Lionel Allen Retires 7 Months After Joliet PD Tried Firing Him

JOLIET, IL — Lionel Allen, an officer with the Joliet Police Department since 1989 who was recommended for termination by Chief of Police Al Roechner back in January, has officially left the city on his own terms, Joliet Patch has learned.

City of Joliet personnel records obtained in a Freedom of Information Act request indicate Allen chose to retire from the city effective Aug. 8. Allen's retirement brings to a halt the Joliet's efforts to terminate him.

City records list Allen's employment departure as an official retirement, meaning he can start collecting his police pension in the near future. Additionally, Allen had been collecting his regular city paycheck to stay home from work during the previous seven months, January through August, while his termination remained on appeal.

In January, Chief Roechner informed Allen and Officer Brian Nagra they were being terminated from the police force for separate reasons.

Both men appealed their firings to the city's board of police and fire commissioners, a procedure move that which allowed Allen and Nagra to remain on the city's payroll until the board heard evidence from the chief of police and made a decision whether to uphold the terminations or reduce the punishment.

Nagra remained on the city's payroll until July 5. By then, Nagra had reached his 20th anniversary with the city. At that point, he notified the city he was retiring, which makes eligible to collect a police pension.

Two weeks later, Nagra was charged with five felony crimes in connection with allegations he had been falsifying his payroll records at the city.

In Allen's case, the police department's reasons for seeking his dismissal have not been public, so far.

In June 2018, Lionel Allen filed a federal lawsuit against then-chief of police Brian Benton alleging racial discrimination. Allen's lawsuit also named Lt. Marc Reid, who oversaw Joliet Police Department's internal affairs unit, as well as the city of Joliet.

Allen's lawsuit accused Benton and Reid, two white men, of engaging in retaliation and punishing Allen because of his color of skin.

Allen's lawsuit remains pending in the federal court system. You can read Joliet Patch's initial coverage of Lionel Allen's lawsuit here.