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Dear Community Leaders,
Welcome
to another quarterly edition of the Lake County State's Attorney's Office's
'For the People' Newsletter.
In
July, the Lake County State's Attorney's Office's Children's Advocacy Center
held its groundbreaking ceremony for the healing garden. This project will
provide a safe and positive space for children that visit our Center. The
sole purpose is to help bring comfort to children who have been the victims of
crime.
My
hope is that this newsletter serves as a source of beneficial information on
the happenings within the SAO. We have worked to create new
partnerships as well as to strengthen existing relationships with our community
partners in order to put in place programs that will help create a safer and
more secure Lake County.
Below,
you will find out how the SAO has participated in programs and has worked with
other organizations to continue to work toward making a difference in our
community. It is very important for me to be present in our community and to
continue the wonderful work that has been happening. Together, we are saving
lives, changing lives and most importantly-positively impacting the Lake County
Community.
It
is my honor to serve as your State's Attorney.
Thank you.
Yours truly,
Michael G. Nerheim
Lake County State's Attorney
 Lake County State's Attorney Mike Nerheim has joined David Northern, Sr. CEO for the Lake County Housing Authority among other leaders to address the gap between the community and law enforcement. Mr. Northern has begun positive and healthy conversations on bridging the gap between law enforcement and our beloved community. It is truly a privilege to sit at the table with many leaders: Senator Melinda Bush, Undersheriff Ray Rose, Mano a Mano Family Resource Center, the Latino Coalition of Lake County, Switch Lanes and other law enforcement partners.
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Lake County, IL - The Lake County Children's Advocacy Center (LCCAC) hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, July 26, 2016 for their Healing Garden. The ceremony took place from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM.
The Lake County Children’s Advocacy Center is committed to providing a safe environment for child victims of abuse. The Children's Advocacy Center's goal is to investigate and help successfully prosecute offenders of child abuse without causing further trauma to the child victim. The Advocacy Center is dedicated to approaching victims of child abuse in a sensitive, respectful manner. A child victim is defined as anyone from birth to eighteen years of age. The Center provides services to individuals beyond age eighteen when special circumstances (i.e. developmental disability) require special handling of a victim. The center is a 501 (c)3 not for profit organization.
A total of $80,000 was raised to complete the project for the Healing Garden.
In the year 2015, there were a total of 615 Victim Sensitive Interviews at the LCCAC, 517 child sexual abuse cases, 54 physical abuse cases, 44 witness to abuse cases, 197 cases where the alleged offender is a relative, and 386 were victims who were 12 years of age or under.
In 2016 (January-July), there have been a total of 341 Victim Sensitive Interviews, 261 child sexual abuse cases, 52 physical abuse cases, 28 witness to abuse cases, 121 cases where the alleged offender is a relative, and 218 cases where the victim was 12 years of age or under.
"It is my hope that the Lake County Children's Advocacy Center's Healing Garden will help bring comfort and smiles to children-even after a tragedy has impacted their lives," said State's Attorney Mike Nerheim. "The garden will also serve as a place for self-reflection and healing. A child should not be defined by situations that are out of their control; they still deserve to lead a normal and healthy life, " he added.
Lake County State's Attorney Mike Nerheim has introduced a space that will serve as a comfort for child victims of crime. At the Healing Garden, children will have the opportunity to be reminded that they are loved and cared for-regardless of the circumstances that surround them.
In addition, Lake County State's Attorney Mike Nerheim would like to thank all of the LCCAC's partners, the Friends Committee, and the Lake County State's Attorney's Office Staff for making this project so memorable as well as for their dedication and commitment.
To learn more of the Children's Avocacy Center, view the video at http://www.lakecountyil.gov/2066/Childrens-Advocacy-Center
On Saturday, September 24, 2016 the Faith Committee of Lake County's Domestic Violence Council is hosting a workshop on Senior Scams. The workshop is intended to bring awareness and educate the public in regards to crimes against the elderly, with a particular emphasis on financial exploitation.
The workshop will take place from 10 am until 12 pm at the Gurnee Police Department, 100 N. O'Plaine Road in Gurnee.
To register please visit www.seniorsandfinancialscams.eventbrite.com
In the past three months, Lake County, IL has seen a significant increase in phone calls made to residents of people falsely claiming to be Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents. The callers indicate that they are looking for payment and stating that if payments are not made, the taxpayer will be arrested.
For more information visit: www.irs.gov
Please be aware and see below for a press release from the IRS:
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service issued a consumer alert today providing taxpayers with additional tips to protect themselves from telephone scam artists calling and pretending to be with the IRS.
