"Ultimate Betrayal" as Fox Lake cop's "murder" ruled suicide
November 4, 2015 11:18 AM Subscribe
On September 1, popular police lieutenant Charles Gliniewicz of the Chicago suburb of Fox Lake, Illinois, called in the pursuit of three armed suspects (two white, one black) near the Wisconsin border. As backup arrived 14 minutes later, Gliniewicz was dying from a fatal gunshot to the chest from his own gun, after what appeared to be a scuffle with the suspects. A massive manhunt shut down Lake and northern Cook Counties, putting public buildings on lockdown and even halting the Fox Lake Metra line; hundreds of cops hunted for the suspects for more than three days. Gliniewicz was given a hero's funeral.
Today, the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force announced Gliniewicz's death was a carefully staged suicide intended to cover up Gliniewicz's embezzlement of police department funds over the past seven years, as well as threats to falsely pursue DUI charges against village officials auditing the police department.
There were never any suspects, or any pursuit; Gliniewicz, who had experience staging crime scenes to train younger officers, staged the entire incident himself. He shot himself once in the cell phone (to block the bullet), and then a second time fatally. Gliniewicz used the embezzled funds for "travel expenses, mortgage payments, gym memberships, adult websites, facilitating personal loans [to friends] and unaccounted cash withdrawals." Authorities speculate the staged murder was at least partly intended to ensure his family received his pension. Local reactions are a mixture of betrayal and disbelief. At least two other officials are still under investigation.
Gliniewicz's apparent murder was widely blamed on #BlackLivesMatter and its "dangerous rhetoric" putting cops at risk and declaring "war on police." Shaun King is collecting and retweeting articles that made those claims in the days immediately following the death.
The Lake County Coroner, who refused to immediately rule the shooting a murder, was subject to threats and intimidation, including from retired cops, for investigating the death.
Today, the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force announced Gliniewicz's death was a carefully staged suicide intended to cover up Gliniewicz's embezzlement of police department funds over the past seven years, as well as threats to falsely pursue DUI charges against village officials auditing the police department.
There were never any suspects, or any pursuit; Gliniewicz, who had experience staging crime scenes to train younger officers, staged the entire incident himself. He shot himself once in the cell phone (to block the bullet), and then a second time fatally. Gliniewicz used the embezzled funds for "travel expenses, mortgage payments, gym memberships, adult websites, facilitating personal loans [to friends] and unaccounted cash withdrawals." Authorities speculate the staged murder was at least partly intended to ensure his family received his pension. Local reactions are a mixture of betrayal and disbelief. At least two other officials are still under investigation.
Gliniewicz's apparent murder was widely blamed on #BlackLivesMatter and its "dangerous rhetoric" putting cops at risk and declaring "war on police." Shaun King is collecting and retweeting articles that made those claims in the days immediately following the death.
The Lake County Coroner, who refused to immediately rule the shooting a murder, was subject to threats and intimidation, including from retired cops, for investigating the death.
In the last link, am I reading it correctly that the person making the threats wanted the coroner to call it a suicide?
posted by synthetik at 11:24 AM on November 4, 2015
posted by synthetik at 11:24 AM on November 4, 2015
Gliniewicz's apparent murder was widely blamed on #BlackLivesMatter and its "dangerous rhetoric" putting cops at risk and declaring "war on police."
No doubt many of the same people who take to Twitter following any mass shooting declaiming any attempt to "politicize" it, and arguing that we can't know what motivated the shooter.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 11:25 AM on November 4, 2015 [20 favorites]
No doubt many of the same people who take to Twitter following any mass shooting declaiming any attempt to "politicize" it, and arguing that we can't know what motivated the shooter.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 11:25 AM on November 4, 2015 [20 favorites]
In the last link, am I reading it correctly that the person making the threats wanted the coroner to call it a suicide?
Yeah, that doesn't seem right, but other sources seem to agree. Might have been a misstatement by the police, but no one seems to have caught it if it was.
posted by Etrigan at 11:32 AM on November 4, 2015
Yeah, that doesn't seem right, but other sources seem to agree. Might have been a misstatement by the police, but no one seems to have caught it if it was.
posted by Etrigan at 11:32 AM on November 4, 2015
There were never any suspects, or any pursuit; Gliniewicz, who had experience staging crime scenes to train younger officers, staged the entire incident himself.
Oh, sure. "To train younger officers." One wonders how many other lives this fucker ruined.
posted by mr_roboto at 11:34 AM on November 4, 2015 [28 favorites]
Oh, sure. "To train younger officers." One wonders how many other lives this fucker ruined.
posted by mr_roboto at 11:34 AM on November 4, 2015 [28 favorites]
synthetik: "am I reading it correctly that the person making the threats wanted the coroner to call it a suicide?"
