16 police chiefs meet with Governor Rauner,
vow focus on training and community policing 

SPRINGFIELD -- Sixteen current and former chiefs of police, including 13 past presidents of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police (ILACP), met today with Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner to discuss their continued effort to modernize training and focus on community policing principles. The meeting occurred Friday, January 29, in the governor’s office at the State Capitol.

This meeting with the governor also begins a yearlong celebration for the association, which is observing its 75th anniversary this year.

“We want the governor to know that we have been endorsing community policing principles for two decades – so it’s not a new concept – and we have been sponsoring training on every important issue in law enforcement since the 1950s,” said Chief Frank Kaminski of Park Ridge, the current ILACP president.

One reason that the Police Training Institute was started at the University of Illinois in the 1950s, for example, is that ILACP’s leaders saw the need for enhanced training of police officers and pushed for the creation of a state-funded training center.

Established in 1941, the ILACP has more than 1,200 members representing some 450 agencies in every part of Illinois – including many chiefs, retired chiefs and command staff. It provides training and professional development and helps chiefs fulfill their state-mandated requirement to receive 20 hours of continuing education annually.

“There are calls today for police to be more transparent and engaged in our communities,” Kaminski sad. “We hear that call, we agree with that call and we’re going share that with the governor.  We’re also going to work diligently, as we have for decades, to make sure local police chiefs have the information and training they need to have constructive engagement in their communities. We all want safe communities and a positive relationship with the citizens we serve.”

Kaminski noted that many local police departments embraced community policing in the 1990s. Concepts of community policing include trust, partnerships and mutual problem solving, and relationships outside of enforcing the law.

In addition to this, the association is also celebrating the fact that seven of its leaders have been president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police – roughly one in each decade since the 1940s. Those seven are, and the year in which they were international president were: T.P. Sullivan (Chicago) 1946-47; George Otlewis (Chicago Park District) 1956-57; William H. Morris (Springfield) 1966-67; Donald R. Derning (Winnetka) 1972-73; Charles A. Gruber (Elgin and formerly of Quincy) 1989-90; Darrell L. Sanders (Frankfort) 1996-97; and Russell B. Laine (Algonquin, and now interim chief in Fox Lake) 2008-09. There will be an eighth in 2019, when Buffalo Grove Chief Steve Casstevens is in line to become international president.

Other major accomplishments in the association’s history include: 

• Statewide participation in the Law Enforcement Torch Run and other events to raise money for Special Olympics.
• Advocacy of important policy issues in Springfield and Washington, such as body-worn cameras, seat belts, “investing in kids” as a way to fight crime, opposition to “bigger trucks,” and stricter enforcement and punishment for driving under the influence.
• Establishment of the Traffic Safety Challenge to encourage local police departments to push traffic safety in their own communities.
• Establishment of an accreditation program for local police departments called the Illinois Law Enforcement Accreditation Program, and a certification program for police chiefs and senior-level officers interested in becoming police chiefs.
• Longtime partnerships and relationships with such groups as Northwestern University’s Center for Public Safety, the Illinois Sheriffs Association, the Illinois State Police, the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority and many in the private and corporate security sector, such as the current Illinois Security Professionals Association.
• Collaboration with other groups to establish the Police Memorial on the State Capitol grounds and participation in the annual ceremony honoring law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty.

List of ILACP attendees for meeting with Governor Rauner
Friday, January 29, 2016 

The following past presidents of the association plan to be at the gathering:

Others in attendance with Governor Rauner:
ILACP Board of Officers (aka Board of Directors) 

Frank Kaminski, President (Chief, Park Ridge PD) 

Steve Casstevens, 1st Vice President (Chief, Buffalo Grove PD) 

Brian Fengel, 3rd Vice President (Chief, Bartonville) 

The 2nd Vice President, Chief James Kruger of Oak Brook, and 4th Vice President, Chief-Designee Steve

Stelter of Westchester, were unable to attend.