Crime & Safety

Clarendon Hills Still Without Permanent Police Chief

Village manager says an update on the selection process will be made public soon.

Village Manager Randy Recklaus said there will be information released in the next week or so about progress in the search for a new Clarendon Hills police chief.

Deputy Chief Ted Jenkins has been the ’s acting chief since after leading the department since 2003. Jenkins is a candidate for the permanent position.  

Recklaus did not comment on the number of candidates still being considered or the particular criteria that will determine the decision. The village manager did say that there is a loose connection between next week’s development and the wrap of a third-party police department review being performed by attorney Chuck Hervas, which is scheduled to finish up in the coming days.

Find out what's happening in Hinsdale-Clarendon Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to Recklaus, Hervas was brought in to review the department's handling of an internal gun-theft incident that led to the arrest of a former Clarendon Hills police officer on felony charges on May 13. 

In a phone conversation on June 24, Jenkins said he expected to hear a decision at the July 5 Clarendon Hills Village Board meeting, which was later canceled and rescheduled for July 18.

Find out what's happening in Hinsdale-Clarendon Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Jenkins said his day-to-day activity would be much the same whether he’s selected as the permanent chief or remains a deputy chief.

“It doesn’t change my job one iota no matter what they decide,” Jenkins said in June.

Anderson retired May 18, wrapping up an eventful week for the police department. Five days earlier, with stealing five guns from the department’s evidence room.

Recklaus said at the time he had been given no advance notice from Anderson that the chief was planning to call it quits.  

During Anderson’s tenure, the Clarendon Hills Police Department headquarters were redesigned and reconstructed. Clarendon Hills Police was the first police agency statewide to adopt the Lexipol police policy manual program, which happened under Anderson, and the chief was “instrumental in the establishment of the Village’s fiber optic network in partnership with the BNSF railway,” according to a village press release in May.

“They’ll be some tough shoes to fill,” Recklaus said after Anderson’s retirement announcement.

The week after Anderson retired, , a municipal attorney from the Itasca firm Hervas, Condon & Bersani, P.C. who specializes in police department matters, to perform the review of the Ryan incident.

According to Recklaus, the village board has to approve any recommendation made by village administration for the position.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills