Thursday, March 25, 2010

State Police to lose 30%

The Illinois State Police is poised to lose 600 troopers, or about 30% of its 2,000 force.

The headline associated with the AP article in this morning's Northwest Herald was "State police to lay off 460." Yes, right... so what's this about 600?

Add in "attrition" (retirements, resignations, rats fleeing a sinking ship, etc.), and the total reduction in force is estimated at 600.

"There will be significant consequences in public safety," State Police Director Jonathan Monken told the AP.

What consequences?

- increase in traffic fatalities;
- increased exposure to terrorist threats;
- increase in gun and drug trafficking;
- $12,000,000 loss in citation revenue

Why not just leave the troopers on the road and put them on a commission basis? Pay them 25% of the fines and court courts for each ticket, but tell them, "No tickets for less than 12MPH over the posted speed limit."

I rode with the Special Enforcement Team on I-90 a few years ago. Five troopers and an aircraft were after speeders on westbound I-90 near Hwy. 59. In four hours they didn't write one ticket for less than 88MPH in the 55MPH zone!

Whenever a trooper was ready after citing a driver at 88-95MPH, the bear-in-the-air had another violator coming up right behind that trooper.

The same conditions exist today.

Keep these troopers. Just figure out a different way to pay them.

The AP article referred to "Acting" Director Monken; I thought he was finally confirmed a year ago, but a call to his office this morning revealed that he is still Acting Director.

5 comments:

Justin said...

They could cut the ISP in half and we'd never see a change. They should have been changed over to a Highway Patrol like in most states. They do little other than traffic anyway. Any of the troopers assigned to criminal investigations should be transfered to highway patrol. Except for some in Southern Illinois, they do little police work anyway.

I laughed when the ISP director was blowing hot air about 3 hour response times. SURPRISE, Sheriff's and city police handle 98% of all call for service complaints. Other than accidents on the tollways and expressways the ISP is traffic tickets only.

I like states like Arizona,Nevada California where the State is traffic only and the Sheriff's and City handle the calls.

Cal Skinner said...

State Police outside the urban areas really act in the place of deputy sheriffs.

It's a way we subsidize the rest of the state.

Another Lawyer said...

Of course there is "no chance" we had too many troopers.

Notawannabee said...

Cal Skinner,
Not up here in Northern Illinois. 99% of the troopers in the Chicagoland, area including as far West as Winnebago are basically traffic cops and nothing else. Many do not even know how to file a criminal complaint. Deputies do police work and troopers chase taillights, big difference. When was the last time a trooper responded to an armed robbery or tavern brawl?

In some downstate counties in VERY RURAL Illinois, troopers may take a larger hand in policing.

Read the NWH. Between the idiotic comments there are some good ideas. I especially like the idea of putting troopers back on overweight truck details and helping prevent the damage to the highways. In other states the truckers fear the State Patrols, but in Illinois there is little truck enforcement. Get troopers away from special units and back to protecting the highways.

The ISP has lost its primary goal of highway safety by trying to venture out into specialized areas. Duplication of authority serves nobody.

I spend time in Arizona and out there they have the Dept of Public Safety. (DPS). DPS is traffic only and the Sheriff and city take care of criminal and basic patrol complaint calls. DPS is far better than the ISP in that they focus on highway safety and do it well. Illinois is trying to do a little of everything and does nothing well.

Anonymous said...

Good points, Cal