Police honor citizens for heroic acts

The Racine Police Department gave out five awards Tuesday to citizens who took dramatic action to help protect the community. The winners met with the Police and Fire Commission, including Police Chief Kurt Wahlen, and received plaques to honor their actions. Here's the winners and their deeds:

Robert Flores and Ruben Martinez

On March 9, 2008, Robert Flores and Ruben Martinez, employees of Racine Public Safety Security Company, were working security at International House of Pancakes. While conducting crowd control, they heard a single gunshot in the parking lot. Both guards immediately responded to the parking lot and observed the suspect standing in the parking lot, holding a handgun. Both reacted, appropriately, by drawing their own duty weapons and ordering the suspect to drop his weapon. The suspect threw the handgun and fled on foot. Without hesitation or thought for their own safety, they pursued the suspect and captured him after a brief struggle. Mr. Flores and Mr. Martinez then detained the suspect until officers arrived.

This incident occurred during bar time, when the restaurant was crowded, which added to the confusion and danger of the situation. Mr. Flores and Mr. Martinez confronted and disarmed a dangerous person. Their courageous actions, culminating in the suspect’s capture, prevented any additional gunfire or injuries.

Both Flores and Martinez said the man with the gun came with the intention of shooting someone. They said by intervening they prevented further violence.

"It happened so fast we didn't consider our safety," Flores said.

Fausto Esquivel

On April 26, 2008, at approximately 12:43 a.m., Officer Freidel and Officer Boeck responded to a civil trouble at 1661 Douglas Ave. Upon their arrival, a nearly-full-term pregnant woman tried to explain, in Spanish, the multiple problems she was having with her husband and his mother. This call was complicated and involved many people in several different locations. The officers were experiencing difficulty getting to the root of the problems because of the language barrier.

Fausto Esquivel, 15, volunteered to translate. Fausto translated many conversations for the officers and did so in a rapid, professional manner. He translated for over 30 minutes and did everything that was asked of him.

Fausto is recognized for his helpfulness and maturity, notable for someone his age. Without his help, the officers would have been unable to help the family, because there were no Spanish-speaking officers on duty, that night.


Josiah Williams

Mr. Josiah Williams is currently serving the Racine Explorer Post 286 in the capacity of an Associate Advisor and has done so since June of 2004. As an adult leader and former Explorer, Mr. Williams represents a wealth of knowledge and is a living history of Post 286. As a youth Explorer, Mr. Williams joined Post 286 in 1996 and has held every youth leadership position available in the Post. At age 21, all youth are forced out of the program, but Mr. Williams stayed on as an adult leader.

Mr. Williams is a capable young man, on whom we have come to rely, for not only running Explorer Post meetings and providing a history of past activities and dealings of Post 286, but for being the anchor by which Post 286 is grounded. Mr. Williams is an invaluable member of the Post 286 leadership team as he possesses a special connection with the youth that not only challenges them, but with his friendship and candor, also keeps them honest.

Mr. Williams is commended for his continued dedication and service to the Racine Police Explorer Post 286, the Racine Police Department, and the City of Racine.


Jared Smerchek

On May 13, 2008, Jared Smerchek, Alexander Lopez, and Mark Lopez were in the drive-thru of the Burger King restaurant, at 5400 Durand Ave., when they witnessed an armed robbery in progress. They observed one of the offenders holding a gun to the head of a female employee of Burger King. Realizing what was happening, Mr. Smerchek and the Lopez brothers waited and, then, observed the offenders enter a waiting vehicle.

Jared and Alexander decided to follow the offenders and contacted the police, via cellular phone, to report the robbery, as well as a description of the get-away vehicle. Mr. Smerchek continued to follow the vehicle and provided officers with its direction and location, until Racine Police Department officers were able to locate and stop the vehicle. William Walrup, Jaschiro Willis, and Michael Lewis were taken into custody as suspects in the robbery. All the money taken in the robbery and several items of evidentiary value were also recovered from the vehicle. During interviews of the suspects, it was learned that Julian Rutherford, a Burger King employee, was also involved in the planning and execution of the robbery. He was charged on May 14, 2008.

Jared Smerchek, Alexander Lopez and Mark Lopez are recognized for their courageous actions as private citizens, when they placed themselves in peril to follow the offenders in an armed robbery until officers were able to apprehend the offenders. Due to their quick thinking, the arrests of all the offenders were completed within hours of the robbery.

After seeing the gun to the head of the female employee, Smerchek said he and his friends didn't question the need to follow the suspects. They received high praise from the police chief and Police and Fire Commission Chairman Charles Johnson.

"The system really works better when citizens are involved," Johnson said.

Wahlen added: "The system doesn't work at all without citizens getting involved."


Andrew Kothe

On Aug. 30, 2008, Andrew Kothe was working at Erickson Ambulance Company, when he witnessed a person who had been shot, at 9th Street and S. Memorial Drive. Mr. Kothe called police and then entered a large crowd of people surrounding the victim, to administer CPR. The victim was later transported to St. Mary’s Medical Center, where he died from his injuries. Mr. Kothe remained at the scene and provided information to the investigating officers.

