Mayor's Violent Crime Task Force May Surprise You

JOLIET, IL — City Hall officials have been losing faith in Chief Al Roechner since last spring. Rank-and-file Joliet Police officers, better known as the blue shirts, have also lost confidence in Roechner's upper management team, as Joliet Patch has previously reported.

On Friday, Mayor Bob O'Dekirk announced his appointments to a new Anti-Violence Task Force. The mayor maintains that the city's violent crime has gotten out of control over the past year.

On Christmas Eve, for instance, a total of seven people were shot that night, five at one location and two at another.

Under Roechner's direction, the Joliet Police Department chose not to issue a press release or publicize any information about both of the shootings immediately after they happened.

And when it comes to shootings around the city, Roechner's approach has been to issue a press release only when someone dies in a homicide.

In fact, Roechner and his upper command rarely ever issue a press release or make an announcement on the Joliet Police Facebook page when someone in the community dies from a drug overdose.

Under Roechner's watch, the majority of Joliet's 2019 homicides still remain unsolved, while heroin and cocaine overdose deaths skyrocketed last year in Joliet.

O'Dekirk, in an effort to extend an olive branch to his political nemesis, asked Joliet City Councilman Pat Mudron to serve on his task force, which Mudron agreed to do.

Besides Mudron, the mayor's task force will consist of:

• Herb Lande, president of the Police and Fire Board
• Joliet auto dealership owner Terry D’Arcy
• Pastor Lonnie Posley of the New Canaanland Church
• Father Bill Dewan, pastor of St Raymond’s Cathedral and Sacred Heart Catholic Church
• Long-time Joliet Police Detective Carlos Matlock
• Joliet Firefighter Jim Ryan, who was also a former police officer.

O'Dekirk wants his task force to focus on violent crime, the increasing number of homeless who have descended on Joliet, the unprecedented number of drug-induced overdoses and deaths and the ongoing internal chaos and numerous scandals which have plagued the Joliet Police Department, a City Hall press release conveyed.

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Joliet's mayor intends for the group to meet at least once a month, the city said.

“I believe it is important to keep the group at a manageable size, but also truly appreciate the fact that so many people in our community want to be part of these solutions for our great city," the mayor said.

On Friday night, O'Dekirk told Joliet Patch: "I am the mayor, and I'm going to take the lead in trying to solve these problems. I want to identify what's going wrong and come up with solutions. I'll lead the meetings."

O'Dekirk told Patch he's pleased Mudron chose to join the task force and have an integral role in finding ways to reduce the amount of violent crime plaguing the city.

People in many neighborhoods are afraid to go outside or to look out their front living room window, especially at night, for fear of having their house shot up by a drive-by gunman. Several of last year's unsolved homicide victims were killed by drive-by shooters, who have managed to get away with their crimes.

"I'm not surprised, but I am glad Pat agreed to do it. I think everyone I chose is a leader," O'Dekirk said.

One city department head who won't have a seat at the meeting table is Roechner.