J..Jacksonville Police

Department

Memo

To: Patrolman Jared Degroot

From: Chief Anthony Grootens

Date: 11/01/2011

Re: Discipline

I have reviewed an internal inquiry of alleged violations of the Jacksonville Police Department Policyand Procedure Manual:

General Order 11 G-29

Police officers must remain obedient and responsible to all verbal and written ordersissued by supervisors and to all work assignments transmitted to him/her byauthorized persons.

General Order 11 G-5

A police officer is responsible for all calls for service.

Jacksonville Patrolman Labor Contract

Article 15 clearly states that officers receive a 45 minute meal break but the officer isstill subject to priority calls.

I have determined that just cause exists to support the allegations. I believe you neglected your duty.Specifically you failed to respond to an officers call for assistance, while you were on lunch break, untilyou were asked to do so. I am imposing a three day suspension without pay for these violations.

Please make arrangements to meet with Lt. Dave Kruzan to schedule the disciplinary time off for thissuspension. Please have this suspension served no later than the end November 2011.

You are advised that any future violations of departmental policy will lead to progressive disclpline. Toavoid future problems concerning these specific violations you need to adhere to the directions spelledout in the Jacksonville Policy and Procedure Manual.

Date: /1 /' /~_-'-__J.__ _

cc: Pt!. Jared DegrootPersonnel rileLt. Dave Kruzan

,,.,

JackSOl1vilie Police Depart111erlt200 W. Douglas Jacksonville, IL 62650 (217) 479-4630

TO: Deputy Chief Tim Shea

FROM: Lieutenant David Kruzan

DATE: October 26,2011

REF: Ptl. Jared Degroot not responding to call

On Wednesday, 10/26/11, Sgt. Doug Thompson advised me of an incident that occurredon Sunday, October 23,2011 when I was not working, Sgt. Thompson was the ShiftCommander on the day of the incident. Sgt. Thompson stated at approximately 1 :30PM, acall came in to the Jacksonville Police Department of a subject attempting to force entryinto the house, Sgt. Thompson stated Ptl. Degroot was on break and responded only afterbeing advised by Sgt. Thompson to respond, Sgt. Thompson advised the incident wasrecorded on the radio record log, Ihad Sgt. Thompson request IT Specialist Rex Gindermake a compact disk recording of the radio traffic from the incident. I reviewed the audiorecording of the incident and will attach the disk to a copy of this report. I also advisedSgt. Doug Thompson to document the incident in a memorandum format addressed tome, Iwill attach Sgt. Thompson's memorandum to a copy of this report. I reviewed thememorandum and the audio recording of the incident and in my opinion Ptl. Degroot'sinattentiveness to be reckless and inexcusable, The following is a summary of theincident based on Sgt. Thompson's account in the memorandum and the recording fromthe radio log,

At approximately 1:30PM, the Jacksonville Police Department received a call stating asubject was attempting to force entry into a residence, Sgt. Thompson was unable torespond due to relieving the Telecomrnunicator for a lunch break, Ptl. Degroot and Ptl.Turner were on break for lunch, Ptl. Vasquez was on a call for service, Pt1. Coop was theonly officer to respond immediately, Ptl. Turner asked Sgt. Thompson how many officerswere responding and Sgt. Thompson advised "one", Ptl. Turner cleared from his lunchbreak and responded, Ptl. Coop arrived 011 the scene first. Shortly after his arrival, Ptl.Coop's portable radio began "keying up" repeatedly with no audible radio traffic, Thisoften occurs when all officer is in a physical altercation. Sgt. Thompson began to checkPtl. Coop's status [mel there was no response, Ptl. Coop requested "more cars" in anexcited tone of voice. Sgt. Thompson toned Ou1 Ptl. Coop's request using Alert 3, Ptl.Vasquez cleared from his call for service. and responded 10 Coop's location, Ptl. Degrootdid not acknowledge any of the radio traffic incluai.ig the Alert Tone 3, Sgt. Thompson~cI--C."~ Ptl Devroot \:;q i""f~ "'':1(;;0 ;l')'JI" ,,:rf~ resoondiac Pt1 Dezrcor had to ask 1£'01'd.._ \. ..........1 ~ 1... ...·::;Lv 1(.. ",~J., J(.I..UJ, ...1_ '- V\C~,:, J. ; _.L 1.1..:-0' ..t. _ ....:;> \... .1 c ... \.. .

clarification of the situation as well as the location of Ptl. Coop, Ptl. Tumer arrived onscene and the suspect was placed in custody, Ptl. Degroot cleared from his lunch breakafter receiving clarification but was advised to disregard prior to arriving on the scene,

After reviewing the incident, I feel as though Ptl. Degroot's lack of attention to the radiotraffic could have resulted in Ptl. Coop or the resident being seriously injured, This callwas toned out twice including the last Alert Tone 3 transmission which included thedetails and location, Alert Tone 3 is only used for "Hits" and "Officer needs assistance",There is no excuse to ignore any radio traffic, but especially an Alert Tone 3,We asofficers have an obligation to our fellow employees to assist an officer in distressregardless of what we are doing at that time, Ptl, Degroot's behavior was inappropriateand in my opinion showed an inattentiveness which directly jeopardized Ptl. Coop'ssafety, Itwas fortunate that no one was injured,

Under Article IS-Hours and Overtime from the Jacksonville Police Patrolman LaborContract, the language clearly states that officers receive a 45 minute meal break but theofficer is still subject to priority calls, I feel as though this situation was clearly a prioritycall.

