Message from Chief Albert

Since our last message the Elwood Police Department has made many new and innovative changes.  I would like to take this opportunity to share some of those changes with you.

The Department now has thirteen sworn Police Officers and two civilian staff.

The Department has a mission statement and it is as follows:

The mission of the Elwood Police Department, in cooperation with our community, is to protect life and property, and enhance the quality of life for all of our citizens.

The mission statement of the Elwood Police Department is a written declaration of purpose, a road map that delineates how an agency will arrive at a desired destination and a “Contract” with the community.

The purpose of the mission statement is to help police employees focus on the same goals and determine how to accomplish their purpose.  It also focuses a police department’s energies and resources.

In an attempt to meet the mission statement of the Department we have over the past several years instituted a Bicycle Patrol, Senior Citizen Check, Citizen Satisfaction Survey, Business Owners Association and an Intermodal Law Enforcement Group.  The Department has been committed to community oriented policing and has partnered with many state and federal agencies to provide the best protection for the Village of Elwood.

The Village is comprised of approximately two-thousand residents and has an intermodal rail facility that employs approximately three-thousand workers on a daily basis.  This facility also has approximately seven-thousand trucks in and out of the facility on a daily basis.  The intermodal, by itself, is an awesome responsibility for any municipality.

During calendar year 2007 the Elwood Police responded to 6,112 calls for service and traffic code violations.  A large portion of these calls dealt with traffic code violations.  The Department also conducted over 31,000 security checks on businesses and residential checks in Elwood. 

We will continue to focus on our mission statement and make a concerted effort to give the Village of Elwood the best police protection possible.

The Village of Elwood is a wonderful place to live.