Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk-Line: Lee County Sheriff Clay Whelan on farm safety

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Talk-Line: Lee County Sheriff Clay Whelan on farm safety · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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  Speaker 1: Wednesday. It's September the twenty fourth, the year is twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty five, and it's time for another informational edition of
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  Speaker 1: talk Line here at FM ninety five one and AM
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  Speaker 1: fourteen sixty wix in. Good morning.
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  Speaker 2: I'm Steve Marco.
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  Speaker 1: It is time for our bi monthly look at news
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  Speaker 1: and information from your Lee County Sheriff's Department. And who
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  Speaker 1: better to bring us the activity information report than our
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  Speaker 1: Lee County Sheriff. He is lied with us this morning
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  Speaker 1: at the microphones and it's nice to have him on
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  Speaker 1: board with us. Our Lee County Sheriff, Clay Whalen joins
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  Speaker 1: us on this to Wednesday here at WIX and Sheriff
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  Speaker 1: good morning, Good morning, Steve. Nice to have you with us, sir,
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  Speaker 1: thanks for joining us. Absolutely tapering off this month of September,
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  Speaker 1: but we have a few items that we want to
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  Speaker 1: talk about today with our our Lee County Sheriff. And
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  Speaker 1: one of those items, Sheriff has to do with a
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  Speaker 1: topic that we brought up for a discussion yesterday during
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  Speaker 1: this important week. This week, not only locally, but regionally
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  Speaker 1: and nationally has been designated as the twenty twenty five
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  Speaker 1: National Farm Safety and Health Week. It's running through September
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  Speaker 1: the twenty seventh. We had our friends from Lee County
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  Speaker 1: Farm Bureau on board with it to spotlight the week
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  Speaker 1: as it takes place, and obviously, Sheriff, that's where we're
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  Speaker 1: going to start our topic list here at wix end
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  Speaker 1: with you this morning, because uh, you know, our Lee
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  Speaker 1: County area is agriculturally based, There's no doubt about it.
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  Speaker 1: I mean most of our land is farm based. And again, Sheriff,
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  Speaker 1: it's time and this week usually falls around harvest time,
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  Speaker 1: and here we go. We've I've already seen you know,
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  Speaker 1: big rigs out, I've already seen fields already under the
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  Speaker 1: harvest you know area, and Sheriff you wanted to put
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  Speaker 1: in a word about.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I was out on the roadways yesterday coming back
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  Speaker 3: from Peoria and there was a lot more activity in
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  Speaker 3: the southern counties. But it's starting to ramp up around
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  Speaker 3: here as well. I wouldn't venture to say in the
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  Speaker 3: next week there'll be a flory of activity. So I
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  Speaker 3: just want to remind people to slow down immediately upon
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  Speaker 3: spotting farm vehicles.
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  Speaker 2: You know, most of those.
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  Speaker 3: Only travel at low speeds like fifteen to twenty miles
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  Speaker 3: an hour, So if you're doing fifty five sixty miles
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  Speaker 3: an hour, you're going to catch up on them really quickly.
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  Speaker 3: Increase your following distance to proven visibility and I'm sure
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  Speaker 3: safer reaction times and overall be patient please.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, road safety and that was at the
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  Speaker 1: top of the list when it came to topics from
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  Speaker 1: Farm Health and Safety Week to discuss with our friends
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  Speaker 1: from Farm Bureau. That was at the lead when it
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  Speaker 1: comes to road safety, not just the you know, those
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  Speaker 1: motors that need to watch out for the implementation, but
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  Speaker 1: sare if we emphasize the fact that you know, the
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  Speaker 1: farmers and the agricultural minded need to be you know
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  Speaker 1: aware as well, and you know, have their equipment designated properly.
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  Speaker 1: You know, things have to be you know, right.
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  Speaker 3: More of the modern equipment is very well lit you know,
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  Speaker 3: as far as to provide that notice that hey we're
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  Speaker 3: coming up the road or going to be coming over
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  Speaker 3: this hill. But you know some of the older items
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  Speaker 3: aren't as well lit up, so you got to be
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  Speaker 3: cognizant of those.
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  Speaker 2: On some of the world roadways.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and designated as well. You know, you have to
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  Speaker 1: have the symbols.
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  Speaker 2: Right vehicle symbols.
