Palos Park Police Chief


Welcome to year 2010 and the Palos Park Police Department’s on-line web-site. We are very excited about a myriad of new initiatives and programs we have been working on. Each program and initiative is geared to enhance and expand the level of service we can offer you. At the forefront of the ever evolving changes has been exploring, testing and finding options to utilize our sworn and support staff to the optimal level in these trying financial times. We have been working on eliminating random patrolling and finding optimal use of our patrol staffs unobligated time. We do so by monitoring on a consistent basis the call volume and level of service needs on different days and times, and then adjusting our staffing levels to that end.
Police Chief , Joe Miller
In essence our goals and objectives vary from day to day and shift to shift, the key is using our staff to the greatest benefit of Palos Park. We have recently restructured the Palos Park Police Department to solidify accountability and responsibility within the organization. Everything occurring on an officer’s shift is detailed and reviewed as a total to gauge what we do and how we do it. Our Citizen’s on Patrol program, citizen volunteer program, police religious and community partnership, academic internship program’s, as well as the Palos Park Police Department cadet program operate on the premise of utilizing volunteers as an additional community assets. We hope to have the Local Adjudication Hearing program, which allows the village to hear ordinance and non-criminal cases at the village hall one day per-month , and our Photo Enforcement camera program at 131st and RT 45, up and running very soon. Our agency is a full service law enforcement agency with twenty-nine sworn officers who patrol the village twenty-four hours a day. We staff our field officers predicated on peak days and times when we need the most staff available. We utilize Southwest Central Dispatch, which has an Enhanced 911 system. This system also serves the Palos Fire Protection District. Here are some of the programs we offer, Child Safety Fingerprinting & Car seat inspections, a Police Cadet program for teens, an Emergency Service and Disaster Agency (E.S.D.A.), Vacation Watch program, Home Safety checks, “You are Not Alone” program for senior well-being checks and the File For Life program. Additionally we offer a Senior Safety I.D. Bracelet program and a volunteer Citizen Patrol Service (COPS). We work very closely with the Orland Park and Palos Heights Police Departments, in an effort to jointly solve crime problems in our area. We also train jointly with their officers. We are part of the Southwest Suburban Major Case Unit and the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force. Thanks for visiting our web-site. If you have any comments, concerns, complaints, etc. please feel free to call me at 708 671 3770 or E-mail me at jmiller@palospark.org On behalf of Public Health and Safety Commissioner Dan Polk, MD and everyone at the Palos Park Police Department, we encourage you to express your thoughts to us. We cannot improve our level of service without your input! Sincerely, Joe Miller Chief of Police



Palos Park Police Chief Joe Miller - Biography Palos Park Police Chief Joe Miller began his career in policing while still in high school. In the late 1970’s he became a police cadet and attained the rank of Cadet Captain. After graduating from Brother Rice High School in Chicago, Joe worked for the Chicago Police Department in their Data Systems Unit. While attending college, Joe started as a dispatcher with the Orland Park Police Department and became an Orland Park officer in the early 1980’s. Joe attended recruit training at the Cook County Sheriff’s Academy. During his career Joe has worked as a Juvenile officer, Truck Enforcement officer, Arson investigator, detective, patrol sergeant, lieutenant, commander and deputy chief. In the summer of 1992 Joe became the Chief of Police in Orland Hills, Illinois where he served for six years. Joe holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal-SocialJustice from Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois, a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from Lewis University and a Master of Business Administration from Saint Xavier University in Chicago. He is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command, Northwestern’s Executive Management Program, the F.B.I.’s Law Enforcement Executive Development program, DePaul University’s Human Resource Management program and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University’s Executive Management training. Joe currently teaches criminology and management courses at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, IL and Lewis University in Romeoville, IL. Joe is the past president of the 5th District Police Chiefs Association and past president of the Greater Cook County Council of Police Chiefs. Starting In the fall of 2009 Joe will be participating in the ten month Northwestern University Center for Public Safety Senior Management Leadership Program. He can often be found out patrolling the village on his bicycle, walking a beat, or in a patrol unit.