Concern For Public Safety, or Harassment?

By Tom Kocal

The owner of one of the most popular, fastest-growing businesses in Carroll County is doing his share to help the tourism industry in this region. But an incident at the end of June has him stymied.

Entrepreneur Kevin Promenschenkle, most often referred to as Poopy, is the namesake of the popular motorcycle haven. Poopy's, located on Rt. 84 on the south end of Savanna, is a restaurant, bar, motorcycle service shop, retail shop, tattoo parlor, and gathering place for both locals and visitors.

Poopy's hosted a David Allen Coe music concert on June 28. A popular country-rock musician from the 70's, Kevin was anticipating attendance to be near 2000. He knew he would need extra help, especially with security.

"I asked some of the local motorcycle clubs to give me a hand with security," Kevin said. "The clubs were 'Hell's Our Home,' 'The Outlaws,' and 'The Brothers.' These are motorcycle clubs that frequent this place quite often. Five members from each club agreed to help, along with some local friends of mine.

"It was a perfect day. We had 1500 people out back, and not a single problem. Everything went great. All but one thing."

The one thing Kevin refers to is what he calls unwarranted harassment.

"The only thing that didn't go great that day were the roadblocks at the entries into town, and the surveillance cameras pointing out the back door of Mayor Larry Stebbins's appliance store."

The safety checks are something Kevin is used to, but why on a day when Poopy's is attracting new business to Savanna?

Kevin questions the logic of posting police inside of neighboring Stebbins Appliance, trying to video and photograph the crowd out the back door. He said they had a tripod set up in the front parking lot, and were cracking the back door open, snapping away.

"We caught them. So my brother, a customer helping with security, and I walked over to the police, and I told them, 'If you want to see what's going on in here so bad, bring your camera and I'll give you a free wristband, and you can go in.'

"They said that they would come in, but they wouldn't bring their camera. Of course, I said OK under one condition: that they go back and tell whoever told them to do this, what a great show I put on. So we did that with them."

Kevin said that they, too, were Illinois State Police. He wasn't positive, but assumed that City and County Police were also involved.

"I asked our Chief of Police here in Savanna, Mike Moon, if they would have a few officers available, that I could pay them as off-duty police, and they could be in uniform. I even asked Chief Moon if he or another officer could be here with a squad car. But the Chief said they couldn't do it, because there was a 'conflict of interest.' He said I had hired a 'known criminal element' to pull security, that being The Outlaws.

"My problem with that is I don't know the difference between being invited to be here, where the police could be right in there with the crowd, or sneaking around with cameras making my customers uncomfortable."

Chief Moon confirmed that he and Kevin had the conversation, and explained his position to The Prairie Advocate. "We are a small department, 8 officers, but only a few could be available per shift for an event like this. I felt that when we were made aware of the potential presence of a known criminal element, we needed assistance.

"I made the call to the Illinois State Police and the Carroll County Sheriff," Moon stated. "Other local towns don't have the manpower either. Three or four officers would not have been adequate."

Moon added the motorcycle safety checks were conducted in Thomson on Rt. 84 and at the entrance to Old Mill Park. He said the checks were run solely by the Illinois State Police, assisted by 2 Savanna officers.

"Generally speaking," Moon continued, "we've had minimal problems with Poopy's customers. Kevin and his business are an asset to Savanna.

"But some people feel that any money coming to town is good money. I disagree. Some of these people are a serious criminal element. If we want, and need, people like this and their money in town, we're in trouble."

Kevin questioned Mayor Stebbins about the incident, and was told that he had "3000 more people to worry about besides me. I told him that I have never had problems out here, and if you were so worried about it, why didn't you come to me and tell me? These people were working for me that day - not as paid workers, but as volunteer workers. They were great.

"Larry said the police asked him if they could do that. He told me, 'Who am I, being the mayor, to tell them that they can't?' But when I went over to question the State Police that day, one officer said that the mayor had asked them to do it."

Mayor Stebbins told The Prairie Advocate that the State Police had asked him if they could use his building, Stebbins Appliance, to conduct surveillance. He felt it was his civic responsibility to allow it, under the circumstances.

"As mayor, I felt it was wiser to be prepared, rather than be unprepared and caught by surprise. The sheer number of people coming was a concern, not so much who the security people were. We had to be prepared for anything.

"Overall, the event turned out well. Nothing happened, but you can't say it was a mistake to prepare for something, just because nothing happened. You don't get rid of your fire department because you haven't had any fires."

Lt. Jeff Bain of the Illinois State Police District 1 in Sterling confirmed that Chief Moon had contacted him for extra help. "But the Motorcycle Safety Checkpoints had nothing to do with Poopy's," Bain said. "It was done to promote and enforce motorcycle safety. We established the roadside checks due to the increased fatality rate involving motorcycles the previous year, and this year. In 2008, there were 6 fatalities in District 1 alone." District 1 includes Ogle, Lee, Whiteside and Carroll Counties.

Bain, who is assigned to Safety Services, said he had nothing to do with any surveillance. Attempts were made by The Prairie Advocate to contact a state police representative assigned to Technical Services, but the rep in the Rockford office could not be reached for comment.

"May was Motorcycle Awareness Month, and this was a continuation of this program," Bain added. "News releases about the safety check were sent out the week prior to the concert. When we did stop motorcycles, they were given pamphlets that reviewed safety issues. I'd say that 98% of the people we stopped and talked with were positive experiences. I think this helped." (There was no record of The Prairie Advocate receiving this notice, but other papers or radio stations may have released the info).

"We built this place for motorcycle people," Kevin said. "There are motorcycle clubs. But these people are pretty nice people. They offered to go with me to meet the mayor and police chief, introduce themselves, and try to prevent this from happening. My biggest problem with this situation was that there were so many cops in town on a day where I spent $15,000 out of my pocket to bring these people here, to spend money, generate some sales tax revenue, and stay in the motels, but they were scared to death to drink anything. I lost at least $10,000 that day, and that's hard to swallow."

Chief Moon said that the main issue he had with the event was not the business, nor was it Poopy's customers. "My main concern was not with the concert, it was Kevin's choice of security. I feel that the wrong people were involved with security. That's why I called for assistance."

Mayor Stebbins commented on Poopy's and its impact on the area. "As his business neighbor, I encouraged Kevin to build there. Yes, we've had our disagreements, but we have always resolved them amicably. His business is an asset to this town.

"Sometimes, his customers are a problem. I'm amazed how some people treat public and private property. For example, sometimes when Poopy's parking lot is full, some will park in my lot, during business hours, not leaving a place for my customers to park. He is not responsible for that, but Kevin does send someone out to redirect people away from my lot. He's a good neighbor."

From Kevin's perspective, "It seems as though every time somebody tries to make some money and bring some tax dollars to the community, they try to run it out. There has never been a problem. And that day, too, was a perfect day. So what am I supposed to do? Give up trying to make money in this county? Neither the city, county or the state can afford to run this kind of revenue out of the area.

"If something is related to alcohol or bikers, it gets blown out of proportion. I don't know how many times I've got to prove myself."

For now, it looks like all the parties involved must agree to disagree. At least the doors are open to possible remedies to avoid similar situations that could impact the success of future events.

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