'A Hell Of A Ride': Orland Park Police Chief To Retire After 27 Years

Orland Park IL

07 March, 2022

1:28 PM

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By Jon DePaolis, Richard Free Press: While poor eyesight dashed Joseph Mitchell's plans to become a pilot, another career path took flight. Mitchell has spent the past 27 years rising through the ranks to become Orland Park's police chief. Mitchell announced his intention to retire from the Orland Park Police Department on March 25, but he will be continuing in law enforcement as the chief of police in Wilmington, Illinois.Mitchell said he loves Orland Park and will be "forever indebted" to it for the opportunity he was given to serve the community. "Orland Park is always going to be deep in my heart," Mitchell said in an interview with Richard Free Press on Thursday, March 3. "It is a community I love and respect — a community that I've risked my life for and that I bled and cried for. I'm going to miss it terribly, but the next person who takes this on is going to do a great job. I'm confident of that. "It was a great 27 years, a hell of a ride." When longtime Orland Park Police Chief Timothy McCarthy retired from the post in July 2020, the Village of Orland Park Board of Trustees quickly voted to name Mitchell – who at the time was serving as deputy chief – as the interim chief of police. The board members made that title permanent after a unanimous vote in September 2020. The quick appointment was part of a larger succession plan that the police department had in place, according to Mayor Keith Pekau, who spoke to Richard Free Press on Friday, March 4."Chief McCarthy put [then] Deputy Chief Mitchell into that position to become chief," Pekau said. "That was who he thought should follow in his footsteps." And while Pekau said he often disagreed with the previous mayoral administration, the one area they agreed on was the police department. "Chief McCarthy helped build a really good department that really focused on the relationships that we have with federal agencies and other agencies," Pekau said. "Chief Mitchell was involved with that, [too], as he moved up through the ranks over 27 years in various roles."But that long career almost did not happen. When Mitchell was younger, he had his sights set on becoming a pilot. He graduated from Lewis University with a degree in aviation. But shortly after his graduation, his eyesight began to deteriorate. And so after a year of working in construction, he started giving serious thought to what he was going to do with his life.Mitchell is a third-generation police officer, as his grandfather was a member of the Chicago Police Department for more than 30 years and his uncle was a Chicago and south suburban police officer "It was kind of in the blood," Mitchell said. With the Orland Park Police Department exam coming up soon, Mitchell decided he would take it."I said, 'You know what, I've been running from that pretty much my whole life, [but] I think I'm destined for it,'" he recalled. "I ended up taking the test, and I scored fairly well. I ended up going to the Chicago Police Academy in 1995 and became valedictorian. From there on, I just fell in love with the profession. It's not a job. It's a calling in a lot of ways." Mitchell said he always has enjoyed helping people, but his passion for policing goes further than just that. "I like helping people — kids, the elderly, people who are victims — and I like to solve problems," he said. "This job provides me the opportunity to do that." Mitchell started off as a patrol officer in Orland Park. "I grew up in the south suburbs, and Orland Park was always a destination that everybody wanted to go to because of the mall," he said. "It had a great reputation for the police department."Over his 27 years, he worked his way up to investigator, sergeant, lieutenant, commander, deputy chief and chief of police. He even spent part of 2019 as the Village's interim assistant village manager. "I was actually the most-promoted person under [Chief McCarthy's] administration over 26 years," Mitchell said. "He was my mentor and my guiding light in a lot of ways. He gave me opportunities and allowed me to grow and develop a lot of good programs for the police department under his leadership. He gave me the authority to do that." One of those programs – what Mitchell referred to as "the crown jewel" of his time with the department – was the creation of a crisis intervention team. Work on that program began around 2014 after he saw an uptick in the number of mental health-related calls to the police department.Mitchell attributed part of that to the closure of the Tinley Park Mental Health Center but also because of cuts to funding for mental health services in the state. "I created this program and found the right guy to run with it, [Lt.] Troy Siewert," Mitchell said. As the program grew, it prospered — receiving a nearly $745,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice that was authored by him, Siewert, DePaul University and Trinity Services. The process took about three years, but the grant allowed the department to expand the program to create a mobile crisis response unit. "That means having law enforcement connected at the hip with mental health professionals and having those mental health professionals responding to calls in Orland Park," Mitchell said. "That program has expanded to an additional five or six jurisdictions this year. It's been phenomenal."The recidivism rate has been going down. Hospitalizations have been going down. We are seeing more and more people getting referrals and going to and seeking mental health counseling and therapy. "It has had a tremendous impact on Orland Park — keeping people who should not be in jail out of jail and into therapy." Mitchell also is proud of the drone program he helped develop for the police department."We were the first in the state of Illinois municipal government to have a drone, and that program has been successful," he said. "A lot of agencies have reached out to us regarding missing people [or] offenders [fleeing] on foot." He said the drone program has helped solved crimes and keep officers safe. Mitchell also helped start the naloxone program in Orland Park after he saw an increase in the number of narcotics overdoses occurring locally in 2014 and 2015. Naloxone is a nasal spray that can be used to treat narcotic overdose victims. "We were the first in Cook County to hook up with a nonprofit to get the naloxone and start deploying it on the streets of Orland Park," he said. Mitchell pointed to the support the Village Board has given the police department over the years as a key reason the department has been able to stay ahead of the curve on technological advances in solving crimes. When Mitchell became chief of police, it was right in the beginning months of a global pandemic that saw the state locked down, masked up and socially distancing. It was not that he just had to keep residents safe. He also had to protect his staff. "As an infection control officer, I did a lot with [COVID-19 preparedness]," he said. "We had to put out some very stiff and strict procedures to keep our officers and our dispatchers safe. Those dispatchers are so critical to our first responders. That is one of the most difficult and challenging jobs out there." Mitchell went to work on immediately implementing protocols after doing research and following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Illinois Department of Public Health. He also had to grapple with logistical issues pertaining to acquiring and receiving safety supplies for his officers. "But we were able to secure the N95 masks and gloves," he said. "We also purchased a couple of machines that helped for aeration and for Clorox spray to keep our terminals clean."Mitchell said communication and collaboration with the Orland Fire Protection District was important, as well. He also had to contend with legislation that has done away with cash bail and other measures. But even amidst that, in 2021, Orland Park had its lowest crime rate in 27 years. Read more at Richard Free Press Richard Free Press is a one-stop destination for the news that most affects you, the southwest suburban resident. Be an informed citizen of the town you live in and love.