For Immediate Release

Kendall County Sheriff Office Releases 2020 Annual Use of Force Reports

Kendall County, IL (March 25, 2021, 10:45 AM)

The Sheriff’s Office is releasing the 2020 Annual Use of Force Analysis and Reports for both the Operations and Corrections Divisions of the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office.  It is the policy of the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office to conduct these audits yearly, to evaluate our performance, and to ensure we are accountable to the citizens we are sworn to serve.    

It is the culture of the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office to be fair, unbiased, and to only use force that is reasonable and necessary. This is ensured through our long-standing policies and practices including a review of every use of force incident where the force applied exceeds compliant handcuffing.  Supervisors are immediately notified of any such use of force and a thorough review is promptly initiated.  These reviews are conducted to detect any indications that a deputy may be prone to an application of excessive force or requires additional support and/or training.  The Kendall County Sheriff’s Office has a zero-tolerance policy for any type of biased based actions or excessive applications of force.  If any such pattern of behavior is ever detected, disciplinary steps will be taken.

The reports conclude members of the Operations Division were involved in twenty-two (22) reviewable use of force incidents, none of which were found to be excessive applications of force.  Members of the Corrections Division were involved in twenty-six (26) reviewable use of force incidents, none of which were found to be excessive applications of force. 

The Use of Force Analysis and Reports are available to view under the “transparency” tab on the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office website by following this link: https://www.co.kendall.il.us/offices/sheriff/transparency/annual-reports

Sheriff Dwight Baird said “I strongly believe in transparency in government and making these reports available for review furthers that mission and works to further build trust with our community.  I also want to assure you that my staff and I are committed to continually reassessing and evaluating our practices, policies, and procedures to make certain all of our deputies are conducting themselves professionally and treating everyone respectfully and with dignity.  The members of the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office are committed to equal and fair treatment for all citizens.” 

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Contact:          Deputy Dan Briars #95

Phone:             (630) 465-2067

Email:             dbriars@co.kendall.il.us