Dixmoor Trustee Roberts sets record straight on police budget

Dixmoor, IL – Dixmoor Village Trustee Fitzgerald Roberts says Police Chief Ronald Burge needs to focus on doing his job rather than playing politics.

“It is amateur night, and the star of the show is Police Chief Ronald Burge,” said Roberts. “Not only is he bad at his day-time job, but he is even worse at politics. He wants to paint a picture that somehow the elected representatives of Dixmoor do not care about the police department. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Board wants the people of Dixmoor to be safe. What we don’t want is public servants like Burge to abuse their positions in an effort to score some political points or keep their family and friends employed. Burge’s threats to not respond to police emergencies in Dixmoor is shameful and petty. Police Chief Burge needs to step up and do the job he is paid to do. Actually, maybe he should just resign.”

A recent press release from Chief Burge states at the top that the “Village of Dixmoor Police Department will not be responding to calls!!!”

The release goes on to state that the police cars do not have working heaters or air conditioners and the Village Board has placed a hiring freeze on the Police Department and is refusing to cooperate with the Department.

Roberts said the allegation of a lack of cooperation is absurd. The elected officials appropriated funds for a police department and levied sufficient taxes to fund the police department. Furthermore, the elected officials have invited Burge on numerous occasions to come in and discuss funding needs, but he has never appeared.

“Burge could have gotten more staff hired or more equipment, but he just chose not to attend these meetings,” Roberts said. “We budgeted money to fix a squad car that we knew had mechanical problems and we would have budgeted money to fix the problems with other cars if we had been told those issues existed. The truth is the elected officials were not informed that the operational cars did not have heat. Instead of bad political theater, Chief Burge should be working with us and doing his job or he should just walk away.”

Roberts said the Trustees did impose a hiring freeze, but the Board lifted it upon request and were poised to hire more police officers, but the Chief never showed up for the committee meetings with resumes for candidates. The hiring freeze was a result of the actions of the Mayor and the Chief who were hiring people without bringing them before the Board as required by law for hires or promotions.

“The Police Chief or the Mayor illegally hired the Mayor's daughter and illegally promoted his own son,” Roberts said. “We had to implement a hiring freeze to get to the bottom of some of the illegal actions being taken without Board authority.”

Roberts said the Trustees have paid vendors, but the real problem facing the department is the fact that the Chief's son, the illegally promoted Ronnie Burge, Jr., is under indictment. He is not working but he is still collecting his salary of more than $70k annually.

Roberts said Chief Burge, who is a candidate for Mayor in Dolton, is using the Chief's report to attack political enemies and aid political allies.

“The reports he gives us never have crime data or crime statistics for the Village,” Roberts said. “Everything he does is done through the prism of his political objectives. The elected officials were not informed that the operational cars did not have heat or relevant information on what is going on in the Village. He merely attacks his enemies. If he gave an actual report, people would want to hear it, the Trustees included, but he uses it to make up tales about people he doesn't like.”

Finally, Roberts said Burge’s made-up tale about a Trustee with a badge is nothing but political rhetoric. The Badge is a "Police Commissioner" or Trustees Badge because the holder is on the Police Commission.

“The Chief is using this to distract the Village's residents from the real issues, such as the Mayor overpaying herself $64,000 or a Trustee politically aligned with the Mayor who signed checks without authorization and the fact that Burge’s son is under indictment and not working but still getting paid. The fact is that Police Chief Burge has been fired by Dolton, Harvey, and several times previously by Dixmoor and has been allowed to lock up Trustees and threaten them without cause. He is terrible at his job and his abuse of power should not be tolerated any longer. All people have to do to find out the truth about Chief Burge is simply to Google his name.”

Attached is an article from the Chicago Tribune chronicling domestic abuse charges as well as theft of government property and other criminal activity involving Police Chief Burge.

“When it comes to anything Chief Burge has to say – consider the source,” Roberts said. “He has a history of allegations of domestic abuse as well as being accused of stealing $30,000 from the Harvey police evidence locker. He and his political allies represent everything that is wrong with government. We need a new direction in Dixmoor. We need a direction that is for the people.”