PHOTOS: Matt Boltz, Engineer, Chicago Cubs Radio - Wordspecs

Animal control responsibilities also fall to CSOs, Morris says, with three
of them trained to handle calls about feral cats, nuisance dogs and wild
animals like skunks, raccoons, rabbits and deer. They trap the animals or
provide traps to homeowners.
CSOs also are Crime Scene Investigators, or CSIs. They work crime
scenes, collecting evidence, taking photos and creating the evidence packages
that support the department’s investigators. Collections may include trace
evidence and toxicology, DNA, fingerprints and computer contents. Evidence
Morris and his partners gather is carefully tracked from crime scene to crime
lab, entered on an evidence cataloguing system they refer to as “The Beast”
and sent to a forensic facility in Vernon Hills for testing.
The nationally accredited Northern Illinois Police Crime Laboratory
serves 40 municipalities from Lincolnwood and Skokie to McHenry County.
Founded in 1968, it is fast, versatile and considered one of the best in the
country. In addition to working with material from crime scenes, the lab
can analyze unknown substances, providing reassurance or direction in the
case of possible terrorist attack.
Morris has been a full-time CSO for four years. The son of an officer
who served as a Cook County Sheriff’s deputy, he emphasizes the service
aspect of his title, saying that even parking enforcement—the most visible
and sometimes confrontational part of his work—is about education. “We
try to teach people the reasons for the rules. Parking for too long makes
area businesses less accessible, and parking poorly can cause accidents. We
would rather inform than issue a ticket.”
The outreach of community
policing is central to Thomas
Spanos’ idea of law enforcement.
As the HPPD’s business liaison
officer, he meets with owners
and employees to discuss
financial crimes, collecting bad
checks, where to position cash
registers, preventing shoplifting
and what to do in case of a
robbery. “Witnesses often
disagree on details. Seeing a
crime is a shock; a bit of
confusion is typical. People may
confuse what a robber was
wearing with the clothing of people in the background.” One suggestion for
crime witnesses: Don’t discuss what you saw before you talk to the police.
That way, you can provide information untainted by another’s impressions.
He is now developing programs on how to build observational skills.
According to Spanos, the HPPD has always been open to ideas for
community outreach. One program he developed, triggered by deadly auto
accidents involving teens driving drunk: “Parents Who Host Lose the
Most.” Picking up the motto from the Drug-Free Action Alliance in Ohio,
he and the department set up a party tip line (847-926-1756) to permit
anonymous submission of information about underage drinking.
“We wanted parents to know that it’s a crime to provide alcohol to
minors. We were the first department in Illinois with such a program, and
other municipalities want to know what we’ve done. We put up signs all
over the city and prepared flyers that Sam’s Wines and Spirits, Binny’s and
restaurateurs could distribute with purchases and deliveries. They’ve asked
for more.”
Spanos also serves as a shooting range officer and an evidence
technician. He’s on Highland Park’s SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics)
and recruitment teams and is an organizer of an Elderly Service Team to
develop procedures for working with seniors.
Spanos’ father was a police commander in Chicago, and his brother is
an officer there. Before signing on in Highland Park, Spanos served with the
Chicago Department of Aviation police at O’Hare Airport for two years.
He spends substantial time on the street, visiting stores, banks and other
businesses around the city, offering support and exemplifying his belief that
a visible police presence is preventive. “Stopping crimes is better than
making an arrest,” he says. “Having officers out there tells everyone
Highland Park is on the ball.”
When it comes to enhanced community contact—getting out of the car
and onto the streets—Patrolman Richard Rash has been a leader. The 16-
year veteran of the department has been a member of the bicycle patrol
unit since 1996. “When I’m on my bike, I’m never more than four blocks
from my car. If there’s a call, I
can ride back, hang up my
bike and drive where I’m
needed.”
Today’s patrol car is a
traveling office. “We have
laptops and phones. Dispatch
reaches us by computer, and
we file our reports
electronically.”
Rash, whose father was a
HPPD officer (he retired about
the time Rash came on board)
has served as a field training
officer and a member of the
fire investigation unit since 1999 and on the evidence team for two years.
HPPD officers answer about 30,000 calls a year, Rash says: burglaries,
civil disturbances (“We seek to calm everyone down”), accidents and
animal problems are the most frequent. Residential alarms can also be a
problem, with many false alarms, particularly around breakfast time.
One incident stands out in his mind: “A Waukegan couple, returning from
a night in Chicago, were followed by two guys. When the couple stopped at
Denny’s in Highland Park, these armed robbers took their money and headed
south on Edens. The car was ID’d, and I chased them, picking up a state
trooper at Tower Road. They exited at Cicero, taking evasive action at speeds
up to 100 miles an hour. They ended up in a South Side alley on the South
Side and fled on foot. We caught the driver right away and the passenger later
in a drug house. We also found the weapon, back near Tower.”
Of course, it’s the nature of dispatch calls to be an unpredictable business,
says Communications Supervisor Jason Kern. Highland Park’s dispatchers
(continued on next page)
Fall 2007 / 13