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Crime & Safety

Herzog: Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Former Grayslake Police Chief Larry Herzog shares memories from his run as top cop, and shares some unfinished business.

“I just really appreciate every single minute I have been here.”

With a mix of candor, charisma and commitment, former Grayslake Police Chief Larry Herzog shared some of his memories from leading the squad for 13 years before retiring in July.

“This is really a neat community; it’s like a diamond right in the middle of Lake County. It’s just such a special place to be,” Herzog said while speaking to a group at the on Sept. 14.

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Born in 1948, Herzog grew up in the Chicago-area, attended Taft High School then served in the United States Marine Corp.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Illinois-Chicago, and later during his police work received an MBA from Northeastern Illinois University.

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In 1972, he joined the Park Ridge Police Department where he remained an officer and later Deputy Chief for 26 years. During that tenure he worked alongside the Cook County Sheriff’s Department as one of the investigators in the John Wayne Gacy case.

Herzog and his wife Jo moved their three children to Grayslake when he accepted the Chief of Police position in 1998. Herzog was anxious to get started.

He remembers in his first week he reviewed and reissued the department’s use of force policy and its vehicle pursuit policy and went out to meet the public.

During his first month he worked up a mission statement that is still honored by the police department today - To keep people safe and make people feel safe.

Herzog continued to make significant strides in moving the police department forward.

When he began he had 18 officers and one detective. In 2011 the department boasts 33 full-time officers, 2 part-time officers and five civilian employees.

During his tenure, the became nationally accredited, officers were assigned to each high school, the department joined task forces with surrounding communities, and the 911 dispatch services and communications were outsourced to Glenview saving taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Herzog said that model for outsourcing is why the police department and the village as a whole are so successful.

Grayslake outsources its crime investigation unit, as well as the Emergency Services Team which includes SWAT team officers and mobile field police, a unit Herzog helped create.

“If it’s a resource we don’t use that often, it’s most cost effective to outsource it,” Herzog said. During his tenure he only needed the Emergency Services Team once.

Unfinished Business and Advice for the Future Chief

Herzog did want to set the record straight about an incident back in May of 2008.

“The Grayslake Police Department does not dislike motorcycles,” Herzog said referring to the heat the Village took after canceling the Ironhouse Motorcycle Rally at the Lake County Fairgrounds.

“There were lives at stake at that time,” said Herzog, but still maintaining that there are several details regarding the event that he cannot disclose. “But I just want to be clear - we do like bike riders.”

When asked what he didn’t get to accomplish as chief, he paused then began his list.

Herzog said he would have liked to promote several officers within the department, expand different programs, assign a full-time officer to the grade schools and have the current officers become more involved with the Oasis Grayslake Youth Center.

“It comes down to limited resources and expanding responsibilities,” Herzog said while still giving much credit to his officers who wear several hats in the department.

“You don’t just get to be a beat officer in Grayslake,” he said referring to the officers who also head up the range training program or recruitment program, write policy or act as the firearms instructor in addition to their position, among other things.

“They don’t get more money for it but they gain great experience and I know it’s appreciated,” he said.

His advice to his replacement: “Continue to focus people, the officers, on the outside of the department and in the community, not internally.”

Matt McCutcheon is currently serving as the interim chief of police during the search process.

Read more in Former Police Chief Larry Herzog Leaves A Lasting Impression.

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