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A little ERT history
When Beth Davis began
her tenure as mayor, she didn’t like it that in the event of certain
types of emergencies, it would take a minimum of 2½ hours for a
state SWAT team to make it to Lincoln. She recognized that it was
too much time and that it would someday possibly cost lives.
Mayor Davis recalled:
"When I first became mayor and interviewed the police chief
candidates, I asked them what they thought of establishing an
emergency response team (ERT) for emergency situations. They all
were very excited about it."
She told them that if
we had a "Columbine incident," she wanted at least six police
officers on our force to be trained to go into one of the city’s
schools (or wherever this nightmare occurred — hopefully it will
never happen) on short notice and be able to handle an infrared
rifle to keep students, teachers, etc. from becoming harmed further
or killed.
Mayor Davis got a
nice surprise when she asked for six volunteers and 16 responded.
"We now have a wonderfully skilled and professional ERTeam," she
said. "They have been trained in negotiations, munitions, infrared
equipment and rifles, etc."
In the middle of
April the team members had their first real test when they responded
to a suicide attempt that threatened the destruction of a whole
neighborhood. What could have ended tragically had the best of all
possible outcomes when everyone was able to walk away safely. "I am
very proud of them!" said Mayor Davis.
The emergency
response team was formed 1½ years ago. It is currently composed of
eight members. They are on call at any given moment of the day, but
otherwise they go about their other daily assigned duties.
The Lincoln team was
called out to assist the Central Illinois Enforcement Group on a
methamphetamine lab raid in November. "This team has already closed
down six meth labs in the city and has performed well," said Mayor
Davis. The sting provided training opportunity as well as assisting
in an important drug control operation.
Collaborating with
other agencies will be a continued benefit to our community. It
increases our ability to call upon other agencies to come here and
assist us with more complicated operations like stings.
All members on the
ERT team at this time are members of the Lincoln Police Department.
They were trained and certified through outside agencies. Eventually
they hope to train all members of the Lincoln Police Department in
emergency response procedures so that everyone understands what is
taking place during an incident, but the team will still remain a
core of eight. Butterfield says that ideally a 35-member team is
recommended for the types of situations that they are called out on.
However, it would be necessary to recruit from outside the Lincoln
Police force to get the skills needed for a team that size.
The costs are high to
equip a team. It costs $3,000 to outfit each officer. The initial
startup funds were not enough to purchase the minimal set of
protective equipment for each officer. The remaining funds need to
come from community contributions.
Other vital equipment is needed after those
are purchased. Hopefully other businesses or organizations will soon
consider purchasing the much-needed four more vests. Can you imagine
sending your loved one into a situation where there are weapons that
could be fired? These vests are essential to the types of situations
the ERT officers will face. Speaking for Crime Stoppers, Hall said
they are happy to be providing the funds.
The team members have
been through initial specialized training, regularly go to training
seminars and continue practicing together monthly. Sangamon has been
their key training center and they are reputably known to provide
the best training throughout the state of Illinois.
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Our team has
benefited greatly from great training and practices, says
Butterfield. "They perform well as a unit," he said. "They’re good
enough that they have had other teams come and observe them."
For now the team is
still gathering essential equipment. First and most importantly,
four more vests are still needed to help protect the lives of each
and every one of the eight members of this special team.
[Photo by Jan Youngquist]
Note from Tim Butterfield, community
policing officer:
We thank each of the donors very much for their what they have
given us. This shows that the community is concerned for the safety
of its officers.
We are still accepting donations to the team, and all donations will
go toward buying bulletproof vests and other equipment needed for
the safe operation of the team.
Special thanks to the following from the Lincoln Police
Department Emergency Response Team:
Weyerhauser, formerly
Willamette Industries
State’s Attorney Tim Huyett
Woody Jones of State Farm
Eagles Lodge
Saint-Gobain Industries
El Rey Mexican Restaurant
Mrs. Laura Slaton
Lincoln/Logan Crime Stoppers
Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home
Bonanza
S & N Fireworks Display
Mrs. Murray
Monsanto
Lincolnland Oil
And most recently Lincoln/Logan County Crime Stoppers
Thank you very much,
Timothy Butterfield
Community Policing Officer/
ERT team member
Anyone wishing to
contribute funds toward vests or equipment is invited to contact
either Officer Tim Butterfield or Chief Richard Montcalm at (217)
732-2151.
