Burr Ridge Cancels Controversial Cop Training

BURR RIDGE, IL – Burr Ridge has canceled training for police officers in area departments because the state recently decertified the training organization involved, an official said last week.

Last August, Burr Ridge hosted a training session called "Deceptive Behaviors & Hidden Compartments" with New Jersey-based Street Cop Training. The organization was set to host "Interdiction Mastermind" in November, taught by Kenny Williams.

In response to a Patch inquiry Friday, Deputy Police Chief Marc Loftus said the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board decertified Street Cop, pending a review.

As a result, he said, the village has canceled its agreement to host the class.

Street Cop did not return a message for comment Monday.

In December, the New Jersey comptroller's office released a harshly critical report of Street Cop, saying it found many instances of unprofessional statements during training.

Part of the report is focused on instructor Williams, a police sergeant in Hobart, Indiana.

In one case, Williams had the driver of a stopped car sitting next to him in his squad car. Seven minutes into the stop, when Williams asked the man whether he had anything illegal in his car, the man told him that, as a black man, he was nervous being in a police car, the report said.

Williams then informed the driver that he would only get a "warning for the minor infraction" and not get a fine or have to go to court.

But rather than end the stop, Williams continued asking the driver questions and told training attendees that he found a large amount of drugs in the man's car, the report said. The facts showed Williams had no lawful basis for prolonging the stop, the comptroller said.

"These examples used as training material are dangerous, as they create a real risk that Conference attendees will emulate this behavior, civilians’ rights will be violated, and any recovered evidence will likely be suppressed," the comptroller's office said.

The comptroller accused Williams of using arbitrary, potentially unconstitutional methods to stop drivers. During a training, Williams noted the speed limit for semi-trucks is 70 mph, while it's 65 for cars.

In Williams' stated opinion, the report, said, "there is no f------ way that any car should be behind a semi if you have the ability to pass it."

"When you do that," he told officers, "if you are coming through Indiana, I am going to stop your a-- ... all the f------ time," even though the driver could be "totally legit."

Williams showed a video clip in which he stopped a driver who was behind a truck, but was committing no obvious infraction, according to the report.

Another instructor told officers during training that he uses a "little bit of a mental f---" and often returns one of the driver's documents, the comptroller said, so drivers think they are free to leave. But the comptroller said that giving some of the documents doesn't legitimatize a stop that has been illegally prolonged, the report said.

Yet another instructor used what the comptroller considered an offensive meme of a monkey after describing a stop involving a "75-year-old Black man coming out of Trenton," the report said.

In December, Burr Ridge police reviewed the New Jersey comptroller's report, Deputy Chief Loftus said.

"We spoke to officers in our department who attended prior training classes presented by Street Cop Training, and they said the training was presented in a professional manner, and they observed no behavior like that outlined in the NJ Comptroller’s report," Loftus said.

Through a public records request with Burr Ridge, Patch obtained an internal email in December with an attachment about Street Cop's troubles in New Jersey.

A day after the comptroller's report was issued, a Burr Ridge officer alerted his department's brass about a statement from Calibre Press, another training organization, distancing itself from Street Cop Training. Calibre said it had often been confused with Street Cop.

Calibre said media coverage of the comptroller's report focused on "alarmingly unprofessional behavior" by Street Cop's instructors.

Earlier this month, another training group criticized Street Cop Training. In response to an inquiry from a Burr Ridge resident, Joe Schweihs, director of Naperville-based North East Multi-Regional Training, said he stood firm in refusing to certify Street Cop Training.

His board is mostly made up of suburban police officials.

Under Burr Ridge's arrangement with Street Cop, it was set to get one free seat for an officer for every 10 tickets it sold. The village was inviting officers from other departments.

According to an advertisement for "Interdiction Mastermind," Williams tells officers about his process for choosing specific cars for "pre-textual" stops. The Oxford Languages dictionary defines "pretext" as a "reason given in justification of a course of action that is not the real reason."

Williams is credited with seizing more than $4 million in cash, several hundred pounds of illegal drugs and more than a ton of marijuana.