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