Pingree Grove police finds identity in sunset

A stunning Pingree Grove sunset that highlighted the bridge on Wester Boulevard was just the visual Police Chief Carol Lussky needed.

Lussky's sunset sighting came at a time in which she and her advisers couldn't decide how a new police uniform patch should look.

But the subsequent photos she took of that glorious sunset were enough to win everyone over.

One of her pictures is immortalized on the patches.

"It was just such a beautiful Arizona sunset with all the pinks and the blues," Lussky said. "It was just such a cool moment."

The patch marks the police department's first -- officials established the force of a chief and four sworn officers only last year.

The patch, a marriage between the rural and the modern Pingree Grove, is found on both sleeves of the village's police uniform.

The design casts the massive bridge against the gorgeous sunset.

"It's one of the obvious focal points of Pingree as you drive down Route 72," Lussky said of the bridge, noting that it's a timeless image. "It's given us our identity."

This bridge, which runs above a lake, connects the rural part of the town to the new Cambridge Lakes subdivision that's responsible for the village's population boom.

Underneath the montage, white text identifies the image as belonging to Pingree Grove and notes the town was established in 1907.

The police chief said she designed the patch with input from village officials, trustees and a Hillside man who collects police patches.

Meanwhile, 2007 has been the year that Pingree Grove's police force has come into its own.

In addition to hiring four part-time officers, the village is due to bring three more onto the force before the year is out, Village Manager James Bassett said.

The department's most ambitious project is the $3.5 million public safety building it's due to break ground on in October.

The 10,000-square-foot building will meet standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, saving between 20 percent and 30 percent in annual energy costs over other buildings of its size.

Earlier this year, the department also purchased its first squad car. And it just got an SUV for patrolling the village's rugged areas.