Veteran commander named chief of UIC Police
Kevin L. Booker will lead UIC’s police department. He was deputy chief of field services at the University of Chicago. Photo: Joshua Clark
Kevin L. Booker, an experienced commander of several Midwest university police forces, was named new UIC chief of police.
His appointment, which must be formally approved by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees at Thursday’s meeting, was effective Monday.
Booker was deputy chief of field services at the University of Chicago, where he also served as deputy chief of support services and commander for community services and patrol services.
Before he came to Chicago, he was lieutenant of operations and training with the Purdue University West Lafayette Police Department. He began his law enforcement career as a patrol officer with the Indiana State University Police Department in 1997. He has a bachelor’s degree in criminology and a master’s degree in public administration from Indiana State University.
Booker has specialized training in crisis and emergency management, community policing strategies,
hostage negotiations and event security management, as well as training at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
Mark Donovan, vice chancellor for administrative services, said Booker is “a broadly experienced law-enforcement professional who has had a richly varied portfolio of responsibilities at several institutions in diverse settings.”
He succeeds former chief John Richardson, who retired in July. Commander Frank Cappitelli has been serving as interim chief.
The UIC Police Department is a sworn force of officers with arrest powers throughout the state. The department works closely with Chicago Police and other municipal departments, as well as federal, state, county and other public safety agencies. The department, which has a long history of community-based policing, is fully accredited by the Commission for the Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies, a national credentialing authority for municipal, county and state agencies.
