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Six promoted and two new hires for the Boone County Sheriff’s Dept.
COURTESY PHOTO Belvidere Republican
Sheriff Yunk with the newly promoted and new hires in the Boone County Sheriff’s Department.
Sheriff Scott Yunk was extremely happy on Friday, Jan. 6, when he entered the Public Safety Building, 615 N. Main St.
“I am so excited,” he said. “We usually only do one or two promotions at a time but we have six promotions and two new hires swearing in to-day. We have so many excel-lent deputies in the Sheriff’s Department. We have had a whole lot of discussion about who would be promoted. We have been attempting to make these decisions since I was elected sheriff last fall and others re-tired. It was very, very difficult to make these decisions … as I said earlier, we have so many excellent deputies to choose from.
“It would have been a whole lot easier if we could have just flipped a coin, but the promotion process doesn’t work that way. The promotions from within the department are: Pat Molloy is now the chief deputy (Former Chief Deputy Perry Gay has retired), Darren Rowe has become the lieutenant of operations, and Kevin Smith is the new lieutenant of PSB/911 (Dispatch).
“Bill Kaiser is promoted to patrol sergeant and Nick Funk has also become a patrol sergeant. Jodi Ewers is the new corrections lieutenant with Matthew Harling as her corrections master sergeant and Jarrett Loofboro as the new corrections sergeant.
“Deputy Chief Pat Molloy began his law enforcement career in the Corrections Unit. He moved to Patrol in 1998, and was promoted to sergeant in 2006, then to lieutenant in 2015. He has overseen the Dispatch Center/ Records/ IT, and telecommunications and has been my backbone these past five weeks.
“Lt. Darren Rowe started his career in Corrections as well. He moved to Patrol in 1998 and was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 2008. He be-came sergeant of Investigations in 2018. He is a graduate of the FBI Academy (2020). Darren does a lot of our firearms training/active shooter and assists in overseeing our range.
“Lt. Kevin Smith started his career in Corrections. He began in Patrol in 2005 and was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 2015. He is a 2022 graduate of Northwestern School of Staff and Command. Kevin has been a K-9 handler and currently oversees our K-9 program. He is our Arrest and Control Tactics instructor, Taser instructor, and he is a member of ILEAS (Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System), and our multi-jurisdictional Honor Guard.
“Sgt. Bill Kaiser was hired by the Boone County Sheriff’s Department in 2004. In 2008, he joined the Winnebago/ Boone Auto Theft Task Force, He joined our Investigation Unit in 2011. Bill has been a field training officer and is also a member of the Winnebago/ Boone County Integrity Task Force.
“Sgt. Nick Funk began in Corrections in 2007 and in Patrol in 2008. He currently serves as a field training officer and a Defense Tactics instructor. But, what Nick is really known for – not just on our department but throughout our region and beyond – he is the BCSD and many other departments’ traffic and crash re-construction and drone pilot.
“For all the hard work, the great work that you have done, your reward is more work. I want to remind you that we don’t supervise robots – we supervise people. If you want them to listen to you – listen to them. That is how you lead. Leadership is not about how you can dominate others and stay on top of them, it is about how you can empower others to achieve the goals they didn’t think they could achieve. It is difficult to make unpopular decisions when you have to make the right decisions.
“To our two new hires, Peter Blair and Joshua Stege – your family is your backbone and your support. You always need them. Never forget that family is what you define your family to be. Today, your family has grown. This is your family. All of these people support you even though you don’t know them yet.
“Parents, family members – I can assure you that we will provide then with the best support, the best training, and the best equipment we can so that they also can return to their loved ones at the end of their shift.”
