Democratic candidates for Will County sheriff spoke at a forum on about their vision for the sheriff’s office and addressed questions on dealing with federal immigration enforcement.

The candidate forum for Will County Sheriff’s Sgt. Patrick Jones and Will County Undersheriff Dan Jungles was held at the community center for St. John’s United Church of Christ in Mokena on Wednesday.

The event was presented by Democratic organizations in the Lincoln-Way area of Will County.

Jungles and Jones are competing in the March 17 Democratic primary. Sheriff’s Deputies Justin Fialko and Jim Reilly are running in the Republican primary.

The winners of the two primary races will face off in the November general election.

Fialko and Reilly are expected to participate in their own forum on Feb. 11 at Gatto’s restaurant in New Lenox.

During Wednesday’s forum, Jones and Jungles agreed as sheriff they would provide more mental health services for deputies and build stronger community connection. They also agreed on increasing retention of staff and protecting people’s right to protest, as long as it is done peacefully.

Jones said he’s proponent of using programs at the Will County jail to reduce recidivism. He also wants to increase diversity with the sheriff’s office.

“Since I’ve been here, over my 24 years, we’ve never had undersheriff, a chief of police of the patrol division or specialized units that was of color. It’s very important to include other races because it’s a de-escalation technique,” Jones said.

Both Jones and Jungles agreed on using grant money to reduce taxpayer costs.

Jungles said he’s secured grants for more than a million dollars to obtain equipment for sheriff’s office and he’s trying to secure $2.2 million in grants to cover the costs of body camera and squad vehicle videos.

ICE issues

When asked about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Jones and Jungles said the sheriff’s office cannot assist them with immigration enforcement under state law.

Jungles said he did not see anything in the video he watched regarding the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of 37-year-old Rene Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, that led him to “believe that officer was in danger.”

But Jungles said officers make “split second decisions” and he wanted to reserve judgment until he sees all the facts. But the videos he’s seen thus far “don’t look good.”

“I don’t have much faith in the government right now in effecting a non-biased investigation. When you have officer-involved shootings in the state level, an outside agency will investigate it. And that’s not happening right now,” Jungles said.

Jones said the videos are “very concerning” at best and he said the sheriff’s office can train ICE agents on de-escalation techniques.

“I think if we can sit down and teach them some de-escalation techniques, which it seems like they do not have any, I think their job would go a lot easier and that would protect our citizens as a whole,” Jones said.

Jungles and Jones recommended citizens document what they see with videos. Jones said he would try to meet with ICE supervisors.

“That would be my best way. Try to meet with their supervisors. Videotape their actions and then the people will decide at the end of the day,” Jones said.

Jungles disagreed with ICE agents wearing masks. He said only undercover officers should be wearing them.

“They’re public servants. You serve the public. You’re paid by the public, so take that mask off,” Jungles said.

Jungles said ICE has been around a long time but what’s changed recently is the tactics.

Police accountability

Jones said he believes in “truth and transparency,” and if the sheriff’s office does not release videos and statements on use-of-force incidents against citizens in the appropriate time, that will cause the community to lose faith in the office.

Jungles said he wants the release body camera footage within seven days of all critical incidents.

“One of the first things I would do as sheriff is make it a policy to release those videos instead of having an attorney telling me I can’t or can’t do that. Because that ruins the reputation of the department and it ruins the effect within the public,” Jungles said.

In 2022, Jungles was serving as the executive director of the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force, which investigated the 2021 fatal police shooting of Jabbar Muhammad, 21, and Eldred Wells Sr., 70.

At the time, Jungles said he wanted to release video of the incident but he was told by Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow’s Office not to release it.

In July 2022, Glasgow’s office notified a task force that the deputies would not face charges. The videos were not released until several weeks after Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley’s re-election in November 2022.

Jones said he knows how it feels to be policed in an incorrect manner.

Jones said he grew up on the South Side of Chicago. He said he remembers when his brother and he were walking home from church and the two were stopped by officers, who wanted to search them for narcotics.

“When my brother asked them why, they struck him. That won’t happen under my leadership,” Jones said.

Public information

At the forum, Jones and Jungles were asked about how they would ensure correct information is released to the public regarding police shootings.

In 2022, the task force issued a statement on the sheriff’s office Facebook page regarding former Crest Hill Police Officer Terry Fenoglio’s fatal shooting of Matthew Parks, 30.

The statement claimed Parks stabbed another officer in the leg. More than a month later, the task force clarified the officer had actually been shot in the leg by Fenoglio.

“Well, the unfortunate thing is when we put out press releases, we don’t have all the facts sometimes. Sometimes, we’re given misinformation, sometimes we receive information from officers who were not on scene,” Jungles said on Wednesday.

Jungles said “there’s not a whole lot we can do” to correct the information until they get medical records or statements from officers.

“In the particular case that I’m aware of, we weren’t able to get any of that. The unions would not allow us to talk to the officers involved in the shooting and we couldn’t get anyone in the hospital to provide us any medical documents until we used a subpoena and/or search warrant,” Jungles said.

Jones said he would release a general statement on police shootings and let the community know it is subject to change. He said he would also try and release any videos as soon as possible.

“It’s very important that we have the trust in the community,” Jones said.