Split on Gun Rule

[Waxd0g]

Hopefuls split on gun rule

The three candidates for McHenry County sheriff support creating a concealed-carry gun permit in Illinois but differ on whether jail officers should carry concealed weapons while off-duty now.

The disagreement centers on differing beliefs regarding state law and differing opinions of the cost and necessity of training for jail officers, court security officers, and officers who serve court documents.

Incumbent Republican Keith Nygren is facing Democrat Mike Mahon and Green Party candidate Gus Philpott in the November general election.

Mahon challenged Nygren’s policy of allowing corrections and similar officers to carry their weapons in a concealed manner only to and from work.

Mahon claims that Nygren was expressing lukewarm support for a concealed-carry permit to garner votes when allowing these officers to carry weapons off-duty would allow them to protect themselves, their families, and the community. Nygren said his opinion on a concealed-carry permit had not changed in recent years.

Mahon says that all Illinois sheriffs, including Nygren, have the discretion to allow corrections and similar officers to carry weapons while off duty; Nygren disagrees.

Nygren said state law prohibits officers from carrying weapons off duty unless they have received the “peace officer” training typical for officers with arrest powers.

McHenry County corrections officers are trained at a corrections academy, which does not include such training and thus does not allow them to carry guns concealed off-duty, Nygren said. He said he did not oppose a pending state bill that would allow corrections officers to carry weapons concealed off duty.

“I wouldn’t have a problem with that if they did that, but there’s no way we’re going to tell our correctional officers to ignore the law,” Nygren said. “And that’s what Mr. Mahon is suggesting.”

For his part, Philpott said he was unsure of state law, but did not think corrections officers should carry weapons off-duty or to and from work “until I see studies that indicate a high degree of risk to them when they are off-duty.”

Greg Sullivan, executive director for the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association, indicated that sheriffs have discretion in allowing corrections officers to carry their weapons to and from work but state law prohibits it at all other off-duty times unless the officers are trained police officers.

“If they have the certification of a trained police officer, then they can,” Sullivan said. “You will find some counties that train all their people the same way and rotate them through the jail, the street and the courthouse.”

When informed Monday of Sullivan’s assessment, Mahon maintained that Nygren was “uninformed and misled.” Mahon said that if elected, he would do whatever it takes to ensure those officers could carry their weapons off duty without additional cost to taxpayers. He declined to detail how that could be accomplished.

“That’s the card that I’m going to hold,” Mahon said. “I’m sure Keith Nygren knows how to implement it, but he failed to do so.”

Nygren said the additional training to certify corrections and similar officers as peace officers was costly and unnecessary for their job duties.

The general corrections training academy is a five-week program, while the police training institute is about 12 weeks, Sullivan said. Aside from Cook County, smaller counties tend to cross-train their sheriff’s employees, while larger counties consider corrections and police officers to be separate career paths.

Cook County runs its own training academy, and all corrections officers receive firearms and defensive training, said Steven Patterson, a Cook County sheriff’s spokesman. Cook County corrections officers are allowed to carry their weapons concealed at all times off-duty.

Mahon has worked for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office for more than 20 years.

The three candidates support a general concealed-carry gun permit in Illinois.

Nygren supports the guidelines proposed by the state sheriffs’ association, which include allowing police chiefs and sheriffs input on individual applications and indicating an individual’s concealed-carry status on a driver’s license.

Mahon, who can carry a concealed weapon because of his job, opposes allowing police leaders input into the application process because it allows personal feelings to influence the decision. Mahon said he did not have an opinion on including concealed-carry permit information on the driver’s license.

Philpott, who holds a concealed-carry permit from Pennsylvania, said he opposes both of those suggestions. He said he feared including such information on a driver’s license would invite harassment when someone with a concealed-carry permit was pulled over.

NEWS SOURCE: Northwest Herald | Hopefuls split on gun rule
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[BlackJack]

Seems to me that this article is discussing concealed carry for guys that work for the county. Nygren sounds like a penny pinching idiot along with the other majority of idiots that think that correction officers don't have a need to carry. Most police officers don't fire their weapons in the line of duty, but does that mean that they don't need to carry while on duty? Wake up IL and WI!!!!

[FolgerAdam]

Counties in IL are all diverse and seem not to agree on anything. "Different career paths"??? Although different in nature, corrections and police work, are all facets of law enforcement. Both career paths compliment each other, there are correctional officer who were police officers and decided for more pay thus switching boats, and I have friends in CPD who were County and State correctional officers as used that experience as a stepping stone. So to say that corrections are not similar or even career oriented to police work is ignorant. Fellow officers, lets not question or focus whether we are deputized/sheriffs, court bailiffs, jail detainers, county/state corrections (private are excluded), with this bill, we pay for the certification, we pay for our weapons. This bill will trump institutional directives/rules/policy and county and municipal ordinance/law. We need to focus on this issue only, not whether we can or are ordained by a chief or sheriff to carry. This would be law!!! People we have rights which we need to assert, do not waste time in discerning who can or cant carry, where they can carry, or if they are peace officers. If you protect the public, you are a peace officer, whether you have arrest powers or not. Don’t let political correctness shadow our main agenda here. CALL YOUR STATE REPS PLEASE!