The chief of police in the Tazewell County village of Creve Coeur says his department is in a "state of chaos" following the departure of its two top officers.
Creve Coeur Police [CCPD] Chief Dale King has been back on the job for three weeks after the resignations of Chief Justin Egan, Deputy Chief Dan Nelson and Officer Dustin Ward.
"It's one thing to lose half your department; it's another when that half is all your upper management," King said in a phone call with WCBU.
Having previously retired, King must be recertified with the state's Law Enforcement and Safety Standards Board to be able to return to active service. He said he's making progress toward that, and is also working to gain access to the department's records, policies and other critical needs. Without the passwords, he couldn't even post on CCPD's Facebook page and started a new one.
Alleged misuse of Flock cameras
Egan replaced King, who was the CCPD chief from 2016-2022. In a public statement, King said he accepted the village's request to return for one reason: "I care about Creve Coeur and the people who live here."
Village officials accepted the three resignations on Aug. 21 without offering an explanation, but Egan and Nelson are named as respondents in an emergency order of protection and stalking/no-contact order filed Aug. 28 in Peoria County.
Mayor Fred Lang previously said the resignations had nothing to do with the first-degree murder charges filed in July against another ex-Creve Coeur police officer, Caitlynn Girkin, in the shooting death of her roommate Adolfo Cazares.
In her request for an emergency order of protection, Egan's ex-wife mentions a physical abuse allegation made by one of their children, who is autistic. She states in the request that child protective services is investigating.
She said another one of their children has alleged Egan uses alcohol excessively around the children, and she said text messages sent by Egan to another police officer discussed a photo of her residence and its "best point of entry."
A hearing will be held Tuesday in Peoria County Court to determine if the emergency order of protection will continue. The request asks that Egan not be allowed to have contact with his ex-wife or their children or be within 300 feet of her home, place of employment and children's schools.
"...due to recent police department resignation, access to weapons, erratic behavior and being more physically violent with my autistic son, I am deeply concerned with future fallout," court documents said.
Court documents obtained by WCBU also allege Egan used the village's Flock license plate cameras to keep tabs on his ex-wife, who is seeking the orders of protection, while he was police chief. Egan is also accused of ordering other officers to track her.
The woman claims to have been provided evidence of text messages and misuse of Flock cameras by state police. Illinois State Police trooper Josh Robinson confirmed an "active investigation into this matter," but declined to elaborate.
The couple filed for divorce in 2025, according to court documents. Peoria County court records show Egan was served a different order of protection in 2006 by a woman he was married to previously. They divorced in 2007.
Getting up to speed
King confirmed the department has three Flock cameras, but said they were not installed until after he retired.
King said he's in "a learning stage" regarding how the license plate camera data is used by CCPD, and what the department's current policies are surrounding transparency and accountability. In the weeks since King has been back on the job, he's reviewed resources surrounding Flock use at the East Peoria Police Department and sent them to the village board to review.
He envisions establishing a policy similar to others requiring officers to document legitimate use of various data, which must be tied to an investigation that he personally signs off on.
Several Central Illinois police agencies that use Flock say transparency features and inter-agency sharing capabilities of the cameras are what make it a desirable brand over others available on the market. However, the state does not mandate that agencies provide the public with license plate camera data.
Each municipality must negotiate its contract with Flock, and each individual police department self-governs use of the cameras and determines if or how much information is volunteered to the public.
CCPD does not have a transparency portal or any publicly available policies and procedures around acceptable use of its license plate-reading cameras.
"We're going to go through some changes," King said. "[Flock] is being abused nationwide and I don't want to lose it."
King said he hopes to be fully up to speed with updated policies before the current contract needs to be reviewed by the village board next spring. But he also acknowledged his department has work to do in rebuilding trust.
In a public statement, King said there are good officers in the department who are serving the community through an extremely difficult period, "and they deserve the opportunity to move forward as well.
"Rebuilding trust will not happen through a press release, and it will not happen overnight," he said. "Trust has to be earned through our actions. Going forward, I expect our officers to treat people with dignity and respect, to be professional in their conduct, to be honest in their reports and interactions, to be visible and engaged in the community, and to understand that wearing a badge comes with both authority and accountability."