Mr. Kothe did not hesitate to render emergency assistance to another person, even at a fresh crime scene having a large crowd in the area. Mr. Kothe is recognized for his willingness to act and come to the aid of a fellow citizen and the police.

After receiving his award, Kothe said he was doing his job.

"If I didn't want to do it, I wouldn't be in the business," he said, adding any EMT or paramedic would have done the same. "Any of us would have done what we did that night."

Johnson responded: "But you actually did it."


William Thompson

On June 17, 2008, at 1:26 a.m., Officer Boeck responded to 1017 Birch Street for a welfare check. Upon his arrival, he learned that a five-year-old female had wandered out of her home after her older sister, supposedly babysitting, left the home. William Thompson noticed the young girl, outside, without adult supervision. Mr. Thompson thought it very unusual, so he stayed with the child and called the police.

Mr. Thompson was aware of the many things that could go wrong for an unsupervised child, in the early hours of the morning, and made sure “Nioka” would be safe. Mr. Thompson is commended for taking the time to do the right thing and protecting the child.

Racine Police getting seven new officers Monday

The Racine Police Department will swear in seven new officers Monday, bringing the force's complement to 200. Briefly.

The seven -- six men and one woman -- range in age from 23 to 39. All have passed their psychological and physical tests, and been interviewed by Chief Kurt Wahlen. They will be sworn in by the City Clerk at 2 p.m. Monday in the Police Department auditorium.

Just don't expect to see them patrolling Racine's mean streets any time soon. After a week here tending to administrative and human resource issues, being issued firearms, and getting fitted for uniforms, all seven will head to Northeast Technical College in Green Bay for 520 hours -- 13 weeks -- of recruit school training, followed by two more weeks of localized training here.

To become a police officer in Wisconsin, applicants must have completed at least 60 college credits. Although districts sometimes waive this requirement, Racine does not, according to departmental spokesman Sgt. Bernie Kupper. "They may have an associate's or bachelor's degree in anything under the sun," he said. As to their weapons experience, "they may never have hunted, handled a firearm or ridden in a squad car."

Officers earn $60,000 after two years. New recruits are paid 80% of that.

Today, the department has 193 officers, compared to its budgeted complement of 199. But this brief moment of being full-staffed won't last long: the department has one retirement scheduled for May 30, and two or three more during the latter part of June and July, according to Sgt. Kupper.

Helding asks city to discuss police video cameras

Alderman Greg Helding's request for the City Council to review plans to install police video cameras throughout the inner city was referred to the council's "Committee of the Whole" at Tuesday night's meeting. Click here to read a letter Helding wrote on the issue.

Police installing dozens of video cameras to monitor city streets

The Racine Police Department is installing up to 60 video cameras to monitor streets throughout the city, Police Chief Kurt Wahlen and Mayor Gary Becker said Tuesday.

The cameras will be installed throughout the inner city - they need to be within two miles of a wireless antenna, which likely would be installed on top of City Hall - and monitored from a computer at the police department. The video streams also will be recorded, and the live feeds will be accessible to officers in their squad cars.

Wahlen said the cameras will give police lots more "looksies" into what's going on. For example, if a shift commander sees a group of kids gathering at a corner, they can send officers to the area before violence breaks out.

The first cameras will be installed near 12th Street and Grand Avenue. Once those are working, the surveillance program will be expanded to Geneva and Hamilton streets. Both areas are considered high-crime neighborhoods.

"I realize it creates some Big Brother issues, but I think most of the people in the neighborhoods where the cameras are going are going to be very happy to have them," Wahlen said.

Becker said the city was working with SC Johnson to install cameras around the campus. They're also planning to install cameras in Downtown Racine and near the Shoop parking ramp.

The police chief and mayor announced the video camera strategy, targeted at the inner city, during a meeting with The Journal Times on Tuesday. Here's a video of the meeting.

The Journal Times did not mention the city's surveillance plans in its story on the meeting.

City stats: Racine crime near 20-year low

The city released some good news about crime in Racine today. Property crimes in Racine are down 34 percent over the past 20 years, and thefts, burglaries and auto thefts were at or near 20-year lows in 2007, according to crime stats compiled by city officials.

Below are the numbers. If you can't see the spreadsheet, click here to see the results or here to download the spreadsheet.

Other findings:

* Calls for service are down from 99,903 in 1991 to 81,086 in 2007.

* Rapes doubled from 15 in 2006 to 30 in 2007.

* Burglaries and auto thefts are at 20-year lows.

* There were 945 thefts in 2007, the second lowest total in the last 20 years. There were 943 reported thefts in 1999.

* Robberies have increased every year since 2003, reaching 281 in 2007.

* Violent crimes have also increased year since 2003, reaching 509 in 2007. There were 316 in 2003.

Candidate wants $1 homes for police officers

County Board Supervisor Ken Lumpkin has an interesting idea to solve crime in his district's neighborhood: get cops to live there.