I'm slightly unclear on whether that's sloppy reporting or correct, but some of the Fox Lake gossip in the comments sections I was perusing centers around the idea that he was killed by a "department hit man" to prevent him from spilling the beans on EVEN FURTHER wrongdoing involving other officers; apparently there have been a couple of personnel investigations in Fox Lake in the past couple of months that have been very hush-hush. Which might just be because they're personnel investigations, but they may also be connected to this situation and the various investigations that are going on. (The initial audit of the police department was apparently triggered by the long-time chief stepping down, and there's a lot of chatter that he and others knew about Gliniewicz's wrongdoing and chose to look the other way, and that a lot of corruption will now be exposed.) Anyway, I suppose it's not too big a leap from "cop stages his own suicide to look like murder, kills himself live on the air with dispatch, triggers multi-million-dollar manhunt for imaginary suspects" to "department hit man kills cop, stages murder to look like suicide to look like murder, because corrupt cop was going to roll over on his buddies."
In any case, the Coroner had a bad month that month and good government blogs widely agree was the only official attempting to do his job right at the start of the investigation, and literally everyone was pissed he was not falling into one of the chosen narratives and was instead actually investigating the death.
Everything about this story is insane, I have been goggling all day.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 11:35 AM on November 4, 2015 [42 favorites]
I'm slightly unclear on whether that's sloppy reporting or correct, but some of the Fox Lake gossip in the comments sections I was perusing centers around the idea that he was killed by a "department hit man" to prevent him from spilling the beans on EVEN FURTHER wrongdoing involving other officers; apparently there have been a couple of personnel investigations in Fox Lake in the past couple of months that have been very hush-hush. Which might just be because they're personnel investigations, but they may also be connected to this situation and the various investigations that are going on. (The initial audit of the police department was apparently triggered by the long-time chief stepping down, and there's a lot of chatter that he and others knew about Gliniewicz's wrongdoing and chose to look the other way, and that a lot of corruption will now be exposed.) Anyway, I suppose it's not too big a leap from "cop stages his own suicide to look like murder, kills himself live on the air with dispatch, triggers multi-million-dollar manhunt for imaginary suspects" to "department hit man kills cop, stages murder to look like suicide to look like murder, because corrupt cop was going to roll over on his buddies."
In any case, the Coroner had a bad month that month and good government blogs widely agree was the only official attempting to do his job right at the start of the investigation, and literally everyone was pissed he was not falling into one of the chosen narratives and was instead actually investigating the death.
Everything about this story is insane, I have been goggling all day.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 11:35 AM on November 4, 2015 [42 favorites]
I was going to say 'at last an unquestionably authentic case of suicide by cop' until I read your comment, Eyebrows.
posted by jamjam at 11:45 AM on November 4, 2015
posted by jamjam at 11:45 AM on November 4, 2015
Wow. This is crazy. Good on the coroner for doing the right thing in the fact of great WTF-ery. I'll be curious to see if it gets even more insane.
posted by rmd1023 at 11:47 AM on November 4, 2015
posted by rmd1023 at 11:47 AM on November 4, 2015
Don't miss the text messages to and from Gliniewicz that were released today:
Particularly troubling is a chain between Gliniewicz and "Individual 2" from 5/13/15 in which Individual 2 states that s/he hopes that an official asking questions about the explorer program "decides to get a couple of drinks in her and she gets a dui." Gliniewicz responds "She does, but not around here and no one knows where. Trust me ive thougit through MANY SCENARIOS to planting things to the volo bog!!!"
Reads to me like the cops (including but not limited to Gliniewicz) were keeping an eye on this official hoping to catch her committing a crime to stop her from asking questions, and that Gliniewicz was thinking about either planting contraband on her or murdering her and leaving her body in the local swamp.
posted by burden at 12:00 PM on November 4, 2015 [14 favorites]
Particularly troubling is a chain between Gliniewicz and "Individual 2" from 5/13/15 in which Individual 2 states that s/he hopes that an official asking questions about the explorer program "decides to get a couple of drinks in her and she gets a dui." Gliniewicz responds "She does, but not around here and no one knows where. Trust me ive thougit through MANY SCENARIOS to planting things to the volo bog!!!"
Reads to me like the cops (including but not limited to Gliniewicz) were keeping an eye on this official hoping to catch her committing a crime to stop her from asking questions, and that Gliniewicz was thinking about either planting contraband on her or murdering her and leaving her body in the local swamp.
posted by burden at 12:00 PM on November 4, 2015 [14 favorites]
I wonder how common it is for police to do something wrong and then find a useful scapegoat to pin it on. A few months ago, a 60-year old woman was shot and killed directly across the street from my folks' house in an affluent neighborhood in an otherwise pretty safe town in NH. Nobody has any idea who did it, but someone saw a "rust colored" pickup truck driving very quickly away from where this woman was killed. The next day a cop in a small town in Massachusetts, about an hour and a half south of Manchester, got into an accident and had his windshield shot out, and said it was a white man driving a rust colored pickup. A few days later it came out that the cop had been driving drunk, crashed his cruiser, and SHOT OUT HIS OWN WINDSHIELD!
