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Mount Prospect widens search field for new police officers

Mount Prospect trustees have given Police Chief Tim Janowick the ability to rehire police officers who left in good standing while still on probation.

Janowick cited impending retirements and the difficulty in recruiting new police officers at Tuesday's village board meeting while seeking the policy shift. Twenty people are expected to retire over the next 36 months, he said.

"The department is going to start seeing some very significant turnover next year," he added. As well, an expected change in Police Academy curriculum could extend the training from 12 weeks to 16 weeks.

With the hiring process and the field training period, it takes 36 to 38 weeks before a hired officer is ready to go, he said.

Under the proposal that was accepted Tuesday, a probationary officer who resigned from the department in good standing would be eligible to be rehired within 12 months of his or her resignation.

Probationary officers could leave the department for any number of reasons, Janowick said, such as finding a job with another law enforcement agency.

Their performance at the time of their departure determines if they are in good standing and whether they would be eligible for rehire if they were to take a future recruit test, he said.

Janowick said being able to rehire a former officer will save the village the training academy costs and the indirect costs associated with the original hiring and staff time invested during field training.

Trustee Steven Polit said he supports the change, especially "at a time when there is a lot of pressure on policemen, maybe, to look for other employment."

Amid loud objections from residents last year, Janowick withdrew a request that the department be allowed to expand its pool of potential recruits to include permanent residents who are not U.S. citizens.

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