During an emergency village board meeting last night, trustees voted 5-0 after going into executive session to accept the resignation of Chief Mike Broaddus and replace him with Josh Hallock, who is currently a sergeant in the police department.
The decision was effective midnight last night.
Broaddus has been the chief since April, when Richard Evans announced his retirement in the wake of the 2014 South Jacksonville Illinois State Police investigation that, among other things, alleged official misconduct from Evans.
Broaddus quit on July 3rd after unsuccessfully trying to obtain documents related to the village police department’s internal investigation into missing documents, overseen by Evans. The documents were apparently being held by former village attorney Allen Yow. It was announced the next day Broaddus was returning.
Mayor Pro-Tem Steve Waltrip talks about Broaddus’ decision to step down.
“Mike has given us four months of good leadership, wonderful leadership, I tell ya. We couldn’t have done it without his work, his creative endeavor. He just thought it had too much pressure, and things of that nature,” says Waltrip.
“Mike’s a great guy. He’s going to [stay] on the department, he’s going to go back to his position of sergeant. And other than that, things will move on.”
Hallock will start as police chief at a salary of $50-thousand. Waltrip says Hallock has nearly nine years of experience with the South Jacksonville PD.
“He’s got a good background, he’s the person that’s number three, I think he got third in a national marksmanship award, and well-thought of. He’s got a good background, good knowledge,” Waltrip says.
“[There are] things I’m sure he’s gonna need to improve on, but I spoke to him last night and he said it’s a learning curve for us, so, we’re all together.”
Waltrip says the village isn’t actively looking for a permanent police chief.