18 Joliet Police Discipline Cases In 2017: Ferak Column

JOLIET, IL - Over the past year, Patch has written multiple articles about the plight of Nicholas "Nick" Crowley. He is the city of Joliet officer who was charged with five criminal offenses last July by members of his own police department. Crowley was put on indefinite paid suspension by Police Chief Brian Benton. The police administration's handling of the Crowley case put the chief under the microscope, raising questions about his ability to issue discipline.

Earlier this year, Mayor Bob O'Dekirk took Benton to task for putting Crowley on paid leave for months, on the taxpayers dime, with no end in sight. The city ultimately put Crowley to work in the city clerk's office where he did exemplary work.

Then in May, the Joliet Police Department administration suffered an embarrassing defeat in the courtroom. After hearing all the trial testimony, Will County Judge Daniel Kennedy found Officer Crowley not guilty of the two remaining felony charges of reckless endangerment.

"These front line officers who have the toughest job in the county, the brass does not have their back," remarked Crowley's criminal defense attorney Jeff Tomczak after their bench trial victory.

"You can't undo the damage to his reputation," Tomczak said of Crowley. "This was an argument between two people that Joliet brass decided to make into a crime."

On May 22, the Crowley verdict was announced. On June 22, I reported that the Joliet Police Department's internal affairs unit had issued a 30-day unpaid suspension for Crowley for his role in the early morning July 16 gun discharge incident that occurred inside the townhouse of his girlfriend, JPD officer Cassie Socha. The administration determined that Crowley committed five violations of police department policies:

1. Failure to perform his duties
2. Conduct unbecoming a police officer
3. Failure to notify of a discharge of a gun
4. Failure to submit a report of a discharge of a gun
5. Displaying a firearm without reasonable cause.

Recently, I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records for all disciplinary cases that were resolved by the Joliet Police Department during calendar 2017. The Joliet Police Department's internal affairs annual report for 2017, which is a public record, states the unit issued nine suspensions, seven written reprimands and two oral reprimands last year. My public records request asked for information on those cases.

Here's a rundown of the known discipline imposed last year at Joliet's Police Department:

Who: Officer Robert Korczak

From Deputy Chief Tab Jensen: "An investigation was conducted concerning your drawing and exhibiting your off-duty Glock Model 34 9mm firearm and pulling the trigger of the firearm causing the firearm to discharge."

Discipline: Written Reprimand, imposed January 2017

Who: Officer Anthony Adams

Jensen: "An investigation was conducted concerning your alleged actions that you failed to perform by not completing an offense report regarding an incident and failed to place a stocking cap into evidence."

Discipline: One work day suspension without pay, imposed February 2017

Who: Officer Marcus Wietting

Jensen: "An investigation was conducted concerning your alleged actions that you told the complainant to "get the (f***) out of here or be arrested" and struck the complainant's vehicle with your flashlight causing damage."

Discipline: One work day suspension without pay, imposed January 2017.

Who: Officer Greg Kazak

Jensen: "An investigation was conducted concerning your alleged actions that you failed to arrest the suspect for domestic battery when probable cause existed and failed to properly document the incident regarding your actions."

Discipline: Two work day suspension without pay, imposed January 2017.

Who: Officer Rachel Smithberg

Jensen: "An investigation was conducted concerning your alleged actions that on May 24, 2017 you failed to perform your duties."

Related Story: Joliet False Arrest Settled For $30,000

Discipline: Notice of Oral Reprimand, imposed September 2017.

Who: Officer Michelle Banas

Chief Benton: "An investigation was conducted concerning your alleged actions that on January 4, 2017 you were involved in an incident where your subsequent conduct was unbecoming of a Joliet Police officer."

Discipline: Notice of Oral Reprimand, imposed February 2017.

Who: Sherry LaFrenere, public safety clerk II, support services

Jensen: "An investigation was conducted concerning your failure to attend mandatory in-service training."

Discipline: Written reprimand, imposed July 2017

Who: Lt. Jeremy Harrison

Chief Benton: "An investigation was conducted concerning your alleged actions that you failed to devote your entire duty time to the services of the department and engaged in inappropriate behavior in a manner that was unbecoming of a Joliet Police Department supervisor."

Discipline: Suspension, two workdays without pay, imposed October 2017

Who: Sgt. Douglas May

Jensen: "An investigation was conducted concerning your failure to attend mandatory in-service training."

Discipline: Written reprimand, April 2017

Who: Officer Fernando Urquidi

Jensen: "An investigation was conducted concerning your alleged actions that on April 21, 2017 you discharged your (the next several words are redacted from the document provided to Patch) handgun and failed to immediately notify the Joliet Police Department Communications Center."

Discipline: Suspension, two workdays without pay, imposed July 2017

Who: Officer Stephen Camarda

Benton: "An investigation was conducted concerning your alleged actions that you failed to perform your duties and your conduct was unbecoming. The complaint was found to be sustained."

Discipline: Camarda received a 45-work day suspension without pay and another 15 days held in abeyance, stated the internal affairs memo, signed in June 2017. The document furnished to Patch through the Freedom of Information Act, however, includes no information and no details about the events in question that led to Camarda's nine-week-long unpaid suspension from the Joliet Police Department last year.

Who: Officer Dwayne English

Jensen: "An investigation was conducted concerning your failure to attend mandatory training."

Discipline: Written reprimand imposed May 2017

Who: Officer William Busse

Jensen: "An investigation was conducted concerning you acting toward a supervisor in a disrespectful manner."

Discipline: Written reprimand, imposed July 2017

Who: Officer Demetris Anderson

Jensen: "An investigation was conducted concerning your failure to immediately notify the Joliet police Department communications center that you were involved in a squad accident."

Discipline: Written reprimand, imposed July 2017

Who: Officer Nicholas Crowley

Jensen: "An investigation was conducted concerning your alleged actions that on October 11,2016 you drew and exhibited your on-duty Glock Model 17 9mm firearm while seated in a Joliet Police Department squad while in the immediate presence of a citizen. While exhibiting your firearm, you took a Snapchat photo of yourself and the citizen, which was subsequently posted on social media and reported to the Joliet Herald Newspaper."

Discipline: Suspension, five workdays without pay, imposed August 2017

Who: Officer Paul Sturgill (1 of 2)

Jensen: "An investigation was conducted concerning your alleged actions that on July 9, 2017 you spent five hours in a parking lot in the Rock Creek Business Park and an audit of your IWIN computer Internet usage over a three month period showed that you used an extremely large amount of data on personal websites included Netflix and YouTube."

Discipline: Suspension, one work day without pay, imposed August 2017

Who: Officer Paul Sturgill (2 of 2)

Jensen: "An investigation was conducted concerning your alleged actions that you failed to perform your duties as a police officer and your conduct was unbecoming of a Joliet Police officer while handling a call for service regarding a dog left inside a vehicle."

Discipline: Suspension, four work days without pay, imposed November 2017

Who: Francisca Hernandez, telecommunications, public safety dispatcher II

Jensen: "An investigation was conducted concerning your failure to report for duty at 0600 hours."

Discipline: Written reprimand, imposed September 2017

ICYMI: Other recent in-depth city of Joliet stories that were only in the Joliet Patch:

48 Joliet Firefighters Get $18,000 to $40,000 In Overtime Pay

26 Unsolved Murders For Joliet Since 2013

Joliet's Top 100 Paid Employees For 2017

Images via John Ferak/Joliet Patch Editor