JPD Administration Does Not Back Its Officers: Tomczak

JOLIET, IL - On Tuesday morning Will County Judge Daniel Kennedy announced that he had found Joliet Police Officer Nick Crowley not guilty of two counts of reckless discharge of a firearm, stemming from an incident last July at the townhouse of Crowley's girlfriend.

Last week, Crowley and his criminal defense lawyer, Jeff Tomczak of The Tomczak Law Group chose not to call any witnesses. Crowley did not take the witness stand to testify in his own defense. A special prosecutor tried the case.

Last week, the court heard from Cassandra "Cassie" Socha, Crowley's fiancee, who is also a Joliet Police officer. She made it clear during her trial testimony that she was not a victim of any domestic violence inside of her Joliet townhouse.

Crowley never hit her and he never pushed her, she testified.

Moments after the judge announced his verdicts, Tomczak spoke with several journalists gathered on the fourth floor of the Will County Courthouse.

Tomczak blamed Joliet Police Chief Brian Benton for the debacle that resulted in criminal charges against Crowley. Benton then put Crowley on paid leave from the department, taking no action to terminate him. In recent weeks, Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk and city manager David Hales decided to put Crowley to work at City Hall in the clerk's office while his criminal case was pending.

"It begins with the chief," Tomczak said. "He's not guilty. There was no direct evidence (of any crime). All the evidence was that this was accidental."

Tomczak pointed out that the evidence was heard last September by a grand jury and the panel decided to not to issue a criminal indictment against Crowley on three of the original five charges.

"I've been representing Joliet Police officers for 20 years. This is my fourth trial, and every one of them was a not guilty verdict. Three jury verdicts and now one bench trial," Tomczak explained.

Tomczak said it should have been obvious to the Joliet Police Department's upper administration that their case against Crowley was weak.

"These front line officers who have the toughest job in the county, the brass does not have their back," Tomczak stressed. "They put a target on their back ... My hope is that the brass will re-evaluate and work as a team with the front-line officers to make for a better city of Joliet."

Last week, Socha testified that Crowley fired his gun into the ceiling of her townhouse during the wee morning hours of the morning last July after her rescue pit bull named Gia began growling and tried to bite her.

Before the gun incident, the two off-duty Joliet Police officers had been drinking at parties, restaurants and bars all throughout the day around New Lenox and Joliet before they drove home together from Anthony's Steakhouse & Pub near the Louis Joliet Mall shortly after 3 a.m.

Tomczak said he can't understand why the Joliet Police Department's administration does not ask an outside police agency to conduct any criminal investigations involving one of its officers, to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest. Tomczak said he has no problem with Joliet having an internal affairs unit, it's just the idea of Joliet Police Department's upper administrative officials deciding whether or not to charge their own officers with crimes.

"When this case got a no-bill from the grand jury, that should have been a big signal that this case was not strong," Tomczak said, referring to the fact that the two counts of domestic violence and the one charge of criminal damage to property were dismissed last fall.

Tomczak said that morale within the Joliet Police Department, particularly within the city's rank and file officers, is not very high at the moment.

Given that a judge found that Crowley did not commit any crimes, Tomczak said he fully expects his client will be reinstated to his job as a patrol officer for Joliet.

"You can't undo the damage to his reputation," Tomczak said of Crowley. "This was an argument between two people that Joliet brass decided to make into a crime. It's time to bring in outside agencies ... These guys all know each other, the brass investigates the front line guys. My understanding of the morale (is) the front line guys feel under attack, and that's got a change."

Image of attorney Jeff Tomczak provided to Patch