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  Speaker 1: You had to have those on your implementation. Uh and
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  Speaker 1: uh again that could be you know, uh, that's you know,
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  Speaker 1: against rules, you know, if you don't have your implementation
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  Speaker 1: designated as such. So it kind of you know, a
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  Speaker 1: double edged you know, as far as you know, again,
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  Speaker 1: those watching out and we you know, in this fast
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  Speaker 1: paced society that we live in. Now you know, we're
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  Speaker 1: we're quicker trying to get to from point A to
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  Speaker 1: point B. But in the meantime we have to take
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  Speaker 1: under advisement to shriff just mentioned the slow moving vehicles,
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  Speaker 1: the combines and the larger vehicles that are going to
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  Speaker 1: be rolling back into the fields for harvest. We also
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  Speaker 1: talked about the weather, uh, and the situation involving the weather,
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  Speaker 1: and this, you know, could be a little dice eyed
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  Speaker 1: this year's share. I mean, we did just get a
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  Speaker 1: little rain yesterday, but things are dry.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, very dry.
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  Speaker 3: I mowed my yard yesterday and it felt like I
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  Speaker 3: was getting hit with bebes at some points.
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  Speaker 2: But yeah, it's it's very dry.
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  Speaker 3: So yeah, obviously be cognizant of burning, not to catch
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  Speaker 3: these fields on fire.
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  Speaker 1: You know.
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  Speaker 3: Obviously, agriculture is the backbone of the Sock Valley area.
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  Speaker 3: So we don't want to impose anything on the farmers
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  Speaker 3: and hurt their profits.
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  Speaker 1: You know, sheriff. And one thing that we have to
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  Speaker 1: sadly bring this up, and it does take place, and
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  Speaker 1: it's a sad thing that we have to bring this up,
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  Speaker 1: but you have to watch out, you know, when loading
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  Speaker 1: grain bins. This is this is a sad state of
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  Speaker 1: affairs when it happens. We hate to hear about it,
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  Speaker 1: but it really needs to be you know, taken out
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  Speaker 1: of advisement during this time of the year.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, obviously sometimes you know, the grain will crust over
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  Speaker 3: when you're evacuating the bend or unloading it. You know,
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  Speaker 3: the rural fire departments around here practice grain bend rescues.
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  Speaker 3: Hopefully we don't have to employ that, but yeah, people
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  Speaker 3: should not be getting in the grain bends and walking
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  Speaker 3: around unaided by you know, ropes to them and harnesses
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  Speaker 3: to get get out if something, if grain would collapse.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, you know, in this day and age, you have
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  Speaker 1: to be protected, you have to be secured, and you
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  Speaker 1: just mentioned the harnesses, the you know, the the the
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  Speaker 1: implementation that can be used in safety measures when operating
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  Speaker 1: and you know, for some it's probably you know, oh
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  Speaker 1: I don't need it.
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  Speaker 2: You know, it won't happen.
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  Speaker 1: It won't happen to me, you know, And it's too bulky.
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  Speaker 2: And you know that, you know, we don't want to
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  Speaker 2: put this.
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  Speaker 1: You know that that shouldn't that shouldn't be the case,
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  Speaker 1: because when we hear about it tragedy.
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  Speaker 2: Like this, it's it's not good. Oh usually it's not,
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  Speaker 2: you know.
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  Speaker 1: So Sheriff points that out as well. And one more
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  Speaker 1: thing to add as far as farm safety is concerned, Sheriff,
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  Speaker 1: and in this time that we do see you know,
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  Speaker 1: implementation back into the fields. With the terrain as it is,
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  Speaker 1: and with the you know, uh lateness that a lot
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  Speaker 1: of egg and minded and farmers get into the fields.
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  Speaker 1: They spend a lot of time late at night. You
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  Speaker 1: gotta watch out, you know, the terrain. As we mentioned,
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  Speaker 1: the weathers hasn't been good. It's not you know it
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  Speaker 1: could you know, be you know risky you know in
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  Speaker 1: some areas you know, even you know, harvesting your crops
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  Speaker 1: this year.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, like I said, it's very very dry out there.
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  Speaker 3: And yeah, you got to watch out, you know for
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  Speaker 3: these a lot of times, you know, they might have
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  Speaker 3: to move from one field to another, you know, under
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  Speaker 3: the cover of darkness a lot of times on these
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  Speaker 3: bigger operations that they will try and come in early
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  Speaker 3: in the morning if they need to move across town.
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  Speaker 3: So you know, again give them the patients and and
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  Speaker 3: and with that they.
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  Speaker 1: Need absolutely And even in the farm fields, you know,
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  Speaker 1: you don't want to hear tractor rollovers things like that,
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  Speaker 1: you know, taking place because you know it might be
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  Speaker 1: a bumpy situation, you know, especially this year with the
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  Speaker 1: weather the cooperating not cooperating the way it has in
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  Speaker 1: the past. So farm safety really at the pinnacle of
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  Speaker 1: our discussion with Lee County Sheriff Clay Whaland, who joins
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  Speaker 1: us today here at w I exend. Sheriff you you
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  Speaker 1: said you were just coming back from Peoria yesterday. Now
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  Speaker 1: I'm not sure was was this the the that you had?
