Controversial State Police Director Steps Aside
CHICAGO (STMW) -- Illinois State Police director Jon Monken submitted his resignation Monday and will start a new job Tuesday as director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.
Monken stepped aside from the state police after the Illinois Senate refused to confirm his appointment by Gov. Quinn over Monken's lack of law enforcement experience.
Monken will now head up the state agency whose job it is to deal with emergencies ranging from terrorism to tornados.
Quinn had appointed Monken, then 29, to the state police job in 2009.
Monken graduated from West Point, served two tours with the Army in Iraq and one in Kosovo and worked as a recruiter for the Illinois Army National Guard.
Monken's new post again will require him to go through the confirmation process.
State Sen. John Millner (R-Carol Stream), a former Elmhurst police chief who was one of Monken's critics in 2009, said he expects Monken will do well in his new post within the emergency management agency, where he can draw on his vast experience in Iraq, when he commanded a tank company in combat operations.
Millner said Monken wasn't the right fit for the police job, that he lacked the experience needed to deal with issues that come with managing more than 4,000 police officers.
"It's not his fault," Millner said. "He was questioned a lot on law-enforcement issues, and he just didn't know."
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
