Naperville assistant city manager to head police
Naperville Assistant City Manager Bob Marshall, a former police captain, soon will return to some familiar territory in a new role: chief of police.
City officials on Tuesday are expected to name Marshall the city’s new chief to replace David Dial, who is retiring May 18. Marshall is expected to start his new job May 19.
Marshall has been with the city since being sworn in as a police officer in 1977. He was promoted to captain in 1992 and held that position until being named assistant city manager in May 2005.
City Manager Doug Krieger said terms of the agreement are being discussed and are expected to be finalized before Tuesday’s 10 a.m. announcement.
Marshall was one of two internal candidates who applied to lead the 165-officer department. The other candidate, Deputy Chief Gary Bolt, withdrew his name from consideration before the interview process began. Bolt has accepted the position of public safety director at Aurora University.
The process was never opened up to anyone outside of the city.
Dial, also headed to Aurora University to lead the criminal justice program, declined to comment Monday.
City Councilman Steve Chirico said he participated in one of three panel interviews with Marshall en route to earning the position, and said Marshall left no questions on the table.
“He just killed the interview and he had such clear support from the panel,” Chirico said. “He’s got the tools from both our police department and our administration and he knows the culture of our city. I think he’s a great choice.”
Councilman Kenn Miller agreed.
“My understanding is Mr. Marshall gathered a very favorable response during the interview process and that’s terrific,” Miller said. “I think he’s a good fit. He certainly knows Naperville and I do believe his experience as assistant city manager will be very helpful because he’ll understand the role of the city.”
Councilman Bob Fieseler said he believes Marshall has the support of the police officers, but wished there were more candidates to choose from.
“He’s well-regarded by my contacts in the rank and file. I guess I just have some hesitation because I was expecting we would have at least tested the waters with some potential outside candidates,” Fieseler said. “I hope the city manager has made a good decision by promoting from within because we did not do any external search like we’ve done for other positions. Obviously the city manager felt we had the talent from within and that Bob, with his breadth of experience, was the natural choice.”
Councilman Paul Hinterlong also said he wished the city had searched outside city limits.
“We do have a great staff to choose from and a lot of competent people. but you never know what’s out there unless you look. I’m not trying to say (Marshall) is not the guy, but I wish we would have looked outside the box,” Hinterlong said. “If we look outside and Bob still wins in the end, that’s great. But we should know what’s out there. I’m thrilled for Bob and I feel he’s on track to do a good job and I wish him the best of luck.”
Police union President Vince Clark said union leadership has spoken to Marshall and they are excited about the direction they believe he will take the department.
“We’re very excited about the potential of new ideas Bob will bring to the bring to the table,” Clark said. “He’s been involved in the department in one way or another since 1977 so he definitely has his pulse on where this department needs to go in the future.”
Marshall officially will be named chief of police at 10 a.m. Tuesday in the council chambers of the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St.