A little about Lincoln/Logan Crime Stoppers
Lincoln/Logan County
Crime Stoppers Inc. was established in 1983. It is board run. All
participants volunteer their time in an effort to provide a safer,
better community.
Mission statement
The Lincoln/Logan County Crime Stoppers organization assists the
various law enforcement agencies in the Lincoln/Logan County area by
making funds available to:
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Increase the safety
of above agency personnel.
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Help inform, educate
and develop a community offensive for the prevention of crime.
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Provide awards and
rewards in the apprehension and convictions of criminals.
Board members for
2002 are Ron Hall, Rich Logan, Kriss Huff, Pete May, Melody Mack,
Marla Givens, Roy Logan, Dave Perring, Ed Busch, Ken Greenslate,
Regina Chapman, city adviser Bob Rawlins and county adviser Tony
Solomon.
[Jan
Youngquist]
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The Department of
Public Health and the Office of the Inspector General, the OIG, are
investigating the incidents that caused the IJ.
This latest immediate
jeopardy citation is a result of two incidents reported to Department
of Public Health within the
past week involving a breach of appropriate supervision of two LDC
residents. In one incident, an individual was left unsupervised and
wandered away from his home without the knowledge of staff. The
second incident involved an individual who was left unsupervised
long enough to engage in self-abusive behavior which had the
potential for very serious injury. Medical evaluations were
conducted on both individuals; each is doing well at this time. A
third incident involving an individual who was left unsupervised for
more than an hour was reported to DPH and OIG today.
Currently, the LDC
administration is developing a corrective action plan to attempt to
abate the immediate jeopardy and plans to submit it to DPH on
Monday. The IJ will remain in place until DPH accepts the abatement
plan. This weekend additional training on how to provide proper
supervision will again be provided to staff. Also, continued
monitoring by the LDC administration and the DHS Office of
Developmental Disabilities will be in place.
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This is the eighth
time Lincoln Developmental Center has been cited for failure to meet
federal client protection standards in fewer than two years.
This latest IJ comes on the heels of the
governor’s reform plan to reduce the census of the facility to
100 residents by June 30. This reform plan was designed to
create a safer and more manageable environment; an environment
conducive to active treatment and client protection and one that
could maintain federal standards.
[News
release] |
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The House gave final
approval to legislation creating a comprehensive information line
for seniors to find out all of the discount programs available to
them. Nearly 52 percent of Illinois seniors are eligible for a state
or federal prescription assistance program. Many of the other
seniors are covered under private plans. But there are thousands of
middle-income seniors who have no prescription coverage plans at
all. The legislation also calls for a study of these seniors as well
as seniors who have to set aside a significant portion of their
income for their prescription medication.
The legislation
(Senate Bill 2098) will:
• Create a Senior Health Assistance Program offering a
toll-free information hot line, in conjunction with local Area
Agencies on Aging, where consumers can get information on public and
private discount programs.
• Establish legislative oversight of the state’s
prescription assistance programs.
• Mandate a study to determine the need for
catastrophic pharmaceutical assistance coverage for seniors who do
not qualify for public pharmaceutical plans but who have high
prescription costs.
The bill now moves to
the governor’s desk for further consideration.
In addition, the
Legislature also sent the governor a bill to provide law enforcement
officers with the tools they need to track down criminals and
exonerate others by expanding the DNA database.
The legislation (SB
2024) was an initiative of DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe
Birkett. It requires all convicted felons to give a DNA sample for
criminal identification purposes. State police would be required to
oversee the sample collection and use. The legislation is on the
governor’s desk for further consideration.
