The Village of South Jacksonville Police Department has a new squad car.
The design was made by one of the department’s new officers.
Anley Gerdes started with the police department full time back in February after being a member of West Central Illinois Joint Dispatch.
Gerdes says that the design came together around a black, blue, and white design with the department’s badge on the brand new squad car: “I liked the white squad car that we had with the blue lines, but I like traditional black and white squad cars. It’s just what I enjoy, so I tried to design this one that was different from Jacksonville. We try to distinguish ourselves from Jacksonville. We train together and do a bunch of things together. We work great together, but I kind of wanted us to have a squad car that set us apart from their whole fleet so that it kind of stands out a little bit more down here. The community is really enjoying it. They really like what it looks like. Everyone is stopping me on calls and paying compliments to it.”
Gerdes says the new career switch has come with some adjustment. She says going from the very scripted aspect of being a dispatcher to becoming an officer has brought new enjoyment and challenges: “I miss dispatch dearly. I loved it down there. I loved answering the calls, but it’s a lot different to be out in the field actually responding and getting the ends of calls instead of just the beginning. This is what is happening and then that’s all you get to hear about it while you’re a dispatcher. Knowing how it turns out or how you can follow up on a call and help someone even more has been really cool. I’m a little bit harder on the dispatchers than most people are because I know how what they are supposed to be doing and how it’s supposed to be done. The dispatchers do a fantastic job. I do like the new career switch and being able to be out and helping people instead of just being the voice for them.”
Gerdes says she really enjoyed working on the design for the squad car and is glad that it has attracted positive attention throughout the South Jacksonville community.