New South Chicago Heights police chief looks forward to role, promoting community policing
New South Chicago Heights police Chief Clinton Wagner said he looks forward to leading the department and “getting back to basics” of community policing following the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wagner, sworn in Nov. 20, said he spent a few weeks training with former Chief William Joyce, who retired Dec. 1 after nearly 50 years in law enforcement. Wagner’s first day official day was Dec. 4, he said.
Wagner, 48, grew up in South Chicago Heights and graduated from Bloom Trail High School in 1994. He said he looks forward to serving the community where he grew up.
“It’s a great little town. They’re home rule, very progressive. It’s diverse. There’s a lot of potential,” Wagner said. “It just feels like a hometown community feel where everybody gets together. If somebody’s in need, everybody jumps in and helps each other out.”
He said he has wanted to be a police officer since he was 18, after talking with his cousin, a South Chicago Heights police officer. His cousin told him Sauk Village had a police cadet program he should consider, Wagner said.
In 1994, right out of high school, Wagner became a cadet in Sauk Village, and was hired as an officer there in 1997. A year later, he was hired by South Chicago Heights.
Wagner, who has a master’s degree in public safety administration from Calumet College of St. Joseph, said he was a South Chicago Heights officer until 2001, and then worked for the Flossmoor Police Department through 2022, leaving as a deputy chief.
In 2022, Wagner said he took a remote position with the Illinois Department of Transportation as an internal affairs investigator. But Wagner said he realized he missed working in-person and policing.
Joyce said Wagner, who he has known for 15 years, was selected out of 18 applicants.
“I watched him rise through the ranks,” Joyce said. “He has so much police and administrative experience.”
Wagner said being chief in South Chicago Heights is more than an a desk job. He said he will have the opportunity to patrol and be out in the community.
“I missed that. That’s really want drew me to this versus a larger community, where I would just be behind a desk and be a complete administrator,” Wagner said. “I still like that feel of getting out and talking with people and being on the street.”
Wagner said he’d like the department to go back to the basics of policing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wagner said police officers had fewer interactions with community members.
“I want to bring back a little more proactive policing, especially community policing, where we’re out and about more and talking with people,” Wagner said. “That’s my big thing. Let’s get back out with community.”
