Overtime and Training - like an elevator, going up?

Will training and overtime at the McHenry County Sheriff's Department soar out of control between now and December 1, 2014, when a new sheriff will take office?

Is Nygren anywhere around; like, still running the ship? Or is he MIA and letting Undersheriff Zinke run the department? If that's the case, why is the County paying Nygren $150,000/year for his last vacation on the taxpayers' checkbook? Why isn't the County Board declaring the office abandoned and putting the Coroner in charge?

Is anyone keeping tabs on the hours and days put in by the Sheriff? I'd love to see that spreadsheet!

There are likely to be some big changes after December 1. The cliques will be broken up; some demotions will occur; there will be attrition as some just plain bail out before they get kicked out.

Will higher command and supervisors suck up all the advanced training they can get in, before the blade on the guillotine drops?

Does Zinke have the backbone to refuse to approve unnecessary training? Will he disband small unnecessary units and special uniforms?

And who will be allowed to suck up the bulk of the overtime? Those at the top of the food chain?

Hang onto your wallets, folks!

MCSD Sgt. LD (as in, Light Duty)

What are the rules at the McHenry County Sheriff's Department, when a deputy is placed on "light duty"?

Light-duty assignments might follow an injured-on-duty status, as the deputy's health improves and he can (and wants to) return to work, but can't get a medical clearance for return to full active duty.

Light-duty assignments might mean desk work.

But if a deputy, especially a supervisor, returns with a light-duty assignment, shouldn't he be in uniform? Even if he temporarily has administrative duties?

Or can he show up in casual clothing (it's not quite warm enough for beach clothes)? How presentable should he look, if he is authorized (in writing by a superior officer) to show up in civvies? Dress slacks? Long-sleeve dressed shirt, ironed? Shined dress shoes?

Are things already falling apart at the sheriff's office, with a lameduck sheriff and an undersheriff who lost the Republican primary election?

Rather than letting the Department fall apart, the undersheriff should run a tight ship until he turns over the keys on December 1 to a newly-elected sheriff.

Thanks for the corroboration

I would like to thank those who are corroborating my recent stories about the MCSD and the Jail, and I offer my thanks, too, for the new and additional information.

How much does a lieutenant on the jail roster earn annually? Is he docked for the hours he sleeps on duty? I doubt it. Why do the Deputy Chief and the Chief of Corrections tolerate it? Maybe they should be fired first, before the sleeper gets the can.

The drugs found recently in the jail were found on Friday evening, March 28. They were prescription drugs. So, when an inmate is provided with prescription drugs, why doesn't the nurse confirm that he actually swallowed them? If he just mumbles "Thanks" and runs back to his call to pass them out to someone else, hasn't he then missed the dosage that was prescribed?

Here we are back with arrows aimed at Jail Administration. No wonder they would like to hush it up. And why would the undersheriff not direct that information be passed along to all corrections officers and deputies. Hasn't he figured out, even by now, that the information will get out?

The rumors about document shredding are not just outside the Department; they are circulating inside the Department. Who has access to sensitive documents? Probably not the line deputies. Office personnel have access. Detectives have access. Command personnel have access.

The State Open Records Act applies, in part, to County Government and to the entire Sheriff's Department. If you are an employee who is shredding important documents that have not been certified for destruction, you are committing a crime. Be careful. Saying "My boss told me to do it" won't fly, if you are standing before a judge with mud on your face and fingercuts.

Protecting County Assets

The loyalty and concern of employees of the McHenry County Sheriff's Department is amazing. There are many good workers there who are dedicated to protecting and serving (not deflecting and swerving).

Concern has been expressed to me that there could be considerable theft of County property over the next six months and also shredding of documents, so that a new sheriff will not have access to records. Gee, what might embarrass anyone connected with the current regime?  (How long would that list be?)

The Illinois Open Records Act has important words to say about preservation of records. Documents cannot be shredded "just because".

If anyone at the MCSD observes documents' growing legs and walking out the door or being shredded, he or she should immediately contact the Illinois State Police and the Office of the Illinois Attorney General.

Prim declared winner of Republican Primary

McHenry County Clerk Kathie Schultz has announced, according to McHenry County Blog, that Bill Prim is the winner in the March 18th Republican Primary Election for McHenry County Sheriff.

The final vote, after counting late absentee and provisional ballots?

Prim 14,520
Zinke 14,423

Ninety-seven (0.335%) votes out of nearly 29,000. That's 1/3 of 1%. It took a lot of hard work by Prim supporters to get 14,520 people out to the polls to vote for him.

Congratulations, Bill!

Drugs in the MCSD Jail? Again?

Rumor has it that drugs have shown up in the McHenry County Jail again. And it's being kept very quiet.

So quiet, in fact, that patrol wasn't even being informed of a previous day's search in the jail.

How do drugs get into a jail? There are several ways:

A prisoner being booked into the jail might have secreted them in a body cavity.

A Corrections Officer or civilian employee at the jail might bring them in. Horrors!

Big Bird might fly over and drop them.

Or maybe a drone delivery.

Prisoners are supposed to be searched when they are booked into the jail. Are search procedures the same for all prisoners? But if a driver in a wreck, who does not have a driver's license, is booked in, does he get a strip search and a search of body cavities? Probably not.

Or could jailers be taking the drugs in? Let's say a particular jailer happens to be "cozy" with an inmate. Maybe an inmate who had suspected or known drug-related activities on the "outside". Could the jailer bring in drugs and get them into the inmates' areas?

Is there any reason that they is not random drug testing for all MCSD employees, deputies and jailers and civilian employees? Do they collect hair samples from time-to-time? Or just urine specimens? Or not even those?

Why were detectives called recently about drugs in the jail, but no canine units were used? Surely, one or two departments in the County could have had their arms twisted to send an officer with his dog for an interior search of the jail.

This is not the first time that the full staff of corrections officers and deputies has not been notified of drug suspicions in the jail.

Sleeping on the job

When is it okay to sleep on the job, if you are an employee of the McHenry County Sheriff's Department?

Is there a particular reason that the command staff, starting with Nygren and Zinke, don't discipline a deputy or corrections officer (supervisor) who sleeps on the midnight shift?

Hey, I know it's tough to stay awake all night. I've tried it. Staying on my feet helped. Sitting in a car, with the heat on full-blast (with the vehicle in Park), is not conducive to staying awake. Sitting in a chair at 2200 N. Seminary Ave. and nodding off? Take a lesson from the operator of that "L" that left the tracks when the operator dozed off.

When your subordinates know you are catching a few zzz's, do they dare say anything? Maybe they could just drop a stack of books and say, "Oops, sorry, Lieutenant".

Any chance that Nygren might drop in on the midnight shift and make the rounds of "his" department? Not likely... But where is the Undersheriff or the Deputy Chief of Corrections (or even the Chief) or a Captain?

Is it true that the maximum disciplinary duration for jail personnel is now ten days? If you get that for leaving a door open between the men's and the women's jail sections, what penalty will be dished out when they figure out how the drugs got into the jail?

Is sleeping on the job considered as bad as falsifying timesheets? In my opinion, if it's a supervisor, it's worse.