Steep discounts on homes for police officers is one part of Lumpkin's three-part plan to address crime on the city's near north side. Lumpkin represents the area on the County Board and hopes to serve the area on the City Council, as well. He's up for election for both offices this spring.

For the first phase, Lumpkin wants to create a Police Home Loan Program, which would takes abandoned or condemned houses or seized crack houses and offer them to policemen for $1. The program would also provide the officers with a low-interest loan to improve the dwelling.

The Police Home Loan Program would be a part of the city's community-oriented policing model, which is designed to place officers in neighborhoods where they can get to know people and help them address problems.

Lumpkin said his plan is designed to promote better neighborhoods and to fight crime at the same time.

"The city already have a program to create homeowners by providing down payment and low-interest fix-up loans to city residents," he said. "This would extend these resources to officers wishing to make a dramatic difference in the city."

To purchase a $1 house, officers would have to make a five-year-commitment to live in the neighborhood. The home would have to be located in the present five-census track area.

"Officers who live in the community are more understanding of their neighbors and can better service them," Lumpkin told listeners at one of his ten listening sessions he is holding throughout the 4th District.

"I feel strongly that we must take new steps to curb crime in a way that we can put problem-solvers measures back in the neighborhoods," Lumpkin said.

The second part of Lumpkin's plan would be a negotiable merit pay incentive for officers who are willing to live in high-crime census tracks.

"We already know the benefits of our COP Houses are doing throughout the central city," Lumpkin said. "Couple that with officers living in the neighborhood, the result can only be the reduction of crime."

The last part of his three-step plan is to bring people who make the decisions for the police department closer to the people in the neighborhood.

"In order for there to be good relationships between the police department and the community the two must be engaged with each other," Lumpkin told supporters.

He wants to work with the Fire and Police Commission in order to hold several Commissioner meeting at neighborhood community centers.

Lumpkin said that few people in the inner-city realized that the Commission is the governing body of the police department.

"These session would allow the commissioners to hear the voices of the people that police officers are sworn to protect," Lumpkin said.

City clears officers, posts arrest video online

UPDATE: 02/18/08: The City took the video down from its website today... We're attempting to find out why.

02/19/08: Here's the response we received from Sgt. Bernie Kupper, public information officer of the Racine Police Department:

The Chief (Kurt Wahlen) advised me yesterday morning that he had called the city webmaster to have it removed. The Chief is the one who requested that I have it placed on the website in the first place, and felt that he had the right to make the call as to how long it played out. I believe he felt that there had been adequate time for those with a sincere interest in reviewing it, to have seen it. I would also speculate that the Chief felt it wasn’t in the best interest of the community to continue to present that imagery, when at the same time, he is working hard to convince the NAACP and the community that it is time to move on.

--

The city has cleared the officers involved in the Jan. 22 arrest of Bilal Gilleylen, rejecting charges of excessive use of force brought by members of the community. The city also has released video of the arrest, and posted it on the City of Racine's website, HERE.

Gilleylen has been charged with possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, attempting to disarm a peace officer and resisting an officer.

The press release from the Racine Police Department, issued by Sgt. Bernard Kupper, public information officer, said the department conducted a thorough internal review, interviewing all bystanders who came forward, and also gave the squad car's video tape an "objective review" by Robert Willis of Northeast Wisconsin Technical College.

The statement's key paragraph says:

("The) investigation indicates that Officers Stillman, Thillemann, and Principe acted within the standards of training prescribed by the State of Wisconsin, as well as within Department policy concerning the use of force."

The video shows Gilleylen's car being pulled over on a dark night, at 8:15 p.m. It pulls to the right side of the snowy road, where it sits, engine running, for about two minutes. The squad car is behind it, with its lights flashing. A few people can be seen, barely, in the dark walking across the street to the left. Finally, at the 2:36 minute mark of the 4:33 minute video, two officers approach from the rear, one on each side of the car.

The officer at the driver's side talks to the driver (although no sound can be heard on the video). Movement can be seen inside the car. Then the second officer joins the first at the driver's side. Up to this point, the door has not been opened. Finally, at 3:08 of the video, the driver's door opens.

The struggle begins at 3:17, and both officers attempt to pull the driver out of the car. He is pulled out and falls to his knees, and briefly against his car, at 3:42. A third officer appears and the struggle continues on camera for about 15 seconds; at least one officer is seen striking the struggling driver. At 3:55 of the tape, the struggle goes out of view of the squad car camera, about 10 feet into the roadway but lit by the headlights of a squad car on the other side of the street. In about 30 seconds it's over; one officer comes back into the frame, and uses his portable radio.

The complete statement is as follows:

On January 22, 2008, officers initiated a traffic stop in the area of Hamilton and Summit at approximately 8:15PM. Shortly after the stop, officers were in a confrontation with the operator of the vehicle. That operator was later identified as Bilal Gilleylen. During the investigative portion of the stop, Mr. Gilleylen refused to comply with officers’ requests to show his hands.

