Darien Wants A Police Officer As Police Chief

Dear Fellow Residents of Darien:

A lot has been going on in the City of Darien over the past week, so I have decided to post this blog to voice my displeasure of the current political situation and to also provide some statistics to fellow residents. 

I have lived all of my 29 years in Darien and I have loosely followed the politics in our town for some time now. I have always been proud to know that the safety and welfare of our residents has always been put first over any politics. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case in our “Nice Place To Live.”

After a closed door session on Monday, May 9, our City Council put a resolution on the table to replace our retiring police chief with our city administrator. If the ordinance passes, the city administrator will serve as police chief with all administrative duties, but the actual police duties will fall onto our two deputy chiefs. 

This resolution was set to be voted on this past Monday, May 16, at the public City Council meeting. Word spread quickly in our town of what was to take place, and residents rushed to the meeting to voice their opinions on the matter.  

At the beginning of the meeting, the council immediately announced that the vote would be postponed until June 6 – giving the residents more time to understand exactly what this resolution means. The vast majority of residents who spoke at the meeting stated that the residents do not want this policy. They stated time and time again that the residents want a police officer to serve as police chief and to not have City Administrator Bryon Vana take on this added responsibility.

A package deal has already been prepared for Mr. Vana, who quite publicly has been looking for employment in another town. This new package would include that, on top of his current duties as city administrator, he would also serve as chief of police. His new salary would be $154,547 and would include a 13 percent deferred compensation deal. When the numbers are combined, this means that Mr. Vana’s deal would be worth $174,638.11 annually. 

Current Darien Police Chief Robert Pavelchik earns $125,133, with a deferred compensation package of his own that is unknown. If we assume that it is 13 percent (or perhaps less), that means the chief’s deferred compensation would be roughly $16,293.  Total those two figures up, and Chief Pavelchik is earning $141,426.29. 

So by having Mr. Vana assume the role of chief of police, the city is telling us that the taxpayers will be paying Mr. Vana an additional $33,211.82 (once again based on Pavelchik's estimated pay) over his current annual salary to oversee the police department on top of his city administrator duties. It would save the city $108,214.47.  These are estimated numbers of course; we are not certain what the pay for a new police chief would be exactly.

In all arguments among the residents, the mayor and City Council, the elected officials have continually preached to us that this is an effort to save money for the city, and that is the driving force behind this new policy. We have all also been made aware that Mr. Vana was part of an arrangement nearly identical to this when he was village manager of Bensenville. The arrangement occurred from 2000-2002.  On the website city-data.com, which reports crime index statistics for Bensenville dating back to 1999, the viewer can see the results of this arrangement in which Bensenville had Mr. Vana operating as the head of their police department. The crime index figures are as follows: 

-          In 2000 the crime index rate was 275.9

-          In 2001 the crime index rate was 221.5

-          In 2002 the crime index rate was 237.4

 In Mr. Vana’s three years in this position the average crime index rate was 244.93.

When the Chief of Police position was restored in 2003 the crime index figures are as follows:

-          In 2003 the crime index rate was to 218.2

-          In 2004 the crime index rate 219.4

-          In 2005 the crime index rate was 231.4

That is a crime index rate average of 223 with a chief of police heading the police department in the first three years after Mr. Vana's position ended.

In the next three years the numbers of the crime index rate in Bensenville dropped lower:

-          In 2006 the crime index rate was 171.3

-          In 2007 the crime index rate was 148

-          In 2008 the crime index rate was 163.6

The average number for these years is 160.96.

So six years after a police chief was restored in Bensenville, the crime index rate dropped drastically. These numbers show that when Mr. Vana was running the police department, crime was significantly higher than it was six years after the position of police chief was restored. 

Mr. Vana has been quoted as saying: “I think it worked out well” for his stint from 2000-2002 running the police department. The statistics and numbers show that it has worked out even better with a police officer as police chief.

Of course, as with all statistics, there are many contributing factors, and with a lack of data before 1999 we don’t exactly know what the trend was before Mr. Vana took over the police department. 

