Police chief reports staffing shortfalls, spike in auto thefts; council approves $132,843 in police bills
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Summary
Police leadership told the council the department is budgeted for 67 officers but is effectively short due to academy assignments, training and leaves; overtime is high and auto thefts are up roughly 45% year-over-year. Council approved $132,843.54 in police-department bills.
Police leadership briefed the Kankakee City Council on October police activity, highlighting staffing shortages, overtime, firearms recoveries and a significant rise in auto thefts. The council approved police bills for the month by roll call.
"The police department is currently budgeted for 67 officers. We currently have 66 officers. With that being said, we're down really 12 officers because we have 2 in the academy, 2 in field training, 1 on administrative leave, 3 on light duty, and 4 on FMLA," the chief said, describing how those absences affect shift staffing and overtime.
The department reported 21 firearms recovered in October. The chief said license-plate readers remain in use and the department has eight FL0CK (LPR) units in operation. He reported overtime for the month totaled $41,781.27, with some overtime reimbursed through task-force activity (U.S. Marshals, ATF, TCAT).
The chief described a sharp increase in auto theft: "We're up about 45% this year from last year in auto thefts. So right now in this city, we've had 71 vehicles stolen." He said one individual was recently arrested after allegedly stealing multiple vehicles and remained detained at the time of the meeting.
Council members discussed several line items in the police bills. The chief highlighted an Axon Enterprise contract for conducted-energy-device cartridges; the contract included a larger initial payment and ongoing annual charges. The council moved and approved payment of police bills totaling $132,843.54. The motion was made by Alderman O'Brien and seconded by Alderman Ozinga; the roll call recorded ayes from the attending aldermen.
The chief also updated members on violent-crime and response statistics: 6,952 total incidents for the month, 133 adult arrests, one homicide in the 200 block of North Evergreen (detectives are reviewing cell phones and other technology and have persons of interest), 19 shots-fired-related calls, and increases in mental-health related calls.
Separately, the chief described a Second Ward search warrant that recovered five firearms, including an AR-15, crediting Detective Huebner with the investigative work. A council member later recounted a Crime Stoppers tip that led to cooperation with U.S. Marshals and a federal arrest.
The police chief said staff will follow up on apparent invoice discrepancies for vehicle repair items and continue to provide monthly equipment and statistics updates to the council.
