COP VS. COP

There’s bad blood among the troops in the Sangamon County sheriff’s office. Deputy Travis Koester called the cops on June 2 to report that he’d just been confronted by Deputy Travis Dalby at a gym on Wabash Avenue. “If it isn’t work related, you need to keep my name out of your mouth,” Koester reported Dalby telling him, with a few curse words thrown in. Koester said that he feared that Dalby would punch him, but Dalby walked away and was gone when Springfield police arrived. Koester said he believed Dalby was angry over civil litigation, according to a police report that lists the incident as a possible case of disorderly conduct. Sangamon County state’s attorney John Milhiser says no charges will be filed. Smart money says this has to do with an unfair labor practice complaint that Koester has filed with the Illinois Labor Relations Board, claiming that he was recently removed from the department’s tactical team, which handles hostage situations and other high-risk incidents, as punishment for filing a grievance after he was denied a promotion. Koester says that he has lost out on wages as a result of being dropped from the team. Raylene DeWitte Grischow, attorney for the sheriff’s department, said that every tactical unit member signs a form stating that they understand that they can be removed from the unit at any time without explanation. Koester’s lawyer could not be reached for comment. Koester is asking for reinstatement to the tactical team, plus compensation for lost income and legal fees. Koester has had a checkered career with the department that includes a reprimand for fibbing in court (“Pants On Fire,” Aug. 15, 2013), criticism from two state court judges for shaky testimony (“Shocking Development,” Aug. 2, 2012) and a broadside from a federal judge who ruled that Koester violated the rights of Tamara Skube by Tasering her for no good reason in 2011 (“County Cop Hit Again,” March 5, 2015). The county subsequently settled Skube’s lawsuit for $150,000.