Hoffman Estates police chief Hish retiring Friday

Hoffman Estates Police Chief Mike Hish will retire Friday, about four years after he was named chief to replace the then retiring Clint Herdegen.

Like Herdegen, Hish's career in law enforcement isn't ending with Hoffman Estates. While Herdegen became chief of the Libertyville Police Department, Hish on Monday will become a patrol officer in Inverness - where the entire police department consists of officers who retired from other agencies.

"It gives me an opportunity to do what I love and stay within the system," Hish said. "It's the part of the job I really love the best."

Hish, who's only a few months shy of his 30th anniversary with Hoffman Estates, was officially sworn in as permanent chief in February 2011, following a brief tenure as acting chief.

"It's been the best job I ever had," Hish said. "If it hadn't been my 30 years, I'd want to stay."

Assistant Police Chief Ted Bos, who joined the department on the same day as Hish in January 1985, has been named acting chief by Village Manager Jim Norris.

Norris said he was informed of Hish's decision to retire several weeks ago. But because of the reduced meeting schedule during the summer, the formal announcement to the village board was made only this week.

Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod said the village appreciates the nearly three decades in which Hish has served with distinction. Hish became particularly invaluable, he said, with the emergency training he received and passed on to others in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

"He really knew his stuff," McLeod said. "He was just exceptional with that."

The emergency preparedness local agencies have attained is serving their communities well - even if the general public isn't always aware of it, Hish said. This preparation comes into use not only for manmade emergencies like 9/11 but natural disasters too, he added.

"The worst thing we can do is go to sleep and pretend it can't happen again," he said.

Bos will serve as acting chief while Norris evaluates a process for selecting Hish's permanent replacement. There is no set time frame for the search, Norris said.