Northbrook Police Chief John Ustich is retiring in July after three decades of working with the department, including one year as chief.
“I’m looking forward to spending some good quality time with my family,” said Ustich in an interview with Pioneer Press. “I’ve missed a lot of holidays, birthdays, events, and activities for the kids.”
Ustich joined the department in 1996 after serving around eight and a half years in the U.S. Navy, where he worked on sonar electronics on a submarine. He was then transferred to physical security, a form of military policing, and attended the military police academy. He said this experience grew his interest in law enforcement.
“This is an unbelievable job,” said Ustich. “It’s different every day, it’s interesting, you’re helping people.”
Over the three decades since he started in the Northbrook Police Department, Ustich said he made it a goal to move up into a leadership role.
He started in the department working as a patrol officer before being promoted to detective, sergeant, patrol commander, deputy chief and eventually police chief in December 2024.
“We’ve made some significant changes here in my 30 years, and I’m proud of where we’re leaving it right now, and we’re in good hands going forward,” said Ustich.
Since he started with the department decades ago, Ustich said the Northbrook Police Department has changed drastically, especially with how mental health calls are handled.
Ustich said officers would spend maybe 15 to 20 minutes on a mental health call with someone, get the person the help they needed and then move on to the next call.
Now, he said the department spends a significant amount of time with that person getting them the help they need and then will assign follow-ups for a counseling services representative.
“We have all of our officers trained in CIT (Crisis Intervention Team). People will get assigned to a CIT officer, who follows up not only with the individual but their family to make sure they have what they need,” said Ustich.
Technology and AI have also changed the kind of cases that the department sees today, he added. For example, AI images and online scams, especially with children and older adults, have become increasingly common.
As a result, bringing awareness to the public on how to avoid online scams has been crucial, he said.
“We try to keep up with the trends, and we try to keep up with the education of the public to tell them what the current scams are and how not to fall for them, but it is prevalent,” said Ustich.
Beyond changes in policing trends, Ustich said the recruitment of officers has also shifted significantly since he started.
Where there would be 1,200 applicants for eight jobs, nowadays, the department is “lucky” if they get 100 applicants for any openings available, he said.
Ustich said many factors have played a role in the decline of officer recruitment, including the perception of the job and changes to pension benefits. He explained this has made it more important for the department to prioritize the mental health and well being of the officers.
“I will say policing is a very difficult profession,” he said. “Not everybody can do it or is built to handle it. We wear many different hats, we see things that the normal person will probably never see in their lifetime and we need to be able to put that somewhere and process it somehow.”
Ustich’s last day will be July 1, according to a May 26 press release from the Village of Northbrook. Village of Northbrook Manager Cara Pavlicek will conduct an internal search for the department’s next police chief in the upcoming weeks, the release said.
“Our community is grateful to Chief Ustich for his steady and thoughtful leadership during an important time in law enforcement,” said Village of Northbrook President Kathryn Ciesla.
“Beyond his commitment to public safety and accountability, Chief Ustich has built strong relationships throughout the community through open communication, accessibility and genuine care for our residents.”
