Better Government Association

Tinley cops rethink access to police reports involving Howe

By Kristen Schorsch

July 17, 2008

Tinley Park police are reconsidering a longstanding practice of withholding some police reports involving the Howe Developmental Center, a state facility for the developmentally disabled targeted by federal agencies for delivering substandard care.

Police Chief Michael O'Connell said he would consult the village attorney about reversing the common practice of not releasing some police reports involving the Tinley Park facility.

Despite the fact police reports are public records, the Tinley Park Police Department commonly does not release reports involving Howe Developmental Center.

Police reports about incidents at Howe, where about 322 people with developmental disabilities live, are public and should be made available, said Scott Mulford, a spokesman for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Some information to protect the privacy of the residents, such as names and other identifying information, could be redacted, spokeswoman Robyn Ziegler said.

The issue came to light after the SouthtownStar was denied a Freedom of Information Act request for a police report last week about an incident involving a Howe resident. O'Connell made that report available this week.

About 11:20 a.m. July 6, a male resident left Howe without authorization and was found in the back of a green van with a damaged window, according to the report.

Police have released some reports about Howe before, but it's been common practice not to because police want to protect the dignity and privacy of Howe residents, O'Connell said. He apologized and said he would revisit the department's policy and consult the village's attorney.

"If we've been violating (any laws), we're going to change that," O'Connell said.

It's unknown how long the practice has been in place, how many incident reports were withheld and what types of crimes might have been involved. The SouthtownStar has requested copies of reports previously withheld. Under state freedom of information law, the police have seven business days to respond.

Howe residents live in a cluster of homes on a sprawling 600-acre campus along 183rd Street between Harlem and 80th avenues they share with the Tinley Park Mental Health Center, which has 73 patients, state Department of Human Services spokesman Tom Green said. Howe lost $30 million in federal dollars last year after not properly caring for residents.

Green said clients are protected by confidentiality and offered no reaction to Tinley Park's practice of withholding some incident reports.

Equip for Equality, a federally mandated watchdog group for people with physical and mental disabilities, has called on state officials to close Howe and move residents into community-based homes because of alleged persistent abuse and neglect. Twenty-three people have died at the center since Equip for Equality was founded in 1985, including two people in the past 90 days, abuse investigations unit director Deborah Kennedy said.

"It's an issue of ... the welfare of people with disabilities," Equip for Equality CEO and president Zena Naiditch said. "Even tragic deaths seem to just go unnoticed."

In the past few months, two staff members got into a knife fight on Howe grounds, and a resident was found with a mouthful of cigarette butts and treated for possible nicotine poisoning, according to the watchdog group. The nonprofit group arrives unannounced and inspects Howe every other week, Kennedy said. The group reports to DHS Inspector General William Davis, who turns potential criminal investigations over to state police.

O'Connell said state police handle cases involving Howe employees because they work for the state. Tinley Park police would take care of any crimes residents commit, the chief said.

Jay Stewart, executive director of the Better Government Association, said record-seekers often have to justify why they want public documents rather than government officials freely handing them out.

"Generally, there's a hostility to the (Freedom of Information) Act," Stewart said. "We've have some units of government give what you ask every single time. That's the exception, not the rule."