No horses, but McHenry Sheriff nets triple crown award
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Department recently won a “Triple Crown,” but it has nothing to do with horse racing.
The “Triple Crowd Award” is a distinction held by less than 1 percent of sheriff offices across the country. It is the National Sheriffs’ Association’s term for attaining accreditation through three key groups: the Commission on the Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, or CALEA; the Commission on Accreditation for Corrections, or CAC; and the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare, or NCCHA.
Sheriff Keith Nygren credited department personnel for their work as well as policing strategies.
“The community should be proud of the sheriff’s office accomplishments and our pursuit of excellence,” Nygren said. “It is their hard work that helped this office receive this very rare award.”
McHenry officials say the office is just the third in the state to attain “Triple Crown” status, along with sheriff’s offices in Cook and DuPage counties. Overall, 35 out of 3,080 sheriff offices in the United States have attained the Triple Crown.
Second chance for faux dentist:A former North Aurora dental hygienist who was charged with felony theft for treating patients without a dental license has been accepted into the Kane County Pretrial Diversion Program, her attorney said.
Silvia Hernandez, 36, of Aurora, was charged earlier this year with treating numerous patients after hours at the North Aurora Dental Associates.
The court program allows first-time, nonviolent offenders a chance to have their record wiped clean if they stay out of trouble and adhere to other conditions.
Hernandez is next due in court Aug. 14 for a hearing to determine what, if any, restitution is due in the case, said defense attorney Kathleen Colton.
The last word: The Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office recently launched a page on Facebook. Usually for news releases and announcements, the office did chime in with a little bit more perspective about the six years since Kane prosecutors worked with Aurora Police, the FBI and Kane County Sheriff’s Office to charge more than two dozen people in 22 cold case murders.
“One more note on First-Degree Burn ... ,” reads the state’s attorney’s office’s page. “After our discussion with reporters, Aurora Police Chief Greg Thomas noted that because of the reduction in violent gang crime in the city, economic development is booming again in Aurora, and people are enjoying the many fine amenities of the city. Chief Thomas pointed to Aurora’s thriving downtown, the growing popularity of the Paramount Theatre, and the new RiverEdge Park. The park, he said, wouldn’t have been able to happen without the reduction in gang activity. The winners in this are the residents of Aurora.”