Elgin top cop's future could see movement tonight

The future of the Elgin Police Department could become clearer tonight.

Three weeks after the city council placed Police Chief Lisa Womack on paid administrative leave, council members will meet at 6 p.m. to discuss "personnel matters," presumably what future - if any - the chief has at the department.

"I fully expect we're going to hear some sort of response (from Womack)," City Manager Sean Stegall said, declining to elaborate.

Under federal law, Womack has 21 days to ponder a possible severance agreement with the city, and another week after signing it to reconsider.

But perhaps she already has made a decision on her $150,687-a-year job.

Womack could not be reached for comment Tuesday and no one answered at her Elgin home. However, the front door had a real estate agent's key holder on the doorknob and a real estate listing indicates the home was put on the market March 20.

City council members, along with Mayor Ed Schock, have been mum on the entire matter. Since March 10, Deputy Chief Jeffrey Swoboda has served as acting chief of the department, which has 180 sworn officers.

According to information obtained from the city through a Freedom of Information request, Womack had been spending more and more time away from the station at various conferences during her more than four years in Elgin.

In 2006, her first full year at the department, Womack spent the equivalent of 21 business days at "conferences/meetings" and another 44 hours in training.

In 2007, she spent the equivalent of 21.25 eight-hour days at various conferences, such as those held by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, or CALEA.

The next year, she logged the equivalent of 24.75 eight-hour days at meetings and conferences.

In 2009, records show that Womack's conference time ballooned to 32 days, a 50 percent jump over 2007.

"Wow," former council member John Walters said, noting that he thought the city was cutting back on time employees spent at conferences to help balance the city's budget.

Tim O'Neil, the attorney for the Elgin police union, said Womack was "talented and engaging."

"We found that Chief Womack was always willing to talk about issues. Talk is one thing. Action is another," O'Neil said. "She failed to recognize that employees had due process rights in Illinois. Let's leave it at that."

Algonquin Police Chief Russell Laine served with Womack on the executive committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Laine, also the group's past president, said police chiefs don't necessarily work 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and often spend nights and weekends on duty for community events, meetings and other functions.

He said it's "inappropriate" to look just at the raw time any police chief spends at conferences.

"There's no set number. It all depends on the situation and what's going on in your department," he said. "That's the balance you have to make. Are things being completed, being done? Is the organization running smoothly? Is it a benefit to the community?"

Womack became the city's first female police chief in August 2005 after a national search. She previously was chief in Sugar Land, a Houston suburb with a population of 85,000. She began her career in Arlington, Texas, where she was named deputy chief in 2001.

Walters and former council member Juan Figueroa said they never had serious problems with Womack.

Womack had high standards for officers, promoted from within and encouraged veteran officers to mentor others, Walters said.

"She didn't have to reinvent the concept of neighborhood policing because that's what (former Elgin Chief Charles) Gruber did," he said. "The department remained very professional. She demanded, I thought, professionalism and I think she got it. She demands a lot from people. Some people like that, some people don't."

But Walters said hiring a female chief from outside the department could have affected morale.

"There's always a chance for bad morale if you have a new chief, especially if that chief is not from within and especially if she's a woman," he said.

Figueroa, a council member from 1999 through 2009, said Womack was progressive in promoting Cecil Smith as the department's first black deputy chief. But he said some council members complained Womack would take several days to answer their inquiries.

Figueroa recalled that after Womack was hired, he asked some officers how the new chief was working out.

The response was, "She's tough," Figueroa said.

"When you hear that, it gives you an indication that she's making changes," he said.