Reflections of a Police Chief

By Anne Eickstadt

SUBMITTED PHOTO Belvidere Daily Republican
Police Chief Jan Noble is retiring after 22 years with the Belvidere Police Department to move on to even greater responsibilities.

Editor

“One of the challenges I faced as police chief when I started 22 years ago,” said Police Chief Jan Noble, “was the need to step up our department’s training. I needed to have the City Council accept the police chief’s recommendation to increase the training budget from $12,000 per year.

“Today, the training budget has become $65,000 per year. The department’s training budget now averages $1800 per officer per year. This training increases the officer’s ability to investigate crime issues within the Belvidere community. It also increases the confidence level that the community sees in its own officers.

“All of this has helped decrease the city’s crime rates, especially the violent crime from gang activity which the city faced in 2003 through 2008. Those five years were marked as the most violent that the city has seen. The violence was caused by two rival gangs who attempted to set up their turf in Belvidere. It was fueled with greed, profits from selling narcotics, and attempting to intimidate local homeowners.

“The police department worked hard to build relationships with all previous state’s attorneys starting with State’s Attorney Roger Russell, through Jim Hursh and Michelle Courier, up to and currently with State’s Attorney Patricia Smith. These partnerships resulted in high quality investigations and in gang members being sent to the Illinois Department of Corrections for lengthy prison terms.

“The Belvidere Police Dept.’s aggressive posture drove a lot of gang members to the community of Harvard or back to Rockford. While gang activity has substantially subsided, it is still one of the department’s top priorities along with narcotics suppression. This is evidenced by the joint City Council Metro Narcotics Unit, another example of excellent cooperation between the Belvidere Police Dept. and the Boone County Sheriff’s Dept.

“During the city’s growth years, between 2000 and 2008, the city grew from 18,000 to 26,000, the police department grew to keep up with the residential growth the community experienced. The department today, while not at its maximum staffing of what we had before the great recession hit, stands at 43 officers.

“The department stands ready to welcome its new police chief at his swearing in ceremony on Friday, March 2, at 2 p.m. at the City Hall.

“I would like to emphasize,” Chief Noble said, “how grateful I am to have had the cooperation and support of a community who took an active role in helping the police department to reduce the crime rate.

“I have worked for three mayors during my tenure – Mayor Peterson, who hired me in 1995, Mayor Brereton, and current Mayor Mike Chamberlain. All three mayors have been wonderful in supporting the department’s mission to improve the quality of life within the city of Belvidere.

“Deputy Chief Shane Woody, soon to be Police Chief comes with experience at the command level but also has recently graduated the FBI National Academy. I am leaving the city in strong, capable hands to lead this department forward. Woody will be coming in during a time when the city’s crime rate is low and stabilized. He will have the full support of Belvidere’s aldermen and mayor and the full support of the city’s police department.

“On March 1, I will start a new job with

For full article, pick up the Feb. 28 Belvidere Daily Republican.