Photo by Marney Simon | Enterprise Staff
Mayor Mike Collins administers the oath to Ricardo Robles, one of two new police officers for Plainfield.
By Marney Simon | Enterprise Staff
The Plainfield Police Department has added two new officers to its roster.
On March 19, officers Ricardo Robles and Brandon Fox took the oath of office for their new positions in the department.
“I’m very pleased to give the oath of office to two new police officers,” said Mayor Mike Collins before swearing in both new hires.
Trustee Brian Wojowski welcomed the officers with a bit of advice.
“You’re in a good department, with some good leaders that will put you through some good training and keep you as safe as possible,” Wojowski said. “So, do your best, and enjoy every second of it, it’s going to be a wild ride.”
Photo by Marney Simon | Enterprise Staff
Brandon Fox is one of two new hires for the PPD. Fox was sworn in on March 19 by Mayor Mike Collins.
Meanwhile, the board approved a request from the PPD for new communications software to assist the Plainfield Emergency Management Agency (PEMA).
The police department will purchase the equipment from Chicago Communications, LLC, for a total of $8,949.
“This is equipment that would help us run our radio room,” said Chief John Konopek. “This equipment would be headsets to assist with communications, and also other equipment to assist the personnel running our radio room to run multiple radios at the same time.”
Over the past three years, the department has been steadily improving the communications equipment for PEMA. Those improvements have included updated STARCOM21 capabilities and conforming to Will County’s new radio system.
The purchase was included in the police department budget.
“The nice part about this is, the talks we’ve been having about potentially a new EMA building in the future, this equipment would be able to transfer over to that building if that ever does happen,” Konopek said.
In 2017, PEMA, an all-volunteer agency, responded to 28 emergency callouts.
PEMA self-dispatches its members and resources out of the PEMA garage.