Kankakee police report shows staffing shortfall, July overtime and rising ‘shots fired’ calls

At the Kankakee Public Safety Committee meeting on Aug. 5, the police chief reported the Kankakee Police Department had 65 sworn officers while the budgeted strength is 67 and detailed July activity including the department’s overtime costs and shots-fired reports. The chief summarized staffing and operations and provided monthly statistics, saying, “We currently have 65 sworn officers. We're budgeted for 67,” and reporting recovered firearms, camera deployments and training compliance with the Illinois law enforcement training standard board. Committee members pressed the department on communication after shots-fired incidents. An alderman said they often first learn about such incidents through social media and urged the chief to notify aldermen more quickly; the chief said he sends group texts for significant incidents and that not all shots-fired reports are immediately verifiable. Key figures cited by the police in the meeting documents include 4,828 calls for service in July; 339 case reports investigated; 105 adult arrests and 2 juvenile arrests; 253 traffic stops and 453 citations written. The report listed 13 firearms recovered by the city police and 2 by the KMAG unit (15 total), roughly 200 Verkada system camera endpoints with 8 flat cameras ready for deployment, and compliance with the state training board’s requirements. The chief reported overtime for the month totaled $30,306.31 (the meeting document described the hours as “434 hundred and 31 hours,” a phrasing discussed during the meeting). Significant monthly payments included the city’s two-thirds share of dispatch services ($62,934.63) and a $10,000 cloud-storage transition payment tied to the New World and Brazos maintenance fees; the department’s total bills for the month were reported as $144,829.28. On shots-fired data, the chief provided a breakdown separating fireworks from weapons incidents and noted 41 shots-fired events in the month; fireworks-related calls and weapons-related calls were each itemized in the report. The department said mental-health calls for the month were 53, domestic-related calls 144, and that shot-fired incidents sometimes trigger follow-on violent events in other neighborhoods. The committee voted to approve the police bills as presented. A motion to approve the police bills was made by Alderman Navaras and seconded by Alderman Jones; a roll-call vote recorded aye votes from Aldermen Prude, Ozinga, O’Brien, Cobb, Jones, Navaras and Swanson and the motion carried. The chief told aldermen he sends group texts when an incident is significant but said he must confirm details with investigators before issuing public notices. He also said KMAG recently moved to a new reporting system, which has required adjustment to produce complete unit statistics. Less critical details in the packet and discussion included a report that two officers were enrolled in the academy and expected to graduate in August, and scheduling for additional academy slots later in 2025. The committee did not take additional formal action on policy changes related to incident notifications at the meeting.