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Darien police chief finalists announced

DARIEN — With five finalists chosen and two meetings scheduled this weekend, the village of Darien could have a new police chief by Saturday.

Consulting firm Moffett and Associates of Appleton sent a letter to the Darien Village Board on Saturday naming five finalists for Darien police chief. The finalists were chosen from a list of about 40 applicants.

The village released the names of the finalists Monday. They are:

-- Robert Meiners, a lieutenant for the village of Lincolnwood Police Department in Illinois. Meiners has 31 years of police experience and 21 years of management experience. Meiners had management training at the FBI National Academy and received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northeastern Illinois University.

-- Terrance Freeman, a recently retired officer whose last role was as a detective for Woodridge Police Department in Illinois. Freeman also worked for the University of Chicago Police Department and Evergreen Park Police. Freeman has 35 years of police experience and six years of management experience. Freeman received management training from the Northwestern University School of Staff and Command and received a bachelor’s degree in business management from Benedictine University.

-- Daniel Layber, a special agent for the state Division of Criminal Investigation. Layber has 31 years of police experience and 19 years of management experience. He received training at the FBI National Academy and obtained his bachelor’s degree from Mount Senario College.

-- Hunter Gilmore, a commander for Carol Stream Police Department in Illinois. Gilmore has 22 years of police experience and 13 years of management experience. Gilmore had management training at the Senior Police Management Institute at Northwestern University. He received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from Lewis University and his doctorate from Phoenix University.

-- Richard Kendall, an officer with the Town of Geneva Police Department who has also served with the Sanford Police Department in North Carolina and the U.S. Air Force Military Police. Kendall has 28 years of police experience and 10 years of management experience. He received his bachelor’s degree from Mount Olive College in North Carolina and attended graduate classes at UW-Whitewater.

Village Administrator Diana Dykstra said Monday a planned social Friday night for village board members, some “community stakeholders,” the candidates and their spouses might have to be canceled. The event might constitute a quorum of the village board, meaning the event would have to be open to the public unless the village identifies an exception to the state Open Meetings Law.

The village attorney is reviewing state statutes to determine whether the social gathering can be deemed a closed meeting. If it cannot, Dykstra said it is her understanding that the meeting would be cancelled. The village was expected to make a final decision on the meeting this morning.

The board will begin interviewing candidates in a closed village board meeting at 9 a.m. Saturday. While the board could conduct a second round of interviews, Dykstra said the expectation is that the board would make a selection following Saturday’s interviews.

The new chief would replace Steve DeVoy, who was involved in a yearlong legal battle with the village following his suspension in December 2008 and subsequent firing in March 2009.

DeVoy was suspended after the village discovered surveillance cameras installed in the police department.

DeVoy claimed he was wrongfully terminated because the village of Darien did not give him a hearing. The village settled with DeVoy in November, agreeing to pay DeVoy $30,000 plus paid leave for six months on top of the 11 months he was paid while suspended and $35,000 for accrued holiday, vacation and sick time.