Retiring Palatine chief offers advice for young officers
Palatine police Chief Alan Stoeckel offered thoughtful advice for young officers as he headed into retirement earlier this week.
Stoeckel, 56, was feted by his colleagues in a retirement ceremony Monday at police headquarters. Police department veteran David Daigle took over as chief Tuesday.
Before he headed out the door, Stoeckel touched on something he believes would be valuable for officers early in their careers.
"A word of advice to a lot of young officers: Keep a journal," said Stoeckel, who spent his entire 34-year career in his hometown of Palatine. "You don't need the names, but just keep a journal. There's a lot of great things and there's a lot of things that may be the tragedies, but at least you can write down your feelings and how you got through it and share it with others."
Among his accomplishments in five years as top cop, Stoeckel pointed to a succession plan for Palatine police administration and departmental cross training.
"We've really continued our quest to work with the (higher-crime) northeast Palatine area (through) neighborhood-based policing and working with the community out there," he added.
"A lot of people say, 'Oh, that area up there.' Well, I want to tell you, they don't know what that area was when we took it from the Cook County unincorporated area (in 1999), when there were shots fired there on a regular basis.
"Now, we get complaints about people beeping their horns to get people to come down from the apartments. Every neighborhood has its issues, and we address those issues."