Pubdate: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 Source: Galesburg Register-Mail (IL) Copyright: 2007 Galesburg Register-Mail Contact: http://www.register-mail.com/news/letters/index.html Website: http://www.register-mail.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3864 Author: Tom Martin, Editor DELAY IN FORMER GALESBURG POLICE OFFICER'S CASE UNFORTUNATE Sometimes the wheels of justice turn slowly. In the case of a former Galesburg Police lieutenant, they've been too slow. The public has waited four months just to find out if an officer of the law committed a crime. We're still waiting. And it might be a while longer before we know. Lt. David Hendricks was suspended with pay around Sept. 21, 2006, for violating department policy. We don't know what he did, but it was serious enough to call in the Illinois State Police to investigate. Sources tell us the allegations are that drugs may have been removed from the evidence locker. That state police investigation took three months and produced a six-inch thick report that was given to then State's Attorney Paul Mangieri on Dec. 15, 2006, who reviewed the case with a special prosecutor from the state. On Dec. 22, 2006, Hendricks, a 23-year veteran of the Galesburg Police Department, resigned. Neither Hendricks nor Police Chief David Christensen said why. Although Christensen did acknowledge Hendricks was the subject of the investigation. Before that, he wouldn't name Hendricks. By Jan. 10 the case was turned over solely to special prosecutor Charles R. Zalar. He's had the case for more than a month and refuses to give a date for deciding whether to charge Hendricks with a crime. On Friday, Zalar said he had "additional things to look into before making a decision." Zalar was the attorney who helped determine whether three Monmouth Police officers committed crimes in 2005 by allowing underage women to drink at the home of one officer and in the presence of another off-duty officer and an officer who was on patrol. After receiving a report from the state police, it took Zalar only days to determine no crimes had been committed. Why the difference? Zalar said that case was more clear cut. With this case he said there are concerns that are not addressed in the report. Although he wouldn't say it, the report apparently was incomplete. And the agent who did the investigation has since retired. That leaves Zalar to gather the information he needs and make a determination. The problem is he's got a few irons in the fire. He's one of only five special prosecutors working out of the Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor. Those five attorneys cover the entire state, except for Cook County, helping counties with appeals and a variety of other cases where state's attorneys need expertise or have conflicts of interest. Zalar was in Knox County Friday for a juvenile case. The work of the five special prosecutors has grown since the office was formed in the 1970s. Originally, the prosecutors were to handle appeals, but now they cover everything from "soup to nuts," Zalar said. He said he has more cases than he can count. "I recognize the significance of this case is high," he said Friday, "but I have a number of other cases with equal priority." It appears an incomplete investigation and an overloaded special prosecutor are contributing to the delay in this case. And Zalar's refusal to give a date for a decision doesn't bode well for those hoping to find out soon. That's frustrating. Every day without an answer is another day that people are left to believe whatever they hear from unofficial sources and wonder if the justice system works differently for police officers than it does for the rest of us. The delay in this case, however, is not due to any sort of special treatment for Hendricks because he's an officer. In fact, Hendricks' reputation, as is the department's, is hanging in the balance. A delay helps neither. The public, Hendricks and the Galesburg Police Department have already waited too long to find out whether prosecutors will pursue charges against Hendricks. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman