Rock Falls Police Chief to announce retirement amid fallout from flawed investigation

ROCK FALLS, Ill. – Rock Falls Police Chief David Pilgrim is soon expected to announce his retirement amid the fallout from a flawed investigation earlier this year.

Click here to see an update to this story.

More than one alderman told me Pilgrim notified city council of his decision last week.

Pilgrim has been with the Rock Falls Police Department since 2001. He was appointed Chief in early 2021, according to the city.

Before his appointment as Chief of Police, Pilgrim served as the Administrative Commander. He has served in nearly every position at the department throughout his career including Patrol Officer, Detective, Field Training Officer, Patrol Sergeant, Detective Sergeant, and firearms instructor, according to the city.

The decision to retire comes after Dan Gordon called on Pilgrim to resign in June because of the police department’s handling of the investigation into his son’s murder.

“He was on the scene, which should put him in charge of that scene,” Gordon said. “Any errors that happened on that scene are ultimately on him. In one way or another, either he saw the error happen and did nothing to stop it, or his people were not concerned enough about his presence on a crime scene, or the gravity of his crime scene, to not break protocol.”

In May, Kyle Cooper, 36, of Rock Falls, was set to stand trial on First Degree Murder for fatally stabbing DJ Gordon in February. If convicted, he would have faced at least 60 years to life in prison, court records show.

Later that month, both parties agreed to a plea deal involving the dismissal of all the original charges but adding Second Degree Murder, court records show.

The plea deal came after the defense revealed a flawed investigation including destruction of evidence and a lead investigator who was not certified to conduct death or homicide investigations, court records show. Read more here.

After pleading guilty to Second Degree Murder, Cooper was sentenced to 20 years in prison with credit for 97 days served in county jail, court records show.

Despite calling for Pilgrim’s resignation, Gordon says he still doesn’t consider the chief’s ultimate departure a ‘win.’

“It’d be a hell of a lot better to have DJ here than to have any of this going on,” Gordon said. “I’m not blaming them for his death, but I do think that there needs to be some accountability for the way the job was done.”

Gordon says he will be closely monitoring and engaging with the city’s process to fill the vacancy left behind.

“I really hope the City of Rock Falls takes their time in hiring a new chief,” Gordon said. “It’s better to not have anybody for awhile than it would be to put the wrong person in that position and end up with as bad of a culture as you have now, if not worse.”

Lacking trust in Mayor Rod Kleckler’s leadership, Gordon says he hopes the next chief will be hired from outside the department to follow up on the investigation into his son’s murder, and ensure the same mistakes won’t happen again.

Stopping short of calling for Kleckler’s resignation, Gordon encourages Rock Falls residents to consider a change in leadership when they have the opportunity.

“I think come election time everybody should remember he thought I should be ‘satisfied’ with that investigation,” Gordon said. “I’m definitely going to be paying close attention to who the [Chief’s] replacement is and how that decision is made and everything.”

It is unclear how the flawed investigation may have influenced Pilgrim’s decision to retire. I reached out to the Chief, Mayor and City Administrator but none have responded to my requests for comment.

Sources say Pilgrim is expected to formally announce his retirement at the city council meeting set for Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

SEPTEMBER 2 UPDATE: Pilgrim formally announced his retirement at the Sep. 2 council meeting and agreed to an interview with me to talk about the Gordon case. Mayor Kleckler told me he supports the chief’s handling of the Gordon case decision to retire. I have still not heard from the State’s Attorney’s Office.

This is a developing story. Updates will be provided as they become available.

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