A major crash last month has prompted the Highland Police Department to join the South Lake County Crash Reconstruction Team.
Police Chief Ralph Potesta says the team agreed to help investigate a crash at U.S. 41 and Industrial Drive, even though Highland wasn't actually a member. Now, he wants to join formally.
"Basically, when you call them out, they take over your scene," Potesta told the town council last week. "They're going to do all your interviews. They're going to take the accident report. They're going to handle all the stuff at the hospitals with medical tests and make sure that they're getting tested for what they need to."
Potesta explained that crash reconstruction used to be provided by the Lake County Sheriff's Office, but it's had to cut back that service because of staffing challenges, prompting individual communities to put together their own team.
As part of the agreement, Highland will pay $500 a year. A Highland officer who's set to be trained in reconstruction will also be made available to help the team, if he isn't otherwise occupied with his duties in town.
"Our town is the main priority. If they can't go, they can't go," Potesta assured council members. "But I mean, it's just great that they come in here, and it frees up our guys because we've had guys tied up at these scenes for four, five, six hours a shift."
Council member Mark Schocke voiced his support for the agreement. "They literally just came out, like, within the last month, even though we weren't members, to do us a solid, which I appreciate. So I think the least we could do is show our good faith and say that we would return the same favor for an adjacent agency," Schocke said.
The town council unanimously approved an interlocal agreement last week, allowing Highland to join the crash reconstruction team.
