Chambana Sun

The city of Champaign recently swore in new police officers and firefighters.

Champaign Chief of Police Timothy Tyler introduced the promotions of officers within the police department during the Nov. 15 city council meeting. These included Jeffrey Coon who was appointed to deputy chief of operations support. Coon has served in the department since 1998. Kevin Olmstead was named deputy chief of operations, he has been the interim deputy chief since 2021 and has been with the department since 2006.

Benjamin Newell was promoted to investigations lieutenant, a position he held in interim capacity since 2021. Newell has been in the Champaign Police Department for 16 years. Officer Kevin Burch was sworn in as a new officer to the city. Burch has previously worked in other police departments in the state, but joined the Champaign PD in October of 2022.

Fire Chief Gary Ludwig introduced some promotions of firefighters within the fire department. Jeremy Mitchell was brought in to the position of deputy fire marshall, after serving in other positions in the department in his 16 years of service in Champaign. Matt Boulos was recognized as a lieutenant in the department after 16 years in the fire service. He also has 28 years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps. Keegan Painter joined the fire department, following in the footsteps of his father and older brother. He was sworn in shortly after his 21st birthday.

"He already had academy, many of the prerequisite training that we require of firefighters. So he's able to hit the ground running. And it's really nice to be able to have somebody that comes on board and is just ready to take off," Ludwig said at the meeting. "And he's also spent a lot of time as a coordinator and offering training out at the institute here and at the University of Illinois. A very, very great work ethic, and we're really glad to have him on board.