City of Naperville held a press conference to introduce Police Chief Select Bob Marshall
Many Naperville public officials and residents have known Bob Marshall since he first came to serve here as a Patrol Officer in 1977, rising to the position of captain, a rank he held until he changed jobs to become Assistant City Manager seven years ago.
Today the City of Naperville hired from within its ranks to replace retiring Naperville Police Chief David Dial who has served here since 1990. Chief Dial will retire on May 18 just prior to Marshall’s assuming his duties at 5PM that day.
When Mayor Peg Price served the City back in the 1980s, she said recently that she remembers Marshall as “a young kid” doing undercover work as a detective investigating crimes.
During the press conference Mayor George Pradel said he was thrilled that Bob Marshall has accepted this position, noting his personal interest in Marshall. Pradel told the story of how the young officer had worked for him when he was a lieutenant on the police force when Marshall was sergeant in 1986.
“Later I worked for him when he made captain and I was a lieutenant. I know that he is honest, fair and that his integrity and ethics are impeccable.”
Pradel also described Marshall as man of faith, someone the mayor said he’d “watched progress as a leader.”
Coincidentally on May 1, 1990, on the same day as Police Chief Dial was sworn into his new position, Marshall also was promoted to Police Lieutenant and Chief Dial named him as the department’s first accreditation manager shortly thereafter, a position Chief Dial lauded at today’s press conference.
Marshall served for 27 years in the Naperville Police Department and retired at the rank of captain to accept the Assistant City Manager position in 2005.
During the press conference, family, friends, public officials, police and fire commissioners as well as present and past co-workers filled City Council Chambers to hear the announcement as the community begins to embrace the future with new leadership. Marshall said he’d had his eye on the position as Naperville Police Chief since he first became an officer. “I visualized this job,” he said, remembering his criminal justice classes. “It’s a dream come true. Once a cop, always a cop.”
Marshall holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from DePaul University. He is a graduate of the FBI Academy and Senior Management Institute for Police at Harvard University. He has lived in Naperville since 1987 with his wife Barbara, two daughters and twin sons.
During the press conference, Marshall noted that patrol officers are the backbone of every police department. He looked at his family sitting in the front row of Council Chambers and said, “My family is my backbone.”
Former NPD Captain Dave Hilderbrand, now head of Security for Calamos Asset Management, Inc., also attended the news conference. Afterward, he reminisced that his police career ran nearly parallel to Marshall’s as he’d joined the NPD in 1977 as badge #152, following Marshall at #151.
The Police Chief is responsible for providing leadership to a nationally accredited department of approximately 300 employees whose mission is to provide professional, high quality and effective police service in partnership with the community. Marshall will report to the City Manager.
When asked what to call Police Chief Select Bob Marshall until May 18, City Manager Doug Krieger suggested “Bob.”
Photos by PN and Jo Lundeen.
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