Following the departure of former Lincolnwood police Chief Robert LaMantia on Dec. 1, the village is now searching for a new top cop.
Lincolnwood retained the Northbrook -based human resources consulting firm GovHRUSA to help recruit for the sworn, exempt-level role of overseeing the police department, according to information on the village website.
If everything goes as planned, mayor Barry Bass said interviews will be conducted in the coming weeks.
“We’ll probably appoint that short list of top candidates in mid-March,” Bass said. “I would say sometime in March is a realistic goal to have our future police chief in place.”
Bass said the village’s choice for the next chief of police will take into consideration what is in the best interest of the residents of Lincolnwood.
“Public safety is a big issue with me and we’re dealing with a lot of types of crime that did not typically exist a couple years ago,” the mayor said. “We have a border on 75 percent of Chicago, so it’s important that not only our public is protected but we have full collaboration with our sister suburbs which mainly are Chicago, Skokie and a bit of Evanston.”
Bass said he hopes the new police chief will be in place by the end of March. He would make his pick for the position and the appointment would require Village Board approval.
The mayor noted the importance of the chief of police role, explaining that the police department, with its $8 million budget, is staffed by 32 full-time sworn police personnel, six full-time civilian employees, and two part-time civilian workers..
“We’re looking for candidates right now and it appears we’re getting some cream of the crop candidates, because obviously Lincolnwood is an extremely desirable suburb,” Bass said. “Those candidates will have to have the utmost integrity and a strong commitment to teamwork and customer service to serve as the village’s next chief of police.”
Successful candidates will need to have a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, or a background in public, business and administrative fields, Bass said, adding that a master’s degree is “strongly preferred.”
He added that the village prefers candidates with strong labor relations experience and who are able to adapt to situations involving news and media relations.
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“They should have a history of successful intergovernmental cooperation, relationship building and experience interacting and collaborating with our sister law enforcement agencies and mutual aid entities throughout the suburbs and the city of Chicago,” Bass said.
Kyra Senese is a freelancer.