An officer from the Arlington Heights Police Department will be part of the FBI’s North Suburban Safe Streets Task Force to expand crime-fighting initiatives, a move the police chief says is a win for the local department and its federal law enforcement partner.
“It’s an opportunity to network with our federal partners and it’s a force multiplier,” Arlington Heights police Chief Nicholas Pecora told Pioneer Press. “By embedding a police officer in an FBI task force, we get to use the resources of the FBI and, conversely, we can maintain that northwest suburban collaboration — because we all know crime is not restrictive; it doesn’t support jurisdictional boundaries. It’s better to chase with the long arm of the law of the federal government than the Arlington Heights Police Department.”
On an 8-0 vote at the April 1 Village Board meeting, village trustees approved a memorandum of understanding between the police department and the FBI. Trustee Tom Schwingbeck was absent.
The MOU commits one, full-time Arlington Heights police officer to the task force at an estimated salary of $119,000 plus benefits, Pecora said. The FBI will pay for overtime, and supply a vehicle, cell phone and radio. He said if there is an asset forfeiture resulting from the task force’s work, it will be split among the municipal agencies participating in the special group.
Pecora said there are no federal cases in Arlington Heights “on the radar” and that this partnership is not a “forever commitment.” The municipality can terminate the agreement at any time, according to the MOU.
According to village staff memos presented to the board, the mission of the Safe Streets Task Force is to target suspects involved in such crimes as “mid level drug deals, kidnapping, bank robberies, human trafficking, sex offenders/child pornography and continuing criminal enterprises that have a direct impact on the Arlington Heights community.” The group’s work would not include enforcement of immigration or related federal laws.
“For the last several years, we’ve participated in a regional narcotics task force and our contract expires in April, so we’re looking at other ways of accomplishing those same goals,” Village Manager Randy Recklaus said during the board meeting. “The police department did some research and found that the FBI has a joint venture … that accomplishes many of the same goals that our previous narcotics task force did.”
Recklaus further explained forfeiture proceeds.
“This helps us address regional issues in an efficient manner and also a way to pay for itself,” Recklaus said. “They’re able to work on cases that have larger seizures than we would typically be involved in on the local level.”
Elizabeth Owens-Schiele is a freelancer.
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