Will County voters will elect a new sheriff this year to replace three-term Sheriff Mike Kelley, who is retiring.
Republican James “Jim” Reilly faces Democrat Patrick Jones for a four-year term, and both candidates are longtime sheriff’s office employees.
Kelley, sheriff since 2014, decided not to seek reelection.
Reilly, 60, a Will County sheriff’s deputy who has been in law enforcement for 24 years, has been a K-9 officer and juvenile officer, and was part of an undercover organized crime unit that worked with federal agencies to investigate high-level criminal activities, narcotics and gangs.
Reilly, of Wilmington, holds a doctorate degree in criminal justice with a minor in global leadership and has studied law enforcement in countries including Switzerland, Hong Kong and Ireland. His research for his dissertation and a subsequent book focuses on improving community relationships and policing, he said.
“That dissertation is being used throughout the country,” Reilly said.
Jones, 50, a Will County sergeant assigned to the patrol division, has been with the office 25 years and worked in corrections, crime scene investigations, as SWAT operator, SWAT sniper and as a leader of the crisis negotiation team.
Jones, of Joliet, has led more than 40 major investigations involving shootings and armed negotiations, received two life-saving awards and said his testimony helped convict Joseph Czuba, a Plainfield landlord who was found guilty in the stabbing death of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy who was targeted because of his race and religion.
Jones said he still keeps in touch with a man he once talked out of a suicide attempt on the side of the road. Jones said he trains deputies of the department.
“All of that and how many critical incidents I’ve been on and managed as a supervisor, I think makes me a better candidate for this office,” Jones said.
Top issues
Jones said he wants officers visible in the community and talking with people to problem solve. Whenever there is a use of force by an officer against a person, he said he would make the videos available, which improves transparency.
“I understand we get our trust from the people,” Jones said. “And if we start holding back videos or statements of critical incidents that have happened, we’ll lose that trust and we can’t effectively police that community.”
Jones said he wants to expand mental health resources for police officers and training for officers to help people who are going through mental health issues.
One of his priorities includes reducing recidivism by increasing training programs in the jail where inmates could learn a trade such as welding or small engine repair, Jones said. DuPage and Cook counties have similar programs, he said.
“I don’t want to send people to jail to make them better criminals,” Jones said. “I believe these programs will help reduce recidivism.”
Reilly said crime reduction and improving public safety are among his top initiatives. He wants to use intelligence-based policing to identify areas that have seen increased criminal activities. Smash-and-grab burglaries need to be addressed, and law enforcement needs to be proactive, he said.
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Reilly said he wants to improve relationships between the sheriff’s and state’s attorney’s offices so they get the information they need to charge and prosecute offenders. Reilly agreed offering mental health programs to its officers as well as training officers to deal with individuals experiencing a mental health emergency is important.
The department should work better with federal organizations, such as the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and use all the resources they offer, Reilly said.
“In my background, I have a great working relationship with federal agencies,” Reilly said. “I think that’s where Will County has been lacking.”
Criminal justice reform is a top priority, Reilly said. He has criticized the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act, or SAFE-T Act, as one of the “worst pieces of legislation” that should be repealed or changed.
“I definitely want to work closely with legislation and our political leaders to reform the SAFE-T Act,” Reilly said.
License plate readers
Reilly said license plate reader cameras, often known by the company name Flock cameras, are an important tool in law enforcement to quickly investigate criminal activity. They are used daily, he said.
“It is a resource I personally support,” Reilly said. “When I say support, I say that with kinda an asterisk. I do understand the public’s concern. There has been misuse by officers. That should be dealt with and those officers should be held accountable.”
Reilly said he also has questions on where the data is stored, and suggested the data should only be stored for a limited time, such as seven days, before it is erased. He said a well-written policy within the department and state regulations are needed.
He said Flock camers should have the same restrictions as other highly regulated law enforcement databases.
“I hope we can find some common ground where we can keep those and law enforcement can continue to use them appropriately and with restrictions,” Reilly said. “But I also realize that at the end of the day, I don’t write laws or legislation. I enforce them. If the mass majority of voters want them removed and taken off the streets, then I will support that as well.”
Jones said he understands both Republicans and Democrats have privacy concerns.
He said the cameras offer officers several benefits, citing one incident in which a homicide suspect from Grundy County was caught on Jefferson Street in Joliet.
“There was no doubt in my mind that he was probably going to get rid of that car and harm another citizen,” Jones said. “But we caught him in record time so he couldn’t commit any more crimes in the community.”
Jones said the cameras have also been used for silver alerts to help dementia patients return home safely.
Jones said he would implement weekly audits so the department can “discover those bad actors immediately and handle them appropriately.”
“This is an amazing technology but it needs serious guidelines in place to protect citizens,” Jones said. “I need the community to trust us and what we do.”
Law enforcement and technology
Jones said he would like to bring more awareness to crimes that target the elderly and those that prey upon children online.
He said he wants to get more officers out in the senior communities to explain financial crimes and how technology is used to scam them out of their savings. He also wants to create a task force to protect children so they aren’t victimized online.
“As technology grows, you will have more crimes through technology,” Jones said.
Reilly said he wants to introduce community policing programs to address crimes that target senior citizens. He said he would like to work with banks and financial institutions so they raise a red flag when elderly individuals try to transfer a large sum of money.
Artificial intelligence is an emerging technology that officers will need to understand, Reilly said.
“You can AI-generate a voice and call a senior citizen and say you are someone you are not,” Reilly said. “We need to sit down and start addressing where artificial intelligence is going and how that is going to affect law enforcement and our community as a whole.”
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.