Jason Lentz, the Elgin police awaiting disciplinary action for a social media post he wrote encouraging ICE immigration efforts in Elgin, has been granted permanent disability benefits by the Elgin Police Pension Board.
Lentz applied for a disability pension on Oct. 16, the same day he was put on administrative leave for a Facebook post in which he suggested locations in the Elgin area where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents could find undocumented immigrants, according to a news release from the city of Elgin.
The 28-year police veteran, placed on light-duty assignment following an on-duty injury in 2023, was granted the pension despite the city’s Civilian Review Board recommendation that Lentz be fired and before a March 10 disciplinary hearing was held on the case.
Under state law, the pension board operates independently of the city and the police department and its determination is separate from the city’s disciplinary process, officials said.
The five-member pension board is comprised of current and retired police officers and a chief financial officer. Lentz’s application was approved Feb. 24.
“Based on medical evaluations conducted by three physicians selected by the board, the pension board determined that Officer Lentz qualifies for a disability pension,” the release said.
Police officers can receive 65% or more of their salary when approved for a disability pension, according to the Illinois State Lodge of Fraternal Order of Police. Lentz’s salary in 2024 was $133,293, according to govsalaries.com.
Police Chief Ana Lalley plans to hold the disciplinary hearing as planned, after which she will decide what action will be taken in regards to Lentz.
“The city of Elgin takes these matters seriously and remains committed to following all applicable laws, municipal codes and due process requirements,” the release said.
It’s not clear what, if any, impact the police chief’s final decision would have on Lentz’s job standing or pension.
In his post, which went live Oct. 15 and was later removed, Lentz wrote, “If I were ICE I woulnd’t check La Movida at 849 N State St in Elgin for illegals. Definately none there! Also I wouldn’t check the flea market where the old Milk Pail was at 14N630 Rt 25 in West Dundee, there’s no way you’d find any there. Also wouldn’t check The Elgin Mall of East Dundee which is located at 535 Dundee Ave in East Dundee, I guarantee ther’s n illegals there either! @Department of Homeland Security @U.S. Customs and Border Control.”
The post came during Operation Midway Blitz, the targeted initiative in which ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security targeted the immigrant community in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, including Elgin.
In calling for Lentz’s firing in January, the Civilian Review Board found the officer’s post “malicious and inflammatory” and a “violation of standard operation procedures governing professional conduct, social media use and bias-free policing,” board member Jose Bosque said at the time.
The comment was posted “during a period of heightened national tensions involving federal actions against Hispanic communities, caused significant stress and alienation within Elgin’s large Hispanic population (and) severely damaged the department’s reputation,” Bosque said.
Lentz has been through this process once before when he was fired for posting a social media comment in 2014 about the death of an unarmed 18-year-old Black man shot by Ferguson, Missouri, police officers. In it he wrote, “Hmmm…innocent victim my ass. Did society a favor.”
An arbitrator overturned the police chief’s decision in 2015. Lentz was returned to his job following a six-month suspension without pay for disregarding orders to take the post down.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
