Elgin police may reorganize leadership, adjust crossing guards

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Updated: March 28, 2012 10:19PM

ELGIN — The City Council will look at suggested moves to reorganize the police department’s command structure when members hold their committee-of-the-whole session Wednesday.

The proposal would eliminate the two vacant deputy-chief positions and assign three high-ranking police officers to the new title of commander, with each overseeing distinct operational areas of the department.

Currently, the departmental hierarchy is arranged to have a chief, three deputy chiefs, seven lieutenants and 22 sergeants. However, since April 2010, when Lisa Womack resigned as chief and Jeff Swoboda was promoted from deputy chief to chief, Swoboda’s old spot has remained unfilled. Earlier this month, Bob Beeter retired as deputy chief, leaving Cecil Smith as the lone remaining deputy chief.

Monday, Swoboda said the departure of Beeter ultimately is what led to the restructuring.

According to supporting material for Wednesday’s meeting, “by eliminating two deputy chief administrators, the remaining deputy chief will serve as the assistant chief, becoming highly involved with the training of officers and enhancing the accountability relating to officer performance. The deputy chief will oversee the department’s budget, training, internal compliance of policies and procedures, as well as emergency management.”

Swoboda said the sole deputy chief’s duties also would include filling in when the chief is on vacation or otherwise out of the office, and handling disciplinary matters, tying such instances that might arise back to training officers.

Three functions

A commander of operations would oversee patrol divisions, the communications division, animal control, emergency medical dispatching and alarm programs.

The commander of investigations would be in charge of detectives, various community liaison and community relations programs, and technical services such as records and evidence.

Finally, the commander of adjudication and support would look after adjudication, media relations, jail and court services, traffic and parking, special events, and some support staff.

“Commanders will be responsible for the direct supervision of these divisions, while the chief and deputy chief will focus on the administrative role,” the administration’s supporting material for the council members states.

“Those selected as commanders would be situated in the areas they exhibit their greatest experience and skill sets, bringing with them proven records of knowledge, ability and competence. This also allows them to mentor officers less senior to themselves, cultivating an environment of growth that will benefit the department as new leaders and subject matter experts develop. Aside from the improved managerial support, cost savings will also be realized.”

The new structure would reduce the number of lieutenants from seven to six, keep the number of sergeants at 22 and still have a total of 33 police in high-ranking roles. Staff members claim that maintains a lower-than-average supervisor-to-officer ratio of 18.53 percent, with 178 total sworn officers and 33 of those supervisors.

The commanders’ posts would be salaried and classified as management, and thus would not be eligible for overtime as lieutenants’ jobs are. The top of the pay scale for the new positions would be about $118,000.

Swoboda said that if the council approves moving forward with the reorganization, the commanders should be in place by late March.

Crossing changes

The cost of this change is estimated to be about $164,000. According to the informational packet for the meeting, police are working with School District U46 to change how the schools staff and use crossing guards, and that should save the city about $200,000, offsetting the command reorganization’s cost. Already, cuts have been made in the number of hours that crossing guards are paid.

Swoboda said safety is the first concern about any such changes, which will be based upon information collected concerning traffic near schools and the routes students seem to be walking.

Meetings are getting under way with schools, and some changes could go into effect in a month or so. A more fully revised program should be in place by May, Swoboda said, with summertime used to iron out kinks in time for the 2012-2013 school year.