Lake County Gazette

Former Vernon Hills Deputy Chief of Police Patrick Zimmerman has been charged with two felony counts of official misconduct and two misdemeanor theft counts.

A grand jury accused Zimmerman of falsifying records related to the Sustained Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP). The program, administered by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and implemented throughout Illinois, disbursed grants to local police departments to compensate for police officers’ additional time spent on traffic enforcement. No tickets were forwarded in connection with the records suspected to be false, and no motorists were affected.

“We must hold our police officers to the highest standards,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said in a press release. “While we acknowledge Zimmerman’s 26 years as a police officer, our duty to the law demands that we bring these charges and inform the public about the misuse of taxpayer funds. Our office is in the process of conducting an internal audit of the criminal cases that Zimmerman personally handled.”   

An investigation claims that Zimmerman, who resigned from the Vernon Hills Police Department last year, had been paid more than $4,000 based on alleged false traffic citations he had written.

“Although we were extremely disappointed to learn of Zimmerman’s alleged conduct, other members of our department deserve credit for identifying the initial discrepancies and bringing it to light,” Vernon Hills Chief of Police Patrick L. Kreis said.

Kreis further stated that his department is determined to work on the case and has been diligently acting on it with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, IDOT, and village officials.

“This department is committed to holding itself accountable to the public trust it has been granted,” Kreiss added.

Zimmerman is scheduled for an arraignment on April 5 before Lake County Circuit Judge Mark Levitt and will remain free on a stayed $50,000 bench warrant until his arraignment.

Promoted in 2018, he has worked in Vernon Hills for two decades and he said during an interview with The Chicago Tribune that he loves the community and the people he works with. Zimmerman has also held various roles in the department.

He was once part of a high-profile sex abuse investigation during his stint as Vernon Hills police deputy chief. The suspects were Vernon Hills High School alumni, according to The Daily Herald.