By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI - jduchnowski@nwherald.com
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Incumbent State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi said he’s made strides to improve relations with law enforcement since area police unions and Sheriff Keith Nygren supported his opponent in the primary.But the Republican’s Democratic challenger, Tom Cynor, said it was too little, too late, arguing that the problem stemmed from high turnover in Bianchi’s office.
“The problem is not one of personality. It’s not one of professionalism,” Cynor said in an interview Thursday with the Northwest Herald editorial board. “It’s the fact that every time an officer needs assistance, it’s a new person in the office.”
Bianchi, 65, said he believed that most police officers supported him in the primary race, but his office has taken steps to improve communication. He also disputed Cynor’s assertion that his office has a “revolving door.”
This year, Bianchi’s personnel have hosted 12 seminars for police officers and attended 24 roll-calls at area police stations. Bianchi also hosted a mock domestic-violence trial to illustrate challenges they often face and have encouraged prosecutors to ride along with police officers.
“We work jointly together to prosecute better,” Bianchi said.
But Cynor said the officers he had talked with were frustrated that new prosecutors seemed to be handling cases each time they called Bianchi’s office with questions. He has suggested routing all calls from police to the lead criminal prosecutor, which Bianchi said was impractical.
Instead, Bianchi has three lawyers on call around the clock, one of whom has been with the office since the previous administration, to answer questions. He said department leaders also have contact information for upper management and personnel specializing in juvenile delinquency and abuse.
Bianchi, of Crystal Lake, pointed to a bad-check program, savings associated with representing county government in-house, and starting a mental health court as promises he had kept to voters in the past four years.
He handled personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits after stints managing video and music stores and working in the McHenry and Cook county state’s attorneys offices.
Tom Cynor, the 40-year-old treasurer of the local Democratic party, has promoted himself as the candidate who can restore integrity to the office Bianchi has led for almost four years. The Woodstock man both defended clients and worked as a special prosecutor downstate before handling complex civil litigation, including asbestos and state tobacco litigation.
The state’s attorney makes $160,400, 84 percent of which the state reimburses the county.