These callers may demand money or may say you have a refund due and try to trick you into sharing private information. These con artists can sound convincing when they call. They may know a lot about you, and they usually alter the caller ID to make it look like the IRS is calling. They use fake names and bogus IRS identification badge numbers. If you don’t answer, they often leave an “urgent” callback request.
“These telephone scams are being seen in every part of the country, and we urge people not to be deceived by these threatening phone calls,” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said. “We have formal processes in place for people with tax issues. The IRS respects taxpayer rights, and these angry, shake-down calls are not how we do business.”
The IRS reminds people that they can know pretty easily when a supposed IRS caller is a fake. Here are five things the scammers often do but the IRS will not do. Any one of these five things is a tell-tale sign of a scam. The IRS will never:
- Call to demand immediate payment, nor will we call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill..
- Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.
- Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card.
- Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
- Threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.
If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money, here’s what you should do:
- If you know you owe taxes or think you might owe, call the IRS at 1.800.829.1040. The IRS workers can help you with a payment issue.
- If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to believe that you do, report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at 1.800.366.4484 or atwww.tigta.gov.
- You can file a complaint using the FTC Complaint Assistant; choose “Other” and then “Imposter Scams.” If the complaint involves someone impersonating the IRS, include the words “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes.
Remember, too, the IRS does not use unsolicited email, text messages or any social media to discuss your personal tax issue. For more information on reporting tax scams, go to www.irs.gov and type “scam” in the search box.
Additional information about tax scams are available on IRS social media sites, including YouTube and Tumblr where people can search “scam” to find all the scam-related posts.
The Lake County Opioid Initiative's 'A Way Out' program has had a total of 26 participants. The participants have been successfully routed to treatment to address their substance abuse/addiction issue.
By taking advantage of “A Way Out”, participants and their loved ones are given the opportunity for help and treatment to end the destructive cycle that substance abuse, dependency or addiction has caused in their lives. Participants are given the chance to avoid the biological, psychological and environmental harms and are set on a direct course to recovery. The only requirement of participants is their self-motivation to seek recovery. Click on the image above to learn more or visit www.awayoutlc.org
Under the direction of Lake County State’s Attorney Michael G. Nerheim, the State’s Attorney’s Office designed an Alternative Prosecution Program. This program will offer first time, non-violent offenders who, in exchange for accepting responsibility for their criminal conduct, have the opportunity to keep a conviction from being permanently entered on their record. The program gives deserving defendants a second chance to improve their lives, and to avoid the stigma of a criminal conviction. For more information please view the Alternative Prosecution Program Brochure (PDF).
For more information please visit www.lcsao.org.
 Congressman Robert J. Dold's Youth Leadership Academy visited the Lake County State's Attorney's Office on August 01, 2016. They had the opportunity to tour the State's Attorney's Office, speak with some staff about their job duties at the SAO, as well as meet with our Lake County State's Attorney, Mike Nerheim.
They enjoyed their time at the SAO. The SAO would like to thank them for their visit.
 The Lake County State's Attorney's Office staff had the pleasure to volunteer for Bernie's Book Bank.
Bernie’s Book Bank collects, processes and distributes quality new and gently used children’s books to significantly increase book ownership among at-risk infants, toddlers and school-age children throughout Chicagoland.
Reading is the single most important skill a child needs to learn. Yet studies show that 61% of low-income families don’t have any books at all in their homes for their children.*
Bernie’s Book Bank aims to change that statistic by pouring quality children’s books into “at-risk” homes, ensuring that children have access to books from birth, and arrive to school “reading ready.”
Bernie's Book Bank-thank you for all of your hard work in our community!
To learn more about volunteer opportunities please visit: http://berniesbookbank.org/volunteer/
 State's Attorney Mike Nerheim is a Co-Chair of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids- Illinois here in Lake County. In August, he held a very important discussion on the importance of early childhood education via pre-school programs. S.A. Nerheim is a leader on finding productive and effective ways to fight crime by giving opportunities to those who need them.
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Illinois is led by police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, leaders of law enforcement organizations and crime survivors who take a hard look at the research about what prevents kids from becoming criminals and put that information in the hands of policymakers and the general public.
Visit the Fight Crime: Invest in Kids website at: http://www.fightcrime.org/illinois/
 S.A. Mike Nerheim was the guest speaker. He spoke about the programs and resources that were put in place at the State's Attorney's Office since taking office.
To learn more about the programs, please visit www.lcsao.org.
 The United States Surgeon General, Vivek H. Murthy visited the University of Chicago-School of Medicine last month. He sat on a panel with Senator Dick Durbin to discuss the heroin/opioid epidemic as well as bring the awareness on the issue.
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