OP Police Chief Pitches Idea To Stave Off Future Staffing Issues At Special Budget Hearing

Orland Park IL

04 December, 2020

11:29 AM

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From the Richard Free Press: By Jon DePaolis ORLAND PARK, Ill. — Staffing may soon become a challenge for the Orland Park Police Department and other law enforcement agencies, but Police Chief Joseph Mitchell may have a creative solution to help alleviate those concerns at the local level. Mitchell presented a proposal Monday, Nov. 30, during a special meeting of the Village of Orland Park Board of Trustees to discuss the next fiscal year's budget. "We're struggling to find high-caliber, qualified officers to join the force," he said. Mitchell said he heard that a police department in an affluent neighborhood north of Orland Park had just one person take the police exam recently. It is an issue he also is seeing in Orland Park, as the department is running out of potential officers on its eligibility list. "Right now, our problem is that we are depleting our current list one year earlier than planned," he said. "This is the second time we have gone through this issue. We're going to deplete our current eligibility list in January 2021 versus January 2022." Mitchell said there were several reasons why, including some candidates not passing background checks. But the issue is more than just not having enough people on the list. "Ten percent of my law enforcement officers can retire tomorrow," Mitchell said. "Another 7% can retire by the end of next year, [and] 25% of my sworn personnel can retire in five years." Mitchell said his solution is to "grow and cultivate a farm team." "I want to grow my [community service officers] and my detention aides — young men and women who have a feeling that they may want to become a police officer," Mitchell told the board members. "I want to sponsor them for a part-time police academy, whereupon they will go to the academy for eight months at a cost to the Village of $1,800 [per person]." Community service officers (CSOs) — which are civilian positions — assist the police department with lockouts, some parking violations, interoffice mail delivery, traffic direction and working at special events. Detention aides are assigned to the Village's lockup facility. They assist the officers with making sure the prisoners are being watched and processed. They also help complete paperwork in order to allow the officers to get back on the street to patrol. "They [all] do a lot of fantastic work," Mitchell said in a follow-up interview with Richard Free Press on Tuesday, Dec. 1. "They are young men and women who are very dedicated to police work and community service." At the Nov. 30 meeting, Mitchell said there are a lot of "outstanding potential recruits" in the Village's CSO and detention aide positions. "They are very dedicated and very loyal," he said. "They understand our organization as a whole … [and] they understand our culture and our leadership." In order to move forward, Mitchell asked the Village Board to approve an increase in the number of part-time officers for the police department. "We will not eclipse the amount of payroll for that particular line item, so we'd stay within that budget even if we hired additional part-time officers," he said. Mitchell also said he worked with the Village attorney to put together a contract that a potential candidate would have to agree to before being sponsored by the Village for the part-time police academy. "I have a contract that they would sign for a two-year commitment to be a part-time officer in the Orland Park Police Department," Mitchell said. "If they do not perform academically, they get terminated or they get hired by another agency [then] they would be responsible for paying that money back. However, if they in fact become a full-time police officer of the Village of Orland Park prior to the two years, we obviously would waive that fee." During the meeting, Mayor Keith Pekau said he thought it was a "fantastic idea." "That is thinking outside of the box to come up with a solution to what we know is a long-term problem," Pekau said. In the Dec. 1 follow-up interview, Mitchell also noted that the sponsorship would only be available to CSOs or detention aides who have been with the police department for a year or more. They also would need to have received an outstanding evaluation and meet all other selection criteria as determined by the police department. The potential program also will potentially cut back on the time it takes for the department to replace officers who have retired. "I have to put [new officers] through four months of police academy training and four months of an additional field training," Mitchell said. "So, by the time they are ready to go and replace an officer who retired, it's about nine to 10 months later. That's a huge impact. "By sending these CSOs and detention aides to a part-time academy, I can start that process early, so that if in fact they take the Orland Park full-time police exam and they do well, I can [hire] them." Mitchell said it is a "short-term cost for a long-term investment" and a "win-win" for both the potential employee and the department. "My goal is not to keep these new part-time officers [in that role]," Mitchell said. "This is my way of growing them in the organization, cultivating them and getting them to that full-time status." 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.