Ex-Flossmoor Village Police Chief Jerel Jones shares his side following termination amid community uproar

FLOSSMOOR, Ill. (WLS) — Former Flossmoor Police Chief Jerel Jones is speaking out, after his firing drew an outcry from the community.

Jones wants his job back so badly he has made a new zero money settlement offer to the village of Flossmoor.

Jones filed a racial discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the village and its manager after he was fired: Flossmoor’s first Black police chief lasted less than a year.

“My prayer is that no one has to endure the scrutiny and the overly micromanagement and a nitpicking that I had to undergo,” Jones said.

Jones said starting last October, several performance review memos were placed in his file, some critical of the way he spoke.

Jones said the nitpicking began during the first few months on the job, when he was criticized for the way he managed the annual Flossmoor Fest, where a large group of teens showed up.

“Ultimately, nothing happened at the festival. There were no casualties; there were no major incidents that took place,” Jones said.

Jones claims the event was well-planned and secure. Yet, he said village officials held more than 70 briefings, criticizing his job performance.

“I was confident going into the festival, knowing that all of us, as department directors, we sat around the table in the pre-planning. The police department didn’t go rogue,” Jones said.

On Monday night, residents and members of the village’s Community Relations Commission pleaded with the mayor and village manager for more transparency on why Jones was fired.

In a letter to the community a few weeks ago, Mayor Michelle Nelson wrote there were “serious operational and administrative lapses under his watch.”

Jones and his attorneys are asking for the village to release all memos and documents from Jones’ personnel file.

“If there was a massive fire in those memos that created cause for this termination, they would’ve released them, but they haven’t, and that silence speaks volumes,” said Cass Casper, with Disparti Law Group.

When Jones filed his lawsuit a few weeks ago, the village of Flossmoor officials did not comment, nor did they on Tuesday.

A court hearing for Jones’ case is scheduled in mid-May.