chief dennis koletsos
This Town Never Changes
While driving through the wonderful town of Northlake, Illinois I saw this sign and had to take a picture.This is the same town that has the same little mayor, Jeffrey T. Sherwin, who hired and has stuck by, almost literally, his guy Dennis Koletsos, the little(and in my opinion, the arrogant & incompetent) Chief of Police. Looks like some things never change here. It is just unbelievable. To the friends that are left there, God bless you!In fairness, a short time after posting this I was informed by a reliable source that the city is correct on this one. Either way, the city always has controversy in some fashion. …Read more […..]
Happy Independence(From Tyranny) Day!
Reflecting on the significance of this day reminds me of the sacrifices that were made in creating this great country. We should all never forget those sacrifices that were made, and continue to be made, on our behalf. We benefit from those sacrifices and, unfortunately, many people take them for granted. With that in mind, Happy July 4th!!Speaking of tyranny. I am reminded of my previous employer. The nonsense continues there and, unfortunately, many fine people are negatively affected. All I can say is that they need to hang in there or move on. Moving on, for me, was difficult at first. I did not miss the particular police …Read more […..]
Fired police officer seeks compensation or reinstatement
April 30, 2008By MARK LAWTON mlawton@pioneerlocal.com A former police officer fired by the City of Northlake is suing the city. Daniel Rasic filed a suit Jan. 7 in U.S. District Court against the City of Northlake, Northlake police and fire commission members and Police Chief Dennis Koletsos. In his filing, Rasic asks the court to review the police and fire commission’s decision. He also seeks unspecified amount in back wages and damages or reinstatement as a police officer. In November, the three-member police commission approved ending Rasic’s employment after eight years with the police department. The board charged Rasic …Read more […..]
The Benefits of an Employee Survey
Many companies use employee surveys to guage how the employees feel about their jobs and their company. The majority of Fortune 500 companies use them as a tool to improve the effectiveness of the organization. While working at Northlake PD I observed the morale of the organization and the majority of the workers sink to a level that was the lowest in my 13 years there. To be sure, there were always unsettling dilemmas for employees and someone was always complaining about something–mostly very trivial things. Prior to chief Dennis Koletsos being hired in 1998, the turnover at the department was very low, mainly due to retirements. …Read more […..]
Does Filing Grievances Ruin a Career?
What is the function of the Union President/Steward of a Police Department? This person is responsible for acting as the liason between the Police Officers and Management as well as to ensure that labor contract violations are attended to. My experience at Northlake PD is one that may or may not be common in the Policing world, I leave that up to you. In my 18 months as Union President of Northlake PD I filed 18 grievances. Several of the grievances were my own but the overwhelming majority of them were filed on behalf of other officers with their permission and at their request. I felt that the labor contract was being …Read more […..]
"No one takes food off my plate!!!"
A quick story about a meeting I had a while back with the Chief of Police of Northlake. Yes, the guy in the video posted on the bottom of this page regarding the American flag.The background behind it is this. I became FOP(Union) President due to what I felt as improper treatment of employees and violations of the Labor Contract. I began to file grievances on behalf of other officers. There were also many rumors going around the department regarding the chief’s past employment. One of them was that he was “fired” from his previous employer, Grayslake PD, for exactly the same type of reasons. I sent an email to Grayslake requesting …Read more […..]
Does Officer Off on FMLA Have to Go to Court?
Here is an interesting lawsuit, yes another one against the fine City of Northlake Illinois and Police Chief Dennis Koletsos.Brings up the question of whether an Officer who is off on FMLA have to go to court when subpoenaed?Without knowing the specifics in this case, it sounds like this officer refused to go to court while off on FMLA and was eventually fired.Does this officer have a good case? We will see…Case filing info:Rasic v. City of Northlake et al Plaintiff: Daniel Rasic Defendant: City of Northlake, Dennis A Koletsos, City of Northlake Police and Fire Commission, Roberta Larson, Manuel Ferra and Gary Merchant …Read more […..]