(Shaun King blocked me on twitter and I can't for the LIFE OF ME figure out why, but I'm glad he's been collating and recirculating articles about this situation).
posted by ChuraChura at 12:02 PM on November 4, 2015 [9 favorites]
(Shaun King blocked me on twitter and I can't for the LIFE OF ME figure out why, but I'm glad he's been collating and recirculating articles about this situation).
posted by ChuraChura at 12:02 PM on November 4, 2015 [9 favorites]
Not sure what qualifies as 'good police' anymore; but during times like these I picture Andy Griffith rolling around in his grave. Former Marine Barney Fife; Jesus rise.
posted by buzzman at 12:02 PM on November 4, 2015
posted by buzzman at 12:02 PM on November 4, 2015
Gliniewicz's apparent murder was widely blamed on #BlackLivesMatter and its "dangerous rhetoric" putting cops at risk and declaring "war on police."
Is There A 'War On Police'? The Statistics Say No, and "those who claim otherwise are playing a dangerous game." It's a long overdue conversation about police brutality, as the legend of a 'war on cops' recurs and Demonizing #BlackLivesMatter: The Latest Challenge to Criminal Justice Reform
posted by the man of twists and turns at 12:03 PM on November 4, 2015 [28 favorites]
Is There A 'War On Police'? The Statistics Say No, and "those who claim otherwise are playing a dangerous game." It's a long overdue conversation about police brutality, as the legend of a 'war on cops' recurs and Demonizing #BlackLivesMatter: The Latest Challenge to Criminal Justice Reform
posted by the man of twists and turns at 12:03 PM on November 4, 2015 [28 favorites]
burden: "Reads to me like the cops (including but not limited to Gliniewicz) were keeping an eye on this official hoping to catch her committing a crime to stop her from asking questions"
Whoa, good catch on that link. The official they're talking about pinning the DUI on (or burying in the bog) is the "Village Administrator" which is basically the same thing as a city manager; it's the chief executive for the municipality who executes the what the city council tells them to do. In Illinois, a "village" is unrelated to size (although Fox Lake is small, about 10,000 people) but refers to the form of government -- a board of trustees elected at-large, rather than a mayor-and-council elected from wards, which makes it a "city." (Villages are commonly smaller than cities, but don't have to be.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:14 PM on November 4, 2015 [6 favorites]
Whoa, good catch on that link. The official they're talking about pinning the DUI on (or burying in the bog) is the "Village Administrator" which is basically the same thing as a city manager; it's the chief executive for the municipality who executes the what the city council tells them to do. In Illinois, a "village" is unrelated to size (although Fox Lake is small, about 10,000 people) but refers to the form of government -- a board of trustees elected at-large, rather than a mayor-and-council elected from wards, which makes it a "city." (Villages are commonly smaller than cities, but don't have to be.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:14 PM on November 4, 2015 [6 favorites]
If my FB feed is any indication, Quentin Tarantino is the latest target in the derpstorm for publicly protesting police violence.
posted by dr_dank at 12:25 PM on November 4, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by dr_dank at 12:25 PM on November 4, 2015 [5 favorites]
Not sure what qualifies as 'good police' anymore; but during times like these I picture Andy Griffith rolling around in his grave. Former Marine Barney Fife; Jesus rise.
The fact that your examples are fictional TV show characters tells you all you need to know, really.
posted by sideshow at 12:26 PM on November 4, 2015 [5 favorites]
The fact that your examples are fictional TV show characters tells you all you need to know, really.
posted by sideshow at 12:26 PM on November 4, 2015 [5 favorites]
The ironic thing is that for all those who were using this an example there is a war on police and as evidence that the call for cameras is misguided wouldn't have been able to put their foot into it so badly if this cop had been wearing a body camera. It would have made his attempt to set it up that much more difficult and possibly easier to figure out. And if it had actually happened as he tried to make it appear, there would have been evidence.
posted by barchan at 12:45 PM on November 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by barchan at 12:45 PM on November 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's kind of sad when the best possible outcome is finding out that someone committed suicide.
There's nothing good about this story. He was a crooked cops who stole from a youth program, for god's sake. Instead of taking responsibility and facing the consequences, he endangered the lives of who knows how many fictitious suspects. His faking a suicide was an attempted theft in and of itself, since if he was "killed in the line of duty" his family would receive significant survivor benefits that they are now not eligible for. It's hard to say he screwed them out of money they shouldn't have had coming to them anyway, but he kind of did.
