In 2002 the DeKalb Police Department began a Community Service Officers (CSO) program. The CSO is a non-sworn part-time civilian member of the Police Department responsible for various functions within the department. They assist sworn officers by performing non-hazardous law enforcement duties that had traditionally been handled by sworn officers. Though still willing to provide a vast array of services to the community, sworn officers have the opportunity to concentrate their efforts on more serious problems.

The DeKalb Police Department has deployed a canine team to support our Patrol Division. Officer Gates is assigned as the handler to our canine, Tach. Tach is a Belgian Malinois born in Slovakia and imported to the United States via Vohne Liche Kennels located in Denver, Indiana. Our canine team went through training at the Illinois State Police Canine Training facility. Tach is a dual purpose drug detection and patrol dog, trained in narcotics detection, handler protection, suspect apprehension, building and area searches, article searches and tracking.

The Domestic Violence Unit (DVU) was established in 2013 with establishing goals of reducing calls related to domestic violence, improving domestic violence investigations, working in concert with Safe Passage and the State’s Attorney’s office, and to increase intervention to prevent violence associated with domestic situations. The DVU reviews domestic reports and arrests, upgrades charges when necessary, and follows up with victims for orders of protection. The DVU also works with Safe Passage to provide roll call training for officers and to orient Safe Passage staff to relevant police procedures.

The Field Training Program is designed to prepare new officers to perform the essential duties of a police officer and to enhance the professionalism of the department through a contemporary, vigorous training system. The goal of the program is to produce a self-reliant police officer who is trained to modern professional law enforcement standards.

The training is structured as a 4 phase, 14-week program that prepares new officers in the various aspects of police work. The trainee rotates between 3 different Field Training Officers (FTO’s) during the 14-week program. The FTO’s provide a link between the Basic Law Enforcement Academy curriculum and the police performance expectations of the community and the department. The trainee also completes a week of training in the Investigation Division upon successful completion of training in the Patrol Division. The trainee also spends time working with the Telecommunicators and the School Resource Officer.

The trainees are oriented to the department and given instruction in city and county geography and jurisdictional boundaries. There is also instruction in the topics of community policing and ethnic diversity to enhance the trainee’s knowledge of these matters. The trainee interacts with other area law enforcement agencies and becomes familiar with the Northern Illinois University campus and its geographical boundaries.

The DeKalb Police Department Honor Guard was formed in 1996 for the dedication of Moudy Park. The Honor Guard continues to participate in the Moudy Park ceremony annually. The Honor Guard participates in other events as well. They have been in parades, Mayoral Inaugurations, and at funerals. Members of the Honor Guard are also members of a multijurisdictional color guard made up of officers from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, NIU Police Department and Sycamore Police Department.

The DeKalb Police Department has an officer on the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System (ILEAS) Mobile Field Force. Realizing that individual departments cannot field a team of officers to handle major crowd control incidents ILEAS forged the Mobile Field Force, a contingent of police officers from ILEAS member departments, to handle such incidents. The officers from different police departments are equipped and trained through ILEAS to handle crowd control, protests and riots.

An officer is also assigned to the Weapons of Mass Destruction Special Response Team (WMD SRT). The WMD SRT teams are locally deployed SWAT teams that are specially trained and funded by ILEAS to deal with human threats in a hazardous materials environment. They often act as regional tactical assets for local agencies.

The Motor Unit began service on September 8, 2004. It had been over 20 years since the department has had a Motor Unit. The Motor Unit is used for traffic enforcement, special events, and as a tool to interact with the public, especially children and youths. Traffic enforcement is stressed in high crash locations and in residential neighborhoods. These locations chosen will be where an officer in a marked police car would not be able to monitor traffic and take the necessary enforcement on traffic violations. Because of the unique characteristics of a motorcycle, its maneuverability, agility and size, officers have the ability to access many locations. Motorcycles offer the advantage of going places where a patrol car is unable to go.

Officers assigned to the Motorcycle Unit are known as motormen and attended an 80-hour course put on by the Northwestern University's Department of Public Safety and Harley-Davidson Motorcycles. Today, the department has 3 motormen.

The motorcycle is leased from Kutter Harley Davidson in Janesville, Wisconsin. Each motorcycle is leased for three years. The motorcycle is a low cost addition to the fleet as the department grows and it helps control fuel expenses.

The DeKalb Police Department announces the implementation of an enhanced Resident Officer Program (ROP) within the city. Successful in other communities such as Elgin and Oak Park, this will be a pilot program for DeKalb. The Resident Officer Program of DeKalb was created to improve the quality of life within individual neighborhoods in the City of DeKalb by assigning an officer to reside in designated neighborhoods and directly partnering with residents to find solutions to neighborhood problems. 

The first area to be identified and staffed by the resident officer program was the public housing neighborhood located in the Lewis Court Apartments on North 14th Street, beginning in November 2004. An officer has resided at that location ever since, being equipped with a take-home marked squad car and given the responsibility of assisting with neighborhood issues both within the housing complex and the adjacent Pleasant Street neighborhood. He has performed these duties while remaining on a traditional patrol shift. An additional bilingual officer has assisted with neighborhood meetings in the area as well.

The enhanced ROP program placed a police officer in a city-owned home directly into the Pleasant Street neighborhood. The home, one that was in need of rehabilitation, was improved adding value to the neighborhood and improving its aesthetic qualities. This ROP officer is not only a point of contact for policing problems, but will also be able to reach out to other agencies in an attempt to solve whatever problems may be facing the neighborhood.

An additional ROP officer was added to the South 5th Street, East Taylor Street and Sweet Park neighborhood.  This officer is provided an apartment in this neighborhood and engages in similar duties as the other ROP officers.  This officer pays special attention to the Taylor Street Plaza high-rise community and acts as a bridge between the police department, residents and management of the high-rise.  The ROP officer also addresses neighborhood concerns and continues to have a positive impact on the neighborhood.  

Objectives of the ROP officer include:

• Acting as a liaison with other city departments and social service agencies
• Assisting residents in the development of neighborhood initiatives and organizations
• Empowering residents to work together to improve their neighborhood, and participating in youth activities by building relationships through direct involvement, education, and mentoring
• Identifying and prioritizing crime, community, and quality of life issues within the neighborhood
• Serving as the neighborhood’s police officer through the development of close working relationships
• Working with neighborhood groups to solve identified problems

Eight DeKalb Police Officers are members of the DeKalb County Special Operations Team (SOT).  The DeKalb Police Department, Sycamore Police Department, and the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office implemented a joint Special Operations Team providing a tactical response to critical incidents in DeKalb County. The presence of a highly trained and skilled law enforcement tactical unit at critical incidents has allowed for the resolution of critical incidents while mitigating the risk of serious injury or death to citizens, law enforcement and suspects.  The agencies involved in SOT recognize the benefits of a well-managed "team response" and the effect the multi-jurisdictional team has a force multiplier that enhances the participating agencies' abilities to resolve high risk situations in a safe manner.