Seven metro-east people have been appointed to the Metro East Police District Commission by the governor.

The commission was created in August in an effort to crack down on street crime and corruption in four metro-east communities. The commission has 17 members. Seven of those are appointed by the governor, four appointed by the mayor of East St. Louis and one member each is appointed by the village presidents of Alorton, Brooklyn and Washington Park. The director of the Illinois State Police, the St. Clair County State's Attorney, and the director of the Southern Illinois Law Enforcement Commission also will serve as ex-officio members

Commission members are not paid.

"These appointments are the next step in increasing public safety in the metro east area," said Gov. Pat Quinn. "There is no place for corruption in Illinois, and I am confident that the commission will succeed at better protecting our citizens by cracking down on crime in these metro-east communities."

The governor appointed the following individuals to the commission: Calvin Dye Sr. of Caseyville. Dye is an investigator for the St. Clair County State's Attorney Office and has nearly 30 years of experience in law enforcement; Annette A. Eckert of Belleville, a retired judge from the 20th Judicial Circuit in Illinois; Kendall L. Granger of O'Fallon. Granger is the senior pastor at the New Life Community Church in East St. Louis; Martin Gulley of Swansea, superintendent of operations at Metro Transit of St. Louis; Johnny Scott of East St. Louis, former president of the NAACP and the Illinois Hate Crime Commissioner; and Rodger A. Richards of Lebanon, a U.S. Army Military Police Veteran, former Fairview Heights police chief, former director of public safety at Southwestern Illinois College and former executive director of the Southwestern Law Enforcement Commission.

The governor also appointed Rob Scott of Chatham to the commission. Scott is the associate general counsel for the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council.

"This is a terrific group of public servants, committed to the common good," said Sen. James Clayborne Jr., D-Belleville. "I look forward to working with the appointees on this new commission to strengthen law enforcement efforts and better protect every resident of St. Clair County."

Clayborne sponsored the bill that created the commission. The legislation, S.B. 549, was designed to respond to high crime in the region and corruption in the police departments of East St. Louis, Alorton, Brooklyn and Washington Park. The commission is charged with cleaning up police practices in the region and restoring the high standards expected of police departments.