In an unprecedented move, the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police has suspended its president after a Tribune article Thursday detailed a criminal investigation into his actions.
Timothy Swanson, who is police chief of Momence and works for the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office, faces an investigation into a police helicopter program he began while chief of southwest suburban Countryside in 2005 and then moved to Kankakee County in 2009, records show.
In an emergency phone meeting Thursday, the board voted to put Swanson on a leave of absence from his post while the association hired an outside firm to investigate whether his actions broke the board’s ethics code, Executive Director John Kennedy said.
Kennedy said that beyond the allegations involved in the probe, Swanson may have violated board rules by failing to tell the group he was under criminal investigation. Records show Swanson already had invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination before he took the reins of the board.
Swanson was part of the board conference call but excused himself before the vote was taken, Kennedy said.
“He’s saying these are just allegations that don’t have any substance to them, but that’s for our independent investigation (to determine),” Kennedy said.
The Tribune investigation found that Swanson partnered with a convicted felon to run the helicopter program and branch out into side businesses. Swanson steered federal grant money to one of the businesses for helicopter equipment, despite rules that forbid such arrangements, records show.
Swanson raised money for the program through a nonprofit that failed for years to register with the state attorney general.
Countryside officials have questioned possible misspending and insider deals, alleging in a civil court filing that Swanson committed “extensive wrongdoing” while there.
Separately, federal and state authorities have taken away the two helicopters and equipment they had lent Swanson’s program.
Swanson did not respond to an email Monday afternoon. Neither did the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office. In its last public comment, the Sheriff’s Office noted that it was aware of the investigation but had not suspended Swanson.
Kennedy said the chiefs group, made up of 1,200 members, wanted to immediately separate itself from Swanson until it sorted out what happened.
“This isn’t about the association. This is about one individual,” Kennedy said. “We need to bring this to closure so we can move forward.”
