'Now don't encourage them'

Police records crew just wants to have fun

For the record, the ladies in the Waukegan Police Department's records office just like to have fun.

"Now don't encourage them," said Police Chief Artist Yancey, referring to Minie Perea, Heather Preston, Debra Santago and Gina Porras.

"I like it," he said of their mini MASH (mobile army surgical hospital) unit, consisting of green canopy cloth draped over their desks, little paratrooper men, and a model plane hanging from the ceiling. They either borrowed the camouflage outfits from friends or made a stop at an army surplus store.

"It's a good entertainment value," Chief Yancey said with a laugh.

Santago even had a GI-style dog tag made up identifying her as an army nurse, and Preston had authentic dog tags.

"I got them from an ex-boyfriend," she said.

Last year, they dressed as jailbirds, and their cubicles were turned into holding cells.

"From doing time behind bars to serving their country," said Santago, laughing.

The first year they teamed up, all were angels. Things got more elaborate with the jailhouse setting. Now the MASH unit with its iconic white cross on a red background.

"A couple of the officers mentioned (the television show) MASH," she said.

Porras said the coworkers threw around ideas before settling on this one.

"We're already talking about next year," Porras said.

"They look forward to seeing what we can come up with," said Santago, referring to the other office workers and officers who walk through their records department.

"We're thinking of a disco theme for next year. That's going to be fun," she said.