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  Speaker 3: This was the Illinois Sheriff's Association Summer Conference.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, all right, and you just made it back from
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  Speaker 1: this conference and you have a report for.
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  Speaker 2: Us this morning.
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  Speaker 3: Well, some of the topics that came up down at
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  Speaker 3: the conference were pending legislation and things that look to
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  Speaker 3: be on the horizon. One of the things that Representative
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  Speaker 3: Darren the Hood came and spoke with us about was
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  Speaker 3: that the Illinois Trust Act probably needs to be modified
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  Speaker 3: to at least provide local law enforcement the ability to
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  Speaker 3: share information with our federal law enforcement partners. One an
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  Speaker 3: individual that is a violent offender is being released from
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  Speaker 3: incarceration and is found to be in this country illegally. Currently,
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  Speaker 3: we cannot share that information with our federal partners. What's
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  Speaker 3: going to happen, or what they anticipate is going to happen,
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  Speaker 3: is that federal funding is going to be withheld from
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  Speaker 3: sanctuary states such as Illinois.
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  Speaker 1: All Right, so I guess we need to decipher this
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  Speaker 1: a little bit further so that we kind of get
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  Speaker 1: a grasp on this. You know, obviously this has taken
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  Speaker 1: center stage, especially in the state of Illinois with illegal aliens, immigrants,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the situation involving the sanctuary state and all
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  Speaker 1: that again kind of going you know, toe to toe
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  Speaker 1: with the federal government and trying to come to some
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  Speaker 1: kind of a meeting point.
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  Speaker 3: Sure, well, the concern is the individuals in this country
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  Speaker 3: that break the law and are violent offenders. That's where
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  Speaker 3: the concern is. The concern isn't with anybody that's trying
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  Speaker 3: to earn a living and better themselves.
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  Speaker 2: So we just want to.
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  Speaker 3: Make sure law enforcement just wants to make sure that,
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  Speaker 3: you know, our constituents are safe.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, when it comes to the violent perpetrators and this
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  Speaker 1: area that you just mentioned, you know the I mean,
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  Speaker 1: is it state law right now that says.
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  Speaker 3: It's state law that law enforcement cannot communicate with federal
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  Speaker 3: la enforcement authorities any immigration.
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  Speaker 2: Violations.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, So, and this is what's I guess at So if.
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  Speaker 3: I had an individual at my jail that was getting
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  Speaker 3: ready to be released for like an aggravated battery of
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  Speaker 3: violent offense, and I was made aware that they were
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  Speaker 3: in this country illegally and that Department of Immigration wanted
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  Speaker 3: to deport them, I could not let them know that, Hey,
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  Speaker 3: I've got this individual and they're going to be released
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  Speaker 3: at four o'clock this afternoon. If you have some agents
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  Speaker 3: that are here so currently, I can't do that. I've
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  Speaker 3: got to let them walk out the door.
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  Speaker 2: All right.
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  Speaker 1: Well, and that's that's the law right now in this
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  Speaker 1: state of Illinois. But again, as you mentioned, with holding
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  Speaker 1: federal funding, you know that's going to hurt. Yeah, to
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  Speaker 1: try to counter manned this, you know, particular area. This
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  Speaker 1: is good? Is it getting up of the court share?
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  Speaker 2: Is this the word?
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  Speaker 3: I'm sure well, I'm sure well. I don't know how
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  Speaker 3: fast this will be remedied. I got a feeling that
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  Speaker 3: everybody's going to have to tighten their their belt buckles
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  Speaker 3: a little bit because it's it's probably going to get
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  Speaker 3: interesting for the next year.
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  Speaker 2: Two until something something changes. Wow.
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  Speaker 1: Well, this issue has been you know again, kind of
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  Speaker 1: a sticky point obviously too in the state of Illinois
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  Speaker 1: with state laws mandated, but with the federal laws trying
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  Speaker 1: to supersede, uh and you know, take over. There needs to.
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  Speaker 2: Be some there needs to be a compromise. Okay, yes,
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  Speaker 2: and this was discussed. This was discussed.
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  Speaker 3: Obviously, we law enforcement is not in favor of the
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  Speaker 3: Safety Act. That also needs to be modified. We need
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  Speaker 3: to give the power back to the judges to have
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  Speaker 3: that discretion and ability to hold individuals that are frequent
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  Speaker 3: flyers right now, you know, there's no sanctions. We arrest
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  Speaker 3: them for a felony for a drug possession charge, and
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  Speaker 3: they're out committing burglaries and thefts to feed that need.
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  Speaker 2: And there's no sanctions. They're not even they don't have.
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  Speaker 3: The ability to dry up, so to speak, and be incarcerated.
