Mayor Asked If Chief Targeted Black Police Officers Group

JOLIET, IL — A federal judge has ruled that Joliet Police Supervisors Association President Patrick Cardwell, Joliet police Lt. Jeremy Harrison and two Will County assistant state's attorneys must give depositions in the racial discrimination lawsuit of Joliet police Detective Dave Jackson.

Jackson, who is Black, serves as president of Joliet's Black Police Officers Association.

According to court records made public last week, Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk gave testimony in Jackson's lawsuit on Oct. 19, 2021.

Jackson is represented by attorneys Stacey and Joey Vucko of the Vucko Law Firm in Oak Brook.

In March 2019, Jackson was arrested by the Crest Hill Police Department, charged with domestic battery. A special prosecutor later dismissed Jackson's charges before trial.

"Well, there were numerous cases where officers felt that they were being targeted or treated differently than other police officers by Chief Roechner and his command staff," O'Dekirk testified.

O'Dekirk was asked if the complaints pertained to racial discrimination. In November 2019, Jackson filed his civil rights discrimination lawsuit against Joliet, Police Chief Al Roechner, Deputy Chief John Perona and Lt. Joe Rosado, along with Crest Hill Police Chief Ed Clark and Deputy Chief Jason Opiola.

"Some of them were," Joliet's mayor testified. "Others, I think, more political in nature. But it was pretty clear, I think, to me and others of the City Council that there was discriminatory behavior by the police chief."

Jackson's lawyer, Stacey Vucko, asked Joliet's mayor to elaborate.

"Well, which one do you want to talk about? Dave Jackson?" O'Dekirk answered.

"Honestly, I don't have firsthand knowledge because I wasn't involved in any of it. I don't recall another time where the police chief came into executive session to talk about a pending discipline case against an officer, but he did that to Mr. Jackson," O'Dekirk testified. "He told the Council he had already come to conclusions that it wasn't good for Dave Jackson, things of that nature. I can't remember offhand that happening, since I've been on the Council, for any other officer."

"This was with regard to the internal affairs or the domestic incident in March of 2019?" Stacey Vucko asked.

"That's correct," O'Dekirk testified.

"And are you aware of complaints that the Roechner administration was targeting members of the Black Police Officers Association?" Jackson's lawyer inquired.

"Yes," O'Dekirk testified. "With the arrest of Brian Nagra, I heard complaints. I'm not sure that there was truthful, either the charging documents or the grand jury testimony was accurate that was given in Kendall County. With the firing of Lionel Allen, he was a 29-year police veteran who was about a month away from hitting his 30-year anniversary and retiring.

"I believe Chief Roechner went out of his way to terminate Lionel Allen. There was discipline against Officer Joe Clement. It was ultimately thrown out by the city manager, Jim Hock at the time, basically ordering the police chief to get rid of it because it was nonsense."

On Monday, attorney Jim Powers of the Rosemont-based Clark Baird Smith law firm told Joliet Patch the city of Joliet had no comments regarding the latest ruling in Jackson's federal lawsuit, allowing the plaintiffs to take four additional depositions.

The lawyers defending Joliet were opposed to the depositions. Clark Baird Smith is defending Joliet and the three high-ranking Joliet police officials named in Jackson's lawsuit.

Related Patch coverage: Suspension Overturned: Joe Clement Gets $10K In Back Pay

O'Dekirk also testified about the case involving Joliet Police Lt. Dennis McWherter, who retired in late 2018 and was charged in 2019 with several counts of official misconduct. McWherter, who is white, was a member of the Joliet Black Police Officers Association.

"There were charges brought against another BPOA member, Dennis McWherter," O'Dekirk testified. "I believe he was set up by Chief Roechner and other officers. There were charges brought against John Perri, an officer. Again, these were later, the city manager at the time, Jim Hock, essentially got rid of the charges.

"John Perri was responsible for finding the body of the former city manager, Marty Shanahan's ex-wife. My understanding is that he saved her life by doing CPR. She eventually died later in a hospital. (John Perri) was, the allegations are that he was targeted and disciplined by Chief Roechner. There's probably others. That's what comes to mind right now."

O'Dekirk was asked if he spoke with Roechner about these allegations.