In other news, the
Legislature also sent the governor a measure (SB 2081) to keep the
electric rate freeze an additional two years. Under the terms of the
deregulation law, the current rate freeze would expire Dec. 31,
2004. The bill extends the deadline to Dec. 31, 2006.
The savings for
residential customers through 2004 is projected to be about $2.8
billion. Although consumers may soon be able to purchase electricity
from an alternate retail electric supplier, there are no companies
lining up to supply residential customers, which is one reason for
the extension. The legislation would save an additional $174 million
on top of the $2.8 billion. The bill has been signed into law.
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Other measures sent
to the governor for considerations are:
Ethanol (HB 2) —
Provides grants for fueling facilities built in attainment areas or
metropolitan areas with more than 100,000 residents and requires a
civic education program on the benefits of alternative fuels.
Child umpires (HB
5996) — Allows 12- and 13-year-olds to umpire Little League
games.
Domestic violence (HB
4081) — Strengthens recidivist penalties for domestic violence
and stalking violators.
Enhanced aggravated
assault (HB 4179) — Increases the penalty for assault if the
assault is committed against an employee of a police or sheriff’s
department, an EMT, or other emergency personnel during their
performance of official duties, and if a firearm is used in that
assault. The sentence is enhanced to a Class 4 felony.
Poverty grants (SB
1983) — Increases the poverty grant amounts for schools with
low-income concentration levels of 20-35 percent and 35-50 percent.
This affects 141 school districts in the 20-35 percent category and
34 school districts in the 35-50 percent category, including Chicago
Public School District 299.
Gift Ban Act (HB 4680)
— Strengthens the sweeping Gift Ban Act recently reinstated by
the Illinois Supreme Court and makes it illegal for local and state
government employees and officials to solicit campaign contributions
from businesses or people they regulate.
Early retirement (HB
2671) — Allows state employees to purchase up to five years for
age and five years of service credit toward retirement so long as
the employees are off state payroll by Dec. 31, 2002.
Museum curator (SB
2130) — Authorizes a curator, appointed by the governor, to
manage and control artifacts of the Executive Mansion along with the
Historic Preservation Agency.
Cancer (SJR 57) —
Urges Congress to require Medicare coverage of all oral anti-cancer
drugs.
Hospital grant program (HB 4580-BIMP) —
Creates a matching IEMA grant program for hospitals (outside of
Chicago) to help improve quality of care, disaster response and
patient confidentiality.
[News
release] |
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One of the final
pieces of legislation to pass the legislature during the last days
of the spring legislative session was Senate Bill 2098, co-sponsored
by Sen. Stone. It was one of the few bills this year that won
unanimous approval in both the Senate and House.
"We know this
legislation is not a cure-all for the crisis facing many seniors who
struggle to pay for ever-increasing prescription drugs," said Stone,
R-Morton. "However, it is a step in the right direction."
Senate Bill 2098,
which is supported by the AARP, addresses the senior prescription
drug issue in a number of ways. It would create a central
informational clearinghouse, accessible by a toll-free number, where
seniors can get details on existing public and private discount
programs. The legislation also authorizes a study to determine
whether there is a need for catastrophic pharmaceutical assistance
coverage options for those seniors who do not qualify for public
discount programs but have a higher percentage of prescription drug
costs. The proposal also requires legislative and public oversight
of the state’s various prescription drug discount programs.
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"Given the state’s
current budget crisis, this proposal seeks to do as much as possible
to address the need for prescription drug assistance without
creating a huge new entitlement," said Stone. "The hot line number
will be very important for seniors because of a new federal, pilot
program announced by President Bush earlier this year."
On June 1, Illinois
began administering a $110 million federal pilot program called
SeniorCare. SeniorCare will cover the cost of all prescription drugs
and provide prescription drug coverage to an estimated 368,000
lower-income citizens through the state Medicaid program. The
program will serve senior citizens at or below 200 percent of the
federal poverty level ($23,200 for a family of two). The program
will cover the cost of all prescriptions (with a co-pay for each
prescription) up to $1,750 each year and then pays 80 percent above
the threshold.
Seniors can get help in applying for
SeniorCare by contacting a local agency serving seniors. To find a
nearby agency, seniors can call the Senior HelpLine toll-free, 1
(800) 252-8966 (voice and TTY) or visit
www.seniorcareillinois.com.
[News release]
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