Police department an issue in Gurnee mayor's race

Two of Gurnee's three mayoral candidates say they have questions about how the village's police department operates and that it should be scrutinized.

Voters will select from Mayor Kristina Kovarik, village Trustee Greg Garner and Anthony "Tony" Maniscalco for a 4-year term in the April 7 election.

Police Chief Robert Jones and his department arose as an issue during a recent Daily Herald editorial board interview with Kovarik and Maniscalco in the same room. Garner was asked about the police department in a separate interview.

Kovarik praised the job done by Jones and said she doesn't have any qualms about the department.

But Maniscalco and Garner don't share Kovarik's complimentary view of how the police department is run.

Maniscalco early this year filed a federal lawsuit against the village, some police officers and Jones claiming there was a conspiracy behind his arrest following a fast-food restaurant visit in 2007. He contends it was retaliation for wanting former mayor Richard Welton to run as a village trustee candidate in 2007.

Maniscalco was acquitted on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, battery and disorderly conduct in Lake County court last December.

Maniscalco said what happened to him was an example of how police brass politics seeps down to officers on the street, which isn't good for Gurnee. As mayor, he said, he could get the department back on track by not reappointing Jones.

"The police have to go back to the serve-and-protect policy," said Maniscalco, 51, who made an unsuccessful trustee run in 2005 and backed Kovarik for mayor that year.

Kovarik, 51, seeking her second 4-year term, said Jones does a good job as chief in a busy village that attracts at least 26 million visitors annually. She said there are few complaints about police, and tourist areas and neighborhoods are safe.

"He's very into the community policing philosophy. ... It's a very military-type structure, big on chain of command," Kovarik said of Jones' management style.

Garner, 51, who was appointed as a trustee by Kovarik in September 2005, said if elected mayor he'd examine the police department because it has "issues." He said he'd determine Jones' future after such a study.

"There's zero diversity on that department," Garner said. "I don't think that's a good situation."