Crime & Safety
Benton Named Joliet's New Police Chief
Although City Manager Tom Thanas initially said the appointment would be interim, Benton has been given the job on a permanent basis.
Cmdr. Brian Benton, a 23-year veteran of the Joliet Police Department, has been tapped to be the city's new police chief.
Benton, 44, who has been serving as acting chief since the July retirement of Chief Mike Trafton in July, said he was informed of his appointment to the permanent position by City Manager Tom Thanas on Tuesday night.
Thanas said last month that he planned to make only an interim appointment, allowing his successor to choose Trafton's permanent replacement, but apparently changed his mind. Thanas announced plans to resign earlier this summer; he could not be reached for comment.
Benton said he was "humbled" by the selection, and that he would make no immediate changes to the department.
"I'm looking forward to sitting down with the city manager and getting input from the city council, and from getting input from the community as well," he said. "As Sir Robert Peele said, 'The community are the police and police are the community.'"
Benton said he believed his experience overseeing the department's investigations unit and SWAT team has put him into many stressful situations that will serve him well in dealing with the pressures of the chief job. He served as lead investigator in last fall's Hickory Street murders, and was interim chief for just a day when the murder at Louis' Family Restaurant occurred last month.
He added that given that his youngest child is only 4, he hoped to be in the job longer than the two years each of of his predecessors served.
Benton is a native of Chicago's Mt. Greenwood community, and said the crime problems in Joliet are no different than any other large city.
"We're like every urban area," he said. "We have areas where there are spikes in crime, but there are many areas where the crime rate is not out of the ordinary."
Benton received a bachelor of arts degree in criminal/social justice in 1998 and a master’s degree in public safety administration in 2009, both from Lewis University. He and his wife Alejandra, a Joliet native, have three children, ages 12 to 4, and live in Joliet.
Thanas said last month that he planned to make only an interim appointment, allowing his successor to choose Trafton's permanent replacement, but apparently changed his mind. Thanas announced plans to resign earlier this summer; he could not be reached for comment.
Benton said he was "humbled" by the selection, and that he would make no immediate changes to the department.
"I'm looking forward to sitting down with the city manager and getting input from the city council, and from getting input from the community as well," he said. "As Sir Robert Peele said, 'The community are the police and police are the community.'"
Benton said he believed his experience overseeing the department's investigations unit and SWAT team has put him into many stressful situations that will serve him well in dealing with the pressures of the chief job. He served as lead investigator in last fall's Hickory Street murders, and was interim chief for just a day when the murder at Louis' Family Restaurant occurred last month.
He added that given that his youngest child is only 4, he hoped to be in the job longer than the two years each of of his predecessors served.
Benton is a native of Chicago's Mt. Greenwood community, and said the crime problems in Joliet are no different than any other large city.
"We're like every urban area," he said. "We have areas where there are spikes in crime, but there are many areas where the crime rate is not out of the ordinary."
Benton received a bachelor of arts degree in criminal/social justice in 1998 and a master’s degree in public safety administration in 2009, both from Lewis University. He and his wife Alejandra, a Joliet native, have three children, ages 12 to 4, and live in Joliet.
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