Wood Dale deputy chief retires after 29 years

Wood Dale Deputy Police Chief Mike Rivas has retired after 29 years with the department.

During his tenure, Rivas served as a patrol officer, detective, sergeant and, finally, deputy chief. As the agency's first accreditation manager, he was responsible for leading the department in its first successful accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies back in 2001.

He was involved in numerous community events, including Special Olympics fundraisers and Wood Dale Police Night Out. He was an active member of the city's Wood Dale for a Greener Tomorrow committee and organized several Green Fair events.

He worked closely with the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post to coordinate the Memorial Day Parade and Veterans Day events, and served as vice president for the Wood Dale Police Pension Board.

Most recently, Rivas was a member of the DuPage County Incident Management Assistance Team, which is a multijurisdictional task force for response to emergencies.

He served as deputy chief of operations for six years and deputy chief of investigations for the past two.