Granite City native selected to become Highland’s first-ever female police chief

Carole Presson is used to being the first at something.

She was the first female police officer in the Madison Police Department, when she started work as a patrol officer in 1995. She was the first lieutenant in patrol and investigations when she was with the Madison County Sheriff’s Department, where she served from 1997 until retirement in 2019, eventually rising to investigations with a specialty in child abuse, sex crimes, delinquency and homicide involving minors.

And now she will be the first female police chief for the Highland Police Department.

Throughout her career, Presson, 52, has worked on complex and difficult cases. Among her major investigations at the sheriff’s department were the Elkins baby death investigation, the Tavon Ludy child-abuse murder case and the Jerry Sutt rape case, all of which received heavy media attention.

She has also served with the Major Case Squad for multi-jurisdictional homicide investigations and worked with the Madison County Child Advocacy Center, Child Death Review Team and Child Death Investigation Task Force, as well as the Madison County Task Force for Minority Recruitment. She has received more than 15 commendations and awards for her work in law enforcement.

Since retirement, Presson has been training coordinator at the police academy at Southwestern Illinois College, but she said has missed regular police work.

“I’m a firm believer in public service, and it’s just a natural thing for me to want to be back in it,” she said. “Right now law enforcement needs people with experience and willingness to go above and beyond for the community.”

The Highland City Council voted last week to hire Presson after reviewing many candidates and interviewing four. Mayor Kevin Hemann said all outstanding candidates, but Presson’s educational background and law enforcement experience impressed the council, along with her knowledge of criminal justice and policing reforms and how they may impact the department.

“There was no question in the council’s mind each candidate interviewed would have been a good choice for Highland,” Hemann said. “Ultimately the council came to a unanimous choice that Carole would be the best to lead Highland’s Police Department into the future.”

City Manager Chris Conrad said the council was particularly impressed with Presson’s ideas, style and vision for the department.

“I’m very excited to bring her on and I’m looking forward to her contribution to our community and city staff both as a leader and public servant,” Conrad said. “I believe her strong education background coupled with her extensive law enforcement experience will be a tremendous asset as we face the challenges and changes coming to law enforcement in Illinois.”

Raised in Granite City, Presson and her family lived in Collinsville for 20 years before she retired and moved to Highland to be closer to her oldest son and his family.

While working at the police academy, she has been pursuing a Ph.D in criminal justice, following her master’s degree in criminal justice administration from Lindenwood University. She’s one quarter and a dissertation away from being Dr. Presson as well as Chief Presson, she said.

Her focus will be on guiding Highland’s police department through a lot of transitions: A new chief, training mandates and certifications related to criminal justice reform, moving to a new public safety facility, and the ongoing and controversial move to centralized 911 dispatch, with an uncertain future for the department’s telecommunicators.

Presson’s philosophy of law enforcement is very much community-based.

“Highland is a community that still supports its law enforcement, still supports its public servants and its council,” she said. “The best way to police Highland is to maintain the lifestyle that they hold dear, that involvement in the community.”

Some growing pains

Community-based policing is a philosophy of law enforcement that focuses on preventative work through partnerships and proactive involvement to reduce social factors that lead to crime, rather than simple punitive policing.

“I am a firm believer in public service, and Highland is the perfect community for community-style policing,” Presson said. “That is very important to me ... Law enforcement is only as good as the relationship it has with the people they serve.”

Presson said Highland is a good police department with a good reputation, and she plans to learn from the people who serve in the department and work with them to walk through the coming changes together.

“Nobody likes change, and I can guarantee you law enforcement doesn’t like change more than most,” she said. “It will be like any other transition: There will be some growing pains ... and it will take some time for people to understand it’s going to be OK.”

‘I work just as hard as anyone else’

As for being the first through another glass ceiling, Presson said she appreciates people are talking about it, but doesn’t want it to define her career.

“I work just as hard as anyone else, and maybe I have to work harder, but it’s not something I’ve ever used,” she said.

While a first for Highland, Presson will be the second female chief in the metro-east after Gina Hays, who served as Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s police chief for several years.

Presson takes her oath of office Nov. 1. She replaces former chief Conrad, who became city manager in May after serving as interim for several months.

This story was originally published October 19, 2021 at 7:00 AM.