A three-year investigation into police misconduct in the southwest suburb of Willow Springs has led to several officers leaving the force, but critics argue it’s nothing more than smoke and mirrors to distract voters in the upcoming village election from the administration’s mismanagement of federal forfeiture funds.
Mayor Alan Nowaczyk said five officers — or about one-third of the mostly part-time 16-member force — either resigned, retired or were fired for allegations that include lying under oath or falsifying police records. The internal investigation has cost the village more than $100,000 so far, and officials said it is ongoing as they continue to look into possible misuse of taxpayer money.
"It has been difficult — and painstakingly slow — to build solid cases, but the cost of inaction, of turning a blind eye to what’s been done, is far greater," Nowaczyk said in a statement at a recent news conference.
Willow Springs officials have publicly named only one of the two terminated officers. Michael Giorgetti, a 24-year police officer, confirmed he was fired in fall 2014, nearly 19 months after he was involved in a traffic accident in Wisconsin while his superiors alleged he was working a side job unrelated to his official duties. Giorgetti was accused of driving a village-owned vehicle while moonlighting for a former Willow Springs contractor and later, when questioned, lying about what he was doing in Wisconsin.
The investigation that began with Giorgetti morphed into something bigger, village officials said, and other Willow Springs officers were questioned about their truthfulness related to their duties. Among the possible infractions village officials said they still are investigating is whether any members of the police force worked for a long-defunct private security firm while on the job patrolling the village.
Former Willow Springs police Chief John Carpino, who is challenging Nowaczyk in the April election for village president, said he ran the security firm for about five years until 2007. He served as police chief in the village from late 2002 to 2004, then went on to serve as police chief and village manager in other Chicago suburbs before retiring last year. Four chiefs have followed him in the last 12 years in the Willow Springs Police Department.
Giorgetti told the Tribune he did nothing wrong. Rather, he said village officials fired him in retaliation because he reported the mismanagement of federal forfeiture funds — which included money spent to help buy a rarely used $300,000 police boat.
In a special assignment, Giorgetti worked undercover for a decade for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. In exchange for dedicating an officer to the program, Willow Springs was able to get a local cut of cash and other assets Giorgetti confiscated as part of a federal "equitable sharing" program. Giorgetti’s duties included working on a federal money-laundering team. A federal audit released in March showed just how lucrative the partnership was for Willow Springs. The Police Department had $1.4 million on hand from the program as of May 2012, according to federal officials. The village took in nearly an additional $590,000 over the next three years and spent nearly $967,000, the 40-page audit showed.
Wyn Hornbuckle, a U.S. Department of Justice spokesman, said Willow Springs was directed to return approximately $1 million to the asset forfeiture program and has been "suspended" from further involvement. The action was taken, he said, because of "continuing concerns with the law enforcement agency," as well as the "egregious" findings of the Justice Department’s inspector general audit.
According to the audit, which began in 2014, the village failed to follow the program rules and lacked internal controls and formal policies and training to protect against abuse. For example, the report expressed concerns about the purchase of more than one dozen vehicles that were only minimally used, including two Harley-Davidson motorcycles for nearly $70,000 that were equipped with high-end accessories like heated handgrips and chrome upgrades. The motorcycles had less than 1,500 miles of combined use in almost two years, the audit found.
Giorgetti said he reported misuse of the federal dollars to the Cook County sheriff’s office in 2013, before he was fired but after the traffic accident. According to a copy of the sheriff’s investigative report, Giorgetti accused village officials of allowing the department’s 26-foot 2013 Firehawk boat to be used improperly for purposes unrelated to law enforcement. The boat was intended for emergencies at businesses along the waterways that run through the small village of about 5,000 residents.
"The bottom line is they were using federally forfeited property improperly, and when I (reported it), they made false accusations about me and terminated me," Giorgetti said. "It’s all for political publicity. They’re just bringing this stuff up because it’s an election year."
Nowaczyk is seeking his fourth term as mayor in the April 4 election. He held a news conference about the internal investigation late last month. The mayor denied the announcement is rooted in politics. Rather, he said residents began asking questions about all the personnel changes in the Police Department and "they deserved answers."
In the mayor’s news release, he raised questions about Carpino’s former security firm, and said several local police officers, including Giorgetti, are believed to have worked for him. Carpino said he employed many skilled part-time police officers but he vehemently denied any of them worked for his security business while also on the clock in Willow Springs.
He noted the business closed a decade ago.
"They’re just trying to cast aspersions on my name because of the election," Carpino said. "It’s called dirty politics."
Giorgetti filed a federal lawsuit in September 2015 against the village, claiming wrongful termination. He voluntarily dropped the suit in June after village attorneys filed a subpoena to get records from Carpino’s now-defunct security firm, according to court records. The mayor said he stands by Giorgetti’s dismissal and the village’s ongoing Police Department investigation. He noted the arbitrator who presided over Giorgetti’s hearing to keep his job found that the officer lied under oath.
The village’s internal turmoil also led to fallout with the Cook County sheriff’s office. Giorgetti said he blew the whistle to the sheriff in 2013. A report within the sheriff’s inspector general unit — which investigates allegations of community corruption — found fault with Willow Springs’ handling of Giorgetti’s dismissal and recommended the mayor, village administrator and a former official be charged with a misdemeanor for allegedly violating the state whistleblower act.
The Cook County state’s attorney’s office declined to prosecute, and village officials questioned the objectivity of the sheriff’s investigation because the lead investigator served as a part-time Willow Springs police officer several years ago and was a partner in Carpino’s firm. The former sheriff’s investigator, Luke Hartigan, also a retired Illinois Department of Corrections chief of staff, did not return a phone call seeking comment, but sheriff’s officials said Hartigan’s resignation had nothing to do with Willow Springs and they described their investigation as "extensive" and "unbiased."
In a written response to several Tribune questions, Village Administrator William Murray said Willow Springs hired a law firm, Walsh, Fewkes and Sterba of Palos Heights, to conduct the investigation of its police force. The probe is being led by a former appeals court judge, David Sterba, and is ongoing, Murray said.
The village administrator declined to immediately provide specifics about the allegations that led to the other officers’ departures but, regarding the federal audit alleging widespread mismanagement of the forfeiture money, Murray said it is Giorgetti who is to blame because it was his job to oversee the program.
"The forfeiture account is under the control and direction of the Police Department," Murray said. "The police determine how the money is used, not the village officials. It is not taxpayer money. It is money brought in by officers assigned to a unit of several DEA agents."
Giorgetti, a former police sergeant, noted it was above his paygrade to approve the purchases or sign checks. He insists he is the victim.
"I’m a police officer who spoke out about wrongdoing at the Police Department, and they came after me," he said. "You try to be an honest cop, and they want to ruin your life and destroy you."
cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @christygutowsk1
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