W. Dundee adds criteria to law for part-time cops

The tight economy has led West Dundee to hire part-time police officers in place of a full-time beat officer.

In response to that, the village board has updated its ordinance on part-time police hires to include the qualifications they need to join the squad.

Potential part-time officers must be at least 21 years old, have a record free of felony convictions, pass a medical exam, hold a high school diploma or GED and pass a physical fitness test. Candidates discharged from the military need to have left honorably.

The prior ordinance only gave the police chief the authority to hire part-time cops and didn’t list the qualifications. It was dated back to when the village ran a part-time department.

“We just have to get current with what the state requires for part-time police officers,” Police Chief Andy Wieteska said.

Part-time officers have the same authority as a full-time officer, work between 16 and 30 hours a week and make $21 an hour. They won’t be in the police union and won’t get insurance benefits or pensions.

A full-time police officer makes a starting salary of $51,544 a year.

Wieteska has permission to hire three part-timers and already has brought one on board.

West Dundee’s department has 19 sworn officers and the three part-timers will fill one vacancy. The department had not hired part-time officers in 15 years and the last one left about 10 years ago, Wieteska said.

“The way the economy is going, we’re in a very tight budget, so we’re trying to fill some of our gaps,” Wieteska said.