The only slight upside here is that among the scores of cops who were out angrily searching for the people who killed one of their own, guns drawn, none of them shot and killed an unarmed suspect. Doesn't really matter, though. He stirred the pot and furthered the narrative that there's a war against police, when it's really the other way around.
It's 360 degrees of shitty.
posted by mudpuppie at 12:48 PM on November 4, 2015 [47 favorites]
There's nothing good about this story. He was a crooked cops who stole from a youth program, for god's sake. Instead of taking responsibility and facing the consequences, he endangered the lives of who knows how many fictitious suspects. His faking a suicide was an attempted theft in and of itself, since if he was "killed in the line of duty" his family would receive significant survivor benefits that they are now not eligible for. It's hard to say he screwed them out of money they shouldn't have had coming to them anyway, but he kind of did.
The only slight upside here is that among the scores of cops who were out angrily searching for the people who killed one of their own, guns drawn, none of them shot and killed an unarmed suspect. Doesn't really matter, though. He stirred the pot and furthered the narrative that there's a war against police, when it's really the other way around.
It's 360 degrees of shitty.
posted by mudpuppie at 12:48 PM on November 4, 2015 [47 favorites]
He said the suspects he was chasing were two white men and a black man. Some small comfort in that he didn't do the stereotypical thing and say they were all black, and making it three guys actually reduces the chances of a single suspicious person being hassled or arrested (or shot "resisting" arrest).
posted by King Sky Prawn at 12:56 PM on November 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by King Sky Prawn at 12:56 PM on November 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
Although some people say that police are too stupid and violent to be reincorporated into mainstream society, supporting their arguments by citing things like widespread steroid abuse among police and the policy among many police departments to reject applicants who score too high on standardized tests, I believe that it is both possible and necessary to get police out of the police life and into societally beneficial jobs.
IMO there should be robust, well-funded programs across the United States — call them "Even Pigs Deserve a Chance," something like that — to get police and other violent gang members the job skills training they need to turn themselves around and start giving back to their communities instead of terrorizing them.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:02 PM on November 4, 2015 [63 favorites]
IMO there should be robust, well-funded programs across the United States — call them "Even Pigs Deserve a Chance," something like that — to get police and other violent gang members the job skills training they need to turn themselves around and start giving back to their communities instead of terrorizing them.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:02 PM on November 4, 2015 [63 favorites]
I would say that this reads very nightmarish but it really isn't, it's becoming more and more of the norm. Nothing really surprises me with regards to police violence/corruption/abuse.
I feel badly for his family.
posted by Fizz at 1:12 PM on November 4, 2015
I feel badly for his family.
posted by Fizz at 1:12 PM on November 4, 2015
So, something like IntelExit?
posted by rustcrumb at 1:05 PM on November 4 [+] [!]
no no no, I'm not just thinking about a webtool to help police resign from their criminal organizations. What I have in mind are programs offering police and former police practical training in useful trades like carpentry, software development, landscaping, and plumbing.
One thing that keeps police from escaping their violent circumstances — which frequently are multi-generational violent circumstances, since so many police come from police families and therefore think that it's normal to become police — is that they may lack the skills (both technical skills and social skills) required to cut it in socially productive jobs. So what I'm interested in is programs to help police and former police get the skills and confidence they need to take that step of applying for real jobs instead of falling back into the life.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:12 PM on November 4, 2015 [74 favorites]
posted by rustcrumb at 1:05 PM on November 4 [+] [!]
no no no, I'm not just thinking about a webtool to help police resign from their criminal organizations. What I have in mind are programs offering police and former police practical training in useful trades like carpentry, software development, landscaping, and plumbing.
One thing that keeps police from escaping their violent circumstances — which frequently are multi-generational violent circumstances, since so many police come from police families and therefore think that it's normal to become police — is that they may lack the skills (both technical skills and social skills) required to cut it in socially productive jobs. So what I'm interested in is programs to help police and former police get the skills and confidence they need to take that step of applying for real jobs instead of falling back into the life.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:12 PM on November 4, 2015 [74 favorites]
note: I do realize how expensive it would be to really train police to do useful trades. But, well, even the least of us — even police! — deserve the opportunity to become productive members of society. And we have a moral responsibility to help them find a way to start giving back instead of taking.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:18 PM on November 4, 2015 [40 favorites]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:18 PM on November 4, 2015 [40 favorites]
During the press conference Lake County Major Crimes Task Force Commander George Filenko stated, “This is the first time as a law enforcement officer... that I’ve felt ashamed by the acts of another police officer.”
