Joliet looks to hire police
By Bob Okon bokon@stmedianetwork.com April 17, 2012 10:20PM
Updated: May 21, 2012 8:30AM
JOLIET — The city is making plans to hire police officers, reversing three years of attrition related to budget cuts.
The number of Joliet police officers has fallen from 302 to 246 since the city started offering buyouts in 2009 to cut staff and reduce budget costs.
City Manager Thomas Thanas said the city is looking hiring as it faces the possibility that nine more police officers could leave in the coming months because of retirement and injuries.
Just how many officers the city would hire and when is not clear. But Thanas urged the Joliet City Council Public Safety Committee on Tuesday to approve a new hiring system for the police department if the city is to test and hire later this year.
The committee voted 3-0 to move ahead with the plan.
The new plan is to hire from other police departments, saving the city the costs of sending new officers to the police academy.
Thanas estimated the savings at about $40,000 per hire by employing officers already certified and trained for police work.
The police department has already put together a recruitment committee and has been hearing from interested officers in other departments, said Police Commander Alan Roechner.
“We’ve got several from Chicago who have been calling,” Roechner said.
