP will triage all online submissions and determine the correct agency to handle the investigation.
Director Kelly established the Statewide SIU within the Division of Criminal Investigation in March 2020. SIU focuses on public corruption crimes and conducting investigations into criminal misconduct by elected officials and government appointees at the state, county, and local levels. SIU handles allegations of intimidation by public officials, fraud as it relates to state and local government procurement contracts, election fraud, misuse of a public official position, and acting as a source of influence to benefit from matters concerning the allocation of business enterprise, contracts, state-funded programs, kickbacks, and bribery. Since its creation, SIU has opened 82 cases, including dozens of joint cases with federal law enforcement agencies.
In one case, SIU investigated allegations of theft and official misconduct against a former township road commissioner accused of using the township credit card to make personal purchases. SIU found the purchases were made over two and a half years and totaled approximately $27,300. After SIU’s extensive investigation, the former commissioner faced 22 count of felony charges. He pled guilty and was sentenced to 18 months of probation and $27,300 restitution.
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In another case, SIU investigated allegations of theft and fraud by a former county coroner. SIU found the former coroner and his wife used taxpayer dollars to fund travel to other states for their son’s sports tournaments, forged official documents, and used a county credit card to buy gas for their personal vehicles for almost two years. SIU estimated the total thefts to be in the tens of thousands of dollars. SIU arrested both the former coroner and his wife who were charged with numerous felonies, including Theft of Government Funds, Unlawful Use of a Credit Card, Conspiracy to Commit Theft, Conspiracy to Commit Credit Card Fraud, and Official Misconduct. The coroner pled guilty and was sentenced to six months in jail, four years of probation, and ordered to repay $32,817.05.
The online form can be found on the ISP website under the Division of Criminal Investigations, Special Investigations Unit at https://isp.illinois.gov/CriminalInvestigations/SIUComplaintDisclaimerForm
I clicked through. You don’t need to include your name or address, but an email and phone number are required.
Thoughts?
…Adding… Maybe somebody could report this one…
At issue is the future of the building at 320 E. Main St. in Rochester that once housed The Alibi, a bar and restaurant. The building’s most recent tenant was Ben Suerdieck, who was evicted June 13 by a Sangamon County judge for failing to pay $9,075 in rent.
The week after Ben Suerdieck was evicted, his former landlord, who sought to reopen a business in the building, had his application for a liquor license rejected. The decision was made by Village President Joe Suerdieck, who is also the municipality’s liquor commissioner and the father of Ben.
- Benjamin - Thursday, Nov 30, 23 @ 1:30 pm:
I forsee a lot of chaff from this form, but I can also see that public employees concerned about a corrupt deal in their small communities who might not feel comfortable (or knowledgeable enough) going to the local authorities would find this useful.
- Anyone Remember - Thursday, Nov 30, 23 @ 1:39 pm:
Phone number? Reminds me of Blago’s original OEIG not being allowed to take anonymous complaints.
- George Ryan Reynolds - Thursday, Nov 30, 23 @ 1:39 pm:
Whew. Finally, corruption will be eliminated in this state. Our long Illinois nightmare is over.
- thisjustinagain - Thursday, Nov 30, 23 @ 2:01 pm:
So where’s Kwame at? (crickets). ISP is getting charges approved through local prosecutors, while the AG’s office needs the Feds to find corruption in 9/10 cases, leaving ISP to find the low-level cases. The email address and phone number are bad ideas; thanks to data mining and liberal data privacy laws the complainant could be identified in seconds. Well, Rome wasn’t built in a day…
- Just Me 2 - Thursday, Nov 30, 23 @ 2:04 pm:
Wait - didn’t Lisa Madigan campaign on doing the exact same thing at the Attorney General’s Office?
- Michelle Flaherty - Thursday, Nov 30, 23 @ 2:11 pm:
Corruption in Rochester? C’mon Rich, everyone knows corruption is a Chicago thing. It never happens downstate./s
- Squirrel - Thursday, Nov 30, 23 @ 2:32 pm:
I almost forgot about the Rochester story until I saw it in the IT today. Why is that guy still the mayor? Messy.
- Anyone Remember - Thursday, Nov 30, 23 @ 2:39 pm:
=== So where’s Kwame at? (crickets). ===
Once again, Lisa Madigan started out, found some things worth investigating related to Blagojevich (talk about a target rich environment), starting investigating … and was asked to step aside by the US Attorney for Northern Illinois. Perhaps you’ve heard of him? Patrick Fitzgerald.
- Donnie Elgin - Thursday, Nov 30, 23 @ 3:02 pm:
“To help root out public corruption in Illinois, the Illinois State Police (ISP) Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has created an online form for the public to report suspected corruption directly to ISP…You don’t need to include your name or address, but an email and phone number are required.
Thoughts?”
Political hits will find a new home - plus if there is no penalty for filing false info what’s the point?
- Chicagonk - Thursday, Nov 30, 23 @ 3:06 pm:
A journalist should FOIA the database in a year. I’ll put the over/under at 2 on number of complaints filed.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Nov 30, 23 @ 3:09 pm:
===I’ll put the over/under at 2===
Maybe. But ISP is one of the most respected police agencies in this state.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Nov 30, 23 @ 3:11 pm:
===plus if there is no penalty for filing false info what’s the point? ===
The police actively solicit anonymous tips all the time.
- West Side the Best Side - Thursday, Nov 30, 23 @ 3:44 pm:
It’s the Rochester way.
- Homebody - Thursday, Nov 30, 23 @ 4:31 pm:
Chicago absolutely has its problems, but small town corruption is often worse in the sense that it isn’t reported or covered. If the local mayor also has control of the local PD, and you’re in a county of only 50k people and the mayor is buddies with the state’s attorney, what are you supposed to do?
- Donnie Elgin - Thursday, Nov 30, 23 @ 5:03 pm:
“If the local mayor also has control of the local PD, and you’re in a county of only 50k people and the mayor is buddies with the state’s attorney, what are you supposed to do?”
Call in the Feds - that’s the only way MJM was brought to justice.
- JS Mill - Thursday, Nov 30, 23 @ 5:50 pm:
=Thoughts?=
Like FOIA I love it and hate it.
When the wackos started coming out of the woodwork after schools, FOIA was one of their main cudgels. It just eats up time and money for so many frivolous and vindictive requests. Yet, a lot of good comes out of it too.
I cannot wait to get my first ISP contact because someone’s precious darling didn’t make the basketball team or cheer squad.
- Leslie K - Thursday, Nov 30, 23 @ 6:11 pm:
Increasing the methods for people to report suspected public corruption is a good thing. Especially with ISP, since they have a track record of pursuing ’smaller’ cases that might not interest the feds but definitely produce harm to these smaller communities. The email and phone number requirement is a little unsettling, but it makes sense and it doesn’t take much for a person to set up email/phone number that isn’t easily linked to them.