By Jason Arndt
Correspondent
As the Village of Union Grove continues to focus on community growth by bringing in out-of-state businesses, there is one out-of-state issue the Police Commission voiced concern about April 23 – Illinois sex offenders.
“We are bringing this forward out of concern for not just Union Grove, but surrounding communities – but should we worry about Illinois offenders being here?” Village Trustee and police commission member Tim Mallach asked Racine County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Tom Lamke.
Lamke, who attended the commission’s April 23 meeting, assured those present that there are no issues regarding the release of out-of-state offenders to the Village.
“I was blindsided by it (being on the agenda),” Lamke commented. “We really have not had many citizen complaints regarding sex offenders specifically.”
There are two such individuals residing within the Union Grove zip code of 53182, according to the State of Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry – with both compliant with rules set by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.
In regards to offenders from Illinois paying visits to the Union Grove community, Lamke said the chain-of-communications between all departments is enforced.
“They would be non-compliant with their probation/parole if they made the decision to come up here without notifying their agents,” Lamke explained.
He added that there have been less than a handful of phone calls from out-of-state offenders informing them of visits to Union Grove for personal reasons such as family issues and emergencies and he said that all communication guidelines have been met.
While Union Grove has two sex offenders registered here, the Town of Dover (zip code 53139) area has seven.
Traffic ticket
The Police Commission also responded to a citizen complaint about a sheriff’s department deputy issuing a ticket for an improper stop and refuted the citizen’s concern about “ticket quotas” being in place to bring in additional revenue to the community.
Deputies don’t issue tickets to bring in revenue, said Trustee Michael Younglove, who also sits on the police commission.
“Issuing traffic warnings can be equally as effective as citing a driver,” he noted.
Lamke informed the citizen that he can file a formal complaint with the Sheriff’s Department for a thorough review of the claim.
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