Northfield PD nearly staffed up following shortage for ‘several years’

It was a celebratory night in the Northfield Village Board chambers Tuesday, Aug. 26, as multiple members in the village’s public safety ranks were promoted, while a new recruit was welcomed to the community.

The Northfield Village Board on Aug. 26 recognized the promotions of one firefighter and three police officers, and gave a warm welcome to the newest police recruit.

Burke named deputy fire chief

Longtime Northfield firefighter Tom Burke was recently promoted to deputy chief of the Northfield Fire Department.

According to Fire Chief Mike Nystrand, Burke was hired as a firefighter in 1986, and a year later he joined the public works department as a laborer, being promoted to equipment operator in 1989.

In 1990, Burke became a state-certified emergency medical technician, followed in 1992 by becoming a state-certified fire investigator.

He was promoted to fire department captain in 1994, then fire marshal in 1997. Starting in 2004, he was the assistant chief of the Northfield Fire Department, a role in which he served until Aug. 18 when he was named to deputy chief.

Nystrand praised Burke’s service to Northfield.

“It has been my honor to work with Tom for the 39 years that he’s been here,” he said. “He’s a real asset to the team here at the village. I think he does an outstanding job.”

Police department command staff filled

Police Chief Mike Hutensky introduced three newly promoted police officers and the newest member of the Northfield Police Department.

Steve Gilmour was promoted to commander. He had previously served as a detective and is Northfield’s representative on a regional major crimes task force and burglary task force.

Gilmour’s new responsibilities, according to Hutensky, will include overseeing the support services division, which includes investigations, policy, management and evidence.

Steven Malinowski and Matthew Aniolowski were both promoted to sergeant.

Malinowski serves on the regional major crimes task force and is a certified drone pilot through the Federal Aviation Administration. Aniolowski serves on the regional burglary task force, and is the department’s elderly services officer, serving as the liaison to the North Shore Senior Center.

Both will supervise patrol shifts.

Hutensky also introduced the department’s newest officer, Mason Perri.

Perri is a recent Illinois State University graduate and will be starting his police academy training next week.

Hutensky called the promotions and hire “a very exciting moment” for the police department, not just for the new roles, but because they are filling gaps with which the department has been struggling.

With the three promotions, Hutensky said the department now has no vacancies within its command staff.

“With Mason’s hiring, we are now within one position of having all of our staffing filled,” he said. “This is as close as we have been in several years (to being fully staffed) and none of that would be possible without your support as a board, so I’m really grateful for that.”

In 2024, while dealing with recruitment challenges, the Northfield Village Board approved hiring incentives for officers and additional pay for current officers who take on training responsibilities. Trustees also increased the number of police officers from 19 to 21.

Hutensky thanked Village Manager Patrick Brennan and Melissa Jewett, the village’s director of administrative services, for working with him on “behind-the-scenes support,” in addition to the village’s Board of Police Commissioners.

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