The ‘perfect fit’: Former Buffalo Grove deputy hired as Lisle’s police chief

It didn’t take long for new Lisle Mayor Mary Jo Mullen to name a new police chief — one of her first official moves since being sworn into office.

Village trustees have confirmed Mullen's appointment of Michael Rodriguez to the long-vacant post. His hiring comes months after Kevin Licko stepped down as Lisle’s police chief.

“We interviewed Mike back in December. I would say all of us really felt that he was the empathetic, mentoring, coaching style of leader that our force really needs right now,” Mullen said Tuesday.

“He really understands how to do succession planning, how to bring people up, how to organize the team in a way to be more effective. So I think he's really just the perfect fit for where we are today,” Mullen added.

The void at the top of the department emerged as one of the issues in the mayoral race. Mullen, previously a village trustee, defeated incumbent Chris Pecak in April’s election.

Rodriguez was one of the top two candidates presented to the board in the search that Lisle’s interim chief, James Krueger, had helped lead, Mullen said.

“He could have been appointed in January with no hesitation,” Mullen said. “He would have had the full support of the board then too. So I'm just glad that we were able to have conversations with him, see if he was still interested, and that he gave us a chance to prove that yes, we really, really want you, and whatever happened in the past, has nothing to do with this board.”

The new-look board had no public discussion on Monday night about his appointment. There only was applause from the dais after Rodriguez, a former Buffalo Grove deputy police chief, gave his first remarks as Lisle’s top cop.

“I assure you, we will continue to provide high-quality police services to this community,” Rodriguez said. “We will treat people with dignity and respect, and we will always protect the vulnerable from harm...we're going to do this through a strong partnership with the community, and we're going to provide full transparency.”

Rodriguez started his career in Buffalo Grove in 1996 as a patrol officer and went on to serve in various roles, including as a criminal investigator, as an undercover narcotics agent assigned to a state police task force and as a corporal in the patrol division, Mullen noted. He was promoted to sergeant in 2011, lieutenant in 2016 and, most recently, deputy chief of operations in 2022.

In Lisle, Rodriguez will receive an annual base salary of $200,000, according to the terms of his employment agreement.

He holds a master’s degree in law enforcement and justice administration.

On Monday night, “we had a lot of our police there for the appointment and swearing-in,” Mullen noted. “And I think this is really going to be a great fresh start for them as well.”