Glenview police were forced to investigate some of their own officers Tuesday after six department employees ended up on the wrong side of a drug bust in Milwaukee.
The incident occurred last Friday at the Wisconsin city’s SummerFest, when the off-duty Glenview personnel were arrested by a Milwaukee police officer who said he saw them allegedly passing around a marijuana cigarette, a spokeswoman for the Milwaukee County district attorney’s office said Tuesday.
Additionally, a “small amount of cannabis was confiscated” from a member of the group, she said.
The six defendants-a patrol officer, a detective, two records clerks, a social worker and a police dispatcher-were expected to be officially charged Wednesday with misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, the district attorney’s office said.
They were released Friday after posting bond and face fines if convicted.
All were placed on paid leave from the Glenview Police Department pending the outcome of an internal investigation, said Deputy Police Chief Pat Carey.
“There is a feeling of universal shock and disappointment within the department, and we view the arrests as a very serious situation,” Carey said. He added that, based on the account of the arrest related by Milwaukee police, there is “a definite potential for termination” of the six employees.
Carey said that after the internal probe, a final decision on the two police officers’ future will be made by the village’s Board of Fire and Police Commissioners.
Police Chief David Kelly will make the determination regarding the civilian employees, Carey said.
“In my more than 18 years on the force, we’ve never had a case that even remotely resembles this one,” Carey said.
Joseph Roddy, an attorney who represents Chicago’s members of the Federation of Police, said the Chicago Police Department has a “zero tolerance” rule for its officers. That means if an officer is caught with drugs, and tests positive for drug use, he or she is almost automatically fired, Roddy said.
He called the zero tolerance guideline “archaic” and said many departments have adopted a less restrictive “one last chance policy” that allows for a one-time mistake.
Glenview follows neither policy, Carey said. He said disciplinary action did not ultimately depend on whether the six are found guilty in Wisconsin but on a preponderance of evidence from the internal investigation.
Glenview village trustee Charles Esler said that though he will withhold judgment, “I think this group has clearly made the job of the other officers in the village much harder in terms of dealing with the kids.”
This past school year, a series of public hearings was held in Glenbrook High School District 225 after a small group of students told the school board that drug use was “rampant” at the campuses in Glenview and Northbrook. An investigation found the students’ claims to be overblown, but it focused renewed attention on the relatively low level of drug activity that does exist among youth in the area.
Although the six Glenview police employees face a fine not to exceed $200 if convicted of the misdemeanor drug charges, few people interviewed in the north suburb Tuesday said they thought the officers should get off with only a slap on the wrist.
“They hold a special position in the community,” Jeff Urban, 22, said Tuesday afternoon at the Glenview House tavern. “Maybe this wasn’t a real serious offense, but I think they should be busted to the full extent of the law.”
