Police expect full staffing by 2025

The Forest Park Police Department has 34 officers and only needs four more to be fully staffed.

Police Chief Ken Gross expects the department to be fully staffed by next year, the first time this has happened since he took office in 2021.

Of the department’s 34 officers, three attend the police academy, two complete the department’s on-the-job training, and one serves on light duty, assisting with investigations and administrative duties rather than patrolling the streets.

This means that Gross has 28 officers available for daily patrols.

But the staffing shortage should soon be resolved with the next step toward a fully staffed department: On August 16, three new officers will be sworn in, bringing the total number of officers to 37.

Gross said he plans to hire another officer this year so that the force will be fully staffed with 38 officers by 2025.

Until then, the village police will be slightly understaffed – as has been the case for several years.

And during the summer months, when officials are often on vacation, these numbers are even lower.

“We’re not in a terrible situation,” said Gross, who has been with the Forest Park Police Department since 2000. He added that the department has fairly high overtime costs that impact its budget.

Police Chief Kenneth Gross speaks during a swearing-in ceremony at the Village of Forest Park Community Hall on Friday, November 12, 2021 | Alex Rogals

At the end of 2024, the police department is expected to be nearly $400,000 under budget, primarily due to unfilled full-time positions. However, because the department is not fully staffed, nearly $900,000 in overtime has been paid, more than $165,000 over budget.

Two police administrative lieutenants currently help with patrol, Gross said. To avoid such overtime, Gross and his deputy, Christopher Chin, helped with patrol last summer.

“We are better positioned this year than last year,” said Gross.

The police force has grown since Gross took office as police chief, with officer numbers increasing after the Forest Park Police Department and many others across the country saw declines in 2020 due to social unrest following the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

“The events of 2020 have decimated the profession,” Gross said. “They have made this profession a little less attractive.”

In 2017, 51 candidates took tests as the first part of the Forest Park Police Department’s hiring process, a number Gross said is “the norm” for the department. In 2018 and 2019, there were over 40 candidates. But in 2021, that number dropped to 18 and the following year to 16.

However, the number of potential police officers is increasing. Last year the number of candidates rose again to 30. In the exam in February this year there were 39 candidates.

The much-publicized police killings of 2020 also involved officers who were already on duty.

Gross said officers hired around the same time as him took over from “Vietnam-era” officers who retired after about 30 years. Generation Xers like Gross retire earlier, he said, after about 20 years.

“We’re leaving early, and I think the events of 2020 have led people to that decision,” Gross said. “This isn’t the only department that’s seen resignations and retirements. It’s been a nationwide thing.”

The path to becoming a police officer

From the swearing-in of a candidate to his or her first patrol assignment, the process takes about nine months, Gross said.

After a written test, candidates must undergo an oral interview, psychological evaluation, polygraph test and background check. They are sworn into a police department and serve as probationary officers for 18 months, Gross said. Only then do they begin a police academy, which includes at least 16 weeks of training in Illinois. Then they begin at least four months of on-the-job training at the Forest Park Police Department.

The Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the council, hires new police officers. Gross said he sits in on oral interviews and occasionally offers advice to the commission.

While the number of people interested in becoming a police officer in Forest Park has initially declined and then increased since 2017, the number of police officers has only increased since Gross became police chief.

The year 2021 began with 37 officers and ended with 31 after four retirements, two deaths, one transfer to another police department and one hiring. But this number has grown steadily. At the end of 2022, the police department had 33 officers and at the end of 2023, 36 officers.

Three new officers will be sworn in to the Forest Park Police Department this month. Two will attend the College of DuPage’s Suburban Law Enforcement Academy and one will attend the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Police Training Institute.

Gross said he hopes to hire one more person later this year so that he will have 38 officers on patrol duty by 2025 after they go through the village’s hiring process.

The fact that the Forest Park Police Department has fewer than 38 officers does not mean that they have to do without their services. Instead, priorities are being set differently.

For example, Gross said the police department could conduct more traffic and alcohol checks if it was fully staffed, adding that he should assign another person to the criminal investigations division.

“Our commission of inquiry may have to place the lesser misdemeanor crimes at the lower end of the scale,” Gross said.

“I’m happy with what we’ve achieved,” he added. “I know that hopefully by 2025 we’ll get to where we need to be.”

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