Retiring Joliet FOP President Talks About New Chief, Former Chief

JOLIET, IL — After 28 years with the Joliet Police Department, Officer Mike Devito, the longest serving union president in the city of Joliet's history, has retired. Devito said he has already started his new job as field representative for the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council; May 19 marks his last official date on Joliet's payroll.

Devito spent 18 years on the Joliet police labor council and 16 years as Fraternal Order of Police president.

"Although I'm retiring as a police officer, I'm going into a career that I'm really passionate about because I'm still defending policemen. I'll get a number of departments assigned to me, but I'm not representing Joliet," Devito said during Tuesday's interview at Jitters Coffeehouse.

Devito reflected on the dramatic changes in leadership at the Joliet Police Department and the shift in public opinion toward law enforcement.

"The anti-law enforcement sentiment we just went through, that made it difficult," Devito told Joliet Patch. "In my opinion, it's been an unbelievably quick turn back to pro-law enforcement."

Patch asked Devito why the sudden upswing in law enforcement support.

"The heavy increase in crime throughout the country," Devito remarked. "That's got people understanding our importance. All in all, even though there was an anti-law enforcement sentiment in the nation, I never felt that way in Joliet. I feel the Joliet Police Department has always felt the support of this community."

How has police work changed since Devito joined the Joliet force in 1994?

"We've completely evolved into community-style policing," he said. "We're expected to be more connected with the community's needs, more so than when I first started.

"I kind of feel my biggest contribution at the police department was my position in labor, between discipline and contracts. I think we've made huge leaps in my 18 years as a labor group president."

Joliet Police Officer Tony Lakota has taken over as the new FOP Lodge president, Devito said.

After a few difficult years of working at the Joliet Police Department, Devito said the police department is back on the right track, thanks to the city's hiring of Bill Evans, Joliet's first outside chief of police since the mid-1990s.

Devito also told Joliet Patch he was supportive of last September's announcement that Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul was launching an investigation into allegations of unlawful police practices at the Joliet Police Department.

"I feel after the reign of Al Roechner, this was probably something that was going to happen," Devito said.

Roechner was Joliet's chief of police from August 2018 until outgoing city manager Jim Hock negotiated a financial settlement to get Roechner to retire in January 2021. On his second to last day on the job for Joliet, Roechner received a pay raise of more than $31,000 to pad his pension as an incentive for retiring.

"But I will say, with this new chief, I feel our department is finally moving in a positive direction, honestly," Devito said. "We needed a breath of fresh air from the outside."

Evans took over as Joliet's new police chief on March 1. He previously spent about 25 years at the Cook County Sheriff's Office, where he served as a lieutenant and was part of Cook County's SWAT unit for 16 years.

Patch asked Devito to explain the main differences between Roechner and Evans.

"I can trust him for who he is and when he tells us something," Devito said of Evans. "We know he's going to stand for what he's saying."

As for Roechner, "day to day, hour to hour, we never knew who we were going to get," Devito said.

Devito said Roechner was known for issuing discipline against rank and file members of the police department as a form of retribution.

As one example, Roechner tried to suspend Joliet Police Detective Joe Clement for 25 days in connection with the incident where on-duty Joliet Police Sgt. Lindsey Heavener was accused of drinking alcohol during the downtown Mexican festival at the Van Buren Plaza, Devito noted.

In the end, city manager Jim Hock overturned Clement's punishment from Roechner, reducing it to a written reprimand and giving Clement more than $10,000 in back pay.

"I refer to it as targeting employees," Devito said of Roechner. "I think he was just in a position to settle scores. It was an unhealthy environment."

When asked if the majority of Joliet's rank and file police officers are glad Roechner is no longer chief of police, Devito answered, "definitely."

Evans, on the other hand, "he's a cop's cop," Devito said.

With Evans running the department, and the current group of four deputy chiefs, Devito remarked, "I think they're fantastic. It's got people coming to work positive. They're happy again."

From Devito's perspective, one of the most important short-term goals for Evans "is to rebuild the department morale, which I think, it's already happening. I mean, it's tough to be a police officer, not just at Joliet Police Department, but just policing in the state of Illinois. Nobody's coming out to apply for the job. Departments are feeling it just by the turnout for job applications."

For many years, the biggest fear facing police officers was being hurt on the job, Devito said.

"Now, you're more afraid of being charged with a crime than you are of getting hurt," Devito said. "I think it's scary."

Lastly, Devito wanted to thank his family for all the sacrifices they made while he patrolled the streets of Joliet.

"I missed birthdays, I missed anniversaries," Devito said. "They always supported me in that position, my wife and my kids. They tolerated all that time I was missing."