Public Safety Committee Minutes 2021 11-18-21APPROVED 1/6/22
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UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE
SPECIAL PUBLIC SAFETY MEETING
Thursday, November 18, 2021 6:00pm
City Hall Council Chambers
800 Game Farm Road, Yorkville, IL
Note: This meeting was held in accordance with Public Act 101-0640 and Gubernatorial
Disaster Proclamation issued by Governor Pritzker pursuant to the powers vested in the
Governor under the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act. Due to the current
Covid-19 pandemic, The United City of Yorkville is encouraging social distancing by
allowing remote attendance at the Public Safety Committee meeting.
NOTE: All attendees were in-person unless otherwise noted.
In Attendance:
Chairman Dan Transier Alderman Matt Marek/electronic attendance
Alderman Seaver Tarulis
Other City Officials in Attendance:
Police Chief Jim Jensen Deputy Chief Ray Mikolasek
Alderman Chris Funkhouser
Others in Attendance: None
The meeting was called to order at 6:00pm by Chairman Dan Transier.
Citizen Comments: None
Minutes for Correction/Approval: August 12, 2021
The minutes were approved as presented.
Chairman Transier asked to amend the agenda by moving item #3 forward.
New Business:
3. PS 2021-25 Body Cameras
Chief Jensen offered a few comments before the presentation and said the body camera
program will become statutory and the officers are all in favor of this. The cameras are
for protection and can be used in court as well. He turned the presentation over to
Deputy Chief Mikolasek who said the program would be necessary by January 1, 2025.
He provided a Fact Sheet and covered the highlights of the body cameras. He said the
cameras can record up to 25 hours and it must be on at all times when exiting the car.
Recordings are retained for at least 90 days and for at least 2 years if something is
“flagged” as important. FOIA requests for recordings and the camera policy draft were
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also discussed. Deputy Chief Mikolasek said a person has the opportunity to ask an
officer to turn off the camera for an expectation of privacy.
He then opened up the discussion for questions. Chairman Transier raised the question of
privacy in schools and hospitals regarding camera usage. An agreement with the schools
would likely be made. Police Administrators are not required to wear a camera unless
involved in law-enforcement activity. Special events were also discussed and it was
noted that all officers must be ready for unplanned events. Alderman Tarulis asked
about off-duty officers becoming involved in an incident. The law will not hold him/her
responsible and they are not required to have a camera.
The Deputy Chief then described the Watchguard system for cameras and said in-car
cameras and body cameras are all synched together. Based on recommendations from
other law enforcement agencies, he said the same vendor should be used for both in-car
and body cameras. He then covered some of the features of the body camera systems
and comparisons were made. Alderman Funkhouser questioned the durability of the
equipment. The cloud-based storage is recommended by the IT person. Pricing was
discussed and it was noted that grants only cover hardware. The final costs will be
forthcoming and this will be brought back to the January committee meeting. Chief
Jensen said $50,000 is already available in FY 22 for the cameras. He said his choice
would be the Watchguard “pay as you go” system. The presentation concluded at
7:19pm.
1. PS 2021-23 Monthly Report Review for July – September 2021
Chief Jensen said much of the overtime was reimbursed for July, there were many
community events and the Records Supervisor left the department. In August the CIT
special event was held at the dome and there were many hours of training. He also
reported on the crime data. He noted community service officers monitored areas of
specific complaints and letters were sent to offenders who were speeding or ignoring stop
signs in those areas. He also reported on the Part I and II crimes and noted they had
decreased. Gas costs increased sharply in September, which will be considered in the
next budgeting process.
2. PS 2021-24 Adjudication Reports for August – November 2021
Chief Jensen reported impounded vehicle citations, cannabis charges, curfew violations
and invalid licenses following curfew as well as alcohol violations.
4. PS 2021-26 Commander Carlyle (Introduction, Assignment & Responsibility)
Commander Carlyle was recently promoted and will be working a flex/later schedule. He
will be assuming many of the duties that Deputy Chief Mikolasek now has, to free him
up for another project. Commander Carlyle will continue his work with the Crisis
Intervention Program.
5. PS 2021-27 Meeting Schedule for 2022
The committee will continue with the same meeting schedule as this year.
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Old Business: None
Additional Business: None
There was no further business and the meeting was adjourned at 7:35pm
Minutes transcribed by
Marlys Young, Minute Taker