‘Whoville’ is fed up with Lyons’ antics and excuses
Peoria Mayor
This is one of the comments our county’s chief prosecutor said about the community leaders who are attending these meetings:
“Well, here we are, and I believe they’ve met over 25 times. And I would ask you, what is to show for it? They just gather for the sake of gathering because they have all the whos in whoville as if we’ve all been sitting around saying, ‘Geez, what are we going to do?’”
I said, ‘Let’s get practical.’”
And this one, about a study done by Illinois Central College that helps to pinpoint one of the problems Peoria is facing — repeat misdemeanors by juveniles. Gee, I would think that a prosecutor who is remotely interesting in lowering the crime rate might be interested in hearing some legislative proposals about how to, you know, try to the crime rate.
“I don’t care if you put it in a beer can and set it on the street,” he said. “They thought I would be very defensive about it. If that’s big news, somebody needs to tell them that Lincoln’s been shot.”
This is everything you need to know about Kevin Lyons: He has little man’s disease. The man is short, real short, and he’s all bluster. No doubt his verbal skills came in handy as a kid when bigger kids picked on him. But it left him with a huge chip on his shoulder. Everything about how he behaves suggests defensiveness.
Every know one of those people who get an idea in their head about how things should be done, and nothing will get them to move off that position, and it’s a personal affront to them to suggest they might want to change? That’s Kevin Lyons.
I know what he didn’t want to attend these meetings. He didn’t want to be alone in a room of people who have to work with him and have them compare notes about his performance as state’s attorney. It would have been too much like an alcoholic willingly driving to his his own intervention. His fragile, little man’s ego couldn’t handle being sitting at a table trying to figure out what in the world is wrong with Peoria’s criminal justice system. He was too afraid — and with some justification — that the general consensus would but that the problem rests with the Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office. These folks might want to know why, for example, there are so many repeat juvenile offenders.
Over the years — during Lyon’s tenure in office in fact — Peoria has gone from being a small-to-medium sized city with the crime problem of a small-to-medium sized crime problem to a city with a huge problem. Misdemeanors might as well not even be a crime here. Once you murder someone, then Lyons holds a press conference and announces he’s seeking the death penalty, which he fails to accomplish (stupid jury) or he simply pleads the case out (not enough evidence, stupid cops).
If you’ve read this blog, you know the complaints: Police officers say that Lyons is quick to agree to not prosecute. He blames sloppy police work when officers say their work is solid. He says juries will never convict with witnesses with less-than-spotless records; while I’ve spoken informally to prosecutors and attorneys in other counties such cases routinely go to court and prosecutors win. Lyons is quick to go to the media and deride the decisions of judges and parole boards. I attended a neighborhood association meeting at which Lyons was guest speaker. I expected to hear some practical advice on how neighborhood activist could help police, and instead heard Lyons brag about his accomplishments and describe how the average person is too ignorant of the law to be of any help at all.
One person sitting in that room was
I have some “big news” for Lyons:
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
I won’t be voting for Ardis again for his endorsement of Alicia Butler (has she proved her resume yet?). And I won’t be voting next time around for Lyons and not just because of this issue but for other things he has done and said in the past. The guy needs to be a douch bag in private practice.
I won’t be voting for Ardis again (if he runs) as he has done nothing. Please don’t say that he came up with the “college” program for high school students. He had a great deal of help doing that but he hasn’t been tough on crime and he hasn’t gotten rid of the garbage fee as he promised he would do.
I don’t blame Lyons for not going to their meetings. The meetings are useless.
It’s so easy to blame Lyons for the problem if we want to look at simplistic fingerpointing rather than addressing the issue.
Police – arrest
State Attorney – prosecutes
Jury – determines guilt or innocence
Judge – sentences
There are a lot of cogs in play here and Lyons is just one of them. Overall, his office does a decent job in prosecuting cases that are brought to him. But he has no control over the final sentence and/or whether an individual released after serving that sentence recommits a crime.
I don’t think that the situation in Peoria is much different then in other communities where there is tension between the officer on the street and the judicial system. Perhaps our most striking difference is that we don’t have all the players at the same table trying to address the problem. For that reason alone, I fault Lyons for not participating. Futile approach, in his opinion, but still better than doing nothing and at least it sends a message that we’re all together in trying to address the situation.
