Latest / Illinois Valley - Shaw Local / A familiar name to keep Peru police fully staffed

Transcript

A familiar name to keep Peru police fully staffed · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: A familiar name to keep Peru police fully staffed. Written
• 0:09
  by Tom Collins, this article is being read by an
• 0:13
  automated voice brought to you by Everlett. Peru police are
• 0:18
  getting a new patrol officer and his last name will
• 0:20
  be familiar to city residents. Aiden Degrut is the son
• 0:24
  of Sergeant Scott Dgrut and nephew of recently retired Sergeant
• 0:28
  ed Degrut. They just won't go away, Police Chief Sara
• 0:32
  Raymond said, smiling, We just got rid of one and
• 0:35
  now we've got another one coming in. This one. Aiden
• 0:39
  is harder for me though, because I remember when he
• 0:41
  was born, so it makes me feel really old. But
• 0:44
  the Chief is joking. Of course, she's delighted to have
• 0:47
  a young hire with sterling role models in his own family,
• 0:50
  which includes former police officers Terry Goustie and uncle and
• 0:54
  Chuck Foster, a cousin. The youngest de group wasn't immediately
• 0:59
  available for con but his recently retired uncle expressed confidence. Obviously,
• 1:05
  he's been around law enforcement all of his life. Uncle
• 1:08
  Edgar Grout said, so I think he's got a very
• 1:10
  good understanding of what it takes and will do an
• 1:13
  excellent job. And Aiden Degrut will after completing sixteen weeks
• 1:18
  at the academy, make the Peru force fully staffed. Raymond
• 1:22
  had recently welcomed a lateral transfer, but the officer reconsidered
• 1:25
  and withdrew. That's why the Peru City councils voted Monday
• 1:30
  to approve Dugrut's candidacy. He was selected by the Board
• 1:33
  of Fire and Police Commissioners for the position of patrol officer.
• 1:38
  It was a fast action item so they could get
• 1:41
  DeGroot enrolled in the next academy class as it is
• 1:44
  right around the corner, explained Alderman Jason Edgecombe, chairman of
• 1:48
  the Public Services Committee, who was not present for Monday's vote.
• 1:52
  Raymond said police recruitment is slowing down some, but it
• 1:56
  remains light years better than the days after the George
• 1:59
  Floyd killing. Floyd's death shocked and deterred many young people
• 2:03
  who at that time had considered law enforcement as a career.
• 2:08
  Area police chiefs say recruitment has improved generally in the
• 2:11
  years that followed. In Perue's case, Raymond is waiting for
• 2:14
  two graduates of the Police Academy to complete the field
• 2:17
  training program once to group follows suit Peru will have
• 2:21
  no vacancies. Some of Raymond's fellow chiefs are also pleased
• 2:25
  with the recruiting. Ottawa Police Chief Mike Cheatham said he's
• 2:29
  fully staffed and has twenty one names on the eligibility list.
• 2:33
  We had a really good turnout for our test last year,
• 2:36
  Cheatham said, and are fortunate to have had twenty one
• 2:39
  make the final list, the biggest list in years. The
• 2:43
  Oglesby Police Department has been fully staffed for more than
• 2:46
  two years now and the current eligibility list has twelve
• 2:49
  potential candidates. Mendota Police are fully staffed and have seven
• 2:54
  on the eligibility list. Spring Valley two has been fully
• 2:58
  staffed for nearly a year with an eligibility list of eight.
• 3:02
  Recruitment has risen and we have seen more interest in
• 3:05
  law enforcement over the last couple of years. Spring Valley
• 3:09
  Police Chief Adam Kurrn said more departments have full or
• 3:13
  close to full staffing levels, which results in more competition
• 3:17
  and quality candidates. LaSalle Police Chief Jason Stubbler said his
• 3:21
  department is fully staffed and he has eleven on the
• 3:24
  eligibility list. Recruiting, he said, has stabilized in recent years.
• 3:29
  I've had several people express interest in applying. Stuebler said,
• 3:33
  that's encouraging when you have that kind of interest and
• 3:35
  you're not actively hiring.