MPD Chief Barker announces plans to retire
Story by Downtown Macomb
Subhead: Mayor to appoint Lt. Jerel Jones as new MPD Chief
MACOMB Macomb Police Chief Curt Barker announced today that he will be retiring as Chief of Police effective May 3, 2021.
Barker, a graduate of Western Illinois University and a U.S. Army veteran, has served as a member of the Macomb Police Department for over 27 years, 12 of those years as Chief. “I am proud to have been able to serve the citizens of Macomb as a police officer and as their Chief,” said Chief Barker. “And am proud of the women and men of the Macomb Police Department, as they move into the future,” Barker added.
ROCKFORDâWinnebago County Stateâs Attorney J. Hanley announced his executive team during a news conference on Tuesday morning.
Hanley, a Republican who won election on Nov. 3, took office on Dec. 1 and spent the last two weeks sorting through the transition from stateâs attorney Marilyn Hite Ross before making leadership announcements on Tuesday.
His executive team will include First Assistant Stateâs Attorney Maria McCarthy, Civil Bureau Interim Chief Charlotte LeClercq, Criminal Bureau Chief Ken LaRue, Sex Crimes Prosecutor Kirstin Krivanec, Juvenile Unit Supervisor Rob Simmons and Misdemeanor Unit Supervisor Seth Wiggins.
McCarthy previously served as an assistant stateâs attorney in Cook County for nearly 30 years.
ROCKFORD Winnebago County is in the midst of a gun-crime pandemic, says new Winnebago County State s Attorney J Hanley.
Prosecuting gun cases, gang-related violence, domestic violence and sex crimes will be the top priorities of his office.
Hanley identified those four priorities initially to his staff and then again Tuesday when he held a news conference to introduce to the public members of his new executive team.
Hanley, who took office Dec. 1, said he inherited a staffing shortage and a huge caseload and felt it was important to identify to his staff and to the public the priorities of his office.
CHICAGO (WLS) On Chicago s West Side Sunday, the South Shore Drill Team was organizing a community coat drive. There s a need here in the city of Chicago, said Stella Natufe, with the drill team. So many people are struggling financially due to the pandemic, and Chicago can be a very, very cold place.
Natufe calls this a thank you for the community. The donations are a combined effort of the purple group covenant army, the Chicago Police Department and a Cook County Sheriff s Department, she said.
The event included coats for all ages, plus hats, gloves and a drill team performance.