Mr. Gilleylen did eventually present his drivers license and a plastic baggie from his pocket. Since the stop was made in a high crime area, and the plastic baggie was indicative of drugs, a request was made to Mr. Gilleylen to exit the vehicle. Mr. Gilleylen initially appeared to comply but prior to completely exiting the vehicle, he dove back into the vehicle towards the center console.

As a result of those actions, officers fearing for their safety, attempted to gain hands-on control of Mr. Gilleylen and forcibly remove him from the vehicle. At that point, Mr. Gilleylen aggressively resisted and it took all three officers to remove him from the vehicle. Mr. Gilleylen continued his aggressiveness towards the officers and refused to submit to their commands to go to the ground. At one point, Mr. Gilleylen began reaching for the gunbelt of one of the officers in an attempt to disarm him.

Officers reacted by applying stunning techniques that include both hand strikes and kicks, in an attempt to gain compliance. Eventually officers were able to get Mr. Gilleylen to the ground. He was handcuffed and transported to Wheaton Franciscan St Marys for treatment of a laceration to the head.

This whole incident took a period of time of less than 2 ½ minutes from the approach by officers to the vehicle, to the handcuffing being complete with Mr. Gilleylen under control. Within minutes after the incident was resolved, persons complained to the media about the actions of officers and concerns were made about the potential excessive use of force.

During interviews by the media with alleged witnesses and bystanders, claims were made that Mr. Gilleylen was doused with a bowl of blue liquid, as well as having been tazed while in the vehicle. It was also alleged that he was then handcuffed and beaten while being dragged from the car and across the roadway.

The Racine Police Department has completed a preliminary evaluation into the Use of Force as applied to Bilal Gilleylen on January 22, 2008.

The Department conducted interviews with all of the individuals that came forward as potential witnesses. During this department review, audio tapes of radio transmissions, video footage from all of the responding squads, as well as recorded media footage, were all examined.

Throughout the course of the internal review, there were disparities between alleged witness statements and the video footage from Officer Stillman’s vehicle. Video footage does not support any of the allegations to include the use of an unknown bowl of liquid, the beating that allegedly took anywhere from 10 minutes up to 1 hour, nor the tazing and handcuffing in the vehicle and subsequent beating while cuffed.

In addition to the internal review, the department contracted with Mr. Robert Willis of Northeast Wisconsin Technical College to perform an objective review of the use of force.

Mr. Willis’ investigation indicates that Officers Stillman, Thillemann, and Principe acted within the standards of training prescribed by the State of Wisconsin, as well as within Department policy concerning the use of force.

At this time, video footage from the incident has been released to the public via the City of Racine Public website.

NOTE: The video still above has been slightly enhanced for clarity by RacinePost.com. The video itself, however, is exactly as released by the Racine Police Department.

City Council members fight over questioning chief on alleged police brutality

Alderman Q.A. Shakoor II is fighting to make more information public about the Jan. 21 arrest where police injured a Racine man.

On Jan. 24, Shakoor requested that Racine Police Chief Kurt Wahlen appeared before the city's Public License and Welfare Committee in a "timely manner" to discuss the arrest.

The Racine Police Department is investigating the arrest of Bilal Gilleylen, who received 12 stitches around his right eye while being arrested in the 1200 block of Summit Street.

The 30-year-old Gilleylen was pulled over because his car was missing its front license plate. The stop escalated after police allegedly found plastic bags on Gilleylen that are commonly used to package drugs. Gilleylen then allegedly resisted arrest and officers pulled him from the car, slammed him to the ground, shot him with a Taser and arrested him.

The officers found crack in his car, but no dangerous weapons. Gilleylen is being held in the Racine County Jail on drug charges, as well as resisting arrest.

The NAACP and other community leaders demanded an investigation of the incident, and Gilleylen has hired an attorney to consider suing the city. Since the arrest, the police department has said little about the incident. Investigators allegedly reviewed videos from the squad cars at the scene to determine what happened. The contents of the videos have not been released.

It's not clear when the information will be released. Shakoor touched a nerve with city leaders when he made the request for Wahlen to appear before his committee.

City Council President Tom Friedel asked Shakoor to reconsider the request in an e-mail to Shakoor, Wahlen, Mayor Gary Becker and other city officials.

Citing a ruling from City Attorney Rob Weber, Shakoor responded in an e-mail on Feb. 10 that it was within his committee's right to order Wahlen to appear.

"The Public Safety & Licensing Committee has a practice to wait until all investigations, facts, are completed before proceeding with issues accordingly," he wrote. "This is no different in our consistent practice."

Friedel responded to Shakoor on Feb. 11 with a terse e-mail against asking him not to bring Wahlen before the committee.

"It was never a question of the committee's ability to request the chief to appear," Friedel wrote. "It is the inability of the chief to comment in depth on an ongoing investigation, AND the inability of the committee to have any jurisdiction in the matter. You can make him appear but he is very limited in what he can and should say until an investigation is completed. That may make it look like he has something to hide when that is not true.

