8 Joliet Police Officers Disciplined In 2020: Exclusive

JOLIET, IL — Joliet Police Sgt. Lindsey Heavener notified city officials of his Jan. 30 retirement plans months in advance, but Heavener's last few weeks on the job were a regular source of controversy and his behavior kept the internal affairs unit busy, police records show.

On two separate occasions in January, the Joliet Police Department Internal Affairs unit, at the direction of Deputy Police Chief Marc Reid, issued reprimands against Heavener, a Joliet Patch Freedom of Information Act request revealed.

The police administration of Chief Al Roechner gave Heavener a written reprimand for one incident and then a one-day unpaid work suspension for the other.

"The complaint alleges that on Jan. 23, 2020, you made a post on your Facebook account which read 'Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk is a lying piece of sh**!! Let's have a public debate about how you tried ruining my family and career with your typical lies.'"

On Jan. 29, Joliet Police Lt. Joe Rosado notified Heavener that he was receiving a one-day work suspension without pay for his conduct unbecoming of the department's members and for violating the police department's social networking/social media policy.

"The complaint has been investigated and on the basis of available evidence has been found to be sustained," Rosado wrote Heavener.

That same day, Jan. 29, Heavener was given a written reprimand for going outside the Joliet Police Department chain of command to make comments in a Joliet Herald-News article from Jan. 9 headlined, "Fiesta Fallout, Unfinished Business Remains From the Probe."

Heavener was found to have violated the police department's general orders regarding public information. His reprimand indicated that no member will make a public statement concerning plans or affairs of the police administration unless authorized by the chief or a deputy chief.

"Members may only speak with the media about an incident by authority of this directive or by an appropriate supervisory consent," Rosado notified Heavener.

A total of eight Joliet police officers have received an unpaid suspension from work or a written reprimand so far this year, a recent Joliet Patch Freedom of Information Act request to the police department revealed.

Heavener was the only member to receive one of each.

In October, Joliet Patch broke the news that Heavener has taken out candidate petitions to run for one of the three at-large openings on the Joliet City Council in the April 6 election.

Details about the following discipline cases were provided to Patch as part of the FOIA. However, there was one discipline case the Joliet Police Department forgot to turn over to Patch: the disciplinary matter involving Joliet Police Detective Joe Clement, who retired in August and is now also running for an at-large seat on the Joliet City Council in the April 6 race.

In January, Roechner sent out an email to his entire department letting everyone know Clement was getting a five-week unpaid suspension stemming from the September 2019 downtown Mexican festival where Sgt. Heavener was on duty.

Then, in late October, interim city manager Jim Hock threw out Roechner's suspension of Clement and ordered Clement to receive more than $10,000 in back pay. Clement's 25-work day suspension was reduced to a written reprimand by Hock.

"When you have a police chief who is more interested in settling scores and covering up his actions than maintaining public safety, it's time for a drastic change," Clement told Joliet Patch in October.

Here's a rundown for the rest of the Joliet police disciplinary measures that happened this year:

• Officer Anthony Nowak, written reprimand, issued March 17.

"An investigation was conducted concerning your alleged actions that on July 10, 2019 while you were at Stone City VFW, you went through a patron's purse and later removed a pack of cigarettes from the same person's possession," Chief Roechner notified Nowak in the March memo.

Nowak violated his department's general code of conduct regarding "Conduct unbecoming of Department members shall not be tolerated. This shall include any conduct which adversely affects the morale, operations, or efficiency of the department or any conduct which has a tendency to adversely affect, lower, or destroy public respect and confidence in the department, or any department member."

• Officer Ryan Shaw, one-day work suspension without pay, issued June 2.

Roechner notified Shaw that "the complaint alleges on Jan. 15, 2019 you made an inappropriate comment towards a civilian intern and then later that day sat in a secluded area and made comments of a sexual nature to the same civilian. The complaint has been investigated and on the basis of available evidence has been found to be sustained in part and not sustained in part."

Shaw was notified that he violated his department's harassment in the workplace policy that states "Members will not either explicitly or implicitly ridicule, mock, deride or belittle any person."

• Detective Donald McKinney, six-day work suspension without pay, issued Jan. 9.

"The complaint alleges that you made inappropriate comments towards an officer. The complaint has been investigated and on the basis of available evidence has been found to be sustained," Roechner wrote.

McKinney had violated the Joliet Police Department general order regarding harassment in the workplace. "Members will not either explicitly or implicitly ridicule, mock, deride or belittle any person."

• Officer Robert Korczak, one-day work suspension without pay, issued Nov. 3.

"The complaint alleges that on Feb. 25, 2020, you threw a water bottle at a computer monitor in the Tact/JNU office causing the screen to be damaged which was in violation of department policy."

The complaint was filed by Police Sgt. Tim Powers. Police Lt. Chris Botzum notified Korczak that he violated his department's general code of conduct that states, "Members shall utilize department equipment only for its intended purpose ... and shall not abuse, damage or negligently lose department equipment."

• Officer Katelyn Kozielski, one-day work suspension without pay, issued April 3.

"The complaint alleges that on November 20, 2019 you were scheduled to attend K9 training from
7 a.m. to 9 a.m.," advised Police Sgt. James Rouse of Internal Affairs. "You scheduled 2 hours of comp time for November 20, 2019. On October 21 , 2019 you rescinded your request for 2 hours of comp time for November 20, 2019. You did not report for duty until after 9 a.m. on November 20, 2019.

"An amended complaint was added that alleges you altered your work schedule without making proper notification. The complaint has been investigated and on the basis of available evidence has been found to be sustained in part and not sustained in part."

• Officer Josh Sawyer, six-day work suspension without pay, case resolved on Nov. 19 — more than two entire years after the incident in question happened.

Sawyer was punished for conduct unbecoming of an officer and advised that "members will not use excessive or unnecessary force against another person in the exercise of their duty." Third, Sawyer was told that "no weapons are allowed in the booking facility area."

"An investigation was conducted concerning your alleged actions that on October 16, 2018. You lifted an arrestee up from the ground by the handcuff chains and failed to secure your weapon prior to entering the booking area," Roechner wrote. "The complaint was found to be sustained."

Sawyer's suspension was originally recommended to be 10 days by the chief. However, on the verge of Sawyer's appeal going to Joliet's police and fire board for a full-blown open hearing this fall, Sawyer's punishment got reduced to six days without pay to bring his case to an end.