{"id":7396,"date":"2025-03-18T15:27:22","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T15:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=7396"},"modified":"2025-03-18T15:27:22","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T15:27:22","slug":"ottawa-names-mike-cheatham-as-its-next-police-chief-to-succeed-brent-roalson-shaw-local-news-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=7396","title":{"rendered":"Ottawa names Mike Cheatham as its next police chief to succeed Brent Roalson – Shaw Local News Network"},"content":{"rendered":"


New Ottawa Police Chief Mike Cheatham (front, right) is congratulated Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, by outgoing Chief Brent Roalson at the Ottawa City Council meeting. Also pictured are (from left) Commissioner Marla Pearson, Mayor Robb Hasty, Commissioner Wayne Eichelkraut and Commissioner Tom Ganiere. <\/span>(Charlie Ellerbrock)
Ottawa<\/a> Police Capt. Mike Cheatham will be the next Ottawa police chief.
Cheatham will assume his new role on Jan. 1, succeeding Chief Brent Roalson, who will retire after more than 28 years of service, the city of Ottawa said in a news release.
\u201cRoalson\u2019s leadership and commitment to the Ottawa community have been invaluable, and we extend our deepest gratitude for his service,\u201d the joint release from Mayor Robb Hasty and Commissioner Tom Ganiere said. \u201cWe wish him all the best as he embarks on this next chapter of his life.\u201d
Cheatham, who has been a part of Roalson\u2019s police administration since 2018, will be sworn in as police chief during the Ottawa City Council<\/a> meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 17, at Ottawa City Hall, 301 W. Madison St.
\u201cI\u2019d like to thank the City Council for the opportunity and the trust in being their selection to the office of Chief of Police for the City of Ottawa,\u201d Cheatham said Tuesday. \u201cI am both humbled and honored to received their selection through the process. It\u2019s a tremendous honor to serve the people of the community and the dedicated men and women of not only the Ottawa Police Department, but also Ottawa Central Dispatch.
\u201cTonight, I would like to congratulate Chief Roalson on a long, dedicated 28-year law enforcement career. He\u2019s done a tremendous job. I think it\u2019s every chief\u2019s desire to leave the organization a better place than when he took over, and he has definitely done that.\u201d
Roalson, who took over as chief in September 2012, said his time in the post has \u201cbeen a blessing,\u201d being given the opportunity to \u201cwork with so many good council members and the quality staff. They\u2019ve done a great job.\u201d
\u201cI know that I\u2019m turning things over to good hands,\u201d Roalson said. \u201cI have every faith in Mike\u2019s ability and he\u2019s going to be a great leader.\u201d
Roalson said there is possibility he could return to the city administration, that he is a part of several law enforcement groups and boards that he does not intend to step away from, but added that he \u201cdoesn\u2019t ice fish.\u201d
Ottawa Police Capt. Mike Cheatham will be the next Ottawa police chief. <\/span>(Tom Sistak)
Copyright \u00a9 2023 Shaw Local News Network
Copyright \u00a9 2023 Shaw Local News Network<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Ottawa Police Chief Mike Cheatham (front, right) is congratulated Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, by outgoing Chief Brent Roalson at the Ottawa City Council meeting. Also pictured are (from left) Commissioner Marla Pearson, Mayor Robb Hasty, Commissioner Wayne Eichelkraut and Commissioner Tom Ganiere. (Charlie Ellerbrock)Ottawa Police Capt. Mike Cheatham will be the next Ottawa police chief.Cheatham will assume his new<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t