Jacksonville police seek new detectives chief after promotion shifts ranks

Jacksonville police are still searching for a new chief of detectives after promoting Kyle Chumley into one of the department’s top command posts. Chief Doug Thompson said he had not made a final decision on the vacancy, even after giving three officers a one-month trial in the role.

The open position matters because the chief of detectives helps keep investigations moving, especially in harder cases where arrests depend on steady supervision and follow-through. Thompson has said the detectives job is the hardest position for him to fill, a sign of how much responsibility it carries inside a department where leadership changes can quickly affect casework on the street.

Chumley’s promotion leaves him overseeing investigations and technology as Jacksonville’s second deputy chief, alongside Matt Martin, who oversees patrols. The change came as Rodney Cox retired after 30 years with the Jacksonville Police Department, reshaping the top ranks of a small agency that serves a city of just under 20,000 people.

That staffing burden is larger than the city line alone suggests. The Jacksonville Police Department says it has 40 sworn officers and four civilian staff, and its service area includes not only Jacksonville residents but also Illinois College, the Illinois School for the Deaf, the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired and the Jacksonville Correctional Center. With Morgan County’s 2020 census population at 32,915 and Jacksonville serving as the county seat, the department’s detective command has a regional impact that reaches well beyond the city limits.

Thompson, who said on the department website that he joined Jacksonville police 22 years ago, has framed his role as one of leadership tied to public trust, confidence, safety and security. That makes the choice of a new detectives chief more than an internal staffing move. It affects how the department handles serious investigations, how quickly cases are cleared and how well officers can keep pace with changing technology.

The Jacksonville Board of Fire & Police Commissioners handles supervisory appointments on three-year terms, adding another layer of formal process to the search. For now, the department’s upper ranks are in motion, and the final decision on who will lead detectives remains one of the last pieces to settle.