Darien Cops Got One Citizen Complaint In 2019: Chief

DARIEN, IL — Out of thousands of dealings with the public last year, the Darien Police Department received just one citizen complaint, the police chief said in his annual report this week. "The case was investigated and the employee was appropriately disciplined," Chief Greg Thomas said, but he did not indicate the punishment.

The one complaint was out of 21,000 interactions with the public in 2019, including more than 350 arrests and more than 4,700 citations, Thomas said. According to the report, 13 situations resulted in a supervisor finding it necessary to write a formal complaint against an officer, Thomas said.

"Those situations were investigated and concluded. Where appropriate, the officer was disciplined," the chief said. "We want to make sure we are honorable and do not shy away from investigating complaints against personnel."

Officers received 17 "positive compliments" in 2019, Thomas said. An officer assigned to the Drug Enforcement Task Force received an award from the Chicago Crime Commission, while four others were recognized by the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists.

In 2019, officers used force during 15 encounters, involving 24 suspects, the report said. Officers were found to be in compliance with policy in all but one case, Thomas said.

In six situations, officers targeted their guns, but did not fire, and in two cases, Tasers were targeted but not deployed, according to the report. In the remaining situations, officers used their hands, fists and feet, Thomas said.

Of the 24 suspects, 23 of them used hands, fists or their feet against officers, Thomas said. And in one case, a suspect was armed with a gun.