Chief Fengel to become president
of statewide Illinois Chiefs’ association

 April 26, 2018

Contact Ed Wojcicki, 217.414.7790
[email protected]

PEORIA – Bartonville Police Chief Brian Fengel will be installed as president of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police on Friday evening, April 27, during the installation of officers in downtown Peoria. He will become the association’s first president from Peoria County in its 77-year history. He succeeds Chief James R. Kruger of Oak Brook in a one-year term, and will be the ILACP’s 70^th president.

Fengel will lead the 1,300-member association and a nine-person Board of Officers. “Among his goals is to continue the strong relationship the association has developed with the Illinois NAACP State Conference in the past two years,” said ILACP executive director Ed Wojcicki of Springfield. The association has had leadership-level private meetings with NAACP leaders in the past two years in Bloomington, Champaign, Lake County, the west side of Chicago, Oak Brook, and the Quad-Cities, and Fengel plans to bring this dialogue to Peoria and other cities during his year as president.

The association’s top priorities are professional development and legislative advocacy on behalf of Illinois law enforcement. Other priorities are outreach and increasing the visibility of law enforcement with a positive message.

Among the more than 150 people at the banquet will be Bartonville Mayor Leon Ricca and Judge Kevin Lyons, who will serve as master of ceremonies.

Fengel has been in law enforcement for nearly 30 years and has lived in Peoria County for the same length of time.  He has served as Chief of Police in Bartonville for 20 years, and has more than 7,000 hours of post-academy law enforcement training.  

Fengel is a lifelong resident of central Illinois and is a former president of the Peoria County Chiefs Association, former president of the Police Benevolent Association, former gubernatorial appointee to the Law Enforcement Medal of Honor Committee, and current member of the United States National Medal of Valor Selection Board, which has garnered him more than one visit to the White House.

He has expertise in providing safety for older citizens. He established the Bartonville Safety of Seniors Program and in 2012, he was designated by the State of Illinois as the Elderly Service Officer of the Year. He also was a member of the Illinois Endangered Missing Person Advisory Silver Search Task Force. He also represents the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police on the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board.

He was an adjunct professor at Illinois Central College and graduated from several prestigious law enforcement programs, including the FBI National Academy (Session 201) in Quantico, Virginia, and the Illinois Law Enforcement Executive Management Program at Northwestern University.

Fengel and his wife Tanya live in Bartonville and have two children. He is originally from Canton, Illinois.

A candidate for Peoria County sheriff in 2018, Fengel would be able to continue his presidency of the Illinois Chiefs if he wins the election because the ILACP bylaws allow leaders of any law enforcement agency, including a sheriff’s department, to be a member.