2005 Year in Review

A ride with W.C. Sheriff Deputy Dick Wieneke

Officer Dick Wieneke stands beside his car at the Law Enforcement Center. Officers are responsible for their own vehicles.

Wieneke checks information on the computer in his car. Each car is equipped with its own laptop computer.

Officer Wieneke files reports on the computer at the Whiteside County Law Enforcement Center.

The Swoik family encountered a flat tire on Interstate 88. Dick helps Gary Swoik change the tire.

The "cage" in Whiteside County cars.

Inside the "Sally Port."

Guns, ammunition, mace and cuffs are put into Lock Up boxes before an officer can be let into the elevator to enter the jail floor.

The excitement grew and I realized my stomach was full of butterflies as I anticipated the ride of a lifetime for me. The headlights beamed up the lane but to my disappointment it was one of my daughter’s friends coming to pick her up. I paced the kitchen back and forth, and then more lights up the lane. This time it was my ride.

Whiteside County Sheriff deputy Dick Wieneke picked me up about 6:15 p.m. on Friday, December 17, 2004 for Part two of “My day in a life of…” – this time a Whiteside County sheriff deputy.

Dick graduated from Western Illinois University on May 5, 1974 and began working for Whiteside County on May 11, 1974. He started as a Correctional officer. Changes he has seen since his start are mainly in security since the 9-11 terrorists’ attacks in his department, the jail and also in the courthouse. He stated, “I’m more mindful of traffic stops and more suspicious of people.” If an officer hasn’t checked in with the dispatcher at the sheriff’s office in 10 minutes, they begin checking on him. Making sure everything is all right and the officer is in no danger. The county cars are equipped with traffic stop cameras, which Wieneke said are more a plus than a hindrance because the evidence is right there on the tape. The cars are also equipped with gas masks, filters, and air tanks that were generated through Homeland Security Grant money.

Each car is also equipped with its own laptop computer in which officers can check for information, receive information and do reports.

We chit chatted as we drove across Bunker Hill Road to Route 78. While we were stopped at the Stop sign, the driver in the vehicle behind us honked his horn. The driver proceeded to walk up to the car and inform officer Wieneke that he had witnessed drag racing on Bunker Hill Road. So we turned around in pursuit of possibly finding the vehicle responsible but had no luck.

Dick informed me that the first thing they do when they report on duty is to check the Daily Intelligence notes that are on the computers in the cars which gives updates on any action or threats or if the security watch has been elevated. These reports come through on a terrorism network.

We arrived next at the Whiteside County jail to look through paper work of items to be taken care of that particular night. Three subpoenas and an arrest warrant were the four items that needed to be dealt with. The subpoenas were delivered first so as to not have to disturb people at late hours. They ranged from divorce papers to being witnesses to other situations.

The arrest warrant involved a gentleman from Erie on a Henry County warrant. We pulled up to the residence and officer Wieneke proceeded to the door and upon his knocking was let to enter the home. Sitting in the car waiting for Dick to return sent many thoughts through me head. “Wonder what is going on in there. I hope he is all right. Should I make sure? No, I better just sit here.” But he did return unharmed with subject at hand. We transported the subject to Erie Police Station where the paper work was filled out and the gentleman posted bond. Arrest report forms also have to be filled out after every criminal arrest.

A call came over the radio of a motorist who needed assistance on Interstate Route 88. Upon arrival it was a family from Lake Zurich on their way to Avon and had encountered a flat tire. Dick helped Mr. Swoik change the tire and they were on their way with instructions that they should drive slow with their flashers on because the spare they had was one of the small donut ones that comes with vehicles.

As we were heading back to Morrison a call came over the radio that State troopers needed a car with a “cage” to transport a person, also on Route 88. I could feel my heart pounding as we turned around and headed back. The unknown was the scariest. What did it mean that state troopers needed a car with a cage? What would this involve?

As we pulled up to the scene two state troopers had some gentlemen standing by a car and another car was on a flatbed trailer. One of the subjects decided to get quite lippy and mouthy with the state troopers so for everyone’s protection he was handcuffed and put in our car with the cage behind the front seat. All Whiteside County cars are equipped with cages except three which are the detective’s, captain’s and the sheriff’s cars. Yes, I will admit I was a little extra nervous on this call. But once the suspect was in the car he settled down and was talking to Dick. We transported him to Whiteside County and I actually got to go into a Sally Port. I knew a Sally Port was where the police cars came into the jail to load and unload prisoners. But the question for me was always, “Why and how did it get the name of Sally Port?

“Sally ports” were a feature of castles and fortresses, a closely guarded opening or door in the wall of a building designed for the quick passage of troops. It was also used as a secret exit designed to let one person out or into the castle at a time. It was sometimes a complicated tunnel defended with murder holes and a portcullis (a grating that can be lowered to bar entrance to a castle) to make sure the castle had no unwanted visitors. One of the primary uses of these doors was to mount quick attacks on whatever enemy army might be segueing the castle at the moment. A “sally” from the Latin “salire” meaning “to jump”, was originally a sudden rush out of a besieged position, a lightning attack designed to surprise the enemy. “Sally” in this original sense first appeared around 1560, and sally port” is first found around 1649. “Sally has since acquired the broader sense of “an excursion or escapade.” And since castles and fortresses are in short supply these days, “sally port” has gradually come to mean any guarded doorway or opening.

