Fairview Heights officials hire new police chief. He’s a familiar face in the metro-east
Swansea Police Chief Steve Johnson will become the new chief in Fairview Heights, starting Nov. 15.
Fairview Heights City Council voted Tuesday night to hire Johnson, who was recommended by Mayor Mark Kupsky.
Johnson said in an interview Wednesday that becoming Fairview Heights police chief is his ``dream job.” It’s been that way for years, since he was a boy in the Explorers’ Program at Fairview Heights and was awestruck with the professionalism of the men and women in the police department.
“That continues today. It is a very professional department.” Johnson said.
Kupsky told the BND before Tuesday’s meeting that the task of naming a new chief to replace former Chief Christopher Locke was not easy. Locke retired from the department in September and is now heading up the Centralia Police Department.
“We did a comprehensive search, both internal and external,” the mayor said. “We advertised across the nation and got a number of responses. Our board of Police and Fire commissioners reviewed the applicants and identified three candidates to forward to me for an interview.
“We did a comprehensive interview of the suggested candidates. After that, I am bringing forth Steve’s name for appointment,” Kupsky said.
Kupsky said all three finalists are “great individuals” with strong backgrounds. Johnson stood out.
“Steve has 33 years in law enforcement with the sheriff’s department and municipal law enforcement. He is a graduate of the FBI Academy. He also teaches law enforcement courses,” Kupsky said.
The mayor said Johnson is quite familiar with Fairview Heights and has been involved in a number of activities there, including most recently teaching one of the town’s citizens’ academies.
“ I think Steve’s background, some of his community policing initiatives, were something that was very important to me,” Kupsky said. “And his commitment and focus on the men and women of the department. I think Steve is in a great place to serve our community very well - to help continue our solid law enforcement programs that we have initiated in Fairview Heights.”
Kupsky said Johnson will be an excellent leader of the Fairview Heights Department.
“The department currently has 45 sworn law enforcement officers, including several females. As a matter of fact, some of our most recent hires have been females,” the mayor said. “ We have a number of diverse candidates. I think diversity is something Steve also focuses on in the department.”
Johnson will be paid about $130,000 annually as chief of a department that about twice the Swansea Police Department, which has about 22 employees.
Kupsky said choosing the new chief was not an easy decision.
“I went through an extensive process to make the decision. At the end of the day, the decisions I make affect this community,” Kupsky said. “I feel very positive that Steve will bring that leadership both to the men and women of the department and to the community as a whole. I look forward to getting him on.”
Johnson has been the chief of the Swansea Police Department since June 2015. He said he is proud of the work that his team accomplished.
“We implemented many programs at Swansea, really being involved with the community,” he said. “ I can’t take credit for it. It was every Swansea police officer that came up with different ideas and different things we could do and really understood the importance of working with the community.”
Before joining the Swansea Police Department, Johnson was then- State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly’s special operations coordinator.
Prior to that, Johnson was a captain in the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, where he was the chief investigator and spokesman for the agency.
Johnson holds a master’s degree in computers and personnel management from Webster University and bachelor’s degree in workforce education from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Fairview Heights Police Capt. C. J. Beyersdofer served as interim chief after Locke retired. “C.J. has done a really solid job at overseeing our department and keeping it moving forward. He will be an asset to Steve Johnson as captain of the department,” Kupsky said.
This story was originally published November 1, 2022 at 5:45 PM.
