Use Of Force Reports Released By Kendall County Sheriff's Office

Press release from Kendall County Sheriff's Office:

03/22/2022 11:45 a.m.

KENDALL COUNTY, IL — The Sheriff’s Office is releasing the 2021 Annual Use of Force Analysis and Reports for both the Operations and Corrections Divisions of the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office. It is the policy of the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office to conduct these audits yearly, evaluate our performance, and ensure we are accountable to the citizens we are sworn to serve.

It is the culture of the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office to be fair, unbiased, and to only use force that is reasonable and necessary. This is ensured through our long-standing policies and practices including a review of every use of force incident where the force applied exceeds compliant handcuffing. Supervisors are immediately notified of any such use of force and a thorough review is promptly initiated. These reviews are conducted to detect any indications that a deputy may be prone to an application of excessive force or requires additional support and/or training. The Kendall County Sheriff’s Office has a zero-tolerance policy for any type of biased based actions or excessive applications of force. If any such pattern of behavior is ever detected, disciplinary steps will be taken.

The reports conclude members of the Operations Division were involved in 20 reviewable use of force incidents, none of which were found to be excessive applications of force. Members of the Corrections Division were involved in 31 reviewable use of force incidents, none of which were found to be excessive applications of force. The reports recommend continuing to focus training on de-escalation techniques and on the Crisis Intervention Team Training.

"I believe in being transparent with the citizens of Kendall County and making these reports available for review furthers that belief and works to build trust with our community," Sheriff Dwight Baird said. "I also want to assure you that my staff and I are committed to continually evaluating and reassessing our practices, policies, and procedures to ensure all of our deputies are conducting themselves professionally and treating everyone with the respect and dignity they deserve. The Kendall County Sheriff’s Office is committed to equal and fair treatment for all citizens."

The Use of Force Analysis and Reports are available to view under the “transparency” tab on the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office website by following this link: https://www.co.kendall.il.us/offices/sheriff/transparency/annual-reports.

Contact: Deputy Dan Briars #95

Email: dbriars@co.kendall.il.us

This press release was produced by Kendall County Sheriff's Office. The views expressed here are the author’s own.