Deer Park Claims Kildeer Police Damages of $1.6 Million

Deer Park is claiming that the village paid at least $1.1 million and possibly in excess of $1.6 million for police services to Kildeer that were not performed, according to Trustee of Public Safety for Deer Park, Jim Denny. 

The damages’ figure is based on recent testimony from expert witnesses, said Denny. 

Deer Park’s lawsuit against Kildeer for breach of contract and fraud was first filed in Lake County Circuit Court in March of 2012; Deer Park terminated its contract for police service in November of 2011 and switched to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Kildeer Village Administrator Michael Talbett could not comment on the specific allegations, but said, “The village strenuously denies the claims by Deer Park and we are defending them fully in court and have every expectation we will prevail in court.”

Officer assignment sheets prepared by the Kildeer Police Department and Lake Zurich 911 call center radio logs were examined to determine the quantity and cost of the damages, according to a Deer Park news release. According to the testimony, Kildeer Police Department failed to perform contracted-for police coverage duties for Deer Park about a third of the time the contract was in force.

“We’ve had several expert witnesses working on the project and we worked on it internally ourselves,” Denny said. He said there are still fraud charges pending against Kildeer. 

“The damages are extensive. Many times our residents were without police coverage on the beats assigned within Deer Park. The most serious problem we had is that they were being paid to cover shifts for an entire 8-hour shift and, on certain days for extended periods, they did not show up,” Denny said.

Denny said the biggest gap in patrol coverage occurred on the Rte. 12 corridor including Deer Park Town Center.

The next step in litigation is testimony from expert witnesses from Kildeer, according to Denny.