POLICING CONCERNS TANGLED WITH FEUD

Policing Issues Tangled In Spat Involving Chief

A feud involving Ford Heights' acting police chief and at least one village
trustee threatens to hamper policing in the already troubled and
impoverished community.

Tensions erupted Wednesday evening at a Village Board meeting at which
residents demanded to know why officers hired to combat drug dealing had
been taken off the streets.

Observers say the spat between acting Police Chief Percy Coleman and
Trustee Jimmy Viverette has been brewing since late July when Viverette's
17-year-old son was charged with possessing a small amount of marijuana and
his car was impounded on charges of driving without insurance.

Shortly after the July 27 arrest, Viverette and Trustee Steve Simpson
stormed into the police station and told Coleman he would lose his job if
the youth's car was not immediately released, according to reports officers
filed with the mayor and the police chief.

"Trustee Simpson told Chief Coleman that you have to release the car now.
If you don't, you won't have a job tomorrow," according to a report written
by a police sergeant to Mayor Saul Beck.

The report also said Simpson told the chief, "I'm going to break up that
team of yours," an apparent reference to 18 auxiliary part-time officers
hired in early July with money from a $175,000 grant the village received
from the Cook County Housing Authority. The village has eight full-time
officers.

The auxiliary officers were supposed to help crack down on drugs and guns
in and around the village's more than 300 public housing units.

Residents are upset that the auxiliary officers were pulled off the streets
a few days after the dispute between Viverette and the chief, according to
police sources.

But Viverette said the auxiliary officers were taken off the streets
because Coleman failed to perform background checks on them.

At Wednesday night's meeting, residents demanded to know why the officers
had been taken off the street and asked about rumors that Coleman would be
fired.

"We just want some official answers," said Rev. Ellis Franklin Jr., pastor
of Full Gospel Baptist Church.

Beck said Coleman will remain "acting chief at this point." The mayor said
the auxiliary officers would be called back to work once their credentials
are verified.

Coleman declined to comment, saying he planned to meet with trustees in a
closed session.Viverette denies he threatened the chief after his son's
arrest. He said his personal spat has nothing to do with his public demands
for the chief's firing.

"He hasn't performed his duties," Viverette said.

Crime and poverty have long been problems in the village. The 2000 census
showed 49 percent of Ford Heights residents live in poverty, the highest
proportion for a municipality in the six-county Chicago area.