Illinois Police Reserves
The Illinois Police Reserves (IPR or ILPR) was a nonprofit auxiliary police agency headquartered in Chicago, Illinois providing policing services to suburban Chicago.
 | |
| Abbreviation | IPR, ILPR |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1923 |
| Type | Auxiliary police |
| Headquarters | 2735 West 71st Street Chicago, Illinois, United States |
Captain | Peter Pohl (deceased)[1] |
Staff | 12 |
History
The Illinois Police Reserves was chartered in 1923. The organization was an all-volunteer agency providing reserve officers to assist local law enforcement agencies upon their request. Reserve officers would be deployed at parades and special events.
In late 2010, an opinion by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan affirmed that state law requires auxiliary police in Illinois (numbering about 1,000 auxiliary police officers and sheriff's deputies statewide) to be state-certified officers.[2][3] After the opinion was issued, the Illinois Police Reserves ended training of new volunteers and its relationship with the suburb governments because its volunteers were not state-certified.
In 2014, the organization resumed recruiting and conducting its 300-hour training sessions. However, such actions were not approved by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, which caught the attention of authorities "investigating non-government, legally unrecognized reserve police organizations" viewed as potentially deceptive.[4][5]
The Chicago-based watchdog group Better Government Association criticized the practice of maintaining uncertified auxiliary police officers in Illinois and nationwide, writing, following a joint investigation in 2019 with WMAQ-TV: "Most of the time, this army of under-trained cops works without incident in low-risk tasks such as directing traffic or standing the rope line at parades. But the practice has also been plagued by nepotism, politics, and questionable policing."[6] The group pointed to a number of cases of misconduct by Illinois auxiliary officers over the previous decades, including some incidents that had led to towns settling legal claims brought against them due to auxiliary officers' misconduct.[6]
In February 2018, the agency was involuntarily dissolved by the State of Illinois.[7] Captain Peter Pohl, the leader of the Reserves, was killed in a vehicle accident in Chicago on August 26, 2019.[8]
References
- "Peter Pohl, patriarch of largest Filipino family in Brighton Park, killed in car crash". Chicago Sun-Times. August 28, 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
- Walberg, Matthew (April 22, 2013). "Use of auxiliary officers at issue in Illinois". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- Geyer, Thomas (January 8, 2012). "Illinois rules force many cities to drop auxiliary police units". The Quad-City Times. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- Goudie, Chuck (February 16, 2015). "Illinois Police Reserves: An 'appearance of authority'". ABC7 Chicago. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- "Illinois Attorney General: Auxiliary Police Are Breaking the Law". FOX 32 News. March 1, 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- McNeil, Jared Rutecki, Brett (2019-04-17). "Auxiliary Officers Pose Risks in Illinois Towns". Illinois Answers Project. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - "Corporation/LLC Search/Certificate of Good Standing". Illinois Office of the Secretary of State. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
- "Peter Pohl, patriarch of largest Filipino family in Brighton Park, killed in car crash". Chicago Sun-Times. August 28, 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2021.