Election 2023: How big should Hebron Police Department be?

The Hebron Police Department had grown too large for a village of 1,300 residents, four of the six candidates running for the Village Board this April agree. But it may be too small now, some added.

All six are incumbents running to retain a seat they either won four years ago or were appointed to since the last election.

Trustee Mark Shepherd, who has served on the Village Board since 1995, is the only candidate previously elected to his seat. He is running for another four-year term.

Trustees Josh Stevens and Mark Mogan were both appointed to the board after the 2021 elections and also are running for four-year seats. Stevens also is the head librarian at the privately funded Hebron Public Library.

Trustees Shirlee Correll, Candace Knaack and Dawn Milarski were appointed to their seats in September after the resignation of three previously elected trustees. They are running for two-year seats to complete their predecessors’ terms.

Those trustees who spoke to the Northwest Herald – Stevens, Correll, Milarski and Shepherd – said they agreed on several fronts with Village President Robert Shelton and the issue he ran on two years ago: The police department needed to be downsized. Multiple attempts to reach Mogan and Knaack were not successful.

Then, turnover in the department ensued.

Since Shelton was sworn in, Hebron’s police department has shrunk from 14 full- and part-time officers to just four. Longtime Chief Rich Donlea took a leave of absence in November and was officially replaced by officer Ramtin Sabet on Dec. 27.

Right now, it is a rebuilding process. We have a good foundation now and think it will be built from there. It is not one of those things you can just snap your fingers – it had to be rebuilt from scratch.

—  Trustee Shirlee Correll

Then, Sabet resigned to move his family to Florida. Juanita Gumble, a former part-time officer, was named to replace him Jan. 30.

Now, Gumble said this week that the department has two full-time officers including herself, two part-time officers and is hiring an additional two part-time officers for the department.

It is not that the Hebron board does not support police or their work, but the trustees want a department that makes sense for the village, four of the candidates said.

“The police department is or was the elephant in the room. Was it too big? Yes,” Milarski said.

She pointed to the police head count for larger cities that average one officer for every 2,500 residents.

“We have 1,300 people, and we had ... up to 14 police officers. That is kind of crazy. We are not a high-crime area by any means,” she said.

Correll agreed: “It was way too large for a village like Hebron.”

But the department dropping down to four full- and part-time officers is too small too, Correll said.

“Right now, it is a rebuilding process. We have a good foundation now and think it will be built from there. It is not one of those things you can just snap your fingers – it had to be rebuilt from scratch,” Correll said.

Shepherd said he thought the police budget had grown too large, to the detriment of other needs in Hebron.

“It grew to be too big, and we were going over budget every year,” Shepherd said. “Money that would have been for other departments was going to police officers” and took away from other needs, including street repairs.

Stevens said a suggestion that a police department could pay for itself with additional ticketing should not be a department’s focus.

“They are not there to make money. A police department is not a financial piggy bank,” he said.

The four candidates interviewed said the current board is cohesive, working well together, and that they are ready to focus on other community needs.

“I would like to see Hebron move in the direction [of] a more sustainable place with more job opportunities. That means the people who live there don’t have to leave for work, they can work here in the community,” Milarski said.

She has also been working on a grant proposal to help Hebron pay for needed road repairs.

“What we need to focus on is bringing back the sense of community,” Correll said. “There is a certain charm where everybody knows each other and are concerned about other people.”