Retiring police veteran looks back on 30-year career

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

ELGIN — Jim Genz started with the Elgin Police Department when the police academy lasted six weeks and, as he put it, you got a baton, a gun and a dime.

While the dime was an exaggeration, he said, the idea was that you could use the dime to call the station if there was a problem, the baton when you couldn’t call, and the gun when the baton didn’t solve the problem.

On Wednesday, Genz — who retired in December — was honored for his 30 years on the Elgin police force and his service to the community.

City Clerk Diane Robertson also did the honors to swear in three new officers who are taking over slots for officers who have retired or are retiring soon.

Those new officers are Adam Arnold, a former police officer with the Round Lake Police Department; Raymond Oloris, formerly a Naperville Park District police officer and community service officer in Roselle; and Brett Essick, a former police officer with both the West Chicago and Belvidere police departments.

Experienced officers retiring and new officers coming in are part of the “circle of life” in policing, Police Chief Jeff Swoboda said.

Genz, 53, began his Elgin career as a patrol officer in 1980. During 30 years on the department, he served as a field training officer and a senior patrolman, and for most of the past 15 years was assigned to Elgin’s traffic department.

Throughout his career, he also received 73 letters of appreciation, two distinguished service awards, two department unit citations and two chief’s appreciation awards. He also was recognized as the Special Division Officer of the Quarter in 2006.

Genz was one of those officers who made a difference to Elgin, although he might not be able to see it himself, Swoboda said.

Over the past 10 years, the number of driving under the influence arrests Genz made kept residents safe, Swoboda said.

Genz was just 23 when he started in Elgin, where he also grew up. His father and grandfather were both veterans of the Elgin Fire Department, and Genz took both the firefighter and police officer tests for Elgin.

Back when he first started at the police department and was put on the night patrol shift, it wasn’t unusual to go all night without a call, Genz said. Now, it is unusual to go 15 minutes or a half-hour without another call to go to.

What also has changed, he said, is the traffic. “The amount of traffic is completely different,” he said.

As a member of the traffic division, part of his job is investigating fatal traffic accidents. It is a job “for a special kind of person,” Genz said. Like officers in the detectives unit investigating murders, traffic officers also must deal with death. “You build yourself up to do that, and the 15 years before helped me learn to handle the next 15 years” of his career, Genz said.

With the new officers sworn in this week, there are about 180 officers on the Elgin department, with 110 of those working patrol, Swoboda said. While the department had as many as 190 officers at one point, the current staffing levels reflect a reduction in crime and calls for service by residents, Swoboda said.