Um...you know you work just north of Chicago, right?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:21 PM on November 4, 2015 [22 favorites]
Um...you know you work just north of Chicago, right?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:21 PM on November 4, 2015 [22 favorites]
Yeah, but when's the last time you've felt the police were ashamed of anything that any of them had been doing?
posted by FatherDagon at 1:29 PM on November 4, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by FatherDagon at 1:29 PM on November 4, 2015 [5 favorites]
I realize that there are many officers out there that do their job, police the proper way, protect and uphold the rule of law, etc. but it's getting harder and harder to find those. It's just become so corrupt and awful. This type of story isn't helping the narrative at all.
posted by Fizz at 1:31 PM on November 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Fizz at 1:31 PM on November 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
It certainly changes my impression of the keystone cops antics know that I know they were pulling down overtime for their incompetence.
posted by srboisvert at 1:34 PM on November 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by srboisvert at 1:34 PM on November 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
Scorsese should do this one next. The only thing that comes close in my mind is Copland.
posted by valkane at 1:36 PM on November 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by valkane at 1:36 PM on November 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
Thought experiment: Suppose they actually did find some suitably matching suspect(s) and had them in custody (or worse, had killed them). How do we think this situation would be playing out then?
posted by mhum at 1:38 PM on November 4, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by mhum at 1:38 PM on November 4, 2015 [4 favorites]
I realize that there are many officers out there that do their job, police the proper way, protect and uphold the rule of law, etc. but it's getting harder and harder to find those. It's just become so corrupt and awful. This type of story isn't helping the narrative at all.
Back in the 1970s Al Pacino made a movie that tells you how to recognize good police: the good police are the ones who get shot by other police and then left to die.
This is why we can't count on police to reform their organizations from the inside — that is simply too dangerous to make sense as a strategy. Instead, we have to do everything we can to help police leave the life altogether.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:44 PM on November 4, 2015 [35 favorites]
Back in the 1970s Al Pacino made a movie that tells you how to recognize good police: the good police are the ones who get shot by other police and then left to die.
This is why we can't count on police to reform their organizations from the inside — that is simply too dangerous to make sense as a strategy. Instead, we have to do everything we can to help police leave the life altogether.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:44 PM on November 4, 2015 [35 favorites]
story of my life. Everyone all "well you certainly deserve something for that whatever-it-is you're doing, but we're not sure exactly what..."
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 2:05 PM on November 4, 2015 [15 favorites]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 2:05 PM on November 4, 2015 [15 favorites]
It is not necessary to be killed by gunfire to achieve a killed on duty status.
He could have constructed a car chase narrative and plowed his cruiser into a bridge abutment.
posted by notreally at 3:32 PM on November 4, 2015
He could have constructed a car chase narrative and plowed his cruiser into a bridge abutment.
posted by notreally at 3:32 PM on November 4, 2015
But as a skilled crime scene stager, he probably thought he'd get away with what he did easier. It's harder to construct skidmarks from say a suspect's car, right?
posted by numaner at 4:37 PM on November 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by numaner at 4:37 PM on November 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
Here's what's good: a criminal was caught.
posted by eamondaly at 5:56 PM on November 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by eamondaly at 5:56 PM on November 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
Mid-day, a police charity that gave the family $15,000 asked for their money back, the first time they have done so in 49 years.
Then, in another shocking twist, virtually all Chicago news outlets are reporting within the last hour that the wife and son of Gliniewicz are under criminal investigation in connection with the embezzlement.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:57 PM on November 4, 2015 [8 favorites]
Then, in another shocking twist, virtually all Chicago news outlets are reporting within the last hour that the wife and son of Gliniewicz are under criminal investigation in connection with the embezzlement.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:57 PM on November 4, 2015 [8 favorites]
should I ever deactivate this account, I would love it if Metafilter would remember it by giving out an annual You Can't Tip a Buick Memorial Award and/or Punishment for Excellence in Whatever the Hell That Thing You're Doing Is.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 6:13 PM on November 4, 2015 [40 favorites]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 6:13 PM on November 4, 2015 [40 favorites]
Thank god they didn't catch anybody matching the description of the made-up suspect.
posted by selfmedicating at 6:26 PM on November 4, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by selfmedicating at 6:26 PM on November 4, 2015 [7 favorites]
So this guy killed himself over a nickel and dime embezzlement? I haven't seen an exact total in any of the news report but one report said five figures. So let's say it's $50,000. If he fesses up, blames it on PTSD, and finds god, then he would have been fired and maybe, only maybe, done some light jail time. Suicide is an odd choice to make in those circumstances.
posted by rdr at 6:46 PM on November 4, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by rdr at 6:46 PM on November 4, 2015 [4 favorites]
I would not assume that the embezzlement was the only crooked thing he was doing, just the thing they were likely to catch him on soon, which would be the gateway into finding out all the other stuff.
posted by rmd1023 at 6:57 PM on November 4, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by rmd1023 at 6:57 PM on November 4, 2015 [4 favorites]
The decision to commit suicide is only rarely the result of an objective and rational calculus of probable outcomes. That's not generally how suicide works.
