Village of Rockton welcomes new patrol officer

One highlight at the Village of Roscoe Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024 was the welcome for new Patrol Officer Joshua Graham.

The board also approved a contribution to SMTD, the 2026 tax levy, and an emergency well repair.

Rockton Police Chief Matt Hollinger welcomed Joshua Graham's family, Police Commission Chairman Richard Stewart, and everyone else who was in attendance.

Next, Officer Graham is heading to the Police Academy at Sauk Valley Community College where he will start on Jan. 5, for a total of 16 weeks.

At 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.”

Hollinger said they had "roughly 30" applicants when they started taking applications in September. Usually the number of applications drop after that, "whether they get second thoughts or were picked up by other departments. We are all looking for these same applicants.”

Josh Graham 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 that right away. I loved his background that he had. He was very comfortable in the room,” Hollinger said.

Josh is a graduate of Hononegah High School but told Hollinger that “when he graduated, there was no way he was going to be a 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.

In between, Graham served 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 has worked with at risk youth through the National Youth Advocate Program, 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 [school shooting] 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, 2025 and ending on May 31, 2026.

Also approved was an emergency repair of well number #10 to be done by the Cahoy Group for $38,805.