C.L. PD denies FOIA request for AR-15 theft

In a grand statement of stone-walling, the Crystal Lake Police Department has denied this week's request for the theft report of an AR-15 rifle from a vehicle believed to be owned by, or in control of, a McHenry County Sheriff's Department corrections officer.

And they didn't just deny part of the report, they denied all of it.

I had asked the Crystal Lake Police Department for certain information about the theft; in particular, was the rifle the property of the corrections officer (or did it possibly belong to someone else or even to the McHenry County Sheriff's Department?) Also, I asked if the rifle was capable of being fired in the fully-automatic mode. And how many magazines were stolen? And were they loaded? And what equipment, if any, such as a bulletproof vest or helmet, was stolen?

Why did I ask about the fully-automatic mode? If the rifle happened to be the property of MCSO, it could have been modified. And if it was the property of MCSO, then you can bet another FOIA request would be generated to MCSO.

Why did the Crystal Lake Police deny my FOIA request?

Well, they think that confirming the theft of an AR-15 might interfere with a pending or contemplated law enforcement proceeding.

Or that it might "unavoidably" (my quotation marks) disclose the identity of a confidential source or identity of persons who file complaints.

Since when is the victim of a theft protected?

And disclosure might obstruct or interfere with an active or ongoing criminal investigation.

Can you believe that nonsense?

Could it be that the Crystal Lake Police Department has not heard of redacting very limited information of the type that concerns them? Then they could provide the report, such as date, time, location of theft, and the basic information collected by the investigating officer(s). What's the big secret about a rifle being stolen from a convertible, after the top was sliced - if that is what happened?

And exactly what is wrong with releasing the name of the owner of the vehicle that was broken into?

Unless somebody is playing the hokey-pokey...

Let's see ... the address of the Public Access Bureau at the Office of the Illinois Attorney General is ...