Oswego board approves full-time police training coordinator after Yorkville ends shared post

The Village Board of Oswego voted Aug. 4 to approve hiring a full-time police training coordinator in the 2025 budget to replace a shared position with the United City of Yorkville.

Police Chief Baston told the board the village entered a shared-services arrangement in May 2023 under which the training coordinator worked 20 hours per week for Oswego and 20 hours per week for Yorkville, with costs split. Yorkville has notified Oswego it will end the shared arrangement and has hired the current coordinator; the chief said that person will leave Oswego in January 2026.

Chief Baston said the department’s training needs exceed a 20-hour role and described the work as including scheduling, tracking state-mandated certifications, developing curricula and managing the department’s field training and academy processes. He said the department logged about 9,000 training hours last year, and cited accreditation and compliance needs including CALEA and Illinois mandates.

Baston told the board that hiring in November would allow time for overlap and knowledge transfer; he estimated the additional cost for November and December at about $19,500 and noted the village would forgo roughly 50% reimbursement previously provided by Yorkville in future years.

Trustees said they supported funding training to maintain officer proficiency and compliance. The motion to approve the full-time position passed on a roll-call vote (President Kauffman: yes; Trustee Koenig: yes; Trustee Hughes: yes; Trustee McCarthy Lang: yes; Trustee Torres: yes).

Ending The approval authorizes staff to hire a full-time training coordinator; the board noted the position supports accreditation, statutory compliance and in-service programs but will increase the village’s net budgeted personnel cost when Yorkville’s reimbursement ends.