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  Speaker 3: There they're right back out doing the same thing over
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  Speaker 3: and over again.
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  Speaker 1: And we keep hearing the stories. We just keep hearing
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  Speaker 1: the stories of you know, perpetrators that are released early
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  Speaker 1: because of this legislation and again committeed another act is
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  Speaker 1: what it usually ends up with in a lot of
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  Speaker 1: at least what we hear on the news.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, we had a situation recently where an individual began
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  Speaker 3: fleeing from the Dickson Police Department. They wound up leaving town,
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  Speaker 3: but then turned around and came back towards town and
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  Speaker 3: began trying to evade officers on some side streets. They
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  Speaker 3: requested assistance from local law enforcement from our agency, and
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  Speaker 3: one of my deputies was able to observe this vehicle
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  Speaker 3: right pure Avenue by Dixon High School. He attempted to
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  Speaker 3: implement a traffic stop. That vehicle again began to flee,
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  Speaker 3: ran one stop sign and then ran another stop sign
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  Speaker 3: at Pury and Third and ran into another vehicle. Well,
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  Speaker 3: our deputy got up there and as he was taking
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  Speaker 3: this individual in the custody, a firearm fell out from
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  Speaker 3: his person so lo and behold. You know he's he's
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  Speaker 3: charged his guys out of Chicago. He's charged with egg fleeing,
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  Speaker 3: aggravated unlawful use of a weapon pursue to the Safety Act.
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  Speaker 3: He was released about two thirty afternoon. This occurred on
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  Speaker 3: a Sunday night. He's out two thirty in the afternoon.
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  Speaker 3: On Monday. At about five o'clock Monday night, Chicago Police
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  Speaker 3: Department contacts us and this individual had shot his daughter
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  Speaker 3: earlier that Sunday in Chicago and they were looking to
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  Speaker 3: take him into custody. Well, unfortunately he was already he
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  Speaker 3: was already out in the wind.
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  Speaker 2: Wow. Wow, there you go.
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  Speaker 1: There's a scenario that again we've talked about for the
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  Speaker 1: years that this has been again in in you know,
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  Speaker 1: the state of Illinois, in this situation, and there is
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  Speaker 1: a prime example of what needs to be remedied as
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  Speaker 1: far as this area is concerned. And that was addressed
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  Speaker 1: at this conference. Sheriff did you did we address this?
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  Speaker 1: We addressed that all the all the sheriff srif's associations. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: know that the Safety Act needs to be modified and
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  Speaker 1: again addressed at this conference. Again that was held and
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  Speaker 1: hopefully representatives. Wow, in a story like that, you can't.
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  Speaker 1: You can't just overlook that story and just say, oh, well,
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  Speaker 1: you can't do that.
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  Speaker 2: It's no, it's for the safety of everyone. Oh my gosh.
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  Speaker 3: And this individual, I mean you already showed him propensity
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  Speaker 3: for violence. I mean, if he shoots his own daughter,
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  Speaker 3: he's going to shoot somebody else without a doubt.
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  Speaker 1: Sad story. First of all, it's a sad story. And
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  Speaker 1: the second of all, it's a sadder story because of
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  Speaker 1: the fact that we're handcuffed by these limitations. Correct, we
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  Speaker 1: talked about the sheriff in the past. Wish we had
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  Speaker 1: more chance to chat with our Lee County sheriff. But Sheriff,
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  Speaker 1: I want to say to you, thank you for gracing
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  Speaker 1: our airwaves during my time with you here at WIX
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  Speaker 1: and I'm hoping, you know, I'll be here for about
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  Speaker 1: four or five weeks, so maybe you know, just visiting
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  Speaker 1: and and and saying hello. But again, I appreciate all
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  Speaker 1: of the information that you've shared with us during our
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  Speaker 1: time together. It's been a pleasure having you on board.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm hoping that obviously, you know, we'll continue our chats,
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  Speaker 1: you know, and have information from the Lee County Sheriff's Department.
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  Speaker 1: But I'd like to thank you so personally from me
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  Speaker 1: to you in joining me for.
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  Speaker 3: My absolutely and I want to congratulate you on your
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  Speaker 3: tenure here and your retirement. You get to enjoy, have
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  Speaker 3: some time to yourself, maybe sleep in a little.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well you know, the early mornings you know will
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  Speaker 1: be different for yours truly. But again it'll be bettersweet
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  Speaker 1: in this capacity because I'll miss talking with you, sir,
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  Speaker 1: you know, and I thank you so very much for
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  Speaker 1: joining us. Thank you Sheriff Clay whaland with us today
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  Speaker 1: here at Wyxent. Let's go to press next. It's a
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  Speaker 1: thirty one.
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  Speaker 2: I'm sullowing Bilma and this