O'Dekirk Nominates Four To Police And Fire Commission

Submitted by the City of Joliet

Joliet Mayor O’Dekirk has announced the nomination of four Joliet residents to serve as members of the Joliet Fire and Police Commission. O’Dekirk will submit the names of nominees, Herb Lande, Todd Wooten, George Hernandez and Reverend Craig L. Purchase Sr. (bio’s attached) to the Joliet City Council for confirmation at the City Council meeting on July 21. The Joliet Fire and Police Commission is responsible for the evaluation, hiring, training and discipline of Joliet police officers and firefighters.

“The most important component of public safety is the hiring and training of qualified and suitable men and women to serve as police officers and fire fighters. The reason for stringent testing and rigorous training is because we want the right person for the job, and even then we will never know until that person is working on the street,” said O’Dekirk. “Our Fire and Police Commissioners carry a heavy burden to make sure we have the best and bravest working to protect our families.”

The transition report submitted to the City of Joliet emphasized that the City of Joliet should work harder to diversify the ranks of its police department and fire department through greater outreach to all eligible Joliet residents.

“Our public safety officers need to reflect the face of the community. One of the goals of the new Fire and Police Commissioners will be to create greater diversity in our public safety officer ranks so that our residents can relate better to our police officers and fire fighters while they are trying to do their jobs. There are more than enough eligible and qualified people in Joliet within every gender, race, orientation and classification to fill every vacancy that exists,” said O’Dekirk. “These nominees represent a diverse cross section of our community, and I am excited to have them usher in a new era of fair hiring practices that will ensure our public safety officers adequately represent our community.”