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Oswego weighing whether to make motorists who flee police pay a $750 fee · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Aswego weighing whether to make motorists who flee police pay
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  a seven hundred and fifty dollars fee. Written by Eric Shelkoff,
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  This article is being read by an automated voice brought
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  to you by Everlett. Oswego Village trustees are considering whether
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  to make motorists who flee or try to flee from
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  Oswego police officers pay a seven one hundred and fifty
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  dollars administrative fee. Oswego Police Chief Jason Baston has recommended
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  the village enact the fee to improve roadway safety. The
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  seven hundred and fifty dollars fee is based on the
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  cost the police department incurs to investigate these cases. In
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  the last several years, the Oswego Police Department has seen
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  an increase in the number of motorists fleeing and attempting
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  to elude the police during traffic stops. It is not
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  unique to us, Baston told village trustees during their January
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  twentieth Committee of the Whole meeting. It's happening in the
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  region and across the state and really nationally. Since twenty twenty,
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  there have been thirty three instances in which a motorists
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  fled from Oswego police officers during the initiation of a
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  traffic stop. That includes four instances in twenty twenty five,
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  down from twelve cases the previous year. I don't expect
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  it to stay that low, Basten said. In talking about
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  last year's dropping cases, Baston noted the police department has
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  a restrictive pursuit policy to ensure the safety of the public.
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  Since twenty twenty there have only been three pursuits initiated
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  by Oswego police officers. Even though it means offenders get away,
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  we are also not putting the public in danger by
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  participating in a pursuit, he said. And a lot of
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  times when we initiate a pursuit, the offender drives pretty recklessly,
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  causing a danger to the public. The administrative fee would
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  be on top of criminal charges against the offender, Baston said,
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  and hopefully that would deter that behavior, he said. Village
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  trustee Karen Novy asked how the police department would define fleeing.
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  What we're looking for, what the statute looks for is
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  what are the actions of the driver? Baston said. It
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  could be the driver speeding up, beginning to drive radically
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  changing lanes, doing that type of thing before it becomes
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  a fleeing and eluding situation. The proposed rules are modeled
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  after Naperville's policy. Baston said, I believe they were the
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  originators of this. He said, I know Schomberg also has
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  something similar. I cannot tell you that it is real common.
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  I would actually say it is not common, this administrative fee,
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  but yes, there are other agencies that have this, that
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  includes neighboring Plainfield. At the December fifteenth Plainfield Village Board meeting,
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  village trustees unanimously approved in ordinance assessing a five hundred
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  dollars administrative fee to the registered owner of any vehicle
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  that flees or attempts to flee from a Plainfield Police officer.
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  Like Oswego's proposed rules, the five hundred dollars fee is
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  based on the average cost the police department incurs to
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  investigate these cases. It's not intended to be a penalty
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  or a revenue generator. Plainfield Police Commander Zach Zikdermann told
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  village trustees it's only an attempting to recover a portion
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  of the resources that are expended in connection with that
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  criminal activity. Oswego Village President Ryan Kaufman was wondering how
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  many residents versus non residents have been caught trying to
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  flee Oswego police officers. I did not have that broken
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  down fast, and said, in replying to Kaufman, I can
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  get that information for you. Oswego Village trustees are set
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  to discuss the proposed administrative fee again at a future
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  meeting