Pastors Show New O'Dekirk Video At News Conference

JOLIET, IL — Former long-time Joliet City Councilman Warren Dorris says it is not a political axe he wants to grind that is making him call for the resignation of Mayor Bob O’Dekirk. Rather, the Joliet clergyman had a list of issues he is not OK with having happened in the city.

In addition to the incident on May 31 in which O’Dekirk is seen pulling a protester to the ground, Dorris listed issues of concern, including: the contract with the Joliet Slammers that led to the naming of the stadium and an appointment to the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners that Dorris said was not on the agenda.

“For the record, this is not political,” Dorris said.

Dorris was speaking at a news conference Friday afternoon at Prayer Tower Ministries in Joliet. He was joined by Bishop Steve Evans and Pastor Herbert Brooks, who serves on the Will County Board. Dorris said O’Dekirk was invited, but he did not appear at the event.

“We don’t speak for all of the clergy in the city, we just speak for taking a stand on what is right,” Evans said.

The focus of the news conference was a video that has surfaced in which O’Dekirk, when he was a Joliet police officer, is seen jumping on a handcuffed man, and they tumble to the ground.

The video is grainy and does not have any sound.

It is difficult to see details of what is going on in the video and the three pastors said they did not know for sure the date of the video.

Dorris did say that they know that the video shows an incident at Heggie Park near Collins Street. Joliet police were conducting surveillance across the street when they noticed activity at the park. Dorris said there were two arrests that night. The identity of one of the men who was arrested was not revealed at the news conference, but Dorris said they would be revealing the identity of the man soon.

O’Dekirk was a Joliet police officer for about 10 years starting in 1993. He won multiple awards during that time, but was also placed on suspension. He was placed on suspension for 30 work days from Jan. 2, 1999 to March 31, 1999. Paperwork that details the reasons for his suspensions is missing from the personnel file.

“My dog ate all the records at City Hall,” Dorris said.

“The dog didn’t actually eat the paperwork,” Evans said. “David Copperfield apparently works there because the paperwork just disappeared.”

Joliet City Councilman Pat Mudron was the only representative from the city who accepted the invitation from the pastors and was able to make the conference.

Mudron said in an interview after the news conference that he wants more information before he calls for the resignation of O’Dekirk. Mudron believes there are multiple videos of the incident on May 31 that have not been released.

“There’s a lot more from a lot of different angles that will prove how did this start,” Mudron said.

He is waiting for the Illinois State Police report at the conclusion of the investigation of what happened May 31.