More Cops Needed In Elmhurst?

Elmhurst IL

02 November, 2021

8:38 AM

Description

ELMHURST, IL — The issue of police staffing came up Monday during an Elmhurst City Council meeting. The police chief responded whether his department needed more officers. During a budget presentation, Alderman Michael Honquest asked whether the police department needed authority to hire additional officers, saying crime had been on the rise. In response, Police Chief Michael Ruth said he needed to focus now on filling officer vacancies. Four positions are open, with another one expected to become vacant soon, he said. Ruth cited staffing shortages in police departments across the country. "If you watch the news, the police aren't real popular right now," the chief said. "We are losing a lot of people as a profession. People are saying, 'I'm done. I'm walking away.' They took the job to help people and be the good guy, and they're getting beaten up by everybody." As evidence of the challenge, the city recently put together a list of 35 eligible officer candidates who passed the written exam. "In the past, it has been several hundred," Ruth said. At full strength, the department employs 68 full-time and 15 part-time officers, he said. Now, he said, police agencies are competing for a small group of officer candidates. Just before the meeting, Ruth said an officer informed him that he was leaving to join the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, where he would receive a cash bonus. (Weather may be another bonus: The temperature is expected to reach 46 in Elmhurst today; Fort Lauderdale, 79.) Once the department reaches full staffing, the chief said, then he would assess whether the department needed more officers. He also said the department should operate "smarter" by leveraging its technology to help keep the community safe. Such technology includes license plate reader cameras, he said. Additionally, the department is proposing the creation of a crime prevention officer position to remove such duties from other officers. It also wants to hire two traffic interns in the summer to help with the deployment and collection of data to keep streets safer. "I would very much like anyone out there who has evil on their mind to know that they will be relentlessly pursued by the Elmhurst Police Department," Ruth said. "So don't come here if you're going to commit a crime."