May 19, 2024
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State police headquarters in La Salle to undergo merger, but building will not close

ISP is consolidating 21 districts into 11 patrol troops

By Tom Collins
Sgt. Joe Fahs with Illinois State Police District 17 performs a traffic stop on southbound Interstate 39. An Illinois Senate Bill that would increase the fine for Scott’s Law violations awaits Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signature.

District 17 state police headquarters in La Salle isn’t closing – no district headquarters building will close – but the agency is consolidating its 21 districts into 11 patrol “troops” starting Jan. 1.

District 17 state police headquarters in La Salle isn’t closing – no district headquarters building will close – but the agency is consolidating its 21 districts into 11 patrol “troops” starting Jan. 1.

A spokeswoman for Illinois State Police partially confirmed Wednesday a published report the La Salle region is being consolidated – reportedly with District 7 in East Moline – but Melaney Arnold would not confirm staff shortages as a driving force.

“Realigning into ‘troops’ enables more officers to be available each shift to respond to calls for service and will provide coverage to all 102 counties in Illinois 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Arnold said in a statement Wednesday. “With the expanded focus on serious criminal interdiction, ISP is balancing its resources to fight crime and provide safety services in areas with high crash and high crime rates, as well as on highways with high levels of drug trafficking, while still providing coverage in areas with fewer public safety demands.

“ISP is accountable to the taxpayers and we must allocate resources based on current data. The new organizational structure better matches other state patrols and is based on crime, population and crash data analysis rather than outdated past practices.”

Arnold said state police conducted staffing studies using an independent consulting company and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Personnel Allocation Model.