posted by Nerd of the North at 7:01 PM on November 4, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by Nerd of the North at 7:01 PM on November 4, 2015 [10 favorites]
So this guy killed himself over a nickel and dime embezzlement? I haven't seen an exact total in any of the news report but one report said five figures. So let's say it's $50,000. If he fesses up, blames it on PTSD, and finds god, then he would have been fired and maybe, only maybe, done some light jail time. Suicide is an odd choice to make in those circumstances.
the only way any good can come of this is if the Coens make a movie based on it. cause, uh, that's a Coen Brothers plot, right there.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 7:04 PM on November 4, 2015 [5 favorites]
Yeah, this story is crazy. Friends of mine were having a family day trip in Fox Lake that day, the man hunt put a quick end to their plans, and their kids were really upset by the roadblocks and such. A couple weeks later I heard rumors that it was a suicide, but honestly, I always assumed that if it were the case, the whole thing would be kept quiet.
posted by conic at 7:38 PM on November 4, 2015
posted by conic at 7:38 PM on November 4, 2015
Thank god they didn't catch anybody matching the description of the made-up suspect.
From one of the stories, it appears that they did find 3 guys matching the description. But they all had good alibis. The suspicion is that Gliniewicz saw them and used their descriptions.
posted by conic at 7:40 PM on November 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
From one of the stories, it appears that they did find 3 guys matching the description. But they all had good alibis. The suspicion is that Gliniewicz saw them and used their descriptions.
posted by conic at 7:40 PM on November 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
I grew up very close to where this happened and have childhood friends who were fellow cops with him. The search was taking place down the street from a childhood's friend's mom, who was recounting it on FB. Apart from the tragedy and betrayal, it's really surreal to see my old stomping grounds in the national news.
posted by persona au gratin at 12:44 AM on November 5, 2015
posted by persona au gratin at 12:44 AM on November 5, 2015
One of the few HS friends I still care about (because he's turned out to be a really high-quality guy) is a Lake County cop. I'm curious to get his take on this in terms of how it unfolded.
posted by persona au gratin at 12:53 AM on November 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by persona au gratin at 12:53 AM on November 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Cops are corrupt, period. Anyone notice the DEA agents who took down Silk Road went to jail this year? Appears embezzlement is standard operating procedure at the DEA. These guys were only caught stealing only because it's such a high profile case in which many knowledgeable people were robbed by them, and they did not understand the technology themselves.
posted by jeffburdges at 1:10 AM on November 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by jeffburdges at 1:10 AM on November 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
IMO there should be robust, well-funded programs across the United States — call them "Even Pigs Deserve a Chance," something like that — to get police and other violent gang members the job skills training they need to turn themselves around and start giving back to their communities instead of terrorizing them.
no no, I'm not just thinking about a webtool to help police resign from their criminal organizations. What I have in mind are programs offering police and former police practical training in useful trades like carpentry, software development, landscaping, and plumbing.
One thing that keeps police from escaping their violent circumstances — which frequently are multi-generational violent circumstances, since so many police come from police families and therefore think that it's normal to become police — is that they may lack the skills (both technical skills and social skills) required to cut it in socially productive jobs. So what I'm interested in is programs to help police and former police get the skills and confidence they need to take that step of applying for real jobs instead of falling back into the life.
note: I do realize how expensive it would be to really train police to do useful trades. But, well, even the least of us — even police! — deserve the opportunity to become productive members of society. And we have a moral responsibility to help them find a way to start giving back instead of taking.
You know, quips aside... during the years after my dad was disabled in the line of duty and the police board tried to deny him his pension, saying that he would have gone blind anyway due to hereditary fragility without bullet fragments in his eyes, when he was laid up with years of surgeries and undiagnosed depression (depression and PTSD not being things police departments address, at least not back then) and generally treated like shit by everyone around except for me and my mom and a few friends, while trying his best to get around in the world without full vision any more, well, he could have actually used something like this. It was a hard adjustment, and the disability just compounded it. Eventually he was able to do other kinds of work but I'm not sure he ever recovered emotionally. Funny thing about systems like the criminal justice one, they have multiple kinds of victims.
posted by thetortoise at 2:40 AM on November 5, 2015 [13 favorites]
no no, I'm not just thinking about a webtool to help police resign from their criminal organizations. What I have in mind are programs offering police and former police practical training in useful trades like carpentry, software development, landscaping, and plumbing.
One thing that keeps police from escaping their violent circumstances — which frequently are multi-generational violent circumstances, since so many police come from police families and therefore think that it's normal to become police — is that they may lack the skills (both technical skills and social skills) required to cut it in socially productive jobs. So what I'm interested in is programs to help police and former police get the skills and confidence they need to take that step of applying for real jobs instead of falling back into the life.
note: I do realize how expensive it would be to really train police to do useful trades. But, well, even the least of us — even police! — deserve the opportunity to become productive members of society. And we have a moral responsibility to help them find a way to start giving back instead of taking.