In the Jacksonville Police Policy General Order 11, G-5 which states Patrolman areresponsible for all calls for service, Even though an officer receives a 45 minute mealbreak, it does not excuse a non-response to a high priority call such as in this situation.

The Jacksonville Police Policy Manual states an officer must remain obedient andresponsible to all verbal and written orders issued by superiors and to all workassignments transmitted to him/her by authorized persons, Ptl. Degroot was not obedientor responsible when this call was transmitted because he had to be prompted to respondafter two different alert tones (including an Alert Tone 3) and an officer requestingassistance, Even after the information had been transmitted twice, Ptl. Degroot still had toask what the situation was ancl the location of the officer needing assistance, Therefore, Ifeel this is a clear violation of a Patrolman's duties as defined in General Order 11, G-29,

It is my understanding that Ptl. Degroot has received discipline for inattentive relatedbehavior in the past. Please review the attached documentation and it is myrecommendation that Ptl. Degroot receives <1 minimum three day suspension without payfor this incident.

~~

<,' (" r/I \ \./ /(j I', .'.:.-/(:v" wC) I>~Lieutenant David Kru,d.n

Jacksonville Police Departl1tent200 W. Douglas, Jacksonville, IL 62650, Tel: 217479·4630, Fax 217 479-4637

To: Lt. Dave Kruzan

From: Sgt. Doug Thompson

Date: 10/26/11

Subject: Ptl. Jared Degroot not responding to officer needing assistance

On Sunday, October 23Td, 2011 at approximately 1:30pm the Jacksonville Police

Department received a report of a subject attempting to kick the door to his mother'sresidence in. The complainant advised her son did not live at the residence. During this callPtl. Tino Vasquez was handling a call of an upset customer at a gas station, Ptl. DaveTurner and Ptl. Jared Degroot were both on break for their lunch, ancI I 'was sitting thecommunications center so the TIC could have her lunch. That left only Ptl. Andy Coop torespond to the call.

Ptl. Coop acknowledged the call and advised he 'was heading that way. While Ptl. Coop wasenroute Ptl. Turner got on the radio and asked me if anyone else was heading that "yay andIadvised him nobody else was going. Ptl. Turner stated he would clear from his lunch to goassist Ptl. Coop. During this time Ptl. Coop had arrived on scene. Approximately 1 minuteafter Ptl. Coop's arrival his radio began to click. Iknew it was his radio because it wasshowing up on the dispatch screen. From prior experiences when the radio clicks in thismanner the officer is usually struggling with a suspect. I began to check Ptl, Coop's statusand did not receive an answer. After the second status check Iwas getting ready to hit thealert 3, which is officer safety tone, 'when Ptl. Coop requested more cars. I gave the alert 3tone and informed officers of Ptl. Coop's location. I heard Ptl. Vasquez clear from the gasstation and Ptl. Turner arrive on scene. Ptl. Degroot did not acknowledge the alert 3. Aftera few seconds I asked Ptl. Degroot U·he was responding and he did not know what I wasreferring to. I informed Ptl. Degroot a tone had been dispatched for Ptl. Coop neeclingassistance and Ptl. Degroot had to ask where Ptl. Coop was located. All of this came afterthe call had been toned out initially and then the alert 3 tuned out with all requiredinformation disseminated over the air.

This is not the first time Ptl. Degroot has not heard radio traffic. While working with Lt.Chris Johnson Ptl. Degroot was given verbal counseling for not monitoring radio trafficafter a TIC complained to Lt. Johnson. I have also had two dispatch ers inform me Ptl.Degroot frequently does not respond to radio traffic and they nave to call him on the radiotwo and sometimes three times. Two days before this incirlen: TIC Blakeman said she hadcalled him on the radio three times and ill: dic~ Hot J'espc).:.d until the ~:l!i;·cltime nne! then

approximately 5 minutes later when she tried to reach him on the radio he did not responduntil she called for him a second time.

Per contract, each officer shall be allowed a forty-five (45) minute meal period per tour ofduty. This meal period shall be considered out of service time during which the officer willbe subject only to priority calls. I believe the type of call that Pt!. Degroot did not respondto was a priority call. A subject is attempting to kick a door in and only one officerresponds. Then when a tone is disseminated to alert officers that another officer needsassistance he still doesn't respond that is a com plete lack of awareness of other officerssituations. It should also be noted that Ptl. Degroot called in on the radio at 12:57pm toadvised he was going on break. Therefore, he had over thirty (30) minutes for lunch beforethis call even came out.

Sgt. Doug Thompson #2073

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