Flossmoor’s 20th current police officer took the oath of office Monday.
Officer Courtney Kimes joined the police department Jan. 6 and is taking part in the 13-week field training phase of his probationary period.
to join the Flossmoor Police Department. (Photo by
Tom Houlihan/H-F Chronicle)
Flossmoor’s 20th current police officer took the oath of office Monday.
Officer Courtney Kimes joined the police department Jan. 6 and is taking part in the 13-week field training phase of his probationary period.
Kimes was sworn in by Police Chief Michael Pulec at the Feb. 6 village board meeting. He is the first of two new officers who will join the police department this year.
“He comes to our department highly qualified,” Police Chief Michael Pulec said. “Beyond his extensive training and field work, Officer Kimes comes from a police family.”
His father, Patrick Kimes, retired as a captain from the Illinois State Police.
Kimes previously served on the Harvey Police Department, where he had worked since September 2013. He is a graduate of Thornton Fractional North High School and the University of Illinois Police Training Institute.
Mayor Paul Braun welcomed Kimes to Flossmoor and said he is joining a department that is known for its excellence in law enforcement.
Kimes took Flossmoor’s police eligibility test last summer and placed second among all applicants, Pulec said.
Flossmoor is expected to hire the second new officer within the next two months.
Prior to Kimes’ hiring, Flossmoor had 19 sworn police officers — a chief and deputy chief, four sergeants and 13 patrol officers.
Village board members approved the hiring of two additional officers last November following a study by R.E.M. Management Services, a Lansing-based consulting firm that analyzed police department staffing and recommended the expansion.
The study showed that calls to the recently-opened Meijer store could strain police response in the rest of the community. The size of the police force had not increased since 2001 despite the department’s taking on a greater number of tasks and community initiatives, Pulec said at the time of the village board vote.
The department was understaffed for years, according to R.E.M.