Committee Picks Firm to Find New Top Cop

Village officials are one step closer to finding a new police chief.

Members of the board's Public Safety Committee said Tuesday that they've chosen a consulting firm to lead the nationwide search for someone to fill the shoes of former . They will propose their suggestion June 21 to the full board for approval.

Trustees on the committee have settled on the Deerfield-based Voorhees Associates LLC because of the staff's professionalism and expertise, Committee Chair Brian Maher said.

"It was unanimous," he said. "We have a lot of confidence in them and we believe they can do the job."

Three consulting firms were in the final running for the gig, he noted, but Voorhees Associates was the standout. If approved by the village board next week, the firm will put the search in the hands of two former police chiefs — one who served in Buffalo Grove and Skokie and the other, Lake Forest.

"(Voorhees) will take a very modern approach to the search in terms of accepting Internet applications and keeping a national focus to be sure that leaves no stone unturned," Village Manager Scott Niehaus said.

The job is expected to take three to four months, he said, and comes with a price tag of about $16,400. If the village opts to set up an assessment center, where candidates would be faced with conflicts and asked to resolve them, an additional $5,000 in fees could be tacked on. But that's to be decided later.

"That's something we would do if we narrow the search down to a few serious candidates," Niehaus said.

He also noted that the firm will be spending up to 10 hours interviewing village officials—including trustees—to create the Tinley profile for an ideal chief.

Committee members have reached out to other communities that have employed Voorhees Associates, like Cary, Ill., to ensure the firm has a clean track record, Maher said.

"They were very pleased with the work … so much so that they've appointed them again to search for a new village manager," he said. " … For us, it is very important that we look for the right qualities in a potential chief. … We feel they will do that."

Until a candidate is selected, will serve as the interim chief. He was . For more background on the death of O'Connell, comb the Tinley Park Patch archives.