How a tiny park police department became a vital resource for policing the Illinois River

EAST PEORIA — It could be said the future of the Fon du Lac Park Police Department began with the purchase of a 17-foot boat in the late 1990s.

Since then, the small department of less than a dozen officers has bucked the statewide trend of park police departments going by the wayside. Instead, it has become a go-to resource for law enforcement on the Illinois River and beyond.

"When I started here, we didn't have a boat," said Mike Johnson, who retired this month after 29 years in the department, nearly all of that as the police chief. "I figured that we had all those miles of shoreline that connect to the parks so we should be monitoring that."

Johnson is an avid boater, and what once was the extension of a hobby has turned into a vital resource for the area. His officers, who are trained in surface water recovery and rescue, have been called across the state to help with investigations, including the high-profile searches for Stacy Peterson and Alexis Scott.

Five or six boats later, the department now has a hovercraft, a 30-foot-long Monarch rescue boat and a Boston Whaler craft, similar in length, which was donated by the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office.

"He has dedicated the time and effort to build a professional marine rescue department within the Fon du Lac park police department," said Tazewell County Sheriff Jeff Lower. "We have partnered on many occasions to further that goal."

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The beginnings

Johnson, 60, began working with the department while he was still in the U.S. Air Force. He was ready to switch from active duty to more of a reserve role and signed on with the 182nd Airlift Wing of the Illinois Air National Guard. He deployed with the unit near the start of the Iraqi War.

In 1999, he became the department's first full-time police chief. That's when he began to look into the river role for the park district, which has several properties that abut the river. To him, it just made sense to take up that position.

It was also at a time when not many in the area were thinking about policing the Illinois River.

"Back then, people turned to the Coast Guard for law enforcement issues, but that's not their role here. They are more of maintenance and navigation," he said.

Much of the role has been learned on the job, he said. There was no training. Boats were purchased and upgraded. He remembers driving to California one year to get a boat. Some were military surplus. Others were donations, Johnson said.

Around that same time, the Peoria Fire Department was getting involved in the river business, said Chance Barlow, a former Peoria firefighter and now the new police chief at Fon du Lac.

"When Peoria Fire began to build up their dive team, that's when Mike was building up his side of the maritime security," Barlow said. "Peoria Fire will always be the primary search and rescue, but we are the primary side for law enforcement. We back each other up."

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River 1, 2 and 3

The district has three main watercraft. The 30-foot Monarch rescue boat, dubbed River 3, which is the primary boat on the water. It's well known by denizens of the Illinois River because of the shark mouth painted on the bow. When Johnson removed the design one year, he got a lot of calls and emails for it to return.

River 2 is a Boston Whaler-style of boat donated by the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office. Lower said he donated the boat because he felt the park district "would have more of an ability to use it."

Then there's the hovercraft, River 1, which was donated in 2016. That's been a godsend, Johnson said, as it allows the officers to get in and out of places that are too shallow or too rocky for a boat. The hovercraft also makes rescues during the winter much easier because it can glide over the ice.

The department goes out on all policing matters as well as recovery efforts. They use their sonar to help with recovery of bodies, cars and other objects in the river. When called upon, the department also assists the U.S. Coast Guard detachment that is based in East Peoria.

With budgets being stretched to the limit in many locations, an established service like Fon du Lac helps not only police but also fire. Shawn Sollberger of the Peoria Fire Department said it's putting community first.

"If you don't do that, then you have clouded judgements. We need to be thinking about how to provide the best service for the community," he said, noting that both departments back up each other and train together.

Fon du Lac has agreements to patrol and monitor the river 25 miles upstream and downstream, said Barlow. Those intergovernmental agreements, put in place while Johnson was chief, have cemented the district as the go-to law enforcement response. But it doesn't mean they are the only one.

Johnson is quick to give credit to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and their conservation officers, who also help out on the river. They have a few smaller boats and can respond, as well. He stresses that teamwork is what has allowed his department to flourish.

"We couldn't have done this alone. We work with the other agencies to make sure that citizens are safe and protected on the river. We have a maritime agreement with the Coast Guard which gives us jurisdiction on the water," he said.

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What now?

After all those years on the water, teaching river safety, rescue and policing, one might think Johnson is ready to be a landlubber. Not quite.

Instead, he's getting a cabin cruiser to take trips up and down the river or wherever he and his wife want to go. It'll be small enough to tow around but big enough to ride in style.

And he's not going away, saying he'll help out if needed. But he said that it was time to step away from the job and turn it over to others like Barlow whom he served with in the National Guard. Barlow says he wants to continue what Johnson built and expand.

"We want to continue to grow our dive team from a law enforcement perspective," Barlow said. "The idea is to build joint teams with others to provide better service to our citizens."

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: This small park police department has important role in Illinois