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opprairie.com News<br />

the orland park prairie | February 15, 2018 | 3<br />

Orland Park Village Board<br />

Police officer praised for going ‘above and beyond’<br />

Officials debate<br />

LEDs vs. fluorescent<br />

options<br />

Jon DePaolis<br />

Freelance Reporter<br />

An Orland Park police officer<br />

was recognized Feb. 5<br />

at the Village of Orland Park<br />

Board of Trustees meeting<br />

for going above and beyond<br />

the call of duty in order to<br />

help a resident.<br />

During the recognition<br />

portion of the meeting, Orland<br />

Park Police Chief Tim<br />

McCarthy presented Officer<br />

Phillip Glecier to the board<br />

members.<br />

McCarthy said around 9<br />

a.m. on a January morning,<br />

Orland Park police received<br />

a call from a senior citizen<br />

about a “possible suspicious<br />

person near her home … because<br />

she saw some tracks in<br />

the snow.”<br />

McCarthy said Glecier<br />

was dispatched to the home,<br />

did an investigation and<br />

checked the area. While he<br />

did not find any signs that<br />

would indicate criminal activity,<br />

Glecier listened to the<br />

woman’s concerns about the<br />

lock on her storm door being<br />

broken.<br />

“Officer Glecier said he<br />

might be able to come by after<br />

work to fix that,” McCarthy<br />

recounted. “After work,<br />

he did. He went out and<br />

bought a lock for the door<br />

and new parts at the Home<br />

Depot. He came back and<br />

repaired the door for [the<br />

woman].”<br />

The resident wound up<br />

writing a letter thanking<br />

the police department and<br />

Glecier.<br />

“We don’t pat our officers<br />

on the backs enough<br />

for those types of things, for<br />

which we really do receive<br />

a lot of letters,” McCarthy<br />

said.<br />

Mayor Keith Pekau said<br />

he receives several of these<br />

types of letters, but he noted<br />

that this instance was “above<br />

and beyond.”<br />

“It demonstrates what all<br />

of our officers do — how<br />

you serve and protect,” Pekau<br />

said to Glecier. “I really<br />

want to thank you for your<br />

efforts on this.”<br />

Trustee Michael Carroll<br />

added that he has known<br />

Glecier since the officer was<br />

a community service officer<br />

with the police department.<br />

“This is not unusual [behavior]<br />

for Phil,” Carroll<br />

said. “When I was a Cub<br />

Scouts leader, he helped out<br />

our pack. He came out and<br />

talked to our kids and spent<br />

as much time with them as<br />

they wanted. He wasn’t onduty,<br />

but he came out after<br />

his patrol to help us out. This<br />

is what he does on a regular<br />

basis and what kind of a man<br />

he is.”<br />

McCarthy concluded the<br />

recognition by mentioning<br />

that Glecier also was honored<br />

at the police department’s<br />

awards ceremony.<br />

Round It Up<br />

A brief recap of action and discussion from the Feb. 5<br />

meeting of the Orland Park Village Board.<br />

• Village Board members voted 6-0 to approve the<br />

creation of a new Technology Commission, which as<br />

described in a staff memo would provide suggestions<br />

about improvements to the Village’s technology and<br />

ways to use it to enhance Village services.<br />

• In another 6-0 vote, the board members approved<br />

changes to the Veterans Commission. Mayor Keith<br />

Pekau said these were made to “reflect what [the<br />

commission] is currently doing.”<br />

• The board members also voted 6-0 to eliminate the<br />

Senior Citizens Advisory Board, Community Relations<br />

Commission, and the Parking and Traffic Advisory<br />

Board. Pekau noted that these commissions had not<br />

been active in several years.<br />

Mayor wants to see more<br />

on lights before decision to<br />

switch<br />

Later in the meeting, the<br />

Village Board members<br />

voted 6-0 to approve a contract<br />

with CTS Group in<br />

an amount not to exceed<br />

$634,253 for Phase 2 projects.<br />

Trustee James Dodge<br />

was absent.<br />

The Village entered into<br />

an agreement with CTS<br />

Group in 2015 to evaluate<br />

Please see Village, 8

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