Mike Weitzel has taken the helm of a Morton Grove Police Department he is quite familiar with, but the new chief plans to take his time to implement any changes.
“I do think that even though I am not from the outside, I do need to spend a period of time thoughtfully and reflectively assessing what we’re doing here,” Weitzel told Pioneer Press.
He officially started as the town’s top cop after being sworn in at the Dec. 10 Village Board meeting. Weitzel had been the deputy chief since 2018 under Chief Michael Simo and took the leadership role when Simo retired.
Weitzel said that ultimately, though he already has an intimate familiarity with the police department, he does plan on taking time to re-examine its needs.
Weitzel is a lifelong area resident and a 25-year veteran of the department. He grew up in the neighboring Park Ridge where he had been working in real estate when he first considered going into police work.
“I was still young when I got hired here,” Weitzel said. “But … it certainly is the first employment opportunity that truly became a passion.”
Weitzel took a joint police employment test in 2000 that was shared among seven municipalities, and Morton Grove was the first to call him back. He did not hesitate to respond.
Now, decades later, he is heading a department with a $13.7 million budget for fiscal year 2025, and a staff of 75 that includes civilian and sworn officers in patrol, field, supportive services and administrative divisions.
Weitzel said there are advantages to starting a leadership role having been tapped from within the department. Doing so, he said, means not having to spend time getting familiar with the department operations or the challenges it faces
“It’s a unique position where I know very intimately everything that’s occurring here,” the new chief said. “I’ve been a big part of bringing this agency to where it currently is.”
Nevertheless, he plans to proceed thoughtfully.
“A lot of the sweeping changes have been made already,” Weitzel said. “But, I think that I’m in a period where I do have a lot of ideas; but nothing is going to be pushed forward hastily.”
Though sworn in at the December board meeting, Weitzel said had already been fulfilling many of the duties of police chief. Additionally, In his own parting remarks, Simo made it clear that he was a fan of Weitzel as his replacement.
“I assure you all that the department is in good hands and the next 10 years will be as good or better than the last,” Simo said.
Before being named deputy chief, Weitzel worked in several roles, with the majority of his time spent on the midnight and overnight shifts. He said that the people he worked with during the overnight shifts have left a lasting impression on him.
“I rather frequently express that I have no more admiration for anyone in our society than someone who’s willing to be a midnight patrol officer,” he said. “It’s an unheralded toll that they’re taking on: Away from their families, being awake all night. And they’re willing to do it to make sure that everyone else can go to sleep feeling secure.”
Weitzel described a similar fondness for the people he met in training at the FBI National Academy.
“The main revelation was how many great and dedicated law enforcement leaders [there are] across this country,” Weitzel said.
He said he learned almost as much from the 250 other law enforcement professionals he attended the academy with as he did from the academy curriculum itself.
“We were constantly sharing ideas on technological innovations, the way people structured shifts, the way different people accomplish different missions,” Weitzel said. “It was a constant sharing of ideas.”
As he settles into his new leadership position, Weitzel said he sees opportunities for the department to improve on technological innovation and recruitment.
He said that recruitment and retention will be one of his main focuses as chief.
“You have to be more active in your testing,” Weitzel said. “You have to go out and find qualified recruits.”
Weitzel said he took an active role in the department’s recruitment strategy under Simo and is confident in the approach moving forward.
“It just takes more work, right? You can’t just throw one test and have a pool of candidates for three years to pick from,” he said. “Now you have to hold two or three tests a year. But that’s OK. We’re willing to do that work to find the good people to join us.”
Weitzel bragged about how the department pushed the bar when it came to technology in recent years with the introduction of body-worn cameras and new traffic surveillance cameras. But said he anticipates new opportunities for using technology to the department’s advantage in the coming months.
Alan Kozeluh is a freelancer.