You know, quips aside... during the years after my dad was disabled in the line of duty and the police board tried to deny him his pension, saying that he would have gone blind anyway due to hereditary fragility without bullet fragments in his eyes, when he was laid up with years of surgeries and undiagnosed depression (depression and PTSD not being things police departments address, at least not back then) and generally treated like shit by everyone around except for me and my mom and a few friends, while trying his best to get around in the world without full vision any more, well, he could have actually used something like this. It was a hard adjustment, and the disability just compounded it. Eventually he was able to do other kinds of work but I'm not sure he ever recovered emotionally. Funny thing about systems like the criminal justice one, they have multiple kinds of victims.
posted by thetortoise at 2:40 AM on November 5, 2015 [13 favorites]
Back in the 1970s Al Pacino made a movie that tells you how to recognize good police: the good police are the ones who get shot by other police and then left to die.
This is why we can't count on police to reform their organizations from the inside — that is simply too dangerous to make sense as a strategy. Instead, we have to do everything we can to help police leave the life altogether.
Or you know, Adrian Schoolcraft in actual real life.
That pretty much broke whatever remained of any part of my brain that was going "but maybe good cops can make a difference!"
posted by emptythought at 3:06 AM on November 5, 2015 [5 favorites]
This is why we can't count on police to reform their organizations from the inside — that is simply too dangerous to make sense as a strategy. Instead, we have to do everything we can to help police leave the life altogether.
Or you know, Adrian Schoolcraft in actual real life.
That pretty much broke whatever remained of any part of my brain that was going "but maybe good cops can make a difference!"
posted by emptythought at 3:06 AM on November 5, 2015 [5 favorites]
Back in the 1970s Al Pacino made a movie that tells you how to recognize good police: the good police are the ones who get shot by other police and then left to die.
Or you know, Adrian Schoolcraft in actual real life.
You know that Frank Serpico was a real person too, right?
posted by Etrigan at 3:38 AM on November 5, 2015 [12 favorites]
Or you know, Adrian Schoolcraft in actual real life.
You know that Frank Serpico was a real person too, right?
posted by Etrigan at 3:38 AM on November 5, 2015 [12 favorites]
rdr: So this guy killed himself over a nickel and dime embezzlement?
The former mayor of the town next to mine in Rhode Island killed himself in 2008 as he was being investigated for being part of a kickback scheme for half that sum -- and he shared it with other people. What a waste of a life for so little…
posted by wenestvedt at 5:43 AM on November 5, 2015
The former mayor of the town next to mine in Rhode Island killed himself in 2008 as he was being investigated for being part of a kickback scheme for half that sum -- and he shared it with other people. What a waste of a life for so little…
posted by wenestvedt at 5:43 AM on November 5, 2015
I would not assume that the embezzlement was the only crooked thing he was doing, just the thing they were likely to catch him on soon, which would be the gateway into finding out all the other stuff.
This appears to be prescient. The Tribune is now reporting:
Text messages Gliniewicz had sent, which authorities revealed Wednesday, appeared to suggest threats against Village Administrator Anne Marrin. Investigators have also seen evidence that Gliniewicz had made contact with a woman linked to the Outlaws motorcycle gang to discuss the possibility of a gang member doing harm to Marrin, said multiple sources with knowledge of the investigation.
. . .
Police also said Gliniewicz had forged documents to get equipment from a military surplus program.
If this is true, and it had come out while he was still alive, he wouldn't just have been facing a state-law embezzlement charge, but also solicitation of murder and federal fraud charges.
posted by burden at 11:43 AM on November 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
This appears to be prescient. The Tribune is now reporting:
Text messages Gliniewicz had sent, which authorities revealed Wednesday, appeared to suggest threats against Village Administrator Anne Marrin. Investigators have also seen evidence that Gliniewicz had made contact with a woman linked to the Outlaws motorcycle gang to discuss the possibility of a gang member doing harm to Marrin, said multiple sources with knowledge of the investigation.
. . .
Police also said Gliniewicz had forged documents to get equipment from a military surplus program.
If this is true, and it had come out while he was still alive, he wouldn't just have been facing a state-law embezzlement charge, but also solicitation of murder and federal fraud charges.
posted by burden at 11:43 AM on November 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
Individuals 1 and 2 that he was texting with in the released transcripts were his wife and son. Via CNN
posted by futz at 5:45 PM on November 5, 2015
posted by futz at 5:45 PM on November 5, 2015
"Records Show Years Of Complaints Against Cop Who Staged Suicide"
Wow.
posted by benito.strauss at 8:13 AM on November 6, 2015 [6 favorites]
Wow.
posted by benito.strauss at 8:13 AM on November 6, 2015 [6 favorites]
for some reason he was worth mourning before? "betrayal" my ass, they knew he was a bad cop. he was promoted after being a known bad cop.
posted by twist my arm at 8:29 AM on November 6, 2015 [6 favorites]
In 2003, a dispatcher complained Gliniewicz tried to intimidate her by bringing guns into the radio room after the two had a disagreement during which Gliniewicz allegedly told her he could put three bullets in her chest if she didn't stop acting foolishly.these fuckers deserve every little bit of egg on their face for allowing a guy like this in their ranks. my surprise face, let me show you it.
