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Regional Law Enforcement Leaders Huddle On Street Crime

McLean County State's Attorney Don Knapp
Staff
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WGLT
McLean County State's Attorney Don Knapp

About 60 law enforcement leaders from across the region gathered Monday at Heartland Community College to share data and intelligence.

McLean County State's Attorney Don Knapp said it was an idea he and law enforcement colleagues remembered from their days in the late 1980s as interns for Task Force Six, a multi-jurisdictional effort targeting crimes.

Knapp said the Illinois Law Enforcement Intelligence Network run by State Police put out a periodic report.

"We all remember reading those bulletins and people making cases from those bulletins. And we just haven't seen the kind of multicommunity actors that we're seeing recently. So, we thought it was a good idea to increase our efforts in that kind of communication," said Knapp.

Knapp said interagency ties are already good, but the meeting was a chance to affirm relationships and discuss case-specific things they see.

"We just wanted to fortify those lines of communication before the summer kicks off to try to do everything we can to ensure it's not as busy a summer as it was last year. We got together and talked about individuals and fact patterns that we are seeing across central Illinois," said Knapp.

Last summer saw a spate of gunfire victims in the Twin Cities.

Knapp said one example of such data sharing that has borne fruit is the arrest of suspected serial burglar Floyd Brown, active in several communities and now in jail on murder charges.

Knapp said the meeting at Heartland Community College was productive and he hopes for quarterly sessions like it in the future.

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WGLT Senior Reporter Charlie Schlenker has spent more than three award-winning decades in radio. He lives in Normal with his family.
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