On-again, off-again Caseyville Police Chief Jose Alvarez
Feb. 11 – At a Board of Police Commissioners’ meeting, Alvarez asks that Steve Romanik be fired. Because Village Attorney John Gilbert is not present, the Police Board decides to delay action for a special meeting, to be called for one week later.
Feb. 12 – Alvarez is fired. Black said Alvarez lacked administrative experience. “Joey is a good investigator, a good crime-fighter, a good person, he is honest, there is nothing dishonest going on here,” Black said. “I just wanted the department to move in a different direction.”
Feb. 19 – Alvarez has an angry outburst at a Village Board meeting when Black reads from a prepared statement echoing words Bob Romanik had read on his radio program that morning. Alvarez is reinstated by a 6-0 vote of the Village Board.
Feb. 28 – Nine days after his outburst, Alvarez is fired, again, for what Black calls a concern for the citizen’s safety.
At some point between Feb. 19 and Feb. 28, the Village administration calls in the Illinois State Police to investigate possible criminal behavior by Alvarez during the incident. To date, no charges have been filed.
Alvarez later calls the outburst a mistake, but denies breaking any laws. “I am the leader of the department,” Alvarez said. “I should be held to a higher standard.”
March 4 – Alvarez obtains a temporary order to ensure he cannot be fired again until a meeting with Judge Stephen McGlynn on March 8.
At 5:05 p.m., Alvarez fires Steve Romanik in the chief’s office, in front of two other officers. “I’ll pay for firing him for a long time to come,” Alvarez later said.
At a meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners, Alvarez informs the members that Steve Romanik was fired. The Board acknowledges that, because Steve Romanik is a probationary officer, Alvarez does not need to provide documentation to show why he is to be fired. However, to avoid claims of political retribution, the Board requests that documentation be provided, Board Member John Buckley said.
What happens next is not clear. Alvarez said he is unsure if, using an old interrogation technique, he told the members that the documents were with Kelly. “I have the documentation but wanted to meet at Kelly’s office to be in a safe place,” Alvarez said, “but I don’t remember exactly what I said at the meeting.”
Buckley is also unsure if Gilbert’s or Alvarez’s memory is correct. “I feel the chief is being an investigator because there is a leak,” Buckley said. “I don’t feel he’s lying when he’s throwing something out there, he’s trying to judge our reactions.”
The Metro Independent has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to get a copy of the video taken of the meeting. Kelly said he does not comment on the contents of confidential letters.
March 6 – At a special Village Board meeting, the Board of Trustees votes 6-0 to restrict Black from firing Alvarez until the Board has a chance to meet with Alvarez at the March 19 regularly scheduled meeting. More than one Trustee notes that, despite Alvarez being fired twice, the Trustees have not been able to hear him answer to charges levied by Black.
Black was restricted from meeting with Alvarez with no-one else present. When Black asks why, Trustee Brenda Williams says, “Because every time you meet with him, you fire him.”
The special meeting was called with the intention of having a closed session to resolve the matter. However, the agenda did not call for a closed session, so action was delayed until the March 19 meeting.
March 8 – McGlynn affirms that Alvarez cannot be fired by the Mayor again until the Board of Trustees takes a vote on the matter March 19.
March 14- An anonymous source leaked a letter from the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council. It is mailed to every citizen of Caseyville.
The cover letter with the leaked letter attacks Alvarez. The letter, previously delivered to Black and the Board Members, is sent on behalf of “several officers,” who are not named, indicates there is strife in the department and asks for Black’s “immediate attention to this matter.”
March 15 – An anonymous source leaked a letter from Village Gilbert. The letter is mailed to every citizen in Caseyville.
The cover letter with the leaked letter attacks Alvarez. Gilbert’s letter outlines what he calls lies told by Alvarez and references a meeting, at which Alvarez was not present, with St. Clair State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly in which Kelly is reported to have refuted claims made by Alvarez at a March 4 Board of Police Commissioners’ meeting.
