Elburn Officer Suspended for Firing Warning Shots While In Pursuit

A part-time police officer has been suspended for two of his shifts in December after a department investigation determined he acted improperly when he fired warning shots while in pursuit of a suspect last month.

The disciplinary action against the unidentified officer was announced by Elburn Police Chief Steven Smith in a release Wednesday, bringing to a conclusion the department’s investigation into the Nov. 18 incident.

According to the release, the Elburn police officer, who the village has refused to identify, was in the 100 block of East North Street, just east of the intersection of Route 47 and North Street and about two blocks west of the Elburn Police Department at about 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 18.

At that time, he identified a man on foot who matched the description of a suspect who had about two hours earlier fled from the Elburn Metra station, about a half mile to the east on Keslinger Road, when narcotics officers affiliated with the DeKalb office of the North Central Narcotics Task Force had attempted to arrest him.

Smith said the suspect, who has yet to be identified, was the focus of the narcotic officers’ investigation at the train station.

When the officers attempted to arrest the man, he fled and eluded officers until he was spotted in Elburn about two hours later.

The Elburn officer then attempted to stop the man, but when the suspect turned to flee, the officer fired “three or four” shots into the air. Smith said the officer did not fire in the direction of the suspect and fired his weapon in an attempt to make the suspect stop.

The suspect, however, continued to flee, and eluded capture. He remains at large, Smith said.

Because the officer fired his weapon, an investigation into the matter was conducted by the department, Smith said. The investigation reviewed the officer’s statements, an inspection of the site of the incident itself, review of the dispatch tapes and interviews with people who claimed to have heard the shots.

Smith said no one saw the officer fire the shots.

Smith said the Elburn Police Department has for four years had an informal policy prohibiting officers from firing “warning shots” under any circumstances.

“It’s part of our regular firearms training, to teach our officers not to do this,” Smith said.

While the department is in the process of revising its code of procedures, including its policies governing the use of force, the current policy does not expressly prohibit warning shots.

And since there were no injuries from the incident and no criminal act is alleged, disciplinary action against the officer was limited to a suspension of two days.

Smith said the officer is retired from another police department and works two to three shifts for the Elburn Police Department a month. Elburn employs 10 part-time officers, in addition to its four full-time sworn patrol officers.

Smith said he believes the officer is “a good officer” and remains an asset to the Elburn police force.

He said he would not release the officer’s name, as he was the subject of an internal investigation.