No more police shortage in Illinois Valley

La Salle County Sheriff Adam Diss is already looking forward to Labor Day. By the time summer draws to a close, the La Salle County sheriff’s office almost will be at full staff.

Not long ago, he was worried about staffing. Many senior officers retired at the same time recruiting young officers almost ground to a halt – a worst-of-both-worlds scenario.

The drought is finally over. Diss will welcome five new officers who graduate from the police academy Aug. 22. His eligibility list is growing, too.

“It’s still not like it used to be,” Diss said. “Geez, when I tested in 1998, there were 70 to 80 people at the test. Back then, state police would test thousands at a time.

“At least it’s not the struggle it was, and we’ve been getting some great candidates.”

It’s a big reversal from 2020, when law enforcement was the focus of nationwide protests. The enactment of the SAFE-T Act a year later, which ushered in radical changes to law enforcement, did not help. Morale plummeted, senior officers retired en masse, and cities began competing for a dwindling pool of rookies.

Police chiefs in the Illinois Valley reported signs of a reversal in spring 2024, by which time cities boosted their eligibility lists with signing bonuses and elevated starting pay. Now, the chiefs said, recruiting woes are an unpleasant memory.

“I believe the proverbial pendulum has swung,” Ottawa Police Chief Mike Cheatham said, reporting a fivefold increase in the eligibility list over the past three years. “We are currently fully staffed with a list of 21, so I believe we are seeing better days ahead.”

Oglesby Police Chief Mike Margis agreed that recruitment “has gotten much better,” not least of all because of outreach efforts intended to get teenagers interested in law enforcement careers.

“We offer ride-alongs, job shadowing and internships so youth and young adults can get a real look into what we do,” Margis said. “There isn’t a week that goes by that someone isn’t signing up for one of them.”

Spring Valley Police Chief Adam Curran said his data also shows an increase in applicants over the past two years. Spring Valley just finished a round of testing with the intent of adding another officer.

“We received a grant for our school resource officer, and one of the mandates in the grant is that we hire one over our normal staffing levels,” Curran said. “So, historically, we are at our staffing level, but we are adding one.”

Mendota police recently hired one officer and seeks to hire another. The cupboard isn’t bare – 12 candidates tested and eight made the cut – but Chief Jason Martin yearns for the days when dozens of quality candidates were waiting in the wings.

“I would like to start the police explorers back up here to give younger kids a taste of the job,” Martin said, “hoping that will generate some more interest in the profession and pay off in the future.”

Peru Police Chief Sarah Raymond said her department is seeking one officer to offset a scheduled retirement in December. Fortunately, she has options, including a pending lateral transfer. Peru is noted for attracting transfers, in part because of competitive pay, although Raymond has a healthy eligibility list of 11.

“I think our turning point happened about a year ago,” Raymond said. “It seemed that a new generation of law enforcement officers were getting into the career and promoting the profession again. I will also say that the climate of policing in the Illinois Valley, especially Peru, has always been positive. Community support never wavered for us in this area.”