What these numbers do show, however, is after he left the position and a police chief was restored, the numbers drastically dropped over the next six years.

This information supports the theory of so many residents that a police officer should be police chief in the City of Darien, based on his or her working relationship with the police officers serving under him or her.

The arrangement may have had problems in Bensenville, and perhaps that is why it was abandoned. The strong majority of residents in Darien feel it will not work here either and that we cannot risk a higher rate of crime in order to save our city an estimated $108,214.47.

The biggest issue with the vote on June 6 is that our mayor and our City Council are prepared to act against the will of the people. Our mayor and aldermen were put into office to do the will of the people, just as all elected officials are. 

By not listening to their voters and their residents, they are acting against our wishes. It can also be said that their attitude in public toward the outrage of this issue has been rude, pompous and inappropriate. In emails sent to all of the aldermen, I have received only one response. Tina Beilke of Ward 2, who is not even my alderman, responded to me with this:

“Thank you for your response and comments. You were one of several residents to voice their concerns. I appreciate your feedback. The next council meeting will be June 6 where this item will be back on the agenda since the motion was tabled at Monday's meeting. I encourage you to view the City's website the Thursday or Friday before the June 6th meeting, where you will find an update to this matter.”

None of my friends or family have received responses from their aldermen or the mayor.  In public service, regardless of whether an alderman or the mayor agree with a resident’s stand on a given subject, they should still take the time to show the voter or resident their appreciation for getting involved, just as Alderman Beilke has done. The fact that none of the other council members have done so as of Wednesday, May 18, is very disheartening.

The final issue is that our city is attempting to give Mr. Vana a pay raise to keep him in this city, and they are justifying it by giving him additional work. The job Mr. Vana currently seeks in his hometown of Glen Ellyn will pay around $140,000 annually - so naturally our City Council plans to counter that with the offer of a package giving him $174,638.11.

Mr. Vana has stated that he will stay in Darien if he receives this new package. The City Council is telling us that this is an attempt to save money by having Mr. Vana have two roles.

The truth is that it seems they do not want Mr. Vana to leave the city, and this is a way to give him a substantial raise and make it look like they are saving money by having him take over the role of police chief on top of his current duties.

The residents, in turn, have told the elected officials that they do not want this, and they want a want a police officer to be police chief. The attitude of the City Council seems to be that this vote is going to pass, and the fact that the city administrator will be police chief is inevitable no matter how we, the residents, feel about it. This was proven by Mayor Weaver’s comments at the City Council meeting of “When this happens…” and not “If this vote goes through…”

If our city is in such dire financial straits, then it is time do whatever is necessary to raise revenue and encourage businesses to move into our vacant lots and vacant buildings.  Perhaps our city needs to consider putting an end to financial support for all city entertainment as well.

If we cannot afford a new police chief and are willing to put someone in that position who has a statistically questionable past in the same position, in identical circumstances, with another town, then perhaps we need to cancel Darien Fest and other expensive public entertainment in order to make sure we can afford a police chief. I am sure the residents of this city are willing to shed luxuries for necessities. 

Having a qualified police officer as police chief is a necessity in a “Nice Place To Live.” The police department has already had overtime limited and had a car taken off the street during some shifts. It does not now need to lose a police officer as chief and further put our safety at risk by lowering the morale of our police department.

A protest has been scheduled on the sidewalk in front of the Municipal Center for Monday, June 6, starting at 5:00 p.m. and going until 7:30 p.m.  Join fellow residents in support of the Darien Police Department, our desire to have a police officer as police chief, and our displeasure with the attempt of our City Council to put our town’s safety at risk by ignoring the will of the people. You may get more information about this protest on Facebook  by clicking on this link: 

http://www.facebook.com/update_security_info.php?wizard=1#!/event.php?eid=163869930343853

Or you can email me at braddrake9@gmail.com.

Brad Drake
Resident of Darien, Ward 5