"Furthermore, the committee has no right to act on anything directly related to the incident. Because all of the facts of the situation may not be revealed, you could end up with the appearance of indifference by the committee on the issue. That also may not be well received by the community. You are putting the committee and the council in a lose - lose situation. There is little opportunity for the committee or the council to help in this situation at this time."

For the time being, it appears Shakoor is holding off on the request. It does not appear on the agendas for the Public Safety and Licensing Committee or the City Council in February.

The Racine Police Department had no update on the internal investigation into Gilleylen’s arrest.

Subtle

The question mark in the headline really softens things...

JT alleges police brutality

Police Statement: Here is the official police statement on the arrest:

On January 22, 2008 at approximately 8:20 p.m., a Racine Police Officer in a marked patrol car initiated a traffic stop of a vehicle near the 1200 block of Summit for no front license plate and well as obstructed vision of the driver. The suspect vehicle pulled over momentarily, and then continued on down the road for another 100 feet before stopping. The officer made contact with the operator of the vehicle and requested a driver's license. The operator (Bilal M. Gilleylen) pulled out his wallet and a clear plastic baggie from his rear pants pocket. Gilleylen behavior became increasing suspicious and the Officer asked Gilleylen to exit the vehicle.

Gilleylen started to exit the vehicle and then he made a quick movement to get back into the vehicle. The officer believed from his training and experience that Gilleylen may be reaching for a weapon. The Officer then drew his service weapon and ordered Gilleylen to place his hands on the steering wheel. Gilleylen did place his hands back on the steering wheel and the Officer holstered his weapon. Gilleylen was again directed to exit the vehicle.

Gilleylen again began to exit the vehicle but made another strong movement towards the center of the bench seat with his right hand. The officer and another back up officer then grabbed Gilleylen and attempted to pull him from the vehicle. Gilleylen continually struggled to remain in the vehicle and reach into the center of the bucket seat area.

The officers were successful in pulling Gilleylen out of the vehicle. Gilleylen continued to fight with the officers. During the fight, Gilleylen made an attempt to grab at the officer's gun. During this ongoing fight, officers used several physical arrest techniques and a taser to subdue the uncontrollable Gilleylen.

Officers located 21 individually packaged "rocks" of cocaine at the scene. Gilleylen was taken to the hospital to receive treatment for injuries to his face. Gilleylen was then taken to the Racine County Jail on charges of Possession of Cocaine with intent to Deliver, Attempting to Disarm a Police Officer, Obstructing an Officer, a Probation Hold, and several traffic citations.

An internal investigation is being conducted on this incident to ensure that proper police tactics were applied.

Question: All city police cars have a built-in video camera that are activated when the emergency lights go on. Is there video tape of the arrest? Will the department release the tape?

Update: The JT is all over this story. At least three reporters and a photographer are working on the alleged assault, and we're certain to have multiple pictures from a 1:30 p.m. court hearing today.

Still no word from the police department on the incident. We talked to Todd Hoover, the head of the police union, but he wasn't working yesterday and couldn't comment on the incident. We have yet to hear from higher-ups at RPD, who are likely working to control fallout from the JT's reporting.

It's a tough call on the story. The JT obviously ran with the witness reports early, and it's border-line irresponsible to print such a sensational story without police comment. But if the department is unwilling to make a statement - as they often are - then there's little media can do but run the story and flush out the truth.

What's interesting is how little attention the newspaper gives to claims against the police department - except when they fall into their laps.

Original post:

The Racine Police Department has yet to respond to today's front-page JT story alleging police brutality.

The newspaper alleges in a shocking 1A story that police officers stopped a car in the 1200 block of Summit Avenue, pulled the suspect out of the car and tased, punched and kicked him. The paper also says the officers used pepper spray and batons to subdue the suspect.

The story is based on witnesses who called the newspaper after 9 p.m. Police supervisors did not comment on the incident Tuesday night.

RacinePost called police this morning, but we've yet to hear a response. A shift commander referred comment to the public information officer, who is in a management meeting this morning.

Developing...

Racine Police Dept. gets funding for two more officers

Racine's Police Department is about to grow by two beat patrol positions.

The department now has 199 badge-carrying officers -- everyone from the chief to the four newest patrolmen.

Thanks to a grant from the Office of Justice Assistance, the department will grow to 201 officers. Racine is one of ten Wisconsin cities given a share of nearly $2 million to put more uniformed police officers on the street.

The Racine Police Department grant is for $191,000, although only $143,750 of that is outside money; the rest is the city's 25 percent matching share.

This state-funded program was established in 1995 and recipients are determined by a formula that includes population and violent crime figures. Besides Racine, grants are going to Beloit, Green Bay, Janesville, Kenosha, Madison, Milwaukee, Stevens Point, Wausau and West Allis.

The city has qualified for funding for three years; however, the funds are guaranteed only for one year. Future years' funding will depend upon the availability of state and federal money.

