The Village of South Jacksonville Police Department will be making some visible changes in the near term. Police Chief Tim Mann outlined four major proposals last night at the village board meeting that will change some of the appearance of the department over the next 2-3 months. The first proposal will be hiring a new, temporary officer with the village. Levi Haley, a former Morgan County Sheriff’s deputy, who is currently awaiting the Illinois State Police academy’s open enrollment, will be taking on a temporary, part-time position on the police force. Mann said he is likely to join the academy once enrollment reopens early next year.
Mann says that the department will also be downsizing some of its surplus vehicles and equipment. He says that village will be looking at selling off two older model Chevrolet Impalas and is looking at selling back one of the village’s Humvees to the state’s lease program. He says that the SUV currently sits idle and would be better suited to a department that needs currently is in need of one. Mann says that the police and fire departments will also be selling back older radios to a department in the area. He says that older radios don’t operate on digital frequencies and aren’t compatible with the village’s dispatch system. Mann mentioned that a few departments in the area still operate on the older system and the village would be able to make about 10 dollars per radio in the selling of the older equipment.
Mann and Fire Chief Richard Evans, Jr. will be partnering up for a new security system at the village’s public protection building in the near term. Evans brought up the concern for the fire department because they currently only have security cameras at the department. Evans believes more security needs to be in place for the fire department because their Emergency Services vehicles have narcotics on board for emergency medical service calls. Mann says the police department’s secured entry simply needs updated. Mann says the village moved to the keypad entry systems over the last two years to eliminate the hassle of keys as well as to be able to log who comes in and comes out of village-owned buildings.
Mann said that he believes the work on the security system will begin after the first of the year.