New Lake Zurich top cop is veteran of village force

The Lake Zurich village board recently appointed Patrick Finlon, a 24-year veteran of the Lake Zurich Police Department, as police chief.

Finlon had been serving as acting police chief since Chief William Urry retired on Aug. 29 after nine years with the department. Urry handpicked Finlon to be his successor.

Finlon has served as a patrol officer, high school liaison officer, patrol sergeant, administrative sergeant, administrative commander, deputy chief of field services and, most recently, deputy chief of support services. He is among the most senior officers with the department, having worked under five police chiefs.

"That was probably one of my biggest selling points," Finlon said. "The majority of the personnel I've worked with since the beginning of their careers, so I was very aware of everyone's strengths in terms of their skills, knowledge and ability. I think it's something that I worked for for my whole career here."

Finlon said he is most proud of being the department's first high school liaison officer, now known as school resource officer, in 1986.

"It was kind of a new concept at that time," he said.

Urry's legacy includes getting a new 30,000-square-foot police station built at 200 Mohawk Trail, gaining accreditation from the national Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies and securing federal funding for a firing range to become a regional resource for firearms training. Finlon said he would pick up where Urry left off and start working on getting the firearms training range built immediately.

"I'd certainly like it ready before next spring," he said.

The department also has to go through reaccreditation in August 2009, he said.

Finlon was a fire/police dispatcher for Hoffman Estates before joining the Lake Zurich police force.