. .“Patent Malarkey”: Public Dishonesty and Deception:
It seemed like Jerry Bratcher had it made. As chief of Police, his salary was $80,000 a year, and he oversaw an 80-man department ranked as one of the best in the country. He had set up lucrative outside consulting businesses analyzing other suburban police departments. And the taxpayers were paying for his drinks, lunches and dinners. No one would question any of it since he had also become a consultant to Micro Aseptic—run by the three village trustees who also ran the police and fire committee. That, together with his strong personal relationship with Mayor Rita Mullins, compromised any real oversight of the Palatine Police Department by the village government. It was all carefully hidden from the taxpayers in a maze of governmental paper buttressed by a village government who fought any citizen attempt to access these financial records.
Jerry Bratcher had created his own Feudal kingdom in Palatine.
Sure, there were a few underlying problems. His consulting and Micro Aseptic sales both depended heavily on the the goodwill of other suburban chiefs. So he had to constantlystroke them while at the same time hiding from them the true nature and extent of his business dealings and how they might affect the other chiefs. While bragging about the academic achievements of his men, he failed to mention he hired five or six chief’s kids — including his own. He also failed to mention he lost $125,000 in an Ponzi scheme which traded commodities.
Bratcher’s kingdom rested on a fragile foundation. He became a prisoner of his own propaganda. He had to constantly exaggerate and puff his own accomplishments and those of his police force to keep his outside business interests rolling. Thus, Bratcher pushed membership in the Northwest Police Academy (NWPA), argued for CALEA accreditation, and promoted the use of the Northern Illinois Police Crime Lab (NIPCL). He couldn’t stop making his sales pitch.
Bratcher also became a prisoner of his own sales pitch.
Bratcher ingratiated himself with his fellow chiefs and promoted his business interests at the same time. The chiefs provided a potential market of more than 100 suburban police forces to which he could offer his consulting services or sell his line of Micro Aseptic products, which could provide everything for a police department from soap to special shoes. Bratcher founded the NWPA, a forum which enhanced the international reputation of the Palatine Force and himself. He later used the academy to branch out into politics endorsing his friend Jack O’Malley. Indeed, Bratcher had employed a full-time PR person for his small-time Police Department. Additionally, the sons of various police chiefs were employed by the Palatine Police Department.
It was working. Eventually, Good Housekeeping magazine would cite the Palatine Police Department as one of the 10 best in the nation. On paper, Bratcher had a superior department. Palatine was not just the normal, under-equipped suburban police force. Many chiefs told us the crime at Brown’s Chicken and Pasta on January 8, 1993 was a terrible tragedy. But “thank God it happened in Palatine.” They knew Bratcher worked with CALEA, which certified suburban police departments, but were unaware that his CALEA connection was at the heart of the Good Housekeeping ranking.
Jerry Bratcher had carefully constructed a house of cards. It was held together by the spiderweb of personal relationships he had built with other chiefs and with the village government. An unsuspecting media and citizenry stood by, never noticing the personal stakes Bratcher had invested with the mayor, village board, and state’s attorney’s office. No one ever questioned any of them about their objectivity or the inevitable conflicts which grew out of these relationships. No one questioned any of them about their non-governmental business. Bratcher was employed as a consultant by three of the village trustees who ran Micro Aseptic.Because of his business relationships with the trustees and his long personal relationship with the mayor, he had effectively neutralized anyone who would be in a position to question his conduct. That connection which James Madison and Thomas Jefferson thought crucial—between the citizens and their elected representatives and “employees”—was crushed. .
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Bratcher also receives payments for services from Micro Aseptic, making at least $5,000 in consulting fees in 1995 alone. Bratcher used his considerable reputation and economic clout to help Micro Aseptic sell products to other police chiefs. In one instance, Bratcher used the NWPA as a platform to introduce Micro Aseptic’s products and services. As he had at other occasions, Bratcher introduced Jack Wagner of Micro Aseptic as an expert in combating blood-borne pathogens. He vouched for Micro Aseptic’s integrity and effectiveness. However, he did not reveal his continuing economic relationship with the company.
At the time, Micro Aseptic was owned and operated by two of Palatine’s trustees: Jack Wagner and Gregory Solberg.Wagner also chairs the public safety committee of the village board, which oversees the Palatine Police Department.The public safety committee sets salaries, approves budgets and monitors the department’s performance. Chief Bratcher’s department—along with the Lincolnwood PD—appeared in a 17-minute “police training” tape, which was essentially an infomercial for Micro Aseptic products. The tape credits the NWPA for help in production. (Note: In 1994, Bratcher served as a paid consultant for Lincolnwood as they searched for a new chief.) This is an apparent violation of Palatine’s ethics ordinance which prohibits, “use of village equipment, material or property for personal ... profit.”
Interestingly, Micro Aseptic was chosen to clean up the crime scene at Brown’s. Wager maintains that the products were provided at no charge as a public service. Skeptics have suggested that it was done for publicity. http://www.ipsn.org/bga1.htm
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. December 2006
Jack Wagner, B.Sc., BPH
Director, Scientific, Technical & Regulatory Affairs
Micro-Scientific Industries Inc
1225 Carnegie St - #101
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008 USA
Telephone: - 1-888-253-2536
FAX: 1-847-454-0837
Email: jwagner@opticide.com .
. http://palatine-jack-wagner.blogspot.com/ .
.This is, just one example, of why Palatine will not allow out side investigations.
This town's corruption has the approval of;
Illinois gov Quinn
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan
Cook County State's Attorney Alvarez
All the Federal judges at the Northern District building
All the chief judges in Cook County
1 or more supreme court justice
about 500 other judges I contacted
the legislative branch in Springfield
Senator Burris
Senator Divine
Obama
every law professor, faculty member of every law school in Illinois
and about 4500 others
.With all of this approval, backing, it's still, up to a person's own integrity, moral belief and convictions to decide, free will to choose. Nobody is twisting any one's arm to be good or bad.
. catch a cop, in a, rape, murder, bribe, dealing drugs, any thing, like I did, report it, only to have a cover up of biblical proportion.
I am sorry to say, no matter how you look at it, .My emails prove USA is a ethically corrupt Village and much larger a whole society. A large element in our society is, above the law. Little hope for a change.
.An entire society can become ethically corrupt. Nazi Germany is a good example of a morally corrupt society.
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/whatisethics.html .
Mayor Schwantz, a use to be NFL player. I wounder if the NFL support or teach this crap?
The newly elected Schwantz, has shown nothing, I wasn't expecting. To me, he looks like, just another elected thug. I always wanted to know what life after foot ball was like. Maybe and likely, his fan club is all for this also, but I ain't. . .
