Hainesville police started patrols full time Friday

When he retired in June, officer Roy McCommons never expected to find himself behind the wheel of a squad car again.

But when he heard that Lake County's oldest village would be home to the county's newest police department, McCommons couldn't pass up a chance to be a part of it.

So on Friday night, as Hainesville began patrolling its streets full time, 24-seven, McCommons, 51, found himself behind the wheel again.

"I like being involved in new projects, and you can't get anything bigger than this," he said. "This started from ground zero."

While having cops in Hainesville isn't exactly a new idea, this weekend marks the first time the village will have a full-time department.

"We made history here with the decision to form Hainesville's first full-time police department," Trustee Kevin Barrett said. "It's a work in progress, and I'm sure we'll have to fine-tune as we go along. But we're a town of almost 4,000 people now and I think we deserve this."

Through 1999, Hainesville had a part-time police department, but state requirements for officers changed that year, meaning either Hainesville police would need more training, or the village would need to look elsewhere.

Hainesville partnered with the Round Lake Park Police Department for the next nine years. That relationship ended Feb. 10, following a dispute over the cost of services that is currently in litigation.

The village hired Hainesville Police Chief Ronald Roth in January, who spent five months putting together his department. It now includes four full-time and six part-time officers. Meanwhile, the Lake County Sheriff's Department has provided protection for the village free-of-charge.

Roth, a retired deputy chief from Antioch, said Hainesville squads have been on the road for about three weeks, working with Lake County deputies and trying to gauge where the majority of the calls are coming from.

Roth also wants to make sure the village sheds its long-time stigma as a speed trap.

"You can't just flip a switch and say, 'OK, our guys are taking over,' " Roth said. "We had to get our feet wet. There really is no other way of doing this."

A different pace

McCommons, who retired from the Mundelein Police Department, last year, knew from the start the call volume would be much different in Hainesville.

"I started Mundelein in 1979, and the population was still more than this," he said. "But you're still dealing with the same type of people, just a smaller area to work in. You try to be careful on all calls and you try to keep your eyes open to certain things."

McCommons hit the streets at 12:05 a.m. Saturday for his eight-hour shift. His partner for the evening was Officer Jimmy DeCaro, a part-time Hainesville cop who also works full time for the Lake Villa Police Department.

By 12:06 a.m., McCommons had his first traffic stop. He spotted a man from Zion driving a Honda Civic with a head light out, just seconds after pulling out of the village hall parking lot, where the police station is also located.

McCommons gave the man a warning and headed to a nearby subdivision for patrol.

About 20 minutes later, he heard on the police scanner that DeCaro had pulled over a minivan with a taillight out on Washington Street. McCommons headed over there, which he said most cops do when patrolling at night, just in case their partner needs back up.

Turns out the girl in the minivan had a fight with her mother and was driving around to calm down.

DeCaro recognized she was having a bad night and let her go with a warning.

The rest of the evening continues in the same fashion, a few more traffic stops and a few courtesy calls by McCommons to residents who had left their garage doors open.

McCommons welcomes the calm night.

"After 28 and a half years, I don't really need a lot of action," he said. "We all have the same goal in mind here; it is to give the people of Hainesville a professional police department they can depend on."

Inverness to follow

While a village starting its own department from scratch is unusual, a very similar situation is under way 21 miles south in Cook County.

Inverness trustees rejected an offer by Barrington in January to continue providing police services for the next five years for $10.1 million

Inverness's contract with Barrington expires in April 2009. The village of about 7,500 people should have their own department by next spring, said Jack Tatooles, village president.

According to a study by an outside consultant, it would cost the village $1.3 million less over five years to start its own department.

Village officials are hoping to have a new chief by September and plan on housing the new department in the village hall annex.

"Every aspect of it is challenging, but it seems to be coming together pretty nicely," Tatooles said.

Like Hainesville, Inverness officials envision the department consisting of 10 to 12 employees.

Unlike Hainesville, Tatooles said residents have embraced the plan from the start.

When the Hainesville village board voted in January to form its own police department, it was met with resistance from dozens of angry residents who packed board meetings questioning the small village's ability to pull off such an ambitious plan.

Roth said despite the community's early misgivings, so far, the response has been very positive.

"It has been a challenge, but I knew it would be," Roth said. "This is a small community, so it isn't like we're policing a town of 20,000. Mainly our concerns are no different than any other small town; the safety of the children and protecting the residents."