UI police chief leaving for similar job in Colorado 'so I can be closer to family'

Aug. 25—URBANA — Alice Cary, University of Illinois police chief and executive director of public safety, announced Friday that she will leave in late September to take a new job as police chief in Silverthorne, Colo.

A national search will be launched to replace her, and Deputy Chief Matt Ballinger will assume Cary's duties on an interim basis after she leaves, pending approval by the UI board of trustees, according to UI police spokesman Pat Wade.

"It is with mixed feelings that I have accepted a new position in Colorado so I can be closer to family," Cary said. "I have had a wonderful experience at Illinois, particularly the opportunity to build genuine relationships with people within the Division of Public Safety and the community."

Cary took over leadership of the Division of Public Safety in July 2020.

In her first year, she initiated two programs now being used as models among police departments across the country, according to Wade.

One was the Community Outreach and Support Team, or COAST, which strengthened the department's community engagement and safety education initiatives, and the other was the Response, Evaluation and Crisis Help Initiative, or REACH, a co-responder model to strengthen mental health services, Wade said.

Cary was also a leader in an intergovernmental agreement in which jurisdiction for some off-campus properties was transferred from Champaign to UI police, he said.

Cary's current position with the UI has been her ninth law-enforcement-related job. Just before coming to the UI, she was police chief at the University of Maryland-Baltimore.

Nineteen months after she arrived at the UI, she was one of four finalists for chief of police at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

Ballinger has been part of the department's command staff for the last four years, serving the last two years as deputy chief.

In his 19 years with UI police, he has served as a patrol officer, field training officer, METRO SWAT commander and was one of the original supervisors of the multi-jurisdictional Street Crimes Task Force, Wade said.

Ballinger also served four years in the Army 3rd Ranger Battalion before beginning his service with UI police. He has received numerous policing awards, including the 2012 Illinois Law Enforcement Medal of Honor, Wade said.

"We have a strong continuity plan in place during this transitional period," Cary said. "The exceptional staff of the Division of Public Safety is on a solid foundation to continue promoting a safe campus environment where education, research and public service can flourish."