Drug Scandal
The Chicago Tribune has brought us another update on the drug scandal the Schaumburg Police Department suffered concerning 3 of its officers and their personal drug dealing. Beginning in 2013, 15 civilians filed lawsuits against the officers for violation of their constitutional rights. Since then, 7 of the lawsuits have either been settled or dismissed, but there are still 8 left pending, which will cost the suburb even more than the $500,00 it has already paid. More than the money, however, the Schaumburg PD has suffered a huge blow to its integrity and lost any trust that the citizens had due to this drug scandal.
Since the scandal, the Schaumburg PD has gone through major changes in an effort to correct the mistakes made that led to the issue. The lieutenant rank, which had been removed, was reinstated; the Special Investigations Bureau, which focused mainly on drugs, was removed and replaced with a different unit that targets drug problems and other crimes; and other measures have been taken to reinforce effective leadership and communication. Former Chief Brian Howerton, who retired two months after Officers Matthew Hudak, Terrance O’Brien, and John Cichy were arrested for stealing drugs from dealers and reselling them, has since then been replaced with Chief James Lamkin. Hopefully, these changes will be enough to rework the flaws in their system and restore the police department.
Officers Hudak and O’Brien have already pled guilty to their charges of corruption and narcotics and will be serving time for at least 10 years. Officer Cichy, however, has not pled guilty and is set for trial in April.
For more information, please read the original article.