Taxpayers Footing $300K Bill For Investigation Into Fox Lake Officer's Death
By Kate Shepherd in News on Oct 7, 2015 6:35PM
Vigil is held for the fallen Fox Lake police officer Charles Joseph Gliniewicz as manhunt for his killers continues. By Marielle Shaw/Chicagoist
The extensive investigation into the shooting death of Fox Lake police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewiczhas cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Just the first three weeks of the investigation cost taxpayers in 50 suburban jurisdictions more than $300,000 to pay local law enforcement personnel working on the case, according to the Daily Herald. Nearly two-thirds of the cost, $196,351, were related to overtime, including pay for some officers attending Gliniewicz's funeral on Labor Day.
"There was daily analysis of overtime," Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran told the Daily Herald. "At the end of the day, we have to be financially responsible."
Police departments with employees assigned to the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force had some of the highest costs for the investigation, according to the Daily Herald's analysis.
Gliniewicz's death is still unsolved despite a massive manhunt for three alleged suspects that started immediately after the shooting on Sept. 1. Authorities are still investigating whether it was an elaborately planned suicide or a homicide.
The huge costs make an argument for the consolidation of public safety agencies, State Sen. Terry Link (D-Waukegan) told the Daily Herald.
"I know the immediate response if there are three suspects on the run, you get as much out there as possible and not worry about the cost, and that I will give them," Link said to the newspaper. "I'm still a total believer that consolidation would bring down the cost of all this. The thing with consolidation is you have better control over the people sent out and where they're coming from."
The manhunt and investigation was unusual in its scope and size, law enforcement officials told the Daily Herald.
"Public safety is expensive, period," Mundelein Village Manager John Lobaito told the Daily Herald. "But there's no substitute, and it's something worth spending the taxpayers' money on. We're going to do anything reasonable to help them and they would do the same for us."