THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2008
Attorney Lays Out Police Audit Timeline
Terry Ekl, lead attorney for the audit of the Park Ridge Police Dept., released a preliminary timeline for the project.
Between Apr. 21 and May 17, he plans a personal meeting with Acting Police Chief Tom Swoboda and roll call meetings with each shift requesting full cooperation of all officers. He will obtain a comprehensive list of all accusations made involving the department, determine the sources of those allegations, and review any physical documents or evidence relating to them. Ekl will contact any people involved in those events and conduct interviews with them.
Ekl also plans Saturday sessions at City Hall when citizens can come in with information without needing appointments. Those sessions run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with one planned for this Saturday, May 3. Citizens wanting to give information at a different time can schedule an appointment with Mary Nash, his assistant, at 630-242-8214. Those appointments do not need to be on city property.
Between May 17 and June 14, Ekl will change the focus of interviews to the police officers, especially those against whom a citizen made an allegation. He also plans interviews to determine other general concerns regarding the department and a review of the general orders and rules of the agency. Ekl also intends to review any civil rights claims against the department during the past five years and current threatened litigation.
The third phase of his audit runs from June 14 to June 30. During that time, Ekl plans to re-interview anyone if additional information warrants that, and to begin the draft of the final report.
He expects to present the final report to the Park Ridge City Council between June 30 and July 7. The Park Ridge City Council chose Ekl Williams to perform the audit at the meeting on Monday, Apr. 21. At that meeting, aldermen denied Ekl the ability to grant officers immunity from disciplinary action based on anything they say in the interviews. Ekl explained he could not grant immunity from criminal action in any circumstance. Council members also agreed to make the final report public and to have Ekl's staff make appointments to allow residents to speak with him without going through city staff members.