It’s budget season, and an artificial intelligence (AI) application for writing up police reports from body-worn camera and drone data is available from one of DeKalb Police Department’s favorite vendors. Does it lurk in the PD’s budget worksheets? If so, the city should start public conversations now about oversight, transparency, and other pros and cons…
Tag: Freedom of Information Act
Letter asks DeKalb’s mayor to address racist behavior. Mayor has yet to respond
According to records obtained from City of DeKalb, on February 27 a man stopped in to city hall to file a complaint against then-Alderman Scott McAdams. This included a letter addressed to Mayor Cohen Barnes and the city manager, along with screen shots of a messaged conversation during which McAdams used racist slurs. The letter…
DeKalb aldermen can’t get items placed on their own city council agendas
Sixth Ward Alderman Mike Verbic has attempted to get items included on DeKalb city council agendas for nearly a year, but the city manager has yet to comply. Emails from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request show that Alderman Mike Verbic began requesting items be placed on city council agendas in March 2023, and…
“A way to harass poor people”
I’ve been talking to people familiar with DeKalb’s administrative hearing system to try to understand the point of it all. (One of the responses became the title for this piece.) At heart it’s theater, but hardly entertaining. What’s collected probably doesn’t cover the costs of putting on the show, and the performance contains the threat…
DeKalb’s crime-free housing program was a mess when they passed new rules in the fall
This is a follow-up to last week’s post, “DeKalb’s not following its own rules for training landlords.” I’ve received feedback since posting it that the training has been hit-or-miss for several years. Also it turns out the landlord education fails are the tip of the iceberg. When new Crime Free Housing Bureau director Bob Redel…
DeKalb’s not following its own rules for training landlords
DeKalb landlords, property managers, and other registered contact persons for rental properties are required to take an initial landlord education course provided by the city, with annual refresher training after that. But according to a response to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted earlier this month: [P]rior to the appointment of the current Crime…
County housing authority paid for employee’s bridal event
Public funds, property or credit shall be used onlyfor public purposes. Constitution of the State of Illinois, Article VIII. Housing Authority of the County of DeKalb (HACD) reimbursed a housing authority employee $250.00 for a bridal event thrown for another employee. Payment records obtained via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) show HACD reimbursed then-employee Jennifer…
City’s and school district’s claims that they don’t support ticketing children in school is easily disprovable
DeKalb’s Human Relations Commission (HRC) met last week. The city has not yet posted the video of the meeting although typically it posts the next day. At least two of us saw a city staff member turn on the camera, so perhaps the reason for the delay is due to less-than-stellar conduct, as described here.…
Series: Prosecution of City Ordinance Violations
Our local schools employ city police as “school resource officers” (SROs) via intergovernmental agreements, and have for years. The objectives are enhanced safety and better relations between law enforcement and the public. What people don’t know is many Illinois schools, including District 428, have turned to SROs to take on disciplinary roles for school infractions…
What FOIA has revealed so far about prosecutions of children in City of DeKalb
Since last spring, I’ve submitted several requests with City of DeKalb for information about school resource police officers’ ticketing of children in local schools, a practice in more than 160 school districts statewide, including District 428. Here, I want to summarize data I’ve obtained that readers might find useful in evaluating the administrative hearing program.…