• 2024-12-13 00:23:02
• Racial Discrimination

JOLIET — Todd Wooten, the former outspoken chairman of the Joliet Police and Fire Board, told Joliet Patch he was not at all surprised by Thursday's findings from the Illinois Attorney General Office's revealing that the Joliet Police Department has a longstanding unlawful practice of using excessive force against Black and Latino citizens that persists to this day.

Wooten was a city of Joliet firefighter from 1992 to 2013, retiring at the rank of captain. Wooten was appointed as a Commissioner on the Joliet Fire and Police Board in 2015, and he resigned in 2021 as chairman of the city's fire and police board. Following Wooten's departure, retired Cook County Sheriff's Office supervisor Bill Evans became Joliet's Police chief in 2022 and Terry D'Arcy was elected as the mayor in April 2023.

Joliet's Police Department has a history of violating the Constitutional rights of citizens, according to the findings of the multi-year AG report.

Here's what Wooten had to say about the Attorney General's Office's 158-page report:

"After reading the lengthy list of conclusions by the Illinois Attorney General's office, I'm definitely not surprised, but I'm still deeply saddened. I participated in this investigation at length, and I did so for two reasons. One, to address the misconduct I observed by Joliet Police Officers while I served on the Fire and Police Board, and two, to address the misconduct that I've observed by the Joliet Police Department, during my career as a firefighter.

"During my time as a Commissioner, I was accused of having a bias against Joliet police officers on numerous occasions. I always relished the opportunity to address these accusations in person, because deflecting them was so easy.

"My reply to police officers who made those accusations, was always as follows, 'I just want to see cops held to the same standard as firefighters, nothing more, nothing less. After all, we're all on the same pay scale.' And if they didn't like that answer, I always had plenty of examples, and these examples always ended the discussion in my favor. Always.

"Example One: When a firefighter lies to his supervisor or lies on a written report, he will be severely punished and most likely will be terminated. When a police officer lies to his supervisor or lies on a written report, most likely his supervisor will assist him in the lie and cover up.

"Example Two: When a firefighter steals, he's held accountable, no matter the dollar amount. Bottom line, if you steal you can never be trusted by your coworkers again, period. I've seen firefighters fired for petty theft, both on and off the job, and both were terminated within weeks. I've seen firefighters commit theft off the job and go to prison. I've seen cops steal off-duty and get a slap on the wrist.

"I've seen cops steal on duty, from their employer, and not only keep their pension, but still basically get a slap on the wrist.

"In the city of Joliet, the citizens can rest assured, if one of their firefighters engages in misconduct and embarrasses the city, he will be held accountable, and it will be in a timely fashion. But if one of your police officers engages in misconduct, not only will he escape accountability, he most likely will get promoted shortly thereafter, and will definitely teach other officers how to do the same.

"This is NOT my opinion either, JPD's rap sheet more than speaks for itself. The lack of accountability can obviously be blamed on police supervisors, but that would be completely unfair. There's a game that's being played across the country, and it's the citizens who suffer. Politicians run for office claiming they will be 'tough on crime,' but all they really want is union support and union endorsements. They need free labor to pound yard signs, pass out literature and attend fundraisers.

"So what do the unions get in return? They get pay raises and a city council that will never demand police accountability, because they ran on being 'tough on crime' and getting more cops on the street. So the politicians greenlight the misconduct when they accept the endorsements, because they always turn a blind eye once elected.

"But in the end, it's always the citizens who suffer. It's the citizens of Joliet who endure the mistreatment, and it's the citizens who pay out the six and seven-figure settlements for the police misconduct.

"I attempted to address this problem via promotions, because promotions affect paychecks in the short term and pensions in the long term.

"When a police officer knows his record must be clean in the years prior to promotion, he not only improves his conduct, he's less likely to coverup for others. Of course not every police officer desires a promotion, but now that police officers have a "duty to act" if they see misconduct from a fellow officer, the officers who do desire future promotions will be less likely to coverup the misconduct.

"The One Bad Apple theory in law enforcement is a total farce and a myth. If you have One Bad Apple, and Nine Good Apples, but those nine good apples are willing to turn a blind-eye to the bad apple's misconduct, then what you really have is Ten Bad Apples, period.

"So when you scrutinize the promotional process, you'll not only improve individual conduct, you'll also create an atmosphere where it's okay to police each other, which is actually a critical component of leadership, because men holding each other accountable when no supervisor is present is far more effective.

"No one wants their boss looking over their shoulder an entire shift. While I was on the board we denied promotions to those who were unfit or unworthy, and we based those denials on their record and only their record. Our efforts were later undermined, but the blueprint for police reform is out there, I know this for a fact, because I shared it with two current members of the city council before they were elected.

"But they have different priorities now."

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