Police commission fires Kildeer officer over DUI arrest
Kildeer police Officer Suzan Jackson was fired Thursday night, more than three months after she was charged with drunken driving while traveling 101 mph.
Village police commission members made their decision in a disciplinary hearing that began in February. Jackson was a Kildeer cop for about 10 years.
Jackson, 42, had been on paid administrative leave from her $65,000-a-year job since her off-duty arrest Jan. 5 in far northwest unincorporated Lake County near Rand Road and Route 134. Kildeer Police Chief Jeffrey Lilly sought Jackson's firing in internal charges he filed against her.
Commission members, by a 3-0 vote, found Jackson in violation of law, interfering with a police investigation, conduct unbecoming of an officer, neglect of duty and attempting to derive private benefit from department association. The commission agreed to terminate Jackson effective immediately.
Testimony in the disciplinary hearing showed Lake County sheriff's Sgt. Curt Gregory stopped Jackson after his radar clocked her driving 101 mph in a 55 mph zone on Rand Road. However, Jackson countered she was traveling 70 mph -- not 101 mph.
Attorney John Kelly, who represented Lilly at the hearing, reminded the commission in closing remarks that video and audio tapes showed Jackson used the "F-word" on Gregory almost 200 times over 40 minutes while in the back of the cop's squad car.
Kelly said the commission had no other choice but to agree with Lilly's recommendation and sack Jackson.
"I don't think you can put her on the street knowing she's a ticking time bomb," Kelly said.
Jackson's brother who represented her at the hearing, Riverwoods police Officer David Marks, tried to convince the commission to have compassion for his sister and allow her to stay on the job. He also noted she lost a part-time Lakemoor police officer job after her January arrest.
Under questioning from her brother, Jackson said her police officer duties went beyond Kildeer. She testified she worked undercover drug operations for the Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group, Hawthorn Woods police and Carpentersville authorities, as well as becoming deputized to help the FBI last year.
"I think she's a good detective," Marks said, "and she's an integral part of this (Kildeer) agency."
Sheriff's police said Jackson was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding and reckless driving and refused to take a Breathalyzer or field sobriety tests, according to police reports. Her criminal case is in Lake County circuit court.
Jackson told Lilly she had two whiskey-and-colas before she and a friend entered her 2004 Ford Mustang to drive to a Fox Lake tavern before she was arrested early Jan. 5, according to testimony before the police commission.
Lilly contended Jackson could not perform her police duties because her driver's license has been summarily suspended for refusing the DUI tests.