Racine officer makes harrowing arrest

A Racine police officer got far more than expected when he responded to a call earlier this month, and that's saying something because the initial call was for shots fired.

Turns out the "shots fired" were from a sawed-off shotgun. It also turns out the suspect was so crazed that Tasers, OC spray and the threat of getting shot had no effect. The officer had to physically fight the suspect several times, at one point nearly losing his gun to the man. It took a second officer - and exhaustion - to subdue 21-year-old Courtney Beamon, of Racine, according to a criminal complaint.

Read the full, harrowing complaint below:

Your complainant states that on November 19, 2007, Officer Dennis Cecchini and Officer Tim Waystedt were working off-duty at the American Legion, located at 1234 Douglas Ave. in the City and County of Racine and State of Wisconsin, when they heard a number of loud gunshots which sounded like a shotgun. Off. Waystedt and Off. Cecchini began going north on Douglas Avenue and Off. Cecchini contacted dispatch to advise that shots had been fired. Off. Cecchini states that he was on the west side of the street and Off. Waystedt crossed the street to walk on the east side. Off. Cecchini states that when he was around the 1200 block of Douglas Avenue, two more shots went off. Off. Cecchini states that he then took cover behind a car and observed a black male crouched down, then stand up and come off a small landing from 1324 Douglas Avenue. Off. Cecchini states that the unknown black male then entered a vehicle, which was backed up against a retaining wall. Off. Cecchini states that he was about 40 yards away when the vehicle pulled away going northbound on Douglas Avenue at a high rate of speed with no headlights on. Off. Cecchini states that he called out a description of the vehicle over his radio, and that when Off. Miller pulled up to Albert and Douglas Avenue, he advised Off. Miller that the vehicle was just passing him.

Off. Miller states that he was operating his patrol vehicle and went to the area of where Off. Cecchini was calling out that the shots were being fired. Off. Miller states that he was monitoring radio traffic, when Off. Cecchini advised him that an Intrepid was driving from the scene north. Off. Miller observed the vehicle pass by his location at a high rate of speed, between 45 and 50 MPH. Off. Miller states that he could see only one occupant in the vehicle. Off. Miller states that he was operating a marked City of Racine Police squad car, and activated the vehicle’s emergency lights and siren. Off. Miller states that the vehicle approached LaSalle Street, that it negotiated a right turn onto northbound LaSalle Street. Off. Miller states that as the vehicle made the turn, he observed what appeared to be something slide away from the car towards the west side of LaSalle Street. Off. Miller states that it appeared to be a part of the car, however, Off. Gary Neubauer subsequently returned to that area and walked along the route that the vehicle had taken from where the shots had been fired. Off. Neubauer then located a sawed off shotgun on the west side of the street in the 1500 block of LaSalle Street, just to the east of 1501 Douglas Avenue. Your complainant states that Off. Smith of the City of Racine Police Department subsequently recovered that weapon, and noted that it was a 12-gauge shotgun having a total length of 26 ½ inches and a barrel length of 12 inches. Your complainant states that in order to be of legal length, a shotgun has to have a barrel length of at least 18 inches. Your complainant states that therefore the gun is considered a sawed off shotgun. Off. Miller subsequently observed the item and states that the sawed off shotgun matched the shape of the item that he saw come from the defendant’s vehicle.

Your complainant states that the vehicle continued northbound on LaSalle Street, failing to stop or slow down for a four-way stop sign at LaSalle Street and St. Patrick Street. Your complainant states that once through the intersection of LaSalle and St. Patrick, the driver’s door opened and that the defendant rolled out of the vehicle while the vehicle was still operating northbound at approximately 25 MPH. Your complainant states that the vehicle ran into an unoccupied vehicle, while the driver of the vehicle ran northbound on LaSalle Street towards the area of Red Apple School. Your complainant states that when Officer Miller returned to the vehicle after the events noted below, he noted that the window on the vehicle was down and believes that the defendant disposed of the gun by dropping it out the window as he went around the corner. Your complainant states that Officer Miller followed the defendant towards Red Apple School. Your complainant states that Off. Miller was aware that the courtyard area that the defendant was running into was L-shaped and that there was no way for the defendant to exit from that area. Off. Miller states that he approached the corner and observed the defendant running towards the south end of the courtyard. Off. Miller states that the defendant attempted to jump onto the roof but failed and fell to the ground. Off. Miller states that he yelled for the defendant to stay on the ground, but the defendant returned to his feet and started running towards the officer. Off. Miller stated that he ordered the defendant to stop; the defendant disregarded his order. Off. Miller stated that as the defendant ran up to him, he attempted to decentralize the defendant with no success. Off. Miller states the defendant pushed him and then continued to run towards the exit to the courtyard area. The defendant managed to get out of the courtyard area and continued to run west towards LaSalle Street. Off. Miller states that at that point, he drew his taser and deployed a cartridge at the suspect. Off. Miller states the taser had minimal effect on the defendant; however, the defendant did stop and turn towards him. The defendant then ran towards him. Off. Miller states that he attempted to keep distance between the subject and himself by backing away. Off. Miller states that the defendant did close up on him, and upon reaching his location, the defendant grabbed at the officer’s right hand that had the taser in it. Off. Miller states that the defendant simultaneously grabbed the officers’ taser and attempted to continue running. Off. Miller states that at that time, he performed a hand-strike to the defendant’s face. Off. Miller also pulled the taser from the grip of the defendant. Off. Miller states that as he did this, his taser was thrown approximately 20 feet behind him.

