Sandwich police chief talks about department’s accomplishments during community meeting

The Sandwich Police Department is doing all it can to keep the city safe.

That includes driving more than 115,000 miles last year patrolling the city.

In talking about the Sandwich Police Department’s 2024 Annual Report at a March 10 community meeting at the Sandwich police station, Sandwich Police Chief Kevin Senne noted the city had no homicides last year. The last time the city had a homicide was in 1994, when Antonia “Toni” Cavazos, a 42-year-old Plano woman, was shot and killed.

For the third year in a row, the city also did not have any robberies. Last year, there were 43 incidents of aggravated battery and assault, up from 39 incidents in 2023.

However, of those 43 incidents, only 24 arrests were made.

“Every one of those cases is going to be unique,” Senne said. “In some of those cases, there may not be suspect information. Or in some of those cases, the victim of that crime may decide that they don’t want to prosecute. In that type of crime, the victim is the one who has to choose to prosecute. We don’t have that ability to make that decision. If there is evidence that a domestic battery occurred, we have to make the arrest. We’re mandated by law to make the arrest.”

Sandwich police officers charged 33 people last year with driving under the influence, up from 20 in 2023. The number people charged in traffic stops jumped dramatically, from 703 in 2023 to 3,096 last year.

Senne said all police departments receive their fare share of traffic complaints.

“I don’t care where you’re a police chief at, the number one complaint, or in the top three, is going to be traffic,” he said.

The department also had many accomplishments last year. In August, the department provided Sandwich School District with a school resource officer. Reinstating the program was a priority for Sandwich Police Chief Kevin Senne.

Eric Bright, who grew up in Sandwich and is a 1994 graduate of Sandwich High School, is the new school resource officer.

The police department also purchased several pieces of equipment last year, including automated external defibrillators for all the squad cars and the police station. AEDs are designed to help people who have suddenly stopped breathing or have a heart rhythm problem that requires an electric shock to restore normal function.

In addition, each police squad car was outfitted with a new laptop computer. The department also implemented electronic ticketing.

“We can write our tickets electronically so we don’t have to hand write them,” Senne said. “For DeKalb County, we actually have the ability to electronically transmit them so we don’t have to necessarily go down there and drop the tickets off. In Kendall County, we still have to drop the tickets off because they’re on a different computer program than DeKalb.”

One of the department’s goals is to staff its detective division. The department hasn’t had anyone in its detective division since 2023, Senne said.

Sandwich Police Officer Keith Rominski will be phased in as the department’s detective, Senne said.

“The detective spot is going to be different than just a general detective spot,” he said. “In addition to investigating and following up on our criminal cases, he’s also going to follow up on our suicidal subject calls. He’s also going to follow up on domestic related calls.”

By doing that, the police department can work with other agencies to get people the help they need, Senne said. Other goals include having all of the officers crisis trained.

“There’s a 40-hour class called crisis intervention training,” he said. “It gives officers the ability to learn about people that are in crisis situations and how to deal with them…It’s all part of de-escalation. It allows us to be able to talk to them, calm them down and get them the potential help that they need.”

Senne also talked about the department’s efforts to engage with the community through different activities. The department both attends and hosts community events on a regular basis.

Chris Gibson attended the community meeting. He owns Gibson Towing, which is based out of Leland, Sandwich and Yorkville.

“I think it’s great to see all the things they’ve accomplished in 2024,” he said. “It’s good to keep track of everything that’s going on and to be in the know.”