Winnebago County sheriff, Cherry Valley police open recruitment center at CherryVale Mall

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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CHERRY VALLEY — The Cherry Valley Police Department and Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office have opened a new storefront at CherryVale Mall aimed at recruiting future officers and connecting with members of the community.

The new Protect Serve Recruit Center, or PSR Center for short, is on the first floor near Macy’s. Officials gathered to cut the ribbon on the storefront on Wednesday afternoon. The police agencies have a two-year lease with the mall.

“This storefront will not only assist us in recruiting the best candidates for the law enforcement profession but also strengthen the bond we share with those we serve,” Cherry Valley Police Chief Todd Stockburger said. “It’s important for us to be approachable, accessible and involved in the lives of the people in this community.”

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The rent for the center was funded by a $12,000 grant awarded by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, which made funding available for police recruitment and retention efforts. Stockburger said the idea started about a year and a half ago and he developed it in collaboration with CherryVale Mall’s General Manager Justin Shea and Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana. The mall offered the space at a discount rate in partnership with the police agencies.

Roughly 3 million visitors go through the mall annually, according to the mall’s estimates, Stockburger said.

“It’s been tough for police agencies to recruit,” he said. “So I figured if we can get a small percentage of those 3 million people maybe it’s a better day for Cherry Valley police for recruiting and hiring.”

The PSR Center won’t have set regular hours, but it will be open intermittently and used by officers while they fill out reports or handle other duties at the mall.

“Just because you don’t see a police officer in the recruiting center, doesn’t mean there isn’t a police officer on site or around the mall,” Stockburger said.

Both Stockburger and Caruana said they are always recruiting to make sure they can quickly fill positions when an officer may retire or leave the department.

“It gives us an opportunity to create a deep bank,” Caruana said. “We want to keep recruiting good people who want to be in law enforcement.”

Police departments around the country reported staffing issues starting around 2020, which police leaders had credited to the coronavirus pandemic and increased scrutiny on police actions.

Caruana said the department is starting to see more interest. For example, last Saturday it had about 75 people apply for testing and 40 to 50 attended. They’ve had times in the past where such testing days only had seven or eight candidates, he said.

“I’ve actually seen a change now from a couple of years ago where people do want to get back in law enforcement to help serve and protect,” Caruana said. “The mindset is turning around. The summer of 2020 was a little bit brutal, but we’re moving out of that and people see the value in policing: good, ethical, moral policing.”

Both Caruana and Stockburger also said they hope the presence will create peace of mind for visitors to the CherryVale Mall.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas