Police chiefs association ends ethics probe after president's resignation

In what could end an awkward episode among the state's top cops, the one-time president of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police has left the group, prompting it to stop investigating him for possible ethical violations.

Momence Chief Timothy Swanson, who also works for the Kankakee County sheriff, has been the subject of multiple investigations over a police helicopter program he ran from 2005 until this year.

A Tribune investigation published in October found that Swanson teamed up with a convicted felon to run the program and start side businesses ? one of which received grant money controlled by Swanson.

The article detailed how his former employers in southwest suburban Countryside accused him of misconduct and how state and military officials took back helicopters loaned to him amid questions over their use. The newspaper also disclosed that Swanson's nonprofit failed to file basic reports required by the state while it sought donations for his program.

On the day the article was published, the overseeing board of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police suspended Swanson, then the board president, pending an investigation by an outside firm.

The association's executive director, John Kennedy, said at the time that the association's rules forbid conflicts of interest and require members to alert the association if they're under investigation for questionable activities.

But last week the group suspended its internal investigation after Swanson sent a letter to the group seeking a "leave of absence," Kennedy told the Tribune in an email Friday afternoon.

"Since Chief Swanson is no longer a member of the association, the (association) will not be taking any further action with its own investigation," Kennedy said.

Kennedy said that if Swanson wants to rejoin, the association won't let him back in without completing the ethics investigation it stopped.

Swanson did not respond to emails sent Friday afternoon. He has declined comment to the Tribune in the past. But he has been quoted in other newspapers as saying questions about the program were a "witch hunt" and that authorities stopped investigating him in 2010.

That conflicts with statements Swanson's attorney, Lawrence Dirksen, made earlier this year, in which he said there were "various ongoing criminal investigations."

Federal and state authorities have since confirmed to the Tribune those investigations remain ongoing.

Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-chief-helicopter-20121118,0,5947682.story?track=rss

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