"I spoke with him early on about the cases of Brian Nagra and Lionel Allen. He came to my office to tell me he was going to terminate those two officers," O'Dekirk testified. "I really stopped communicating with him, probably after the Brian Nagra affair. He told me in my office that he was going to terminate those two officers. I told him, you know, that I agreed that there were problems, that those officers needed to go for different reasons, but it was my understanding that the city manager had basically worked it out where they were going to leave the police department and both hit their anniversaries, their 30-year, the 20-year mark, by burning up comp time or sick time or vacation time, whatever, prior to leaving."

"The chief insisted that he wanted to fire the two. He made references that he had to look good for the guys. That was a term that he used. When I told him I thought it was pointless, that they both were going to hit their anniversaries even with his termination, all he's going to do is bring controversy to the police department, he told me that he knew that that was going to happen, but he asked me not to tell anyone that he knew that, essentially that he was going to lie because he had to save face from other members of the police department."

In 2019, Roechner was starting his first full year as Joliet's police chief.

"So I supported him and I went along with that, but I regretted it shortly after realizing that that was just the first of the lies that he (was) going to tell about this," O'Dekirk testified in October.

Jackson's lawyer asked about other falsehoods Roechner told him during Roechner's tenure as the Joliet police chief.

"I really didn't have a lot of communication with him," O'Dekirk testified. "I know of lies he's told about me subsequently. I'm not sure, again, that I spoke with him in a manner where I would have relied on anything he said after that point."

Jackson's lawyer asked O'Dekirk what Roechner meant by saying "he needed to look good for the guys" in reference to firing Nagra and Allen.

"It's pretty clear it was the supervisor's union," O'Dekirk testified. "There was some, I guess some type of bond between the police chief and the supervisors union and they were out to go after the BPOA, and the Fraternal Order of Police union had elected officials that they didn't like."

When asked why the Joliet Police Supervisors Association was out to get the Joliet Black Police Officers Association, the mayor testified he did not know.

"I know there was a meeting prior to the deputy chiefs being appointed," O'Dekirk testified. In 2018, "I called for a meeting, which was customary between the Fraternal Order of Police, the police supervisor's union and the BPOA to get some feedback on who they thought ... would make good deputy chiefs. The president of the supervisor's union, Pat Cardwell, refused to come to the meeting and told me he did not acknowledge Dave Jackson or the BPOA as being valid leaders of any labor movement in the city."

O'Dekirk testified the Black Police Officers Association is the only minority organization recognized by the city of Joliet.

O'Dekirk was asked whether he knew of others in the Joliet Police Supervisors Association, aside from Cardwell, who made negative comments about the Black Police Officers Association?

"Not specifics, just that there were officers that did not like BPOA or didn't feel that it was warranted," O'Dekirk testified. "Things of that nature."

"Did they say why?" Jackson's lawyer inquired.

"I think the feeling may have been that they felt there was a police union, there didn't need to be a special union for minority officers," O'Dekirk testified.

Why does Jackson's lawyers want to compel Cardwell and Harrison's testimony?

"Plaintiff seeks to depose Lt. Harrison and Sgt. Cardwell to show that the City treated these individuals more favorably than Plaintiff, including with regard to any investigations conducted by the internal affairs unit and any resulting discipline or repercussions," court documents state. "Furthermore, Plaintiff, President of the Joliet Black Police Officers’ Association, is prosecuting claims for retaliation in violation of the First Amendment arising out of the former police administration and Defendant Roechner targeting Plaintiff after he spoke out and took actions in furtherance of the BPOA’s mission."

Why does Jackson want to compel the testimony of Will County Assistant State's Attorneys Mark Fleszewski and James Long?

The Will County Assistant State’s Attorney’s office failed to respond to Jackson's lawyer's subpoena for documents and failed to respond to her request for sworn declarations, court documents show. Stacey Vucko wants to conduct these two additional depositions to rebut the defendant's assertion that assistant state's attorneys Long or Fleszewski determined probable cause existed for Jackson's arrest, her filing asserted.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Joliet Scolded By Federal Judge In Black Detective's Lawsuit

30-Day Suspension For Black Detective Who Sued Chief Roechner

Detective Jackson Sues Joliet Chief For Racial Discrimination

Detective Jackson's Domestic Violence Trial Canceled