The Village of Wheeling appears to be in a crisis while a village management investigation did not verify allegations — and/or village management personnel are not willing to be truthful — about the awareness of serious allegations by the village’s own sworn police officers against Police Chief Jamie Dunne and Deputy Chief Al Steffen.
The lack of village management’s trust of allegations by its own sworn police officers, as well as statements made by village management personnel that appear to be in conflict with reality, is alarming.
A Daily Herald article by Russell Lissau published on March 19, 2025 [PAYWALL] indicated that allegations in a letter to Village Manager Jon Sfondilis from the Wheeling Police Department’s unionized patrol officers were unfounded, and that a retirement letter sent to Sfondilis from Wheeling Police Chief Jamie Dunne did not mention a no-confidence vote by the majority of Wheeling’s police officers.
In a statement by Wheeling police officers read to Wheeling Village Board members and Village President Patrick Horcher at a Village Board meeting Monday, April 7, 2025, Village Manager Sfondilis and Assistant Village Manager Michael Crotty allegedly stated they were unaware of any management employee issues within the police department, and were caught off guard by the vote no confidence. The police statement to the board also indicated that former police employees either wrote exit letters indicating management employee issues in the police department and indicated that the content of these emails could be obtained via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The police statement before the board also indicated that police officers tried to meet with village management in regards to morale problems and diminished readiness.
The police officers also doubt that a proper investigation even occurred, even though Village Manager Sfondilis stated in a meeting March 24, 2025 that a thorough investigation was completed, and that he found no evidence of any wrongdoing by Chief Dunne or Deputy Chief Steffen.
The police statement to the Village Board and Village President also indicated that the author of the Daily Herald article is believed to have a professional relationship with Deputy Chief Steffen. That professional relationship was not specified.
A strong majority of police officers are calling for Chief Dunne to be placed on administrative leave until his retirement date of July 4, 2025, and for Deputy Chief Steffen to be dismissed effective immediately.
The 10-minute statement by two police officers, limited by the usual 5-minutes each during the public forum at Village Board meetings, is published in entirety below …
Village of Wheeling Board Meeting Monday, April 7, 2025 (SOURCE: Village of Wheeling/YouTube). YouTube Tips ⓘ
“Hello, my name is Steve Komin. I’ve been a Wheeling police officer for the past 14 years. I serve as the secretary for the Wheeling police officers union. I received several service awards, including life-saving award along with Officer Devin Ladesick for saving a young man’s life who was attempting suicide. Prior to joining the Wheeling Police Department, I served in the US Marine Corps and obtained the rank of Sergeant. I was tasked with being an infantry machine gun section leader. I was in charge of welfare and combat readiness of the 20 Marines made up of the six machine gun teams that were deployed and saw a combat during the battle of Fallujah in Iraq. My Marine Corps experience exposed me to various types of leaderships. Most of them were selfless and heroic, but I also experienced a few examples of unacceptable and poor leadership. These examples guide my beliefs, and the importance of good leadership.
“Before starting my statement on behalf of the union, we would like to thank President Horcher for attending our meeting with village management on March 24, 2025. We feel that President Horcher genuinely cares about the police department and this community, which is evident through him asking questions and qualifying clarifying statements. We would also like to thank the Village Board for their support of the officers throughout my tenure. The patrolled and sergeant unions believe it’s essential to provide transparency to the elected officials and citizens of Wheeling about the important issues of morale, leadership and inadequate readiness within the Wheeling Police Department. We ask that you take action against village management who are willing to ignore the plea of help from the police officers who wish to return the department to a healthy work environment, and restore previously diminished services to the community.
“On February 20, 2025 the Metropolitan Alliance of Police tendered the village notice of the patrol unions’ vote of no confidence containing a list of concerns and ethical complaints against Chief Dunne and Deputy Chief Steffen. This document signed by 34 of the 39 eligible patrol officers. The vote excluded probationary officers from voting out of fear retaliation. The sergeants union provided their unanimous verbal vote of no confidence along with their list of complaints to village management and a meeting on March 4. Upon receiving the vote of no confidence, Village Manager Jon Sfondilis requested a meeting with patrol officers union to discuss the contents of the letter. The union welcomed an opportunity to speak with the manager and provided notice that the sergeant’s chapter would also like to attend. This meeting occurred on March 4th at the village hall with Manager Sfondilis and Assistant Manager Michael Crotty. The sergeants and officers representatives spent about two hours providing detailed instances regarding the poor treatment of the department members, training lapses, and discipline that was not uniform based on EEOC, or otherwise known as Equal Employment Opportunity Commission characteristics.
