Changing of the sergeants at Elgin Police Department
By Dave Gathman dgathman@stmedianetwork.com February 7, 2012 9:20PM
Elgin Police Chief Jeff Swoboda (left) applauds as retiring Sgt. Tom Linder (right) acknowledges the congratulations during a ceremony Tuesday afternoon at the Elgin Police Department. | Andrew A. Nelles~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 9, 2012 8:07AM
ELGIN — With almost 100 people watching — dressed in everything from green military-style tactical-response fatigues to formal dress uniforms to bluejeans — a veteran Elgin police sergeant retired and an often-honored young patrolman was promoted to sergeant Tuesday afternoon.
Sgt. Tom Linder, 55, who has been on the force for 27 years, was awarded a goodbye plaque by Police Chief Jeff Swoboda.
Then, with his wife and three young children at his side, 35-year-old Officer Thomas Michael was sworn in as a sergeant.
Swoboda said Linder showed a rare ability “to defuse situations and resolve problems before they got too big.” He recalled once going into Linder’s office to discuss some tense situation. Swoboda said he ended up leaving 15 minutes later, in a cheerful mood, after having last talked with the sergeant about why taffy becomes so chewy.
“Tom really cared about the people he worked for, the people who worked for him, and most of all about the community,” the chief said.
Linder said he would spend part of his retirement on a Christian mission to Africa called Project 8110, through which he and dentist Brian Evans train ordinary African villagers to prescribe eyeglasses and do basic dental work.
Linder worked as a community service officer in Elgin and a patrolman on the Carpentersville Police Department before being hired by Elgin in 1985. He was assigned to various patrol shifts and to major investigations before being promoted to sergeant in 1993. As a sergeant, he served in special investigations, internal affairs and most recently as the department’s director of communications and emergency management, and as the patrol sergeant on the day shift.
“It says something about him that he was on internal affairs and this many people still showed up here today,” Swoboda joked.
Michael earned a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement at Western Illinois University before working for the Addison Police Department and then being hired by Elgin in 2001. While working with the gang crimes unit for seven years and with other sections, including the SWAT-like tactical response team, he earned 53 letters of appreciation from residents plus seven departmental awards.
Swoboda said fellow officers described Michael with the adjectives “trustworthy,” “grounded” and “hard-working.”
Swoboda said Michael will become the patrol sergeant on the midnight shift.
He said another patrol officer will be hired to replace Michael. The department was required to reduce its size by two under recent city budget cuts, but both those reductions were achieved by not filling the openings left by other people who have already retired.
The chief said he will announce a reorganization of the department’s command structure within the next two weeks.
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