Detective Division
The LaSalle Police Department Detective Division handles criminal investigations that are too time consuming or complicated to be dealt with by officers in the patrol division. The Detective Division is currently supervised by Commander Curt Martin.
Detectives are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year. Detectives are responsible for investigating everything from runaways to homicides and are some of the most respected detectives in the Illinois Valley.
Due to their dedication, unique abilities and success rate, Detectives from the LaSalle Police Department are specifically sought out by other area agencies and are routinely requested to assist in their investigations. While many of their efforts go unrecognized by the general public, the LaSalle Police Department appreciates their individual efforts and would like to thank them for their sacrifices.
School Resource Officer Program
In 2007, the LaSalle-Peru Township High School requested a meeting with local law enforcement agencies and wanted to explore the possibility of assigning full-time police officers to their school, which serves over 1300 students from the cities of LaSalle, Peru, Oglesby, Utica and surrounding communities. As a result of this meeting, one police agency alone rose to the challenge of this request. Recognizing the needs of our community, the LaSalle Police Department assigned a full-time police officer to the LaSalle-Peru Township High School as a full-time School Resource Officer (SRO).
The School Resource Officer's primary goal is to promote safety and security at the school to provide a positive learning environment. The School Resource Officer handles any law enforcement issues on campus and works as an active team member with school administration and faculty to help solve any problems which may arise in the school community. These functions often include conferences (both in school and at home) with teachers, parents, and students concerning various issues such as truancy, harassment, bullying, violent behavior, alcohol or drug abuse and crime prevention.
The infusion of a law enforcement officer into the school environment helps to reduce crime by educating students about our legal system while promoting respect for people and property. This positive relationship assists students in developing an awareness of rules, authority, and justice at a crucial time in their lives.
Our current School Resource Officer Nick Martin can be reached by phone at 815-223-1721 or nmartin@lphs.net.
Tri-County Drug Enforcement Narcotics Team
La Salle-Bureau-Putnam
As has been proven time after time, no one police agency can combat drugs in their community as well as a coordinated, multi-jurisdictional approach to this ever increasing issue in our communities. Recognizing this proven fact, the La Salle Police Department is committed to fighting illegal narcotics and their associated crimes in our community. Combined with various community policing programs, our two K-9 Units, crime-free housing and nuisance abatement programs, Alcohol and Tobacco Compliance Checks, Truancy, Test my Teen and P2D2 (Prescription drug disposal) programs, the La Salle Police Department has been a participating member of our local drug task force for over 25 years.
In 2009, the now defunct Illinois State Police Zone 3 Drug Task Force was reorganized by numerous progressive law enforcement agencies in La Salle, Bureau, and Putnam Counties into the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Narcotics Team or Tri-DENT for short. Tri-Dent currently consists of specially trained law enforcement officers from the La Salle Police Department, Oglesby Police Department, Mendota Police Department, Streator Police Department, Princeton Police Department, La Salle County Sheriff’s Department, Bureau County Sheriff’s Department and the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department.
Tri-DENT is governed by a policy board which is comprised of Chiefs and Sheriffs from its member agencies. Tri-DENT is funded by participating agencies and receives grant funding through the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority which has been provided from State and Federal government programs such as the Byrne and Justice Assistance Grants.
Tri-DENT uses covert and overt approaches in dealing with specific issues each community faces. Overtly, Tri-DENT personnel conduct proactive and reactive drug investigations which require rapid, visible response from law enforcement which is specifically designed to target the most visible offenders who are a nuisance and undermine the safety of our communities. Many of these complaints and tips are generated by local neighborhood residents, local elected officials and confidential informants.
Tri-DENT also utilizes covert techniques which are responsible for longer-term, more in-depth investigations involving drugs and their related crimes, which would simply be too cumbersome by any one individual department. The members of Tri-DENT attend continuing training and routinely work with other Local, County, State and Federal partners such as the DEA, FBI, ATF and Department of Homeland Security.
Tri-DENT strives to partner with the communities we serve to positively affect the quality of life in our communities. The community is urged to report any suspicious, non- emergency activity to your local law enforcement agency or Tri-DENT (815-883-3302). For emergencies, please call 911. Anonymous complaints are acceptable and can also be reported to Illinois Valley Crime Stoppers (800-340-4045).
Also, Tri-DENT personnel are available to church, school or community groups for drug education programs or canine demonstrations. Please follow the link below to learn more about Tri-DENT.