The Kendall County Major Crimes Task Force recently attended the 10th annual Illinois Homicide Investigators Conference in Itasca.

Investigators attended sessions on risk management in homicide investigations, studies on recognizing and limiting false confessions, as well as courses on mental health for law enforcement, DNA considerations and a case study of the Mandalay Bay mass shooting in 2017 in Las Vegas.

The three-day conference also included an awards ceremony, where the Kendall County Major Crimes Task Force was honored with a distinguished team award, citing a homicide investigation from 2015 in Plano. During this investigation, the task force assisted the Plano Police Department on a homicide case. Andrew Jon “AJ” Erickson, then 24, had been stabbed and died as a result of an attack. After an extensive investigation, David Acevedo, then 23, was ultimately convicted of first-degree murder, and sentenced to 45 years in prison.

Kendall County Sheriff Dwight Baird said, “The Kendall County Major Crimes Task Force is an incredible asset for the community. Having a large number of investigators ready and available to assist for serious crime investigations, which are generally manpower- and time-intensive, ensures that serious crime investigations are started on the right foot, and are handled in a timely fashion. The recent award presented to the task force is a testament to the level of teamwork, collaboration and dedication embodied by this group of men and women every day. “

“The Plano Police Department would like to echo what Sheriff Baird stated and that the Major Crimes Task Force is an enormous asset for every organization in Kendall County,” Plano Police Chief Jonathan Whowell said. “We witnessed firsthand in this case how much of an asset this type of team is in such a large-scale incident. Without the professionalism and effectiveness of the Major Crimes Task Force, this case may have not yielded the same results in court and also in the efforts of providing justice to the victim’s family.”

The Kendall County Major Crimes Task Force is a multiagency task force comprised presently of Investigators from the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office, Oswego Police Department, Montgomery Police Department, Yorkville Police Department, Plano Police Department, Plainfield Police Department, Minooka Police Department and the Illinois State Police. The task force will be activated to assist for serious, and manpower-intensive investigations.

The task force has investigators to assist with interviews, as well as a forensic team to assist with processing crime scenes. Once activated, investigators will assist with the initial response, interviews, and forensic processing of the crime scene before turning the case over to the lead jurisdiction for further follow-up. Local chief’s and the sheriff can request the task force to assist with member agency officer-involved shooting investigations.