Gilberts crafts succession plan after police chief retires
In the wake of the pending retirement of the police chief, Gilberts officials said they have developed a plan to allow upward mobility at the department for the first time in years.
Chief Louis Rossi retires June 30 but has been out of the office since late May using accrued vacation and planning a move to San Antonio, Texas.
Lt. Mike Joswick, who is acting chief, will be promoted to chief, and Sgt. Todd Block will be promoted to assistant chief, Village President Rick Zirk said Friday. The lieutenant position will be eliminated, a patrolman will be promoted to sergeant and a new patrolman will be hired. The plan is for Joswick, who is up for retirement in about 1½ years, to mentor Block and help him get him ready to serve as chief, Zirk said. The plan was discussed by the village board in executive session and will not trigger changes to salary pay scales at the top ranks, he said.
"It worked out really well," Zirk said. "We have a good department of good guys, and they stick around. We brought in the last few chiefs from the outside, and that further stymied their chances (of moving up). This was a way to provide an opportunity to the guys."
In an unusual twist, Joswick served as Gilberts' chief for 13 years before he was demoted in 2009 for what the village board at the time described as "philosophical differences." Zirk said that was due to the aftermath of a contentious election and things are much different now.
"Mike and I have talked a lot in the last 10 years and we both want to do what's right for the village and the people involved," he said.
The police department employs 9 full-time and 9-full time sworn officers with a budget of $1.23 million for the current fiscal year, Village Administrator Brian Bourdeau said.
Rossi, 63, of Schaumburg, said he's grateful for his 37-year career in law enforcement ending with a "phenomenal experience" in Gilberts, where he was hired in 2014 after serving as chief in Highwood and Kildeer.
"I was very fortunate, I came to an excellent department," he said. "There's a great group of officers and the community was awesome, and above all the village board who hired me ... they made my life very easy."
Gilberts has low rates of violent crime - the last murder was in 2010 - and occasional property crime, with police mostly responding to traffic accidents. One big focus was trying to get residents to lock their vehicles to prevent thefts, he said.
As for why he's leaving, it was simply time, he said.
"In my heart I knew it was time to move on to a new chapter with my wife, Agnes," he said. "My wife spent some time here growing up and she always wanted to move back out here. I fought her at first, to be honest. Then we came out here about 1½ years ago to look at some houses and I actually fell in love with the area.
"She sacrificed a lot to allow me to do my career, so giving back to her something she wanted to do has made it very easy."