HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Safety Minutes 2026 04-02-26 - SpecialAPPROVED 7/2/26
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UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE
SPECIAL PUBLIC SAFETY MEETING
Thursday, April 2, 2026 6:00pm
East Conference Room #337
651 Prairie Pointe Drive, Yorkville, IL
In Attendance:
Chairman Chris Funkhouser
Alderman Craig Soling
Alderman Rusty Hyett
Absent: Alderman Dan Transier
Other City Officials in Attendance:
Police Chief Jim Jensen
Others in Attendance: None
The meeting was called to order at 6:04pm by Chairman Chris Funkhouser.
Citizen Comments: None
Minutes for Correction/Approval: July 3, 2025
The minutes were approved as presented.
New Business:
1. PS 2026-06 Yorkville Police Department 2025 Annual Report Review
Police Chief Jim Jensen presented the annual report of Yorkville Police Department. He
highlighted several points from the report and he said the department goal was to be problem
solvers. He said the officers were very proactive and addressed problem areas. He noted stats
for arrests, stops, accidents, etc. as a result of their proactivity. He also informed the committee
about increased calls for service, staffing, number of complaints, significant activity for
Investigations and he highlighted a couple of their major cases. Also, citations are now entered
into the computer in the squad cars, FOIA requests have greatly increased and Community
Service officers handled 977 calls. Vehicle operating costs and maintenance costs were reported
for the current 21 vehicles. Routine maintenance will eventually be done by a mechanic at the
new Public Works facility. He said the crime reporting is still a bit skewed as a result of
switching from UCR to Nybers reporting system. Over 3,600 hours were spent on directed
patrols.
Chief Jensen said they are working on a plan for truck enforcement when data center construction
begins. This is in response to citizen concerns. The committee discussed truck overweight
enforcement in general and the complexities of prosecuting it. It was noted that proper road
signage for trucks should be ascertained.
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He said crisis calls decreased from last year. A total of 6,800 hours of training were completed
and all training standards have been met or exceeded. Drones are also used by the police
department and 21 missions have been flown in addition to use at special events.
2. PS 2026-07 Adjudication Reports for January and February 2026
Chief Jensen said 30-40 tickets were issued for “no parking” when there was more than 2-inches
of snow. He said HOA's were notified prior to winter and numerous warnings were posted and
subsequently ignored. In other adjudication cases, tickets were written for dogs at large, solicitor
complaints and parking violations by a commercial truck were observed and cited. Alcohol
compliance checks were done with no violators at the latest check.
3. PS 2026-08 Take Home Squad Policy - Discussion
Chief Jensen gave some background for this discussion and said, in the past a policy allowed
squads to be taken home until the policy was abused. The city enacted an ordinance that squads
could be taken no further than 10 miles. Currently, one of the Deputy Chiefs who lives farther
from Yorkville is “on call” for a week each month. Chief Jensen requested that for Command
staff, the distance be expanded and the Deputy Chief be allowed to take the squad home on weeks
he is “on-call”. This would facilitate a quicker response to an emergency or special situation. In
researching this matter, Kendall County and Oswego command staff are allowed to take squads
home with no mileage restrictions. The committee was OK with this request and Chief Jensen
will inform the other Aldermen and move it forward to the City Council.
Old Business: None
Additional Business:
Alderman Funkhouser discussed changes coming for KenCom. He attended a Board meeting
where expansion was discussed, however, not enough information was available or funding
mechanism in place. The information was based on the wants and needs. A new building or
expansion is proposed and Tyler New World were 2 aspects discussed. KenCom has money
saved to help fund, but additional funds are needed. There is land available adjacent to the jail,
but they must receive authorization to use it and the land must also be connected to the fiber
system. Mr. Funkhouser will give an update at the April 14th City Council meeting.
Chief Jensen noted that BKFD might build a new station and vacate their current station which
could be used for KenCom. Recently, an analysis was done of the building and it must have a
very high level of infrastructure, said Mr. Funkhouser. A very aggressive build is being discussed
with construction desired for early 2028.
In another matter, Chairman Funkhouser discussed an emergency operations plan and suggested a
quick review at a future date.
There was no further business and the meeting was adjourned at 7:24pm.
Respectfully submitted by
Marlys Young, Minute Taker