In April, Forest Park Police Department Lieutenant Dan Miller was put on paid administrative leave — which he’s still on — after pulling a gun on a driver while off-duty in North Riverside. And last month, the police department assisted an ICE officer in fleeing a 16-year-old who was recording him.
In the months since, Forest Park residents have complained about how police handled both situations. And on Aug. 10, Police Chief Ken Gross told the village he would retire at the end of September — though he said his retirement is not directly related to recent events.
“My retirement is due to a culmination of things,” Gross told the Review. “There are a lot of layers to that cake, and the icing is not the reason I left. It was time for me to go.”
Gross was eligible to retire and access his pension at age 50 after 20 years on duty. He hit that milestone in 2020 and has considered ending his career with the Forest Park Police Department since then. He said his family has a history of heart attacks and “I’ve been stressed out about a lot of things.”
“I think there’s rumors out there that I was fired,” Gross said. “Obviously not true. I chose to retire, and I wasn’t forced out. I never had a conversation with anyone. I was never given an ultimatum.”
Late last week, Mayor Rory Hoskins told NBC 5 Chicago that Chief Gross and Deputy Chief Chris Chin were the only two officers at the Forest Park Police Department the day the ICE officer came to village hall.
“The rest of the shift was chasing an armed vehicular hijacker and actually captured him,” Gross told the Review.
As seen in the video from July, the man who claimed the ICE officer’s car as his own — and moved it to the back of the police station so the ICE agent could drive away — is an auxiliary police officer who works at village hall. Though he’s not a sworn police officer, Gross said he helps the department with traffic control and parking enforcement during events and sends the State’s Attorney’s Office body-worn camera footage for relevant cases.
At the last village council meeting, Hoskins said the village is speaking with unions about including new training standards for both police officers and civilian employees in their bargaining agreements. He later told the Review that, if Gross hadn’t announced his retirement, he would have been included in the additional training.
“Firings are really rare in Forest Park,” Hoskins told the Review. While Hoskins spoke with Gross and Chin following the ICE incident, he said he did not speak with Gross about his retirement before Gross announced it.
“I hope that people in Forest Park and the wider community understand that Forest Park wants to be a welcoming community,” Hoskins told the Review. “I do not want our officers or employees, in any capacity, assisting ICE.”
Who will be the next chief?
While Hoskins told the Review that he has someone in mind as interim police chief after September, he would not say who it was or whether they’re already employed with the Forest Park Police Department.
“We have a great police force and I’m proud of the women and men in our police department. There’s lots of leadership potential within our ranks,” Hoskins said.
While Gross won’t be a part of the process in hiring his replacement after his retirement, he told the Review that he hopes the next chief is promoted from within the Forest Park Police Department.
“The newer officers are part of a Tier 2 pension system and have something called portal to portal, where it’s easier to move from one department to another department and transfer their pensions over,” Gross said. “I’d be scared that morale, which is actually high right now, could plummet by bringing in an outside chief and cause a shortage in the police department. We’re already short and I’d hate for it to get any worse.”
Gross was promoted from deputy chief to chief in 2021. He told the Review that he thinks Deputy Chief Chin would be a good fit to fill his role. Among examples of Chin’s successes, Gross said Chin took the reins when he was out of town in 2024 and, on Labor Day, a Blue Line train pulled into the terminal at Forest Park with four murdered people onboard.
“He really took charge of that situation and showed his leadership skills in light of a very tragic event, and one that got worldwide attention,” Gross said of Chin, who was acting chief in Gross’ absence.
But Gross said, whoever his successor is, his cell phone will remain on after his retirement in case they need any advice.
“I have no ill will against the Village of Forest Park, the Forest Park Police Department, or anyone in this village,” Gross said. “I’m not burning bridges. I love the job, love the department, love the village.”