“Due to the amount of substance discussed regarding the failed leadership of Chief Dunne and Deputy Chief Steffen, the issues in the no confidence letter were never discussed. During the meeting, Manager Sfondilis and Assistant Village Manager Crotty stated they were unaware of any management employee issues within the police department, and were caught off guard by the vote no confidence. The unions have knowledge that former employees either wrote exit letters or tried to meet with village management in regards to morale problems and diminished readiness. Those documents could be obtained via freedom of information act request, but may be deemed too voluminous like several other FOIA requests made by MAP. Under Chief Dunne, the Wheeling Police Department has become a revolving door which pushes out experienced officers, and brought a new and less experienced officers. Village management failed to investigate this unprecedented trend at the police department, and have ignored comments made by retiring officers as to why they were leaving earlier than expected. They also failed to interview the young officers who left for other agencies, or to pursue different careers. Since 2020, nearly 20 officers have left the department after serving less than 18 years, with most taking positions at other law enforcement agencies. The village has incurred significant cost with the loss of these officers. On average, the village invested approximately $100,000 for each officer with seven years of service. This monetary value only reflects this cost to train and equip that officer. The union representatives provided village management with several examples of retaliation and EEOC violations made by Chief Dunne and Deputy Chief Stefan against police officers and police officer candidates that village management chose to ignore.
Wheeling Police Sergeant Michael Bieschke continued the message before the board when Steve Komin was stopped by a 5-minute public speaking limit …
Chief Dunne has been the subject of two unfair labor practice complaints filed with the State of Illinois by labor unions. Manager Sfondilis stated that during his 32 years with the village, he was unaware of any official who has had these types of complaints filed against them. At the end of the meeting, Manager Sfondilis stated that he needed some time to investigate the accusations against Chief Dunne and Dep Chief Steffen. While awaiting a status update from Manager Sfondilis, an article was posted in the Daily Herald on March 19. This article cast of favorable light on Chief Dunne’s tenure at the Wheeling PD. The author of the article is believed to have a professional relationship with Deputy Chief Steffen. It does not reflect the perspective of the employees of Wheeling Police Department. It is unknown how the information was leaked to the press, but the information provided was not an accurate depiction of the reality of working of the working environment under chief Dunne’s leadership. The sworn officers of the Wheeling PD believe the article was a means to get the village management’s narrative to the public first to gain support for Chief Dunne. On March 24th, another meeting occurred at the village hall between village management. Village President Horcher, patrol officers union representation, sergeants union representation was also present. During this meeting Manager Sfondilis stated that a thorough investigation was completed, and he found no evidence of any wrongdoing by Chief Dunne or Duty Chief Steffen. It was evident that the village management failed to take that letter, and the additional complaints made at the March 4th meeting, seriously. From our knowledge, no witness other than the accused were ever interviewed regarding the misconduct allegations. The majority of the complaints were dismissed, and no answers were provided as to who was interviewed as a result of these complaints. Manager Sfondilis says that the issue was primarily the fault of middle management’s failure to communicate.
The WPD officers and sergeants feel that the village management has failed to take appropriate action against Chief Dunne and Dep Chief Steffen. We know that in 2015 a deputy chief was accused of misconduct, and the Village hired an outside firm to investigate. The Village spent one year investigating the complaints, and any department member who had information were invited to schedule a meeting. The unions then reiterated the damage done to the department by Chief Dunne and Deputy Chief Steffen by failing to follow standard step by the solo field training model, which is how we train our newer officers. These actions have put the village and police department at risk of civil lawsuit, and eroded employee trust in properly training recruits. In addition, Village management was advised in February Chief Dunne and Deputy Chief Steffen chose to adjust the new hire candidate ranking based on race and gender, raising concerns about fairness and objectivity of the process. To effectively begin the necessary culture change, we request that the village management place Chief Dunne an administrative leave until retirement date of July 4, and dismiss Deputy Chief Steffen effective immediately. Allowing them to remain and control and oversee discipline against department members who have provided information about their unjust conduct is a significant concern. The best way to move forward in the wheeling police department and rebuild a healthy work environment is by hiring, we believe, the next chief of police from within our own current leadership. The remaining members of the Command staff have the experience and knowledge necessary to quickly improve this department. They have gained the support and respect the community, their peers and subordinates, and possess the expertise required to restore trust in the position chief. We hope that these changes will encourage several young officers who are currently considering transferring to other police departments to stay with Wheeling. We strongly believe that hiring an outside chief of police would continue a downward spiral. If this continues, we will be unable to hire quality officers, and more officers will leave for other departments. This has the potential of negatively affecting the community of Wheeling by creating an environment with substandard police services. A future traits of an effective leader are that he or she is self-aware, encourages growth, has integrity and accountability, adds value by servicing others, displays confidence, and is an eloquent communicator. We have those leaders within this department who have graciously served wheeling since the date of their hire. we ask that you decline to hire an individual from the outside of the department, which would diminish the worth of those from within. In closing, we are committed to our community and the incredible people we work with. Our dedication goes beyond the normal responsibilities of our jobs. We’ve invested our blood, sweat, tears and hearts into this community. We have made, and will continue to make, sacrifices to improve the lives of the citizens we represent. Together, let us unite in our efforts to do what is right, and ensure that we consistently serve, protect and care for the Village of Wheeling. The unions would be more than happy to meet with the Village Board to further discuss the details provided in this statement. Thank you.
See also …
DAILY HERALD: After no-confidence vote from officers, Wheeling police chief to step down [PAYWALL]
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