Mayor To Restructure Waukegan Police Department As Chief Retires

WAUKEGAN, IL — Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor announced the upcoming retirement of the city's chief of police and the restructuring of its police department.

After more than eight years as police chief, Wayne Walles plans to retire on Feb. 20 upon completion of his 29th year of employment with the city, Taylor said.

The mayor said Friday she had decided to appoint Deputy Chief Keith Zupec, a 25-year veteran of the department, as interim police chief while the city carries out a national search to recruit Walles' successor.

Taylor said she looked forward to working with Zupec to improve community relationships and the department's diversity, recruit more officers from within Waukegan and "rejuvenate" neighborhood policing in the city.

"Moving forward, one of the primary focus areas at the Waukegan Police Department will be increased police presence in our community," Taylor said in a statement. "This effort means we’ll ramp up recruiting, and in the coming months, we’ll be moving more officers from behind desks and onto the streets. We are also making organizational changes to ensure we best serve our residents."

Changes include getting rid of the department's rank of lieutenant from its organizational structure. City staff will work with the union that represents the department's lieutenants to discuss the transition, according to the statement from the mayor.

"No police officer who wants to continue to work with the City will lose their job due to this change," Taylor said. "Instead, any Lieutenant wanting to keep working for the City will be reclassified as a Sergeant, filling vacancies that already exist in that rank."

Walles was first appointed interim chief in 2013 following the resignation of Robert Kerkorian, who admitted making false statements about his military service, according to past reports. Kerkorian's resignation came less than two months after the ouster of Daniel Greathouse, who said incidents in which officers took their own lives were "about personal choices, selfishness and weakness."

Before joining the Waukegan Police Department, Walles, the outgoing chief, was a platoon leader in the first Iraq War, according to a congratulatory message posted on the department's social media page.

"His commitment to the men and women of the Waukegan Police Department," it said, "is only second to his dedication and respect for those he served in the community he was born and raised in."

Taylor's statement also praised Walles for his service.

"I want to thank Chief Walles for his long career in public service to our Waukegan community and for his service to our nation in the armed forces," the mayor said. "On behalf of the City, our elected officials, staff, and residents, I wish Chief Walles a happy retirement and many blessings as he makes this transition."