DELAY IN FORMER GALESBURG POLICE OFFICER'S CASE UNFORTUNATE

Sometimes the wheels of justice turn slowly. In the case of a former
Galesburg Police lieutenant, they've been too slow.

The public has waited four months just to find out if an officer of
the law committed a crime. We're still waiting. And it might be a
while longer before we know.

Lt. David Hendricks was suspended with pay around Sept. 21, 2006, for
violating department policy. We don't know what he did, but it was
serious enough to call in the Illinois State Police to investigate.
Sources tell us the allegations are that drugs may have been removed
from the evidence locker.

That state police investigation took three months and produced a
six-inch thick report that was given to then State's Attorney Paul
Mangieri on Dec. 15, 2006, who reviewed the case with a special
prosecutor from the state.

On Dec. 22, 2006, Hendricks, a 23-year veteran of the Galesburg
Police Department, resigned. Neither Hendricks nor Police Chief David
Christensen said why. Although Christensen did acknowledge Hendricks
was the subject of the investigation. Before that, he wouldn't name Hendricks.

By Jan. 10 the case was turned over solely to special prosecutor
Charles R. Zalar. He's had the case for more than a month and refuses
to give a date for deciding whether to charge Hendricks with a crime.

On Friday, Zalar said he had "additional things to look into before
making a decision."

Zalar was the attorney who helped determine whether three Monmouth
Police officers committed crimes in 2005 by allowing underage women
to drink at the home of one officer and in the presence of another
off-duty officer and an officer who was on patrol.

After receiving a report from the state police, it took Zalar only
days to determine no crimes had been committed.

Why the difference?

Zalar said that case was more clear cut. With this case he said there
are concerns that are not addressed in the report. Although he
wouldn't say it, the report apparently was incomplete. And the agent
who did the investigation has since retired.

That leaves Zalar to gather the information he needs and make a
determination. The problem is he's got a few irons in the fire. He's
one of only five special prosecutors working out of the Illinois
Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor. Those five
attorneys cover the entire state, except for Cook County, helping
counties with appeals and a variety of other cases where state's
attorneys need expertise or have conflicts of interest. Zalar was in
Knox County Friday for a juvenile case.

The work of the five special prosecutors has grown since the office
was formed in the 1970s. Originally, the prosecutors were to handle
appeals, but now they cover everything from "soup to nuts," Zalar
said. He said he has more cases than he can count.

"I recognize the significance of this case is high," he said Friday,
"but I have a number of other cases with equal priority."

It appears an incomplete investigation and an overloaded special
prosecutor are contributing to the delay in this case. And Zalar's
refusal to give a date for a decision doesn't bode well for those
hoping to find out soon.

That's frustrating.

Every day without an answer is another day that people are left to
believe whatever they hear from unofficial sources and wonder if the
justice system works differently for police officers than it does for
the rest of us.

The delay in this case, however, is not due to any sort of special
treatment for Hendricks because he's an officer.

In fact, Hendricks' reputation, as is the department's, is hanging in
the balance. A delay helps neither.

The public, Hendricks and the Galesburg Police Department have
already waited too long to find out whether prosecutors will pursue
charges against Hendricks.