ANNOUNCEMENTS

Community News

Macomb announces new police chief

MACOMB, IL – Macomb Mayor Michael Inman announced that he will appoint Interim Macomb Police Chief Jeffrey Hamer to fill the Police Chief position on a permanent basis. Chief Hamer will succeed Jerel Jones who left the position, earlier this year, for a position as Chief in suburban Flossmoor, Il. Inman will seek the concurrence of the Macomb City Council, at its Monday August 7, 2023, meeting, to hire Hamer as the City’s new Chief of Police.

Chief Hamer is a 22-year veteran of the Macomb Police Department (MPD) and has served many roles within MPD. Hamer has been a Field Training Officer (FTO), Verbal Judo Instructor, and he has been very active in implementation of technology in the Department throughout his career. Hamer was initially promoted to Sergeant where he supervised dayshift patrol activities. Hamer was subsequently promoted to Lieutenant, where he supervised patrol officers and functioned as the Tactical Commander for the multi-agency Strategic Response Team (SRT) Chief Hamer has played a vital role in getting the MPD fully accredited, while acting as the ILEAP Accreditation manager for the Department.

He served as the Body Worn Camera administrator for the past two years and assisted in officer training, rolling out the program, and oversight of the project. Hamer most recently served as the Administrative Lieutenant as well as Operations Commander prior to assuming the Interim Chief role

Hamer also served for three years as a Corrections Officer with the McDonough County Sheriff’s Department prior to joining MPD.

Chief Hamer holds a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Law Enforcement and Justice Administration from Western Illinois University (WIU) as well as a Master’s degree in organizational leadership from Lewis University Hamer is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command (323rd). He is a member of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, a big brother to Luke through Big Brothers Big Sisters and he is very active in several community, civic and non-for-profit organizations, in Macomb.

“I am excited to lead the brave officers and staff of the Macomb Police Department as we move the community and agency into the future”, Chief Hamer stated, “and I am thrilled to be the City of Macomb’s next Chief of Police,”Hamer added.