The leader of Naperville’s police union is disputing a statement by the author of an essay about growing up black in Naperville that he was pulled over dozens of times between 2001 and 2007, saying department records show the former resident was stopped only a handful of times by the city’s police force.
Mike Caruso, a Naperville police detective and president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 42 in Naperville, said his department took it personally.
“Our members are not happy,” Caruso said. “The way that our department took it was as a shot at the Naperville Police Department.”
Brian Crooks, whose Facebook essay went viral after it was shared thousands of times, on Friday stood by the original estimate and said he did not attribute all of the stops to Naperville police. Crooks also wondered if all stops, from Naperville police or other law enforcement, were properly documented. Excerpts of the essay appeared in the Naperville Sun this past week.
“I don’t know what department they came from,” said Crooks, who did not single out a specific law enforcement agency in his essay or in later interviews with the Naperville Sun. “It wasn’t my intent to say Naperville Police Department has this problem.”
Naperville police Chief Robert Marshall said his offer to have coffee with Crooks remains open when the former Naperville resident is back in town. He did not dispute Crooks’ allegations, and said he looks forward to talking with him more. He described Crooks as “very gracious” during their phone conversation last week.
“I want to listen to what his experiences are,” Marshall said. “I have some questions about Naperville policing. I want to explain what we do and why we do it.”
Crooks is a Neuqua Valley High School graduate whose family moved to Naperville when he was in fifth grade.
In the nearly 5,000-word July 9 Facebook post, Crooks did not put a figure to the number of times he was pulled over while driving in Naperville. He told a Naperville Sun reporter following the story that he had been stopped about 75 times.
Naperville law enforcement boundaries show that seven agencies patrol various parts of the city, with overlap. Those include Naperville police, the Naperville Park District, Illinois State Police, DuPage and Will county sheriff’s offices, and the DuPage and Will County forest preserve districts.
City maps show the stretch of road where Crooks said he predominantly was pulled over — on Naperville-Plainfield Road between 75th and 83rd streets — travels through incorporated, unincorporated and forest preserve property. Crooks said he lived in Will County and as a teen regularly drove to DuPage County for work.
A look at figures from Naperville police, obtained by the Sun through a Freedom of Information Act request, show police documented four traffic stops involving Crooks between 2001 and 2013. Caruso said department policy in place since 2001 requires officers to document every stop, along with the name and race of the person pulled over.
Crooks questioned how strictly all officers followed that policy.
“I don’t take whatever police say at face value, especially from unions,” Crooks said. “I understand what their job is. … I’m a big supporter of organized labor.”
Crooks said he was pulled over less frequently after he traded in his loud Mazda for a more conservative SUV.
As for his force, Marshall said, “I have the utmost confidence that our police officers are policing the community with the highest degree of integrity, with fairness and justice, consistent with the expectations and values we share with the community.”
gbookwalter@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @GenevieveBook