A couple weeks later, the chief eliminated Gliniewicz's job as commander of support services because of his "problems with the communications division."
But there is no evidence Gliniewicz got in serious trouble, and in 2006, he was promoted to lieutenant in control of the patrol division.
A letter in the file dated Feb. 1, 2009, addressed to then-Mayor Cynthia Irwin and signed only by "Anonymous Members of the Fox Lake Police Department" outlined complaints about Gliniewicz that included: allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate officer and the sexual harassment of a dispatcher, complaints from bouncers at local bars for being drunk and belligerent, and allegations that he allowed members of the youth program unsupervised access to the police department and the opportunity to wear clothing labeled "police," misidentifying themselves as officers.
posted by twist my arm at 8:29 AM on November 6, 2015 [6 favorites]
There also talk that the chief who recently "retired" was complicit in a lot of this and other things as well. Embezzling looks like the tip of the iceberg.
posted by futz at 9:41 AM on November 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by futz at 9:41 AM on November 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
FOX LAKE'S LT. GLINIEWICZ MAY HAVE ARRANGED 'SHAM MARRIAGE' BETWEEN SON, MISTRESS, REPORT SAYS
What was with these people?
posted by readery at 5:32 AM on November 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
What was with these people?
posted by readery at 5:32 AM on November 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
Chicago Sun Times:
Gliniewicz allegedly arranged for his son, Donald “D.J.” Gliniewicz to marry the woman for a brief period of time while Donald Gliniewicz served in the Army, the source said.
With the addition of the family, Donald Gliniewicz would get about $1,750 a month for being married and having two children to support, the source said. Gliniewicz’s mistress would get $500, and Donald Gliniewicz would get the rest.
The two were married for about a year, the source said. A dissolution of marriage was filed in Lake County at the end of 2014, records show.
posted by futz at 3:42 PM on November 7, 2015
Gliniewicz allegedly arranged for his son, Donald “D.J.” Gliniewicz to marry the woman for a brief period of time while Donald Gliniewicz served in the Army, the source said.
With the addition of the family, Donald Gliniewicz would get about $1,750 a month for being married and having two children to support, the source said. Gliniewicz’s mistress would get $500, and Donald Gliniewicz would get the rest.
The two were married for about a year, the source said. A dissolution of marriage was filed in Lake County at the end of 2014, records show.
posted by futz at 3:42 PM on November 7, 2015
If my FB feed is any indication, Quentin Tarantino is the latest target in the derpstorm for publicly protesting police violence.
Police Union Boss: Quentin Tarantino Needs To Patch Up Cop-Citizen Relationships, Not Us
posted by homunculus at 4:24 PM on November 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Police Union Boss: Quentin Tarantino Needs To Patch Up Cop-Citizen Relationships, Not Us
posted by homunculus at 4:24 PM on November 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Appears Jim Pasco of the Fraternal Order of Police just threatened to kill Quentin Tarantino actually. At least it's crystal clear that he's threatening a violent surprise of some sort.
posted by jeffburdges at 2:19 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by jeffburdges at 2:19 AM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
An evidence bag containing cocaine was found in Gliniewicz's police department desk after his death, according to the Lake County Major Crime Task Force.
posted by srboisvert at 4:59 PM on November 10, 2015
posted by srboisvert at 4:59 PM on November 10, 2015
if anybody in that department has a loose end that needs tying, now would be the time to pin it on him using their crime scene staging skills. god knows i'm ready to believe he done did it, whatever "it" is.
posted by twist my arm at 5:11 PM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by twist my arm at 5:11 PM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
This was the guy they let run their youth mentorship program. I can't even..
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:05 AM on November 11, 2015
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:05 AM on November 11, 2015
An African-American man is suing the village of Fox Lake and the estate of the late police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, alleging that the officer harassed him and that Lake County authorities later targeted him as a suspect in the officer's death
posted by readery at 12:37 PM on November 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by readery at 12:37 PM on November 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
A local paper attempts to sum up this unbelievable case. As someone living in a nearby town, I'm left wondering how many people were aware of at least some of this picture at the time of the big public outpouring of grief and tributes.
posted by BibiRose at 7:39 AM on November 23, 2015
posted by BibiRose at 7:39 AM on November 23, 2015
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posted by all about eevee at 11:23 AM on November 4, 2015