Cicchetti sworn in as Mt. Morris police chief

MT. MORRIS — Mt. Morris Police Department welcomed a familiar face as its new leader on Tuesday.

Michael Cicchetti, who served as a Mt. Morris police officer from 2008 to 2013, was sworn in as chief of police chief during the April 12 village board meeting. At the same time, now-former Chief Jason White retired after 19 years in the position and a total of 35 years on the force.

“I’ve got big shoes to fill, but the fact that he [White] is going to be around is going to make it a lot easier,” Cicchetti said.

Cicchetti was one of 65 applicants, Village President Phil Labash said. It was a far larger pool than expected, even after being narrowed to 17 “viable candidates,” he said. Ultimately, seven candidates were interviewed, Labash said.

“Had we hired any one of those candidates, we would have been in a really good position,” he said. “They were all incredibly qualified and each of them brought their own unique skills to this role. But we had to make a cut, so we narrowed down from seven to three.”

The three finalists were brought in for half-day “informal interviews” with village staff, Labash said.

“At the end of that, we had a really tough decision to make — but it wasn’t really that tough,” he said. “Because I will tell you that, even though we had seven qualified candidates, three extremely qualified candidates, Mike Cicchetti really rose as the cream of that crop. So we are incredibly fortunate to have Mike accept the position of police chief, and I’m very excited to swear him in tonight.

“The reality is, Mike brings not only a lot of policing experience, but he also brings, I think, a heart for our community, which set him apart from everybody else,” Labash added.

On March 22, village trustees voted to hire Cicchetti as chief at a rate of $34.65 per hour.

It’s great to be back working in Mt. Morris, Cicchetti said. He and his family haven’t yet moved to the village, but will be.

“I started my career here. Loved my time here,” he said. “I went to a bigger department just for the different experiences of a larger community, larger department.”

Cicchetti spent the previous decade working in DeKalb County with the Sycamore Police Department.

“I’m actually thrilled with the fact that a guy who started here, who cut his teeth in law enforcement here and he’s coming back,” White said. “The guys are excited because they know him from when he was here before. I think it’s going to be a good deal.”