CRIME, Melrose Park PD moonlighting as security firm [MP]

From Melrose Park Herald (John Huston):

Several businesses in Melrose Park hired IFPC for security.

Big accounts like Cinemark movie theater, Navistar and Lincoln Technical Institute would pay IFPC with checks, the source said.

IFPC is the security company Melrose Park Chief of Police Vito Scavo and Deputy Chief of Police Gary Montino were running.

Is it standard for these type of businesses to hire extra security? What were the security companies providing that wasn't in the duties of the police department?

Doesn't this seem like an old-fashioned protection racket?