St. Clair County Sheriff's Department

'Armadillo' Plays Well in Peoria But Is Panned by Drug Dealers

Cops Use Old Brink's Truck to Shame Suspects; Video Cameras Add to the Drama

From the Wall Street Journal

No Stimulus Money For Missouri, Illinois Sheriffs

 

ST. CLAIR COUNTY, IL (KTVI-FOX2now.com) - One billion dollars in federal stimulus money is supposed to save or create 5,000 police jobs in this country. But a local sheriff says that when the money was handed out, it wasn't being divvied up fairly. St. Clair County's Sheriff says it is fantastic that a thousand departments nationwide will be able to save jobs or even hire new police officers. He just can't understand why, with $25 million coming to Illinois and $19 million to Missouri, not a single cent is going to a sheriff's department. "To get nothing?" asks Sheriff Mearl Justus, with a roll of his eyes. He was one of 50 sheriffs in Illinois who applied for stimulus funding through the "Cops Hiring Recover Program", part of the 2009 economic recovery plan. None of the sheriff's departments in Illinois were awarded grants. 45 county sheriff's departments in Missouri applied. None of them got money either. $25 million is coming to Illinois, and more than $19 million to Missouri. Nationwide $1 billion is going to 1,046 agencies across the country, to save or fund five thousand jobs. Click here to see specific departments receiving funding. "That was given to some needy police departments I'm sure, but it just seems to me it could've been spread out a little better," says Justus. Less than six percent of the agencies getting funding are sheriff's departments. The US Department of Justice says it allocated the funds based on a percentage index that placed equal weight on a department's fiscal need and its amount of index crimes. Justus says, to him, that means, "The more crime you have, the more people you asked for I think you had a better chance of getting it." "We just asked for two people," he says. Justus wanted to use the money to hire two deputies to work Metrolink security, positions cut out a couple months ago due to budget cuts He says he does not understand why vitally important agencies like sheriff's departments, which back up so many local departments and house their prisoners in consistently overcrowded jails, can be overlooked. "I don't think it's working very well for law enforcement because we haven't gotten anything," he says. Justus says he is continuing to ask questions of the state and national branches of the sheriff's associations.

By Teresa Woodard

KTVI Fox 2, St. Louis

Sheriffs miss out on $25 million in stimulus $$$; Justus, Hertz not happy

BY CAROLYN P. SMITH

News-Democrat

Not one Illinois sheriff's office will share in the more than $25 million in federal stimulus money to be distributed among law enforcement agencies in the state, and that doesn't make sense to two area sheriffs.

St. Clair County Sheriff Mearl Justus and Madison County Sheriff Robert Hertz hoped to receive funding toward filling some positions that have been lost due to the economic downturn. Neither received anything, and they wonder what criteria was used to determine the distribution.

Justus noted that 50 Illinois sheriff's offices applied for the money.

"Out of 378 applications from Illinois, only 21 departments received awards. And, out of the 21 awardees, not one sheriff's office was included," Justus said. "Every sheriff's department I am familiar with assists communities located within their county. We help anybody we can, and of course, they help us."

The money is part of $1 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds earmarked to help pay the salaries and benefits of 4,699 police officers at 1,046 agencies nationwide. In the metro-east, Alton, East St. Louis, Granite City and Alorton police departments received a total of nearly $2.2 million to hire a total of 10 officers.

Justus said he doesn't have a problem with the cities that received funding, but he said his department sorely needs the two MetroLink positions it sought to fund. And he said he doesn't understand the rationale used in the distribution.

"It's obvious that mass transit is not something they looked at," he said, adding that there were originally 16 MetroLink positions before the economic downturn.

"That number was cut to 14, and at the end of June, we lost two. Now, we're down to 12," he said. "We know Metro fell on hard times, so we're not knocking Metro. We feel we severely have a need for these positions in light of all of the crime that has occurred on and around the MetroLink."

In Madison County, Hertz's office applied for money to fund seven jobs and got nothing.

"I don't know what formula they used," he said. "Some departments got 50 while others got nothing. I wish it could have been more equally distributed so everybody else could get something."

Like Justus, Hertz pointed to the wide variety of services sheriff's offices must provide.

"Sheriff's offices do a lot of work that a lot of municipal police departments don't do," he said. "The operation of the jail is major. Sheriff Justus' population is 400, mine is 280. We answer and investigate service calls. We investigate burglaries, robberies and sex crimes, and we chase sex offenders."

Hertz also said he doesn't begrudge communities the funding they received, but he believes the distribution could have been handled in a more equitable manner.

"I understand that the operation in St. Louis City is much bigger, but they get 50 and I get nothing," he said. "I would've been a lot happier if they got 49 and I got one."

Contact reporter Carolyn P. Smith at 239-2503.

© 2007 Belleville News-Democrat and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.belleville.com

Illinois outlaws texting while driving

ASSOCIATED PRESS

08/06/2009

CHICAGO — Decrying the dangers of distracted drivers, Gov. Pat Quinn signed a bill that makes it illegal in Illinois to text message while driving.
The new law signed Thursday means motorists can get a ticket if they text message or read their messages while they're moving.
Drivers can check messages if they pull over to the side of the road or are at a standstill in traffic, for instance at a train crossing when their car is in park or neutral.
The ban doesn't prevent drivers from reading directions on a navigation system.
Quinn signed the bill at a ceremony at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago with Secretary of State Jesse White.

Illinois law bars sex offenders from ice cream trucks

ASSOCIATED PRESS

08/05/2009

Sex offenders are no longer allowed to get behind the wheel of ice cream or snow-cone trucks in Illinois.

A new law bars sex offenders from operating trucks that sell food or beverages. Officials worry that offenders might sell ice cream or other snacks as a front for harming children.
Gov. Pat Quinn signed the new law Tuesday. It also bars offenders from operating emergency vehicles, such as an ambulance.
Violation would be a felony.

The sponsor, Democratic Sen. Ira Silverstein, says the law will keep children "out of harm's way."
Some places around the country already ban offenders from such jobs. Others require background checks before anyone can be hired to drive an ice cream truck.