CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Jeff Christensen, the interim chief of the University of Illinois Police Department, has been chosen to be the next police chief, pending approval of the board of trustees at its July 18-19 meeting in Chicago.
Jeff Christensen
A committee will recommend the hiring of Christensen as the police chief and the university’s director of public safety, interim positions he has held since the Feb. 10 departure of Barbara O’Connor, who had been chief since summer 2008.
As an undergraduate student at the U. of I., Christensen was one of the campus’s first student-patrol supervisors. He was hired as a patrol officer in 1985, promoted to lieutenant in 1990, and has been the department’s deputy chief and assistant director since 2005.
Christensen was selected for the chief’s position as a result of a national search that winnowed the applicant pool to three finalists. The other finalists were from outside the university. The search was led by the Hollins Group, a consulting firm that advised the university in the search that eventually led to O’Connor’s hiring in August 2008.
“I feel honored to serve this campus and our fine department as the chief of police,” Christensen said. “We are very fortunate to have an extremely high-quality and professional staff that works day in and day out with passion. With our current and continuing initiatives, coupled with a supportive community, I am enthusiastic and excited being able to move permanently into this position.”
Christensen said the department has performed well and has constantly strived to improve during his time on the force. He said he is eager to play a significant role in leading the department into the future.
“I’m surrounded by consummate and caring professionals inside and outside our department who take campus and overall community safety very seriously, no matter where they are positioned,” he said. “It’s actually kind of a gift in being selected as chief of police in such an environment.”
Phyllis M. Wise, the chancellor of the Urbana campus, said Christensen’s long-time association with the university and its police department will be an advantage to him, the department and the university.
“We are so fortunate to have Jeff become our permanent police chief,” said Wise, who also is a vice president of the university. “He is thoroughly familiar with the many issues that university police must face and he already is well-versed in specific campus issues, procedures and protocol,” she said. “He brings to the job a goal of making our campus police department even better, as well as a host of already developed connections with our campus and external stakeholders. This will allow him to more easily share his vast experience and to develop strategies that safely lead our campus well into the future.”
Christensen also served as interim chief during the O’Connor search and was a 1998 recipient of a Chancellor’s Distinguished Staff Award.
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