A student from Eugene Field Elementary School discovered a gun inside a pillow during a tour of a holding cell at the Rock Island Police Department on Friday. The gun was unloaded, and no one was injured, but the incident raised questions about how a gun got there and by whom. Rock Island Police Chief McCloud released a statement on Facebook today.
“As you may have learned, during a tour of our police department on Friday for the Eugene Field Elementary School, a student located an unloaded handgun hidden inside a pillow in a holding cell. The entire incident raises a number of questions, the most important being, “how could this have happened?”
Let me first say that we make no excuses for this mistake and as we work to determine what actions or inactions contributed to this unfortunate situation, we know and expect that the citizens of Rock Island rightfully hold their police department to a standard that we did not meet. You entrust us to safeguard our community, especially our most vulnerable, and we fell short of that. As your police department, we have to do better and we will do better.
Once I learned of the situation, I immediately launched an internal investigation of the incident with our Office of Professional Standards. I spoke directly with the students, staff, and parents present to apologize for what they went through, thank them for their quick thinking, and promise them that we will work to ensure this never happens again. I contacted Eugene Field Elementary Principal Alongi to inform her of the situation, and then spoke with incoming Superintendent Dr. Sharon Williams who enacted a plan to notify parents.
We have initiated an intense review of our policies and procedures to determine what gaps may have led to this error. As a matter of clarification, our temporary holding cells are not jail cells and typically go several months without being used. When not in use, the cells are kept locked and no one, including cleaning staff, enter inside. Regardless, our citizens demand accountability and if it is determined that existing policies or procedures were not followed, those involved will receive appropriate repercussions. As we work to rebuild your trust, we will also be enacting additional and ongoing training with our personnel to ensure this type of incident is never repeated.”