Burr Ridge Clash Over Adding Deputy Police Chief

BURR RIDGE, IL – The Burr Ridge Police Department wants another deputy chief position to handle administrative work.

But a village trustee opposed the idea, saying it would add long-term costs to the village.

At last week's board meeting, Police Chief John Madden said the village tried to hire a replacement for its civilian records supervisor, who retired last year.

The village, he said, developed a new civilian position of police administrative manager. It found four good candidates, he said. Three of them worked for other agencies, which countered with better offers. The fourth withdrew for personal reasons.

As a result, Madden concluded the village needed a second deputy chief position. As it is, only Madden and the lone deputy chief handle administrative functions.

Until the recession in 2008, the village employed 29 sworn officers. But it cut two of those jobs through retirement and attrition, Madden said.

"There was nothing we could do. It was tough times," the chief said.

He said he refrained from asking the board for more sworn officer positions for a dozen years. But he said another deputy chief was needed to handle more state mandates, including those for training.

The police department, he said, could promote from within for the deputy chief. Then the village would fill the front-line officer position.

Trustee Russell Smith said the proposed budget included $131,000 for the new position. But he said that wasn't the full story, noting it would mean another squad car and pension costs.

"That doesn't work for me, and I don't think that works for our residents," Smith said. "There's got to be other solutions that can be provided to this board besides another pension administrative person."

Besides, Smith said, the police department has yet to encounter the new workload because the mandates have yet to take effect.

Madden said it was his job to come up with solutions that are in the best interest of police department operations and citizens.

Smith, however, said the addition of an administrative deputy police chief was not about the safety of residents.

"This is about administrative work in the back office," Smith said. "I'm going to say again, we're talking about probably a $200,000 bill to our residents. I'll be against this."

Other trustees supported the idea.

Trustee Guy Franzese noted the village's portion of the local property tax bill makes up about 1.5 percent. (A big portion of the city's income comes from sales taxes, a choice that school districts and other entities do not have.)

Franzese said the village's police department comes at a bargain for residents. He also said the village's population has increased by 7.5 percent since 2000, yet the number of sworn officers declined.

"I support adding the second deputy chief," he said.

Trustee Joe Snyder told the chief, "Thank you for 12 years not coming to the board and asking for extras."