By Lisa Black
The Chicago Tribune
HAINESVILLE, Ill. — Police Chief Ronald Roth started his job in February with only a desk, a box of paper clips and his title.
With no staff, no equipment, no uniform or badge, he promised to provide 24-hour police service to tiny Hainesville within three months.
He delivered a few weeks before schedule, in early April, much to the surprise of skeptics in Lake County’s oldest community (population 4,000), which covers 2 square miles about 10 miles south of the state line.
“There was nothing in the book to say how to do this,” said Roth, 53, formerly deputy chief of the Antioch Police Department.
Since opening, the Hainesville Police Department now boasts five full-time employees, six part-timers and a wealth of hand-me-downs from area police agencies that donated two squad cars, light bars, sirens, portable breath testers and cameras.
A few new police departments launch each year in Illinois, most on college campuses that have upgraded their security departments. Hainesville became the first in the county since 2001, when Riverwoods formed its force.
The speedy push for a new department came about because of a financial disagreement between Hainesville and Round Lake Park, whose department had provided service to Hainesville for the last nine years. The contract ended in February and is now in litigation.
Hainesville paid Round Lake Park about $28,000 per month. The new department’s budget is about $50,000 monthly, which includes extra money for 911 dispatch service, Mayor Ted Mueller said. He said a renewed contract with Round Lake Park would have increased to nearly the same amount Hainesville is paying now.
“A lot of people felt we were biting off a bigger bite than what we could chew financially,” said Mueller, who oversaw contentious board meetings last winter. He said the village operates under a balanced budget and can afford police service without a shortfall.
“Contrary to everybody’s fears, nobody’s taxes were raised,” he said.
Critics say the mayor moved too hastily, not allowing enough time to plan for a top-notch department. For instance, two of the department’s three squad cars were donated by Round Lake Beach and each exceeds the 100,000-mile mark. The village likely will purchase a fourth car this year, Mueller said.
“I just think there was a lot of homework that was overlooked,” said Linda Soto, former Hainesville mayor. “I would have liked to do it right, do it well, and to welcome officers with new equipment.”
Since April 11, Hainesville officers have responded to nearly 900 service calls, the most serious involving domestic disturbances, thefts or drugs, Roth said. Round Lake Park statistics from the same period last year show similar results, with police responding to more than 1,000 calls in Hainesville.
“What we experience a lot are traffic accidents, about 15 a month,” Roth said.
Nearly all of them occur on the congested 2.5-mile stretch of Illinois Highway 120 that bisects Hainesville.
Traffic enforcement along that highway has been lucrative in the past, when the village for years was known as a speed trap and ran its part-time department from ticket revenue, officials said.
In the early 1990s, the officers issued up to 400 citations a month, or about two per resident at that time. Village coffers began to empty after Highway 120 motorists wised up, according to news reports.
Roth promises that he has no intention of turning back the clock.
“The way I wanted this place to be run is very big on community policing,” Roth said. “I didn’t want this town to be tagged with what it was years before: the Ticket Capitol of Illinois.”
At the time, the village did not earmark tax dollars for police service, forcing the department to pay for itself through tickets. Voters approved a tax increase in 2001 for police service, which paid for the contract with Round Lake Park.
The sheriff’s department provided free service to the village between February and April, while Roth scrambled to hire and train officers, buy equipment and fulfill legal requirements. He helped design his own badge, borrowing from the village’s prairie grass logo.
Since then, Roth has championed his vision of a friendly police presence that gives three warnings for every traffic citation to educate drivers, he said. The department has its own bicycle patrol, Officer Sean Kelly, who is known for hopping off his bike and shooting hoops with neighborhood kids.
Some residents say they see the Hainesville police on patrol daily.
“I actually like it,” said resident, Bert Beshel, 64. “We have a vacant house next to us, and they come by at least once a day and check it out.”
Roth said his fledgling department has received many compliments.
“It’s not a police department that is gold-plated,” he said. “I’m trying to do what needs to be done to give this village a friendly, efficient police department.”
Copyright 2008 The Chicago Tribune