This is our fourth update on the changes and accomplishments for your Sheriffs Office in 2020.
We are extremely proud of our aggressive impaired driving enforcement efforts here in Grundy County. This year Deputy Post and Sergeant A. Cory were both selected to receive the prestigious Illinois Mothers Against Drunk Drivers Hero Award (MADD). The Illinois MADD Hero Award is given to the top 25 impaired driving enforcement officers in the State of Illinois. We are very proud to have two of our officers recognized as part of the top 25 in the state.
Calls for service were down in 2020 compared to 2019; this could be COVID 19 related as less people traveled and retail establishments closed for a portion of the year. In 2019 the patrol division responded to 8488 calls for service. In 2020, the patrol division responded to 7762 call. Due to COVID 19 restrictions and an aggressive effort to reduce the spread of COVID 19, patrol deputies conducted minor non-emergency calls/reports by phone in 2020. Traffic stops were also down as we experienced far less cars on the road. In 2019 we conducted 6499 stops and wrote 3828 citations compared to 2020 we conducted 5804 stops and wrote 3207 citations.
One area we did not see a decrease in is impaired driving arrests. In 2019 we made 134 impaired driving arrests compared to 135 in 2020. Our drug arrests also showed a slight increase; in 2019 we made 80 drug arrests compared to 86 in 2020.
We now have one deputy assigned to the Tri-County Auto Theft unit. This multi-jurisdictional unit consists of officers assigned from various agencies throughout the Midwest. The deputy’s salary is paid for by state and federal grant funds supplied by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
Our office has three deputies who have completed and received their FAA Unmanned Aerial Systems Pilot License. This advanced technology allowed the Sheriffs Office to locate missing persons, fleeing and eluding suspects, photograph serious injury or fatal crash scenes, document crime scenes from the air, and is a proven asset to the Sheriffs Office.
More to come in the following weeks.
Please consider donating to my campaign as I am in the planning stages to run for re-election in 2022. My gold outing is scheduled on June 21st, 2021 at the Morris Country Club. Donations can be sent to Friends to Elect Ken Briley at PO box 243 Morris, Il. 60450