Private Firm Seeking Shorewood Police Chief

The same private company hired to find Shorewood a new village administrator is on the lookout for a police chief to replace the one who recently retired.

Vorhees Associates LLC has posted the "recruitment and selection process" for finding Shorewood's new police chief on its website.

The lucky man or woman picked to be Shorewood's new police chief is slated to start at $100,000 a year, according to the brochure posted by Vorhees Associates.

For that kind of money, the prospective police chief is expected to lead a department of 26 sworn officers and four civilians, and to do so "without relying on tax increases," according to the Deerfield company's brochure.

Vorhees Associates also wants the new guy to be "a 'working' Chief and a 'Cop's Cop,'" the brochure says, stressing that the incoming chief should "be visible — in uniform, in the office and at community functions such as athletic events, community festivals, neighborhood block events, etc.; be visible/inclusive of the staff on all shifts, and offer assistance on the street when necessary."

If the new police chief already lives near Shorewood, he may not have to move to town, but residency "for someone relocating to the area is required," the brochure says.

Former Police Chief Robert Puleo retired July 31. Administrative Cmdr. Aaron Klima is holding down the fort until a new chief is hired.

Mayor Rick Chapman said that may take a while, and that Vorhees Associates has yet to present the village board with a list of acceptable candidates.

The same goes for the search for a new village manager, Chapman said.

Vorhees Associates got up to $22,000 off of Shorewood to look for an adequate village administrator. The firm has yet to submit a list of candidates to the village board.

Vorhees Associates is looking for someone to replace outgoing administrator Kurt Carroll, who on Shorewood in May for the apparently greener pastures of New Lenox.

Chapman did not expect Vorhees Associates to compile and submit a list of candidates for either position for another month and a half, at the earliest.