Wait, is Billy pro-Lahood family now or just even more anti-Lyons. I am confused.
A few thoughts
My first election season in Peoria was Lyons’ last re-election. He had a billboard on my way to work with giant, garish, stone lion statues on it. It was obvious he had some sort of complex, so thanks for clearing that up.
Why on Earth would you refer to people who are trying to address a problem as Whos? Even if you don’t agree with their methodology, why would you demean and insult them? Especially when you haven’t offered any alternatives. “You suck,†isn’t constructive criticism. Oh and “Let’s get practical†doesn’t qualify as an alternative. I am not sure who in the Grinch story to compare Lyons to since I don’t recall there being a Jackass.
Finally I am usually not a supporter of American political dynasties, certainly not of the LaHood variety, but I think I might have to make an exception this time.
Well, we the police DO make arrests. And a lot of them. I can name 3 individuals on the street now who are public nuisances having tallied up over 100 arrests each. They are not young either. The state’s attorney’s office does prosecute, but not as often as we would like, and often pleads out cases. The judges and especially the juries let people off more than any. I lost 3 cases in the past year to the same judge who agreed that the suspect was in the wrong, but that they did not deserve the loud music ticket, disorderly arrest, or the one who nearly caused an accident. Juries are getting DUI drivers out of convictions at an alarming rate. CSI is Hollywood people! You can’t get fingerprints off a brick, video cameras with officers are not always pointed in the best direction, and criminals lie habitually. Yes there are bad cops. I can think of 3 in the City. Thats out of the 248 that are trying to do a good job.
Peoria Proud,
you have only part of the system, at least for juveniles…..The dentention center determines if a minor has enough “points” to be detained. this is outside of the police and SAO. The department of corrections determines the length of stay in juvenile prison, not the judges. Ergo, a felon may be release in 60+90 days because he didn’t fight with anyone in prison. It’s ridiculous and there is no accountabiliity. One of the reasons the Neighborhood Alliance held public forums on the criminal justice system was to explain how the system is supposed to work.
RE: adults, we have repeat misdemeanor offenders because state law allows a person to bond out for most offenses. the thugs pass the hat and are back out on the streets committing crimes. I need to analyze the crime report done for the mayor, but other factors have not yet been considered, one of them being when did the second and third offenses occur, if before sentencing then the clear path is to change the state’s laws. This is one area that the Alliance advocated for in its trip to Springfield the previous week. These issues are not so cut and dried as they appear.
We waste a great deal of time pointing fingers at the varioius aspects as do various elected officials do to each other. The criminals are unconcerned our useless rhetoric. They do not discriminate on who they sell drugs to or apparantly who they kill.
We waste time blaming everyone but who is at fault, namely the criminal who CHOOSES to commit a crime. I also am deeply concerned about the families that cover for them, either passive or actively conceal the crime or live in denial about the activities. There are many theories why crime is being committed, but they are that, theories. It boils down to choice. Poverty can be a factor, but if you choose to avoid school or to fail, you recieve no education. If you choose to hang out on the street corner or kick it with your friends, you choose a criminal enviroment and influence. It’s rough to succeed without parental support, but there are great teachers, ministers, other family members who can step in and fil l the void.
You want to effect change in the community on crime, stop griping and pointing fingers and step up to the plate, mentor a kid, donate preferably time to a worthwhile community organization and start making an impact. Talk with our officials dont just gripe about them. Most importantly, take care of your own first. If you aren’t parenting your kids then someone will expect the police to.
Many good folks have fled north taking their resources of education, motivation, committment, etc. wtih them. We need your help to return to the core neighborhoods, even if just for projects to make a difference.
Paul,
Agree wholeheartedly with you and appreciate the insight into the sytem. It supports my belief that the citizens are looking for an easy scapegoat for the problem (some blame police, some the State’s Attorney, and some the judges) when in fact the bigger issue lies with the laws on the books and the administrative application of same by the detention center.
It’s easier to pick a visible target to vent against than to understand and work to correct the real problem.
[...] has proven to be a weak link in the effort to lower the crime rate in Peoria. He won’t even communicate with Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis and the group he’s gathered to look at better ways to fight [...]