Even with the allegations against him, Gliniewicz routinely received expanded responsibilities at the police department. He died with the rank of lieutenant.How does a guy like this get promoted? said Dave Bayless, village of Fox Lake spokesman. Its a failure in leadership.
A leadership that is no longer in Fox Lake, he added.
Michael Levine is a law enforcement consultant and retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent who has reviewed the hiring practices in federal law enforcement agencies as well as local police departments.
Levine said rogue cops are all too common. So is promoting them.
All he had to have is one friend, and hes promoted, Levine said. Just cozy up to one boss, and hes promoted. This is common in all departments. The cream does not always rise to the administrative surface.
Hired in 1985, Gliniewicz eventually was promoted to sergeant in May 1999. A recommendation for his promotion was signed by Margaret Paull, who was then the secretary for the villages Fire and Police Commission. She currently is a commissioner. Paull did not return phone calls, and two other commissioners Michael Trinski and Joe Ravagni also could not be reached. According to recent commission meeting minutes, they indicated they would not speak to the media.
Paull, at the time, wrote Gliniewiczs advancement was based on written scores, an oral interview, his years of service and performance evaluations by then-police Chief Edward Gerretsen.
Generally speaking, police review boards are run fairly similarly, Levine said. A group of residents is appointed to conduct the hiring, firing and promoting of officers. Theyre often tasked with investigating resident complaints.
You have a bunch of citizens who have absolutely no experience in police work, Levine said. Especially in a little towns.
Thats how a guy like that can surface.
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The letter claims former police Chief Michael Behan took a head-in-the-sand approach to dealing with Gliniewicz. Its unclear what, if any, discipline Gliniewicz received as a result.
Every Fox Lake official who returned phone calls for this article said questions about Gliniewiczs advancement in the department should be referred to Behan, or other city officials at the time, who could not be reached for comment.
Currently, the Fox Lake Police Department is
run by an interim chief and deputy chief on loan from the Lake County Sheriffs Office. A nationwide search for a new police chief began in August with
Behans retirement. When he retired, Behan had been placed on
paid administrative leave because of a separate investigation into how he handled an unrelated investigation into his and another officers actions in December.
In the meantime, village officials said they want to move past the Gliniewicz saga, and they are undergoing a complete overhaul of the department. Village Administrator Anne Marrin, whom
Gliniewicz targeted when he tried to order a hit or set up for an arrest, talked about the lax policies and procedures at the department when she began looking at their operations in 2014. She said there werent proper channels for discipline or for reporting superiors.
I just think they didnt really know the right way because its been embedded in them that this is how its done, she said.
Mayor Donny Schmitt also noted some changes need to be made within the department.
Were doing a complete audit and independent investigation of the department, and policies and practices, and were finding out they there needs to be change, Schmitt said, but he would not elaborate on specific changes.
Moving forward, he noted the need to regain the publics trust.
One bad police officer doesnt make the entire department, Schmitt said. Theres good men and women working at the department putting their lives on the line every day for the community.
