With the first day of his
administration one week away, McHenry County Sheriff-Elect Bill Prim Monday
introduced three highly-experienced managers from widely divergent backgrounds
in law enforcement who will form the core of his management team.
“I consider myself extremely fortunate
to have recruited some of the finest law enforcement professionals in northern
Illinois to help carry out my mission to reform the McHenry County Sheriff’s
Office,” Prim said. “They all have
compiled tremendous records of service in their different sectors. Together, they should make a superb, high-performance
team.”
At the same time, he indicated that he
will not name an Undersheriff, but will divide the responsibilities of the
Sheriff’s Office into two major divisions, each of which will then report
directly to him. “Given the nature of
the tasks and the managers’ backgrounds, I believe this approach makes much
more sense,” Prim said.
To lead Police operations, Prim turned
to former colleague and narcotics task force leader Ricardo Pagán, a veteran of
23 years with the FBI and more than 30 in law enforcement generally, including
his entry-level work as a patrol officer and major crimes detective in his
native Ohio.
Pagán’s most recent assignment has
been as Asst. Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) for the Criminal/Violent Crime
Branch of the Chicago FBI, which encompasses 18 different Illinois counties and
is comprised of more than 100 special agents, task force officers and their
support personnel
Mr. Pagán has also during his FBI
career headed up the Intelligence Branch (Chicago), whose 240 members dealt
with national security threats as well as organized criminal activity; led a
squad of officers from disparate federal and local officers as part of HIDTA
(High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) Task Force; supervised a group of agents
who supplied and installed highly sophisticated electronic devices; supervised
the training and monitoring of undercover agents; and worked undercover
himself.
New Managers
Prim said he became acquainted with
Pagán when they worked together to dismantle large-scale narcotics
operations. “Ricardo has deep experience
with all the specialized tools of modern law enforcement,” Prim said,
“including SWAT teams and hostage negotiation.
But he began his career, as I did, as a uniformed officer, so he also
has a street-level view of modern policing.
I am very excited he will be part of our team.”
Prim’s second pick will be responsible
for the jail and general officewide administration. David Devane has a total of 28 years
experience in law enforcement, including 24 years with the Cook County Sheriff
and four years with that county’s State’s Attorney’s Office.
Devane most recently headed up the
policy development function within the Sheriff’s Office, but previously managed
Labor Relations and was Executive Director twice (15 years total) of a
Department of about 450 employees, over 80% of whom were sworn officers, and
for four years was second in command of the Court Services Department, whose
then roster of 1,700 deputies were responsible for security of 10 separate
courthouses, as well as handling civil process and evictions.
Devane spent most of his Sheriff’s
career starting or developing community correctional alternatives, like
electronic monitoring, day reporting centers and a community service
alternative to incarceration for non-violent offenders. He also developed a residential drug
treatment program for 450 inmates. Along
the way, he initiated programs like an inmate-staffed garden and greenhouse
producing crops both donated to the needy and sold to restaurants like the
former Charlie Trotter’s as well as three “sting” operations resulting in the
arrests of hundreds of persons with outstanding warrants.
Prior to the Sheriff’s Office, Devane
worked in media relations for the U.S. Secretary of Energy in Washington, D.C.,
and the Illinois Department of Mental Health.
