Another lawsuit against MCSD

How many lawsuits against the McHenry County Sheriff's Department will taxpayers tolerate? Here's another one.

On January 27, 2009, Susan O'Grady filed a case in U.S. Federal Court Northern District against Anthony J. Penna, John Miller, McHenry County Sheriff's Department and County Of McHenry.

This would be Sgt. Anthony J. Penna and Lt. John Miller, the same who didn't bother to show up at Susan Grady's December 1, 2009, trial for resisting arrest. (See related article adjacent to this article.)

What will this lawsuit cost the taxpayers of McHenry County? Will the taxpayers ever really know the total costs, if the defense costs come out of Sheriff Nygren's kitty?

I rather suspect that Sgt. Penna and Lt. Miller will not forget to show up for court dates in Federal District Court. Why do I think that those judges might not have the same sense of humor found in McHenry County?

Case No. 3 2009-CV-50012 can be tracked. You can expect months and months of legal maneuvering and expense, both to Ms. O'Grady and to the Sheriff's Department and McHenry County.

How many other cases are there like this? And, worse, how many other cases should there be like this?

Perhaps there needs to be a grid available to the public through the Law & Justice Committee of McHenry County (peopled by our elected County Board members, who are supposed to represent the Public) that shows how many lawsuits are pending and what deputies are involved in the lawsuits? Are the same names showing up repeatedly?

Police work is difficult and sometimes dangerous work. There are legal limits on what law enforcement personnel can do in performance of their duties.

They cannot rough people up. They can use "such force as is necessary". They can't bully. They can't beat up a teenager to such an extent that nose reconstruction at a major Chicago hospital is required.

If the sheriff's department had an Internal Affairs Division that operated the way it is supposed to operate, probably many lawsuits would be headed off early. If residents made complaints about improper or illegal performance of duties and saw that real action was taking place, they might not so quick to sue.

But there is no IAD. And the lawsuits will continue.