The Orland Park Police Department reached the century mark in the number of full-time officers Monday night as seven new officers were sworn in to serve and protect the more than 60,000 residents that call the village home.
During the same swearing-in and badge-pinning ceremony, two current police officers – Charles Kirby and Jonathan Basinski – were promoted to the rank of sergeant.
Dave O’Connor, who has served as the chairman of the Orland Park Board of Fire and Police Commission for the last 26 years, swore in sergeants Kirby and Basinski along with new police officers Eric Guzman, Dominik Tylka, Abdel Mohammed, Ryan Kammer, Owen Reidy, Christian Kowalski and Patrick Rafferty.
Each of the new officers was pinned by a member of their family.
Police Chief Eric Rossi, a 20-year veteran of the department, said the village was fortunate to swear-in seven new officers to the growing department.
Monday night’s swearing-in ceremony was one of the largest in terms of numbers of new officers, officials said.