The Salem City Council has approved the Salem Police Department joining the new Southern Illinois Major Case Squad.
Police Chief Todd Boles says eight other departments including the Marion, Jefferson, and Effingham County Sheriff’s Departments and Mt. Vernon Police have joined the program that will not have any membership cost.
“The biggest advantage is us being fully capable of investigating things and keeping it in-house,” Boles said. “We have full control of it. Like I said, the State Police do a great job, but you do sometimes have to go through a phone tree to find out where they’re at with it. It’s nice to have the capability to do it all fully, because we pay a lot of money for the police department. The other aspect is, like I said, the training aspect. We don’t have the type of crime some other places have, for example Mt. Vernon, they’re going to have things come up more often that our guys can go and watch people with more experience.”
Under the program, each department pays their own cost of sending an officer to another community to assist with a major case, with no cost to the department seeking help.
In other action, the council approved a Phase 1 and 2 engineering services agreement with Gonzalez Companies, LLC to determine options the city has for improving Airport Road and drainage issues along the road. Once the study is complete, the city will plan for actual improvements that could be two to ten years away. The city obtained a grant to complete the initial study.
City staff will look into possible solutions to parking issues on the east side of the 100 block of North Washington Street. The owners of a new coffee shop and deli that will soon open at 100 North Washington Street are requesting two ‘to-go order’ parking spots. T and K Title next door also expressed concern about courthouse employees parking in the block making it difficult for those attending closings at their office. City Attorney Matt Wilzbach says while they can designate 15 minute or short term parking spaces, they cannot reserve them for specific businesses. Staff will bring back a draft ordinance outline proposed solutions related to time limited parking needs at a meeting in March.
The council agreed to continue participation in the Illinois Municipal League Civility Pledge.
Mayor Nic Farley and several council members commended the street department on the quick response to clearing snow from the recent storm.
