Police Officers With Criminal Records

[IfasehunReincarnated]

ESL Auxiliary Police Officers With Criminal Records
created: 3/30/2005 11:22:01 AM
updated: 3/30/2005 11:32:01 AM
Watch Steve Jankowski's report here.
http://www.ksdk.com/news/cover_artic...?storyid=77403

By Steve Jankowski
Illinois Bureau Chief

(KSDK) - As federal investigators seek out corruption in East St. Louis, the police department is working to restore its reputation, tarnished by officers with criminal records.

NewsChannel 5 spent the last several months looking at the East St. Louis police department and no where was trouble more evident than among the city's auxiliary police force.

Police officers participate in weapons certification at the Granite City Police firing range.

It was also here, that unknowingly, trainers with the Southwestern Illinois Law Enforcement Commission (SILEC) put weapons in the hands of some criminals. These criminals were also East St. Louis Auxiliary police officers.

Granite City Police Chief Dave Ruebhausen recounts, "I was amazed when I saw some of the backgrounds of some of the people that had come through or recommended. You know it would never dawn on me to submit someone like that."

Chief Ruebhausen is the chairman of SILEC. He stresses they relied on a community's police chief to submit names of qualified people for training, "Each auxiliary must go through a mandatory 40 hour firearms training course."

Former Assistant Police Chief Marion Hubbard became acting East St. Louis chief in January, "When I worked under the direction of Chief Ronald Matthews, we did do background checks on new individuals that had applied. But you have to understand a lot of these auxiliary that were on, were on before Ronald Matthews became Chief of Police."

Last August NewsChannel 5 submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for a list of the 54 auxiliary officers. After months of waiting, we didn't have to look long to find exceptions to Hubbard's claim.

Ron Matthews became chief in April 2003. But near the top of the list is Skylar Ayers, also known as Skylar Jones. She was hired a year after Matthews took over, yet she has an arrest and conviction record going back to 1995.

Elvin Boyd was hired last June. His criminal record spans 20 years and two jurisdictions.

Both auxiliary officers were among 25 who were either fired or resigned in February.

Bryant Falconer was also hired last June. He's still on the job, despite a guilty plea for disorderly conduct.

Hubbard says, "Out of those 54 officers, not half of them were giving the time like they said they would. They just had the card just to say I'm an auxiliary officer."

When asked if they also have the card so they could carry a gun, Hubbard replied, "Well some of them were eliminated. I don't know if some of them did or some of them did not."

A second Freedom of Information Act request was made to SILEC, who provided a list of people recommended by East St. Louis and given weapons training between 1999 and October 2004.

On the list was former city manager Robert Storman, relatives of Chief Hubbard, and several others who never made it to the auxiliary list.

We wondered if any East St. Louis chief was ever pressured to recommend someone for training who had a criminal background. We asked Hubbard if in his 28 years, had he ever seen that happen. He replied, "I will not answer that question."

Hubbard could also not explain why the list the department provided was full of errors and missing details, "It almost strikes as, well, shoddy record keeping. Well, this is why, this is why I'm trying to get this, get everything straightened out now."

Last October, SILEC also took steps to straighten things out.

Chief Ruebhausen explains, "We have the ability by policy now to not only refuse to train officers who don't, don't pass background, but we've taken a step farther. If, if the officer in question, they may not have convictions, they may have multiple arrests, they may have other things; if we don't view them as, as good candidates, then we won't train them."

Chief Ruebhausen adds all background checks are now conducted by the Illinois State Police.

Chief Hubbard says his brother and daughter-in-law were hired in 2004, but he didn't show us documentation to back that up.

Hubbard's son Claude has been an auxiliary officer since 2001. As he put it, they have as much right as any citizen to volunteer their time to the East St. Louis police department.

KSDK