Command Issue February 2017LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Perhaps nobody has served in as many roles for the Illinois Chiefs as Laimutis “Limey” Nargeles HasBy Ed Wojcicki Limey Nargelenas has been one of the most versatile members in the history of the association. He has served in so many roles in law enforcement and for the Illinois Chiefs that the Board of Officers voted in December 2016 to give him a Lifetime Achievement Award. The award will be presented at the Awards Banquet in Oak Brook on April 21, 2017. Born in Germany when his Lithuanian parents (Antanas and Jadvyga Snabelyte Nargelenas) were in a “displacement camp” during World War II because his father was a war prisoner, Limey came to the United States as a boy and his family settled in Georgetown, Illinois, a rural area about 45 miles east of Champaign, near the Indiana border. There were some Lithuanian state troopers in the area and he got to know them – inspiring him to become an Illinois state trooper in 1969. In just more than a decade, he rose through the ranks to become the Superintendent of the Illinois State Police (ISP) in 1984. During that time, he became active in the Illinois Chiefs association and was elected fourth vice president in 1987, the same year that Chief Bob Bonneville became ILACP president. Nargelenas was on track to become the association’s president in 1991, just after the term of Chuck McDonald of the SIU-Edwardsville Police Department. But Limey’s career path changed at the ISP and Limey left the superintendent’s position before he could ascend to the presidency. He stayed active nonetheless. And very supportive. In his most recent position, he was the association’s lobbyist, and a very good one at that. In December 2015, he became the full-time chief of the Springfield Park District Police Department after leading an assessment of the department on behalf of the Illinois Chiefs. I am honored that I had a chance to work with Limey and benefit from his advice, experience, and wisdom. During my first legislative session as executive director in 2015, I observed him in the meetings with legislators and lobbyists from other law enforcement organizations. It was the first legislative session after the Ferguson uproar, and legislators had a lot of questions about what really happens on the street when police officers encounter citizens and bad guys. Limey often spoke up – eloquently and patiently – providing the law enforcement perspective. He served as a terrific advocate for all of us. On top of all this, Limey is or was: Chief of the Lincoln Land Community College Campus Police, his formal title being Director of Police, Security, and Safety Teacher or consultant for police departments in China, Mongolia, England, Korea, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Australia, Germany, and Lithuania What is clear to me is how respected Limey is by everyone. The combination of his brilliant intellect, along with his experience as a trooper on the street, a trainer in the police academy and instructor in university classrooms, and a lobbyist comfortable and knowledgeable in the back rooms of the State Capitol, makes him a man worthy of the association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Ed Wojcicki is the ILACP Executive Director. More photos of Limey’s career are on the association website and Facebook page. |