Kane County forest preserve chief on the move

After two years as the Kane County Forest Preserve District's top cop, Emad Eassa is leaving to take a similar position at Elgin Community College.

Eassa's first day as ECC's director of campus safety is March 3. The college's board of directors approved the hiring last month; Eassa announced his departure publicly at Wednesday's Kane County Forest Preserve District Commission meeting.

At ECC, Eassa is expected to hire two officers to fill vacant positions; he will oversee a department of more than 10 employees when the department is fully staffed.

The campus safety staff is a mix of the college's own employees and three Elgin Police Department officers who work there on a contract basis, said Carole Robertson, ECC's vice president of administration and finance.

Eassa replaces the retiring Don Bauman and will earn a $90,160 annual salary. He was one of 61 candidates for the job.

"I think he was the right fit to move the department forward," Robertson said.

A law enforcement veteran with more than 30 years of experience, Eassa has worked for the Illinois Sate Police, Joliet Police Department and the public safety divisions of Moraine Valley Community College and Western Illinois University. He holds a master's degree in criminal justice and graduated from the FBI National Academy, among other police training institutes.

Eassa, 52, lives in Campton Hills. He was hired by the forest preserve district in 2006 to replace Chuck Budde, who was fired after being charged with driving under the influence and crashing into another car three months earlier.

Forest Preserve District President John Hoscheit said Eassa brought a high level of professionalism to the district.

"He really helped restructure our law enforcement setup in a way that was up to today's standards," Hoscheit said. "He'll be tough to replace."

Forest preserve district officials are in the process of reviewing applications.