Your complainant states the defendant then turned and ran across LaSalle Street into the yard of 1608 LaSalle Street. Off. Miller again followed the defendant and as they entered the back yard of 1608 LaSalle Street, that the defendant again turned towards him. Off. Miller yelled at the defendant to stop and the defendant again charged towards him. Off. Miller states he was able to take the defendant to the ground at that point; however, due to his resistive and unpredictable behavior backed away from the defendant and attempted to control him at gunpoint from several feet away. Off. Miller states that the defendant ignored his orders to stay on the ground, got to his feet and again ran southbound through the yards towards the back yard of 1604 LaSalle Street. Off. Miller states that there was a 4-foot cyclone fence that the defendant jumped over into the backyard of 1604 LaSalle Street. Off. Miller followed behind the defendant. Your complainant states that once in the back yard of 1604 LaSalle Street, the defendant appeared confused and didn’t know where to run as the entire yard was fenced. Off. Miller states that the defendant ran to the southwest corner of the yard where he stood facing the fenced corner with his back to the officer. Off. Miller states that he could not see the defendant’s hands and ordered him to put his hands up. Off. Miller states that defendant did not put up his hands, rather he attempted to jump the fence into the side yard of 1010 St. Patrick Street. Off. Miller states that as the defendant attempted to jump that fence, that he pulled the defendant off the fence and onto the ground. Off. Miller states at that time, he made an active attempt to control the defendant and that the defendant was swinging his arms and kicking his legs. Off. Miller states that he was struck several times by the defendant’s arms and legs. Off. Miller states that at that time, he gave several short blasts of OC spray to the defendant’s face, however, the OC spray did not appear to have any effect on the defendant, and the defendant returned to his feet and charged towards the officer with open arms as if he was going to tackle the officer. Off. Miller pushed the defendant back and then turned towards the southwest corner of the yard. Off. Miller states that the defendant again tried to jump the fence into the yard of 1010 St. Patrick Street and the defendant was successful in making it over the fence into the next yard.

Off. Miller states that the followed into the yard of 1010 St. Patrick Street. Off. Miller states that the defendant was becoming noticeably exhausted, as was he, however, the defendant continued running south through the yard towards St. Patrick Street. Off. Miller states that before the defendant could exit the yard, he had to jump another fence. Off. Miller states that both he and the defendant crossed over the fence onto the north sidewalk of St. Patrick Street. Off. Miller states that after jumping over the fence, the defendant removed a black zip-up hooded sweatshirt that he was wearing. Off. Miller states that the defendant dropped the sweatshirt onto the ground and then ran southbound across St. Patrick Street entering more yards. Off. Miller states that at that time, the defendant and he were both exhausted and were now walking through the yard. Off. Miller told the defendant to just give up. Off. Miller states that he also took that opportunity to advise dispatch of their location. Off. Miller states that he and the defendant were in the rear yard of the 1500 block of LaSalle Street, when the defendant turned towards him and ran at the officer grabbing the officers left hand. Off. Miller states that he attempted to push him away. Off. Miller states that the defendant had a strong hold on his left arm and during that time, Off. Miller was walking backward trying to disengage from the defendant or create distance. Off. Miller states the defendant did not let go of his arm and he was not able to pull away from the defendant. Off. Miller states that he still had his handgun in his right hand during the struggle. Off. Miller states that he was exhausted from the chase and the fight and that all his attempts to control the defendant failed. Off. Miller decided to strike the defendant on the top of his head with the bottom of his handgun and struck him at least two times. Off. Miller states that he did that because he was afraid the defendant was going to take his gun and shoot him. Off. Miller states that the effort was successful in causing the defendant to release his arm. Off. Miller states that he immediately created distance between him and the defendant and ordered the defendant to stay on the ground; however, the defendant disobeyed that order and got to his feet. The defendant appeared to be disoriented but started walking away from the officer. Off. Miller followed the defendant as he walked into a vacant lot just south of 1526 LaSalle Street. Off. Miller states that in the vacant lot, the defendant again stopped and turned towards him. Off. Miller states at that time, Off. Matson was exiting his squad that was on LaSalle Street and Off. Miller could see Off. Matson approaching the defendant from behind. Off. Miller states that the defendant took up a fighting stance with him, and at that point he was able to decentralize the defendant to the ground. Off. Miller states that the defendant was laying on the ground, face down, and that Off. Matson was on the defendant’s left side, he was on his right. Off. Miller states the defendant was still holding his right hand underneath and was attempting to keep Off. Miller from pulling his hands from out underneath him. Off. Miller states that as he struggled with the defendant’s right arm and hand, that Off. Leslie arrived and used his taser on the suspect. Officers stated that the taser had little or no effect on the defendant. Eventually the officers were able to take control of the defendant and place him into custody.

