Jacksonville Police Department

On behalf of the Jacksonville Police Department, I want to welcome you to the Jacksonville Police Department's worldwide web site. I am pleased to present information to you about the city of Jacksonville, our department, and some tips to keep you and your family safe. When building this site, we tried to keep the citizens as well as law enforcement agencies in mind, so I hope you find our site both interesting and informative. The internet has brought a new dimension to the field of law enforcement, and as time passes we hope to improve our web page and use it to its fullest extent. 

The Jacksonville Police Department is committed to Community Policing, and as we embark upon this journey, I have to say that I am extremely proud of all employees of the Jacksonville Police Department, and their belief in forming a strong partnership with the community.

I hope you enjoy our site and visit often.

Any comments, or suggestions are welcomed. I encourage you to contact me in any of the following ways:

• Email: jpdchief@jacksonvilleil.com
• Phone: (217)479-4630
• Fax: (217)479-0277

Content can be in the form of suggestions, compliments, complaints, or questions about the Jacksonville Police Department or Law Enforcement in general. (Note: Email sent from this page are received directly by Chief Cook, no one else will see the contents of your email without your permission. We would appreciate your assistance by granting permission to use your comment, compliment, complaint or suggestion for the betterment of our department. Please include a line in your email document if we have permission to share the content. All mail will be answered if your return email address is provided, with the exception of questions in poor taste.)

The Jacksonville Police Department is staffed with forty sworn officers and a civilian staff of thirteen. Under the direction of Chief of Police, Donald R. Cook, the Jacksonville Police Department serves a population of just under 20,000 people, inflated to a much larger population than recorded due to being the home of Illinois College, MacMurray College, The Illinois School for the Deaf, The Illinois School for the Visually Impaired, Jacksonville Correctional Center, and Jacksonville Developmental Center.

The Jacksonville Police Department is actively pursuing the philosophy of Community Policing by assigning officers to in-school educational programs which teach our communities youth anti-drug, anti-gang, and anti-violence principles. Our officers also realize the importance of directing their patrols to specific higher crime areas and 24 hour businesses in the community in a vigorous attempt to keep crime at a minimum. As a department, we began pursing community policing long before it became such a popular police philosophy. Officers conduct foot patrols in high crime areas, also known as "Walk and Talk" in attempt to get officers closer to the community. This valuable form of community policing allows the officers to come into contact with the citizens of the community allowing them to voice their concerns. Officer David Melbourne was assigned to the Jacksonville School District in August of 2000 as a full time school resource officer. Ptl. Melbourne mainly assists Jacksonville High School although he also visits Turner Junior High School. Several area businesses and civic groups have contributed to underwrite the costs of "Lunch with a Cop" program, which is a wonderful opportunity for deserving elementary age children to accompany one of our officers to lunch.

The citizens of Jacksonville, local businesses, and civic groups have always worked together to make this a better community and we are about to enter an exciting new era of increased cooperation to tackle the crime and drug problem that exists here as it does all over the nation. The Jacksonville Police Department has begun a true partnership with the community in developing innovative techniques to fight crime. This is the essence of community policing and we invite you to help us take a proactive approach and join our community policing philosophy to make Jacksonville a safer and more enjoyable place to live.