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mokenamessenger.com news
the Mokena Messenger | November 29, 2018 | 5
Keeping Mokena safe: inside the MPD
T.J. Kremer III, Editor
On Nov. 13, I was allowed
to participate in a ride along
with a Mokena police officer
while he was on patrol. What
follows is my observations
of that event, along with a
follow-up interview with Mokena
Chief of Police Steven
Vaccaro, which was conducted
on Friday, Nov. 23.
Earlier this summer, one
of our regular freelancers,
Megan Schuller, pitched an
idea to do an article on the
Mokena Police Department.
The article would consist of
a ride along with an officer
and she would write about
her experience.
It seemed like a good idea.
Little did we know there
would be a couple of hiccups
along the way to getting the
story.
Unfortunately, we discovered
after working on the
logistics with the Village of
Mokena that Schuller would
not be able to complete the
assignment because our parent
company’s insurance
would not cover her in the
event that something tragic
should happen. Thus, the
first hiccup.
So, I stepped in and took
the assignment on myself. I
felt the story was still worth
pursuing because I wanted
The Messenger to be able to
provide an inside perspective
into what it’s like for the
men and women who serve
our community.
We worked with the MPD
and the Village to make sure
all the proper paperwork was
in order and, once the red
tape had been taken care of,
decided on a date of Nov. 13
for the ride along.
It was a Tuesday morning,
typically a slow day in the
American work week, and, I
assumed, would be so for a
ride along, too.
The Village of Mokena
has a fairly low crime rate,
as compared to the surrounding
communities. According
to information compiled by
the website city-data.com,
Mokena has a crime index
score — a number used to
reflect the overall amount of
crime in an area — of 67.4;
that’s lower than Tinley Park
(85.4), New Lenox (88.3)
and Orland Park (105.7),
but not as low as Frankfort
(54.6) or Homer Glen (35.2).
I arrived for my scheduled
ride along at 10 a.m. and was
greeted with my second hiccup
of the day: The officer
who was assigned to let me
tag along was not a fan of
the media, nor of civilians
riding along in his vehicle,
so the scope of what I would
be able to report on would be
limited to my own observations
and subsequent followup
interview with Vaccaro.
Speed patrol
The first thing I learned
was how MPD divides the
town in grids and officers
are responsible for covering
their assigned grids throughout
their shifts. Exceptions
to this rule can and are made
when another officer requires
assistance.
A typical duty for an officer
is to conduct stationary
radar checks for speeders
and erratic drivers, most often
caused at that time of day
by drivers who are distracted
while on their phones while
driving. Trying to operate
a phone and drive is one of
the leading causes for accidents,
so officers are keen to
spot motorists violating the
no-cellphone-while-driving
rule.
The stationary radar portion
of the day was mostly
uneventful. There was one
motorist who was going a bit
Mokena Police Chief Steven Vaccaro has held the position
since 2014. t.j. kremer iii/22nd century media
too fast, but was let off with
a warning. This resulted in
my second and third lessons
of the day: No. 1, a person’s
attitude can go a long way
in determining if that person
will receive a ticket or not on
a minor offense, and, No. 2,
there is an awful lot of paperwork
involved in being a
police officer.
Even when no ticket is
written, an officer is required
to write up, by hand, what’s
called a “stop card,” which
is a brief report ticket documenting
what a stop was
made for and what actions
were taken.
Dash cam video automatically
turns on and records
everything from the point
the officer activates the
squad car’s lights, so tremendous
effort is put forth
in documenting what an officer
does on his or her shift,
both to protect civilians’ civil
rights and to protect the officers,
should someone make
a false claim about a stop.
About that earlier point
on attitude: I observed the
relationship between law
enforcement and civilians to
be a two-way street. MPD
works hard at maintaining
a good relationship with
the community; however,
there are those who have
a negative view of law enforcement.
Whether that’s
because of personal experience,
or because of the way
some law enforcement officers
have been portrayed
in the media in general, or a
combination of both is tough
to decipher.
“We’re here for service
for our residents and to
those who visit our community,”
Vaccaro said.
“Unfortunately, people, in
many cases, see the bad side
of the police; they see us
when either they’ve done
something wrong and we’re
dealing with that situation,
in many cases by way of arrest,
or when something bad
has happened to them. And
‘bad’ can be defined by anything:
it can be car burglary,
somebody threw eggs at
their house, could be somebody
broke into their house,
somebody harmed them. So,
those are the two situations
people normally see the police.”
So how do police officers
work to resolve those perceptions?
Two words: community
engagement.
“From my perspective, we
look very hard at community
engagement,” Vaccaro said.
“So, when we serve, it’s
not just responding to calls
and being reactive, it’s being
more proactive by way
of going out and looking for
those who are looking to do
bad — whether it’s car burglaries
or house break-ins or
business break-ins — but,
also, go that extra mile and
engage with our community.
And I think that’s how
we serve is by showing [the
public] that we are human,
that we’re no different than
they are. We have lives and
families.”
Balancing act
As alluded to earlier, the
relationship between law
enforcement and the media
isn’t always ideal, either.
Reporters sometimes want
to get the “scoop,” to be the
first to report on an event,
and law enforcement isn’t
always ready to release information
we want, whether
that is to protect the integrity
of an investigation, the victims
or the officer involved.
It’s important for the media
and local law enforcement
to work together to
best serve the community,
and Vaccaro said that, for his
part, he’s willing to do so.
“[Law enforcement has]
to be forthcoming. You have
to put information out that I
think you would otherwise
put out,” Vaccaro said. “If I
have information now that I
know that I’m going to put
out tomorrow that will not
jeopardize my investigation
or my officer or any of my
personnel or my community,
why wouldn’t I put it
out today instead of keeping
it in my hip pocket and just
putting out little bits. And,
from my perspective and my
training… is [law enforcement
and media] can work
out a plan to put information
out.
“… I can sit down with
you and say, ‘T.J., this is
what I know, this is what
I want you to put out,’ or,
‘This is what you can’t put
out.’ But just so that you
have a better picture so you
understand so that you’re not
putting out erroneous or incorrect
information or trying
to create a picture that may
not be there.”
But transparency, both
in the media and in law enforcement,
is a big topic on
the minds of many people
these days, and Vaccaro recognizes
that, too.
“Transparency’s a big
word in public service right
now. And I believe in transparency
but, again, you cannot
put out information that
will jeopardize an investigation
or jeopardize the safety
and security of your own
police officers or residents,”
Vaccaro said. “So, it is a balancing
act. We do walk a fine
line. What can we put out,
what can’t we put out; what
should we put out, what
shouldn’t we put out. It is a
fine line.
“So, I think the solution is
in working with your media
representatives in a small
town — we’re not Chicago,
so we’re not dealing with
[broadcast media], we’re not
dealing with that kind of a
forum — it’s sitting down
with your media representatives
and understanding the
relationship and understanding
the inner workings of
public safety, and me understanding
the inner workings
of the journalism side. And I
think that makes a great relationship,
so that when you
have a critical incident you
come to the table and say,
Please see MPD, 9