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New Officer on the Beat

The Hodgkins Police Department has a new face joining its ranks. On January 6, 2023, with Mayor Millsap, Chief Klotz, Commissioner Lopez, and HPD command staff in attendance, Village Clerk Stephanie Gardner swore in Jessica Rico to become the department’s newest officer.

Coming from a background working as a detention officer in Oak Lawn, Jessica completed the sixteen-week program at the Police Training Institute in Champaign in order to become a certified Law Enforcement Officer with the State of Illinois. She’s now on the Hodgkins streets with a training officer in our Field Training Program.

Born in Chicago, Jessica and her family moved to Tinley Park when she was seven. She was homeschooled in high school and attended Moraine Valley and Lewis University, where she studied Criminal Justice and Psychology. She’s a big physical fitness buff, and always loved police cars and sirens as a child.

“I knew a lot of people who were afraid of police, but I never understood that because I thought the police were great,” Jessica stated while discussing her past. “I admired them very much. I guess a part of me wanted to show people that the police aren’t the bad guys, to change the way people view the police.”

Be sure to introduce yourself and congratulate Officer Khalil when you see her in town!