2015 PERSON OF THE YEAR: MELODY SEATON

REV MELODY SEATON

SAUK VILLAGE |  Going through candidates for Person of the year 2015, one person rose head and shoulders above the rest.  When she came to the Village in 2014, she didn't just come quietly, she came with a fierce desire and a lot of spirit, some even say the Holy Spirit, to make Sauk Village just a little bit better. 

The Reverend Melody Seaton of Grace United Church of Christ not only is carrying on the 50 plus year tradition of the shuttered church, but began new traditions which the community as a whole can be proud of.  Seaton was runner up last year for Person of the Year, but this year she was a clear standout!

Seaton's outstanding contributions to Sauk Village include the Share the Warmth campaign of providing over 300 brand new coats, mittens and hats to Sauk Village school children over the last two years, Jammin for Jesus Community Fest and taking the leadership role of holding a Community Prayer Meeting right outside her Church welcoming everyone!  Additionally, she has taken her message to every corner of the Community, literally, by holding prayer on the streets of Sauk Village.

Now I'm not saying that other churches and organizations do not make great contributions, as we see

SEATON'S COMMUNIT PRAYER MEETING

Emmanuel Christian Reform church, who celebrated their 40th year in their church this year with feeding families with their ongoing food pantry.  Other churches should be glad to partner with the successes of Grace United Church of Christ and Melody Seaton!  Seaton's outreach from her church community has truly been a great thing for Sauk Village and she has been an outstanding pastor to her church and to the community.

If you've never heard Seaton sing the National Anthem, as she did for Veterans Day in 2014, you truly missed out!  I hope she plans to stay greatly involved in making Sauk Village just a bit better in 2016 and beyond.

Congratulations Reverend Melody Seaton, you are truly deserving of such an honor!

Former Honorees
SAUK VILLAGE PERSONS OF THE YEAR
2014:  Dr. Donna Leak
2013:  Derrick Burgess
2012:  Al Stoffregen
2011:  Robert Chavez

HANKS WANTS TO WHITE WASH CRIME REPORTING

DAVID A. HANKS

by Sauk Village Voice
SAUK VILLAGE |So now the Administration of David Hanks appears to be trying to “white wash” the truth about crime in Sauk Village!  A woman was shot in her home and her baby died this week, and Hanks has his so called “Public Safety Director” JW Fairman, who was hired as an “employee” but yet paid as an “independent contractor”, makes one wonder why but that’s another story and another investigation later, I digress.

Fairman reported to the Village Board on December 8^th that crime has gone down a “projected 64.6% in 2015”, his words not mine.  There is a very simple explanation to why this is likely the case.  Sauk Village Police Department’s old reporting software, New World implemented in 2007, was completely down and not online for many months in 2015.  Police officers were forced to do police reports manually in some cases.  Now several officers report many communication problems with the Village’s dispatch center CalCom who is based out of Calumet Park Illinois.  Additionally many have complained that the CAPERS (computer aided dispatch) software the village will invest thousands of dollars in order to communicate with CalCom has not been working.

Fairman apparently questions the Uniform Criminal Reports made by the Sauk Village Police Department to the Federal Bureau of Investigations UCR.  Fairman stated in his report posted by David Hanks on December 14^th “The question is; are Sauk Village’s reported UCR crime real or contrive”?

Former Chief of Police Timothy Holevis had his say about the matter in a brief interview.  “Uniform Crime Reporting is taken directly from the daily computer records.  It takes hours to report manually since requests were sent to the mayor (David Hanks) who failed to update the important computer programs making it more simplistic to report UCR” Holevis said.

Fairman also goes on to say “We did a precursory assessment of reported major UCR crime in 2014.  It was determined that reporting numbers were erroneous.  We did not determine why”.  Holevis responded to this categorically denying that the numbers from 2014 were wrong.  “Compare the official police reports to UCR, it will all match.  I refused to do anything illegal.  How do you not report a murder” Holevis said.  “If they aren’t entering UCR manually, then they’re not doing it correctly.  Sauk Village does not have a computer program that reports it automatically.  It should take him several hours to report UCR and domestic violence reporting” Holevis said.  Holevis said that for a two year period during the time Former Chiefs Frank Martin (2010) and Robert Fox (2011 to 2012) UCR reporting was not done at all. “The Village was threatened several times with revocation of the use of UCR because of all that” Holevis said.

“For the first 8 months, prior to Chief Kowalski’s arrival major UCR crime averaged 22.9 crimes a (sic) month, after Chief Kowalski’s arrival major UCR crime averaged 6.5 crimes a month a difference (or reduction of 69.9%” according to Fairman.  Hanks has his Chief of Police chasing Senior Citizens away from the microphone, like his predecessor did, during Village Board meetings instead of applying for grants and doing his job, fighting crime!  What Fairman and Chief Robert Kowaski did not report to the Village Board is that for the last 3 weeks there have been on average 1 to 2 cars stolen per day in Sauk Village.  But they would want you to believe crime is down in Sauk Village!  This is nothing but a white wash job Sauk Village.  Give me a break!

UCR Crime Statistics can be found here :  CLICK LINK