MOWEAQUA - Finding a recession-proof job can be a chore these days, but Moweaqua has one: it's looking for a new police chief.

An ad running in the Herald & Review gives prospective chiefs until 4 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 31, to get their applications in. Salary hasn't been revealed by the village board, but invites applicants to submit "salary requirements."

David McLearin, the current police chief, will turn in his badge Feb. 20 after four years on the job. "I'm going to be 60 years old and I thought it was just time to go ahead and enjoy the grandkids and things," said McLearin, who is collecting the applications for his successor and funneling them to the village board, which does the hiring.

"Moweaqua is just a nice little town, it's also progressive and a dry town, no taverns, with a good school system and a board that is looking forward for the village," McLearin added. "There is a just a good bunch of people there."

McLearin, who oversees one full-time and five part-time officers, won't say what the ideal candidate should have in his or her resume, and says that is up to the village board.

The ad being run by the village seeks someone with 10 years of experience in police work, five of which must have been at the sergeant level or higher. Moweaqua also wants its chief to have completed the basic law enforcement training academy course, or equivalent, and prefers applicants with a college degree.

McLearin was an Illinois State Police officer for 24 years and rose to be a master sergeant in command of the Eastern Central Illinois Drug Task Force. He still runs his own private detective agency and will continue doing that part time.

"But I will miss being police chief," he said. "I enjoyed it."

People in the village say he did a good job and are looking for a successor who will continue to season law enforcement with fairness. "Someone who gets to know the kids and lets them know they've got a friend rather than someone who is going to arrest them every time they get in a car," said Marlene Craig, who runs the Old Firehouse Auction Center in town with her husband, John.

"On the other hand, you need a chief that, if he stops you and you were really doing something wrong, you are going to be in trouble. We want someone who knows how to use sound judgment."

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