Your complainant states that at the hospital, Off. Miller was advised by Off. Matson that the person in custody maybe Bryan Ratliff. Off. Miller states that at the hospital, he attempted to get information from the suspect as to his social security number, however, the defendant indicated that he didn’t know it. Off. Miller states that he then asked the defendant if he was Bryan Ratliff, and the defendant stated yes. In response to numerous questions, the defendant indicated that he was “Ratliff”. In searching through the defendant’s clothing, Off. Miller located a part of an Illinois identification card. Although the identification card had a picture, DOB, and physical descriptions it was clear that the picture on the I.D. did not match the defendant. Off. Miller states that when he arrived at the Racine County Sheriff’s Department, he had a deputy print off a picture of Bryan Ratliff and at that time, confirmed that the person in custody was not Bryan Ratliff. Your complainant states that the defendant still insisted that he was Ratliff. Your complainant states that the defendant’s fingerprints were not located on the AFIS system and that Off. Miller also used the Racine County Sheriff’s Department FAST ID system, again, with negative results.

Your complainant states that a copy of the defendant’s fingerprints were subsequently conveyed to the State Crime Lab. Your complainant states that Tony Spadifora, entered the defendant’s fingerprints into a databank and that the search results came back on a person with the name of Courtney C. Beamon. Your complainant states that in running the FBI number associated with that person, that there are 6 separate names associated with the fingerprints for that person and three separate dates of births.

Your complainant states that Officer Miller subsequently located the real Bryan Ratliff who assisted officers by supplying them the name of Courtney Beamon. Bryan Ratliff stated that Courtney Beamon was his cousin and that Beamon had used his name as well as the name of another relative in the past. Bryan Ratliff stated that Courtney Beamon did not have consent to use his name.

Your complainant states that the defendant has criminal contacts in the State of Illinois under the name of Donnie Carl Burton, and appears to have a felony conviction for controlled substance delivery out of the State of Michigan from May 16, 2003. Your complainant states that the defendant is Courtney C. Beamon and that the defendant would have a prior felony conviction, therefore would not be allowed to legally possess a firearm.

WRJN: Chief wants community policing in Rubberville

The Racine Police Department wants to build a COP House in the Rubberville neighborhood, according to Police Chief Kurt Wahlen.

In a story first reported by WRJN radio, Wahlen told a city committee last week that the city needed to help the neighborhood. He told a personal story about his wife and son driving through Rubberville and getting threatened by a large group of kids.

Wahlen would relocate an officer from the chief calls RPD's "CSI" division to Rubberville to work with the neighborhood.

Rubberville is an old working class neighborhood on Racine's west side. It's bordered by Lathrop to the west, West Blvd. to the east, 16th St. to the north and Republic Ave. to the south.

Police, schools work together on students' criminal records

The Burlington Standard-Press continues to report on an interesting standoff between the Burlington School District and the Town of Burlington police department.

The fight revolves around an underage drinking party in the town. Twenty juveniles were ticketed at the party, including some who go to Burlington schools.

After learning about the party, the school district asked the town police for the names of the kids at the party. Police officials refused, saying they could not legally turn over the names of underage students.

Burlington school officials responded that the Burlington city police have no problem turning over the names. Town police refused and the issue is at a standstill.

We checked with Racine Unified to find out if the district works with city police to get the names of kids ticketed or arrested outside of school hours. The answer: Yes they do.

Here's a response from Al Days, Unified's security officer:

Given the fact that we have over 40 officers working in the school system, important information is shared. We do have an informal information exchange about students involved in criminal activity especially if the student could be violent of a possible danger to other students.

It's unclear if that applies to underage drinking, and it is different given the number of city police in Racine's schools. But it seems Racine police and Unified do work together to talk about students' arrests - in or out of school.

City Business: Recording studio proposed on Douglas Ave.

Some recent items of city business...

Recording Studio on Douglas Ave.

Chris and Aleisha Djuricic are seeking permission from the city to open a recording studio at 2415 Douglas Ave. (see map below). The Djuricics need the property to be rezoned and need a conditional use permit to operate the studio.

Claim denied

The city denied the claim of Maria Rodriquez, of Summit Ave., who wanted $250 to fix a lawn mower that was damaged after hitting a raised water service shut-off box. The City Council rejected her request, saying the city did not know a problem existed with the shut-off box.

Claim approved

The city paid HM Investments $7,334.68 to reimburse the costs of repairing a sewer main next to 1918 Slauson Ave. The city confirmed the wye connection to the main was broken.

New police vehicle

The Personnel and Finance Committee agreed to spend up to $50,00 to replace the Police Department's personnel transport vehicle for the Special Investigation Unit. Police Chief Kurt Wahlen said the 1995 Chevy van currently in use needed to be replaced.