How Palatine police are trying to ‘break down barriers’ in their community

Shortly before he became Palatine’s police chief in 2024, then-Deputy Chief William Nord approached his bosses with a question: How can we connect better with the people we serve?

The answer led to the launch of the department’s new Community Engagement and Planning division in 2025. The division marked its first anniversary earlier this year, in part by hosting a Community Resource & Services Forum on Feb. 12.

While it’s not unusual for a suburban police force to make community outreach part of its mission, Palatine has taken it to the next level by dedicating an entire division, with its own staff, to the task. It’s one of three divisions within the department, along with Field Operations and Administrative Services.

The goal? Teaming with residents and business owners to identify issues and find solutions to them, Nord said.

“We want to try and break down some barriers and put faces with our officers, so residents can feel comfortable coming to them with those problems and concerns,” he added. “Our officers are committed to trying to make Palatine a better place and focusing on quality-of-life issues.”

The new division oversees a broad range of services, from crime prevention and community events, to tenant protection, social work and a volunteer emergency response unit called the Palatine Emergency Management Agency.

Its leader, Deputy Chief David Brandwein, said officers attended about 100 events in the division’s first year, including block parties, community meetings and summer camps. The department also hosted its first National Night Out gathering, drawing more than 2,500 attendees.

Besides Brandwein, the division is staffed with two commanders, a sergeant, three community engagement officers, two social workers and three traffic enforcement officers.

“One thing that we both realize is the collective effort it takes between the community and the police department,” Brandwein said. “We’re only as effective as the trust that we have with our residents, the trust that we have with the people who live here, work here.”

Lest any think otherwise, Nord told us that “catching bad guys” is still the department’s main job, but the new division reflects the expanding and changing nature of police work.

“Encompassing community engagement into it just increases the types of services, the amount of services that we can offer to the community,” he said.

Pot roast?

What's not supposed to be on the menu of a jail cafeteria?

Marijuana.

A kitchen worker at the DuPage County jail has been accused of conspiring with several detainees to distribute the drug at the lockup.

Lucy A. Rivera, 55, of Wheaton, faces felony charges of employee delivering cannabis in a penal institution; bringing cannabis into a penal institution; possession of cannabis in a penal institution; and conspiracy to deliver cannabis in a penal institution, according to DuPage County court records.

Rivera worked for Trinity, the company that runs the food service in the jail, according to a spokesman for the county sheriff's office.

The charges allege she brought THC products into the detention center between Oct. 21 and Nov. 14, 2025.

Also charged: Anthony J. Caruso, 33, of St. Charles Township; Felicity Stewart-Love, 26, of Aurora; and Jesus Bautista, 27, of North Aurora. They’re accused of conspiracy to deliver cannabis in a penal institution, bringing cannabis into a penal institution and possession of cannabis in a penal institution.

According to court records, Bautista and Caruso were inmates in the jail at the time. Stewart-Love's status is not clear.

Murder conviction stands

A state appeals court this week rejected a new trial request from a Round Lake man convicted of first-degree murder in the 2022 slaying of a 77-year-old Fox Lake resident.

Azim Ibrahim, 40, is serving a 50-year prison sentence for fatally shooting Roy Hoffman during a confrontation in the victim’s home.

Authorities say Ibrahim accompanied a woman who went to Hoffman’s residence for a “romantic relationship” Dec. 12, 2022. After waiting outside for some time, authorities said, Ibrahim forced his way into Hoffman’s home, ordered Hoffman to the ground and shot him, before leaving with the woman.

After his arrest the next day, Ibrahim told police that he was defending himself and the woman after she said she’d been sexually assaulted, authorities said. However, the woman testified she never made that claim and Hoffman did not threaten her or Ibrahim before the deadly shooting.

In his appeal, Ibrahim argued jurors in his case should have been allowed to consider an involuntary manslaughter charge that would have ruled the shooting accidental, as opposed to an intentional murder.

Appellate justices unanimously rejected the argument.

“We have no real reason to think (jurors) might have accepted the weak and incongruous explanation that Hoffman’s death was, instead, merely an accident,” Justice Susan F. Hutchinson wrote in the court’s ruling.

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