ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — Rockford is about to get a new police chief.
The (Rockford) Register Star reports that Dan O’Shea is scheduled to be sworn in on Monday night during the City Council meeting. O’Shea has spent 27 years in law enforcement and comes to Rockford from Elgin, where he was the police department’s operations commander.
O’Shea takes over a police department that has been trying to combat a spike in violent crime. He says his plans to knock down the number of violent crimes that spiked 24 percent last year in the city include working closely with other law enforcement agencies, including the FBI.
He says he also hopes to battle street gangs by using the courts to make it illegal for gang members to associate with each other.
