Naperville Police Department to Hire 2 New Officers for Downtown Patrol

Naperville City Council approved a police department request Tuesday to hire two new police officers for late-night downtown enforcement.

Council members unanimously approved the request which will allow the police department to use the new hires as night-time beat officers to help curb violent incidents in the downtown area. 

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The full cost for each additional officer will be about $83,000 with benefits, according to the city. To cover the cost, the city will apply for a Community Oriented Policing-Services (COPS) federal grant, which pays for 75 percent of an officer's salary for three years. The remaining 25 percent is paid for by the city.

According to the city, $75,000 is also budgeted to help offset the cost of police enforcement for the downtown area and the new hires would qualify for Tier 2 benefits. 

The police department requested the hires after the city approved an additional late-night liquor permit for Empire at Ballydoyle, 48 W. Chicago Ave., earlier this month.

Police Chief Bob Marshall recently said that even without the addition of Empire at Ballydoyle, the department "doesn't have enough resources to police the downtown."

In February, City Council approved a police department request to hire three new police officers. Those three vacant positions are estimated to have a first year salary savings of $78,159, or $26,053 per position.

In the last three years, the number of sworn positions within the Naperville Police Department has been reduced by nearly 13 percent.

After successfully completing training, the two new officers would be ready for patrol duties around March 13, 2014, according to the city.