News that the Village of Glencoe has cross-trained all its emergency response staff, and can now use a single fund for police and firefighter retirement benefits raises the question about whether other communities have attempted similar consolidation.
The Chicago City Wire asked Alsip Village Clerk Susan Petzel whether any cross-training has occurred in her village.
She said in an e-mail interview that one of the issues complicating Alsip’s implementation of similar measures is its large population.
“Alsip’s population of 20,000 doubles during the day because of the over 850 businesses represented, which mandates protection by 42 full-time policemen and 33 full-time firemen, utilizing two firehouses,” she said.
Petzel said that Glencoe only serves 8,700 residents.
“The majority of Alsip employees are represented by a union (AFCME, Metropolitan Alliance of Police and IAFF) and if consolidated into one, would represent a change in government, requiring the Village Board to approve a resolution asking voters if they wish to approve a change in government,” she said.
Comments Petzel made suggests the jobs of police officers, firefighters and EMTs currently are not interchangeable because of the different training required by each.
“Currently, police candidates are not required to have firefighter, EMT and paramedic qualifications, nor does a firefighter need to have a criminal justice degree,” Petzel said in the interview.
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