Officers request to the law enforcement center to open the door to the sally port so they can achieve entrance or exit the building. Upon entrance into what seems to be a big garage, the prisoner is taken from the vehicle and led to an elevator to be taken to the jail floor. Before officers can enter the elevator their guns, ammunition, mace and cuffs (which are not on an inmate) are placed into Lock Up boxes, which resemble locked mailboxes you see at the Post Office. These items are locked up because no weapons are allowed on the jail floor.

After this call we were in the dispatcher part of the jail talking to the two dispatchers that were on duty that evening and they allowed me to listen to a 9-1-1 call that had come through earlier. The caller informed the dispatcher that a residence needed an ambulance because someone in the house who had had brain surgery was not feeling well. The dispatcher had informed the family that an ambulance would be summoned to the residence. Probably not 30 seconds later another call came through from the same residence that made the hair on my head feel like it was standing straight up. The situation had gotten worse and the person was not conscious. Hysteria flowed through the phone line as you could hear the panic in the voice over the phone. The dispatcher calmly tried to get information to no avail as you could hear people literally screaming in the background. She was trying to find out from the caller whether or not anyone in the house knew CPR. The calmness in the dispatcher voice was unbelievable. She kept the caller on the line until the ambulance arrived and then the phone went silent. Again the questions came, “Wonder what happened to that person? Did the ambulance arrive in time?” Dick said to me, “There are some of the 9-1-1 calls that just listening to them can make the sweat run down your back.”

Another duty officers carry out is driving through Co-ops and places that hold anhydrous tanks just to see if anything looks suspicious. Anhydrous ammonia is one of the main chemicals used in the manufacturing of Methamphetamine. Dick informed me that it really got started about five years ago in the southwest and just kept moving up and is still moving east. Dick stated, “Anybody can make it. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist. It is one of the biggest drug problems right now.” Officers have come across people making it in their cars, in fields and also in buildings. Containers used in making Meth are sometimes found lying along the road. Methamphetamine is a powerfully addictive stimulant associated with serious health conditions, including memory loss, aggression, psychotic behavior, and potential heart and brain damage.

State law requires officers to have training in hazardous materials, ability to be first responders and to aid in domestic battery. Officer Wieneke is also certified in accident reconstruction.

Dick also commented, “A lot of the people we deal with are in need of something, whether it is car trouble or arriving on a domestic abuse report or whatever, we are mostly a service for them. We are able to improve their situation somehow.” Though that is not always the case, Dick informed me that he had been on a couple of serious murder investigations, has had to pull his gun a few times but probably not as many times as what people think.

He referred to a domestic case in which the guy wanted a piece of him. He proceeded to try to talk to the man and after 45 minutes was able to talk his way to the gentleman. Most domestic calls are drug or alcohol related or both. “Some people don’t reason well,” Dick stated, “and drugs and alcohol intensify their reactions.”

I asked him to recall a neat situation he had experienced over the years he has been a deputy. He recalled that on Feb. 22, 1983. He delivered a baby at the Rest Area east of Morrison. “That was quite exciting,” Wieneke stated.

One of his bad memories was an accident on January 5, 1992, involving a van on Interstate 88 in which eight people were killed.

We also pulled off the side of a road that is well known to have speeders traveling on it and waited patiently as cars went by with their speed being shown on the radar gun. Then it flashed 72 mph and we were off in pursuit, lights flashing. The driver pulled off to the side of the road and yes you guessed it, “busted.” It was a 55 mph speed limit in that area. But again as with each situation the questions started coming again, “Wonder who this driver is? Will he be cooperative or will we need to ask for help? Hope I don’t know this person!” He was cooperative and was issued a ticket for speeding.

The last call for me that night was the report of a fire, which had been called in by several people driving on the Interstate who could see the flames. It appeared to be on Lyndon Road south of the interstate. Lyndon fire department had been dispatched. As we neared, it was hard to tell if it was a building or a house that was on fire but the flames were definitely visible. The end result was it was only an extra large controlled bon fire behind a house. The fire trucks pulled in right behind us. In speaking with the residents Dick informed them that people had reported it from the interstate, and that in the future if they were going to have a fire that large to call the non-emergency number of the Sheriff’s department to inform them that they were burning a controlled fire so as not to have to summon the fire department unless needed.

I returned home around 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning. I felt mentally exhausted but my adrenaline was pumping so hard and my thoughts kept going through all that I had experienced. I wanted to tell my family what had taken place in the almost 8 hours I had been gone. But as I sat alone in the kitchen and tried to sum it all up I came to the conclusion that the “unknown” was the main characteristic of each and every call we were on. The “who, why and probably the most frequent for me was, what’s going to happen?” But all in all I felt very safe because I knew Dick would never put me in any situation of danger but yet I feared for him on each call.

“At one time I thought I could say I’ve seen everything, but yet I haven’t seen it all. There are still things that happen that amaze me,” stated Officer Wieneke.

by Dawn Zuidema, theCity1.com
January 20, 2005