BYRON — At its March 6 meeting, the Byron City Council appointed and swore in Jeremy Boehle as the new Byron Police Department Chief. Boehle previously held the rank of sergeant within the department he has served for 26 years.
Boehle will replace Chief Todd Murray, who is retiring after nearly 24 years as chief and 39 years in law enforcement. The City of Byron conducted the hiring process in recent months and held an open forum in February for the community to meet with Boehle and Sycamore Police Department Deputy Chief Jeffrey Wig, who was also a candidate for the chief position.
“It was quite the process,” Boehle said. “It's like nothing I've ever done before. My last time applying for something like this was for BPD when I was hired as a police officer. It's pretty cool to move up through the ranks. That doesn't happen quite often here. It's pretty cool to see that and I think it's a good indicator to the officers we have here, that you can move up through the ranks to the top.”
When Boehle was hired by BPD in 1997, he signed a two-year contract. He didn’t anticipate renewing that contract due to interest he had in working for the Illinois State Police and U.S. Marshals Service. His outlook on continuing to work for BPD changed over those two years due to the city’s atmosphere.
“We had a great group of officers,” Boehle said. “City-wide, it felt like family. We were a tight-knit group and it was a family atmosphere. I don't think you see that in other cities. Definitely not in the larger ones. The mayor and aldermen and everybody knows your name and family and what you're doing and they care about you. At that point in my life, the grass wasn't greener for me to go anywhere else. I enjoyed the family life I had here that we built, so that's why I stayed.”
Boehle was promoted to sergeant in 2008. Staying with BPD has allowed him to stay in the area he grew up in. He grew up in Oregon and graduated from Oregon High School.
Serving as chief was never in Boehle’s plans, he said. He enjoyed policing on the road, and still does. But, he felt it was time to take “a different step” and perhaps bring some new ideas to the department.
Boehle’s top priority will be staffing, as the law enforcement industry navigates a shortage of officer applicants. BPD is currently in the process of hiring new officers and hopes to send two new hires to training by May 5. That would make the department one officer short, due to its plan to employ a school resource officer in the Byron School District in the future.
“School safety is at the top of our list,” Boehle said. “We'll be sending an officer to SRO school in June. We just have to get the people on the road so we can get into the school. That will be the main hurdle for me. We also want to meet with the community and hear what we're doing right and wrong and where we can improve. We've thought about Coffee with the Chief and with our officers. We want to do outreach in the schools and interact with the kids.”
Another task for Boehle will be the state-required implementation of body cameras by Jan. 1, 2025. That mandate was one result of the state’s criminal justice reform SAFE-T Act, which has changed policing in recent years.
“This is a job that's forever changing,” Boehle said. “We're always learning something new, and that's kind of why we get into it. It's not the same every day. The last five years have been kind of hard. We're learning and embracing the SAFE-T Act. It hasn't been as bad as we thought it'd be. We were one of the few departments to have car cameras in past years. I've grown with that and it's a tool. And I think the body cameras will be a tool as well. It's proven that they protect us and the citizens. We just have to get used to them and learn them. In policing, things are looking up. I think things are going to be just fine moving forward.”
Boehle said he wants to build upon Murray’s legacy as chief after working with and learning from him for the past 24 years. The colleagues will continue to speak as Boehle gets his arms around his new position.
“It's different being on the other side of that desk,” Boehle said. “To now know what he's been doing on a daily basis, it's been stressful to see everything that it entails. Over the years he's been a leader and I've learned from him. I feel pretty confident that I'll be able to move forward with what he's taught me.”
As the community was made aware in recent weeks that Boehle was a candidate for the chief position, Byron residents voiced their support for his appointment, which he appreciated from the community he’s policed for 26 years.
“Seeing the community support was amazing,” Boehle said. “I didn't realize I had that kind of support out there. I got texts and people were stopping me and asking me about it. It was above and beyond what I ever expected. It's a small town. I've had to arrest people and that sometimes turns people away from you. Even some of those people that I've had that type of contact with, I had great support from. That in itself means a lot in terms of what people generally think of me. That was awesome."
