Latest news with #NilesPoliceDepartment
Chicago Tribune
29-07-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Niles junior police academy gives ‘enthusiastic group' of middle schoolers a glimpse at policing
A group of middle school students graduated from the latest Niles Police Department Junior Police Academy, getting a close up look at the police station and operations, and participating in mock police work. Caitlin Atkinson, a Niles Police Department school resource officer, told Pioneer Press the 11 participants ranged in age from 11 to 14 and were mostly students from local schools, including Clarence E. Culver, Emerson Middle and Gemini Middle schools. 'It went really well. We had a very enthusiastic group of kids,' said Atkinson, who ran the program with school resource officer Liam Ryan. The academy ran for four hours in the morning from July 14 through July 16 at the Niles police station. 'The first day we did a tour of the station, showed them our lockup. They thought that was pretty cool,' said Atkinson, who took over running the academy from former school resource officer Kevin Regal when she joined the unit in December. Day one also included a mock Peace Officer Wellness Evaluation Report, or POWER test, which Atkinson explained is what police applicants undergo during the hiring process. 'Basically, they had to run a couple of laps, do a couple of sit-ups, and sit and reach,' said Atkinson, who marks her seventh year with the police department in August. Sergeant Chris Koch was a third academy instructor, previewing the mobile command unit and the technology officers are able to use on the first day, returning on the second day to have participants try impairment goggles and talk about the dangers of drunk driving. Day two included a mock crime scene for participants to solve and a canine demonstration from Officer Jesse Bloomberg and his K-9 partner, Frank, an all-black German Shepherd. 'We did a mock traffic stop at the end,' said Atkinson about activities on the final day. Day three also included police Chief Joseph Romano giving a speech and presenting certificates to the graduates during a ceremony, which also featured a slideshow of academy activities. Atkinson estimated six parents attended the celebration, which included cheese, pepperoni and sausage pizzas and a vanilla cake that read, 'Congratulations Junior Police Academy Class of 2025.' 'When we asked the kids for feedback at the end of the three days, they said they wanted it to be longer, so next year maybe we'll add a day,' Atkinson said. 'There's a couple that want to come back next year.' Many Junior Police Academy graduates go on to the Police Explorer program, which also is run by Atkinson and meets monthly. Atkinson said the current 15 Police Explorer participants, who range in age from 14 to 19 and mostly attend Maine South or Maine East high schools in Park Ridge, assist with events such as the Fourth of July Parade and National Night Out. The latter will be held Aug. 5 at Golf Mill Park. 'They help out with active shooter training,' Atkinson said. 'They sometimes come to our festivals.' Atkinson said two of this year's Junior Police Academy graduates planned to join the Police Explorer program, which is for high schoolers. 'The rest were too young. They'll have to wait a couple of years,' Atkinson said. Other Niles Police Department opportunities for young people include working as a part-time community service officer, which requires applicants to be at least 17 years old and possess a high school diploma or equivalent, or doing an internship while attending college. Atkinson said the Junior Police Academy helps participants, who must live in Niles or attend school in the village, to understand what officers do. 'They see what it's actually like. It makes them more comfortable talking to us, realizing we're also people and they can come to us if they need us,' Atkinson said. According to Atkinson, the School Resource Officer Unit, which just welcomed Michael Dati as its third member, covers 12 educational institutions from preschool to high school, giving presentations, taking school incident reports and being a safety presence.
Chicago Tribune
16-06-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Frank, a German Shepherd and recent police dog training grad, joins the Niles police K9 team
After beginning the TOPS Police K9 Training Program at TOPS Kennel in Grayslake on April 14, Niles police Officer Jesse Bloomberg and his canine partner, an all-black German Shepherd named Frank, graduated on June 6. 'I was in a class with a bunch of other agencies. Then, essentially you get paired with a dog based on your home life, your personality and your activity level – like if you're hyper, not hyper or a more mellow person. I got paired with Frank,' Bloomberg told Pioneer Press. He said training involved 12-hour days Monday through Friday for eight weeks. 'It consisted of obedience, suspect apprehension – so biting, narcotics, building searches, article searches, tracking. Frank's favorite was obstacles – going through tubes, teeter-totters, unstable surfaces and using his balance and athleticism to get through the obstacles,' Bloomberg said. Previously assigned to patrol, Frank is now with investigations and is part of a tactical team that is a narcotics unit. 'Frank will be used by patrol and also be used to assist other agencies that are surrounding Niles for any calls of service that require a canine,' Bloomberg said. Those calls, he said, could be from anywhere in Cook County including the Des Plaines, Glenview, Park Ridge and Skokie police departments seeking assistance to track missing juveniles or elderly, or to determine on a traffic stop if there is probable cause to search a vehicle for narcotics. 'A canine's ability at smell is like 100,000 times stronger than a human's,' Bloomberg said. 'It's essentially another tool to keep officers safe. If we have to apprehend somebody, officers don't have to go hands-on, you can just deploy a dog if need be.' He said the public will have several chances to meet Frank, including demonstrations on July 15 for Niles Police Department Junior Police Academy students, Aug. 5 for National Night Out and on Sept. 13 during the police department's open house. According to Bloomberg, he and his partner have to do a minimum of 16 hours of training monthly, coordinated by TOPS Kennel, to maintain K-9 certification. Frank is a normal dog at the Bloomberg home, where the officer and his wife also have a cat named Misses. 'As a kid I always wanted to have a companion that was a partner,' Bloomberg said. When he was growing up in Skokie, Bloomberg's family dog was a German Shepherd named Charlie and was trained on the civilian side at TOPS Kennel. But the investigator and canine handler said Frank, which was born in the Czech Republic, is his first police dog. Prior to becoming a Niles police officer, Bloomberg was a paramedic and firefighter for five years in Wisconsin and then worked for the Chicago Police Department about two years. 'When I started to work with Niles, I looked up to the current canine handlers,' Bloomberg said. When he joined the Niles Police Department two years ago, the Canine Unit consisted of Ace, a German Shepherd, and his handler, Sgt. Chris Koch, and Shadow, a German Shepherd and Belgian Malinois mix, and his handler, who works with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Bloomberg said Ace retired Jan. 17 after more than seven years of service with the Niles Police Department. 'Ace's primary duty was to serve Niles but he also worked diligently statewide from Chicago all the way to Kewanee, Illinois, and as far as Indiana,' Bloomberg said. K-9 Shadow will mark his second anniversary with the Niles Police Department in September.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Yahoo
