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Princeton Police Chief Tom Kammerer of Princeton announced his intention to run for Bureau County sheriff.
“I am a police officer, not a politician” says Kammerer, who seeks the Republican nomination. “I want those who are casting their vote for this office to have a chance to interview me and know who they are voting for.
“Until this election is over, I am still the chief of police for the City of Princeton. Any campaigning efforts for this office will be conducted in the evening hours or on weekends.”
Kammerer is supported in this decision by his wife of 35 years, Betsy, who owns and operates Miss Betsy’s Donut Shop in Princeton, and their four children. The Kammerer family has been active in the community since moving seven years ago to Princeton from Oswego, where Tom retired as commander of the Naperville Police Department.
“Law enforcement is something that you do with your community, not to it,” said Kammerer, a member of the boards of Second Story and the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Narcotics Team and a former member of the Freedom House board.
He participates in other groups including Rotary, Dementia Friendly Princeton, OSF St. Clare Community Council, Illinois Valley Chiefs of Police, Homestead Steering Committee, Princeton Homelessness Coalition, Emergency Telephone System Board (ETSB), and Community Emergency Services and Support Act (CESSA) regional committee.
He is also employed part-time at the Arukah Institute of Healing where he led the development of two grant-funded, community programs: Vigilant, a peer support resource for first responders, and the Living Room, a walk-in behavioral health crisis and resource hub. Both provide unprecedented access and proper care to meet longstanding community needs.
He holds a Bachelor’s in Law Enforcement Administration from Western Illinois University and a Masters in Public Safety Administration from Lewis University/University of Virginia. Further training includes being a class supervisor at the Suburban Law Enforcement Academy, basic training at the Illinois State Police Training Academy, 10 weeks of executive leadership training at the FBI National Training Academy at Quantico, Medical/Legal Death Investigation at St. Louis University, Supervision of Police Personnel at Northwestern University, three weeks of executive leadership training at the Senior Management Institute for Policing at Boston University, and thousands more hours of additional training spanning his career.
For community, Kammerer is passionate about furthering recovery-oriented education and employment, helping people getting back on their feet through training, finding, and maintaining employment. Kammerer’s department were also forerunners in working with Arukah’s mobile crisis/988 team, which helped residents quickly access substance use or mental health support in crisis after a 911 call. “This partnership has changed our ability to get folks immediately to the care that can treat the source, rather than putting a bandaid on the situation.”
Many of the programs established at the Princeton Police Department, such as Dementia Friendly Princeton, Autism Safety Project and various mental health and substance use efforts, are scalable and can be expanded in the entire county.
“I believe that every person in our community has value and dignity, and that part of our job at the county will be to listen and help them find their way. We will do this by working closely with the good efforts of our community partners. Collaborative effort is how the county can help ensure Bureau residents are safe, productive and enjoy a high quality of life,” says Kammerer.
“Our deputies will be trained in Crisis Intervention Training,” he said, “so they can properly deescalate and facilitate resource connection across Bureau’s 869 square miles which will reduce repeat calls for service.”
“Should I be elected, I will appoint John Simonton to be my Chief Deputy. John has extensive experience in policing, including two terms as the Lee County Sheriff. He currently teaches at the Sauk Valley Community College Police Academy and has unending enthusiasm for mentoring and teaching. Between us, we have nearly 70 years of experience, much of it in leadership. Our intention will be to grow the next generation of leaders at the Bureau County Sheriff’s Department.”