Oak Brook police chief gets contract extension

The Police hief is the best professional that could have happened to Oak Brok Police

The Oak Brook police department was in a mess because of the former village president and some of his police officer buddies.

So everything is good now? I keep hearing that the morale in the Police Department is at an all time low. Poor productivity, high sick time, low arrests, lots of internal strife, etc.

I seems what is wrong is now right and what was right is now wrong?

This whole situation needs to get out in the open and the facts need to rise above the innuendo, rumor & lies.

OBR

Dear OB Resident, things are very bad in the Oak Brook Police Department under Chief Tom Sheahan. He is not a leader or manager by any stretch of the imagination. He s a political puppet and he can't keep from getting the Village sued. Read all 4+ pages of this to see just a few of the suits:
http://www.topix.net/city/oak-brook-il/2007/0...

Why is he still employed?

Maybe I'm not getting this correct, but it looks to me that this Chief of Police is costing the Village of Oak Brook more than his Salary. Add on all the legal costs for attorneys for his blunders, the MASSIVE SETTLEMENTS, and all the time off with pay he gave the cops who he said were "BAD"... It's probably costing Oak Brook over a $$$MILLION$$$$ a year to have him employed there.How about the money Oak Brook spent to train the cops, and they are gone now. The best part is Oak Brook Is getting nothing for their money and they continue to let this Chief do it again.

Yes, You are stupid and so is the rest of the residents of this town. It is time to get some external investigation to flush out the truth here.
We need someone to determine if there are dots to connect between Sheahan and those who benefitted from these lawsuit settlements. Something smells fishy and enough is enough.
They need a new Chief of Police who can wrap his arms around things and get them straightened out and FAST.
TWTIS

I agree. The Feds need to follow the money trail.

The Feds are too busy looking for Stacy Peterson.

I heard a rumor that Sheahan was under investigation for ghost payrolling when he left his chicago security job with the airport. I haven't seen any facts come out yet.

I cannot believe that this guy is still a police chief.

The next step in Oak Brook politics is to help Ragucci get elected in Oakbrook Terrace. Then John Craigs plan of combining Oakbrook Terrace and Oak Brook can become a reality and Chief Tom Sheahan can be Chief over the new combined police department.

Former Oakbrook Terrace cop to run for mayor
(http://www.pioneerlocal.com/o akbrook/news/1015005,ob-ragucc i-061908-s1.article)

June 19, 2008

By JIM JAWORSKI

Former Oakbrook Terrace police officer Tony Ragucci announced Wednesday he will run for mayor in April 2009.

Ragucci, 52, is the second candidate who will try to take over for Mayor Tom Mazaika, who announced last month that he will not seek re-election. Two-term Alderman James Bojan is also running.

Ragucci was an Oakbrook Terrace officer from 1989 to 2007, when he left on disability. He is a member of the Pension Board.

Ragucci said he has been planning to run for some time and would have even if Mazaika sought re-election. The mayor, he said, is sometimes inaccessible and Ragucci plans to have regular office hours at City Hall to have more open communication with residents.

Too often, he said, communication intended for the mayor ends up with City Manager Marty Bourke, who then speaks on the city's behalf.

"I'm saying we need to go back to the old days when we had a more hands-on policy," Ragucci said.

If elected, he said his main goals are to bring the Robert Krilich property back to the city, reduce the budget by eliminating some city staff and attract new retail -- specifically big box stores.

"I would personally go out and meet with businesses," he said.

He also plans to try to sit down with Krilich in an attempt to bring the deannexed and undeveloped Royce Renaissance property back into the city.

Krilich, who was convicted in 1995 of bribing Oakbrook Terrace officials and released in 2006, disconnected from the city in December.

Bojan strongly disagreed with Ragucci's proposal to reduce city staff and have a mayor more involved in professional, day-to-day operations.

"That would be a horrible mistake to have a part-time mayor running the city," Bojan said. "I wouldn't even try it."

Bojan said the decisions made by Mazaika and the council to hire Bourke and other staff members removed the elected officials from day-to-day operations, which eliminated political infighting and led to a more unified and productive council.

"We've spent eight years ... stopping all the craziness in the city," Bojan said.