Man sentenced to life in prison in fatal 2021 shooting
SUMMIT COUNTY, Ohio (WJW) — A man convicted of the 2021 shooting death of another man in Summit County was sentenced to life in prison Monday. Man dies, stabbed multiple times on Mother's Day: Medical Examiner In March, a jury found Jeffrey Peasley, 44, guilty of a number of charges including two counts of murder, one count of felonious assault and one count of grand theft of a motor vehicle, a news release from the prosecutor's office said. According to court records, the shooting happened after Peasley arrived at a Coventry Township home in October 2021. Robert Zornes, Jr., 49, was already staying there with a friend. Investigators said Peasley and Zornes got into an argument that turned violent. Peasley shot Zornes with a shotgun before stealing the victim's motorcycle and leaving the scene. Zornes died from his injuries. Teenager, man injured in Akron shooting Two days later, officers with the Niles Police Department responded to a motorcycle crash where investigators learned the motorcycle was stolen and Peasley was arrested. A Summit County judge also designated Peasley as a Violent Offender, meaning that if he is ever released from prison, he will have to register in the Violent Offender Database for 10 years. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Chicago Tribune
15-04-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Niles Police Department remembers Officer Zourkas' 2005 line of duty death and ‘enduring impact'
Twenty years – to the day – after a Niles police officer died in the line of duty responding to a call, the Niles Police Department held a special memorial service to commemorate his life and the notable work he did for the department in the nearly four years he was there. Officer Steven Zourkas died April 8, 2005 after he veered off the road in his squad car to avoid striking a pedestrian, and the police vehicle rolled over in the parking lot of the Highland Towers condominium complex. 'Part of the accident knocked down the Highland Towers sign. They put a memorial plaque on the sign in his memory because that's where he passed,' Fragassi said. On April 8, two decades after that fateful day, a modest crowd gathered at the Niles Police Department for an outdoor ceremony in Zourkas' honor. 'For the 20th anniversary we wanted to do something on the actual day so that's why we had this memorial service,' Tom Fragassi, deputy chief of administration for the Niles Police Department, told Pioneer Press He said about 100 people attended the memorial service for Zourkas, who was responding to a disturbance call. The ceremony included Illinois State Trooper Nicholas Spizzirri, a former Niles police community service officer, singing the national anthem and playing 'Taps.' Also in attendance was police Chief Joseph Romano, who had attended the police academy with Zourkas. Romano gave the invocation. 'He was a great guy. I worked with him way back in the day. There's not too many people left who worked with him,' Fragassi said. Attendees of the memorial service included the late officer's brother George Zourkas – whom Fragassi said works in the Niles Public Works Department – brother Anthony Zourkas and sister-in-law Eileen Zourkas. Village officials and workers, as well as police officers from neighboring jurisdictions such as Park Ridge and Morton Grove, where Zourkas grew up, also attended the ceremony, Fragassi said. 'He would give you the shirt off his back. He was the nicest guy and just a big teddy bear,' Fragassi said. Officials explained that Zourkas was hired at the department in May 2001 as an officer. He had been assigned to patrol and worked the midnight shift. Additionally, he had been chosen to be an evidence technician for the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force. 'He was dedicated to doing his meticulous evidence technician work,' Fragassi said. Fragassi recalled how attendees at the 2023 dedication of the Niles Law Enforcement Memorial, which features a plaque with Zourkas' name on it, heard from Niles mayor George Alpogianis about how Zourkas responded in 2004 to a burglary call at Alpogianis' home. Zourkas is credited with being so conscientious that he collected wiring during the investigation of that crime that might have been overlooked by others, according to officials. That evidence helped to prove that a professional burglary crew had broken into the home. 'Posthumously, his evidence work helped in convicting them,' Fragassi said. A resolution adopted by the Illinois General Assembly following his death made mention of a few accolades Zourkas received in his few years with the department. He was recognized in April 2002 for administering CPR to a Niles resident after being the first responder on the scene and found the person in cardiac arrest. 'WHEREAS, In 2003 and 2004, Officer Zourkas received recognition from the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists for being a lead officer in the number of DUI's written in the Village of Niles,' the resolution reads. In March 2005, about two weeks before he was killed in the crash, Zourkas had received a department commendation following an arrest he made while on patrol. In that incident, he reportedly saw a vehicle, deemed suspicious, that was parked near two tow trucks. It turned out that the person in the vehicle had robbed the trucks, and was suspected in a burglary that was being investigated at the time by another police department. 'His courage, selflessness and unwavering commitment to protecting the village of Niles and its residents will forever be remembered,' officials posted on the Niles Police Department's Instagram page. 'We honor his legacy and the enduring impact he made on our community.' At the time of his death, Zourkas was survived by his wife and two sons. Fragassi said a wreath in Zourkas' name will be laid May 15 at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. during National Police Week. 'He was just a family guy who was very close to his parents and dedicated to his work. He's sorely missed. He'd be in a leadership position today if he was still here. He was a tremendous guy,' Fragassi said.
