Village of Rockton welcomes new patrol officer, approves contribution to SMTD
The Village of Rockton welcomed new Patrol Officer Joshua Graham at the Village Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 17.
Rockton Police Chief Matt Hollinger introduced himself and welcomed Graham’s family, and everyone who was in attendance.
Hollinger recognized Chairman for the Police Commission, Richard Stewart and thanked him for coming to the meeting.
Hollinger gave a background of the process in hiring a new officer.
“We had 16 full time applicants, and we needed one more to get us to full staffing.”
In September is when we started taking applications. We had roughly 30 at that time. Usually what happens with our job is that applications drop, whether they get second thoughts or were picked up by other departments. We are all looking for these same applicants.”
Josh took the written test on Oct. 2 at Hononegah High School.
“We had four days of interviews in October, and there were 20 applicants in that process. After that it was narrowed down to 15 and Josh was at the top. It is very difficult to keep everybody.
“I had the privilege of being in the room when he did his interview, and this is the guy, I knew right away. I loved the background that he had. He was very comfortable in the room,” Hollinger said.
“I remember that he made the comment that after he went to Hononegah High School and when he graduated there, was no way he was going to be an Rockton officer. Times have changed.”
“We have done very well at getting more of the Hononegah kids in our group. This is something we were unable to achieve in the past,” Hollinger said.
Graham had eight years in the Military with the National Guard. He graduated from Western Illinois University in Criminal Justice and has a background in Crisis Intervention, and basic medical services.
Graham also has a background in Pretrial services and probation with Ogle and Winnebago County.
Most recently he works with the National Youth Advocate Program where he deals with “At Risk” youth, trying to mentor them and to keep them out of the system.
“I listened to some of the stories he did in the interview. It’s incredible,” Hollinger added.
He does very well at de- escalation and at keeping kids on the right track.
When you think about yesterday’s event in Madison, this is who we need, we are very happy to have him with us.”
Rockton Village Clerk Christina Stewart swore in Officer Graham as he took the oath of office followed by a nice round of applause.
The Village Board also approved a contribution of $25,000 to the Stateline Mass Transit District (SMTD).
Trustee Dave Winters gave the Police Department summary from Dec. 1-15. Winters said, “87 traffic tickets were issued, there were 94 warnings, 23 criminal arrests, three warrants issued following investigations and six traffic accidents, one with injuries.
Looking ahead to future business, the board approved an ordinance for the Levy and Assessment of Taxes for the Fiscal Year beginning June 1 and ending on May 31, 2026.
Also approved was an emergency repair of well number #10 to be done by the Cahoy Group at a cost of $38,805.