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Batavia detective wins state award

Batavia Police Detective Kevin Bretz has been named the outstanding officer of the year by the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police.

"Bretz has been doing what is called community policing his entire career," ILACP President Frank Kaminski, chief of police in Park Ridge, said in a news release about Bretz.

The award is not given every year, according to the association. Bretz was nominated by Batavia Chief Gary Schira.

Among recent accomplishments Schira listed in his nomination, he noted that Bretz heads up the city's crime-free-housing initiative. Bretz meets with landlords and property managers, including giving feedback to them about police incidents on their property and assisting in eviction of problem tenants. "This mutual public/private partnership has resulted in a substantial reduction of police calls for service at these properties and an improved quality of life," Kaminski said.

Bretz has also organized and led neighborhood-alert programs, and makes presentations to elderly residents about how to avoid becoming the victim of scams.

He is a squad leader of 11 other officers for the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System, an investigator with the Kane County Major Crimes Task Force, and serves as the Batavia's department's public information officer. Bretz has also worked as an instructor at the Suburban Law Enforcement Academy at the College of DuPage.

The award was presented April 22 at the association's annual awards banquet.

It is named after James J. Wade, a Tinley Park police chief who died of a heart attack while on duty in 1994.

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