The Forest Park Police Department is nearing a fully staffed, 38-person team.
At the Jan. 12 council meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a $375,000 grant from the United States Department of Justice’s office of community oriented policing. Over the next three years, the village will use the grant to subsidize the hiring of three new police officers. The village is matching 25% of the $375,000, which means it will pay $93,750 over three years, or $31,250 a year, toward the new hires.
The money will help a short-staffed department at a time of village revenue shortfalls.
The police department currently has 34 officers, and new hires funded by the grant will contribute to a fully staffed department of 38. The village budgets for a full staff of 38 officers each year. The Forest Park Police Department currently has one person at the police academy and four in field training. It’s required to hire new officers from a list of people who take the police officers exam administered by the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners.
The starting salary for a Forest Park Police Department officer is $76,258, according to Village Administrator Rachell Entler. She told the Review that the grant funding also helps the village provide health benefits to employees — though the grant and matching money from the village still don’t cover the entire expense, Entler said.
Forest Park last received the COPS grant in 2022, also for $375,000 to fund the hiring of three new police officers over the span of three years.
The money comes from the DOJ’s COPS hiring program, which funds law enforcement agencies to increase their capacity in community policing and crime prevention. According to the grant agreement, anticipated outcomes of the program include “community partnerships, implementation of projects to analyze and assess problems, implementation of changes to personnel and agency management in support of community policing, and increased capacity of agency to engage in community policing activities.”