Wheaton police chief to become director of COD's Suburban Law Enforcement Academy

WHEATON – Wheaton Police Chief James Volpe said he is looking forward to the new challenge of taking over as director of the Suburban Law Enforcement Academy based at the College of DuPage's campus in Glen Ellyn.

Volpe, 61, who was sworn in as police chief in 2015, has been a member of the Wheaton Police Department since 1983. He previously served as patrol officer, shift commander/sergeant, commander/lieutenant and division commander of investigations for the department. Volpe's wife is a former police officer with the department as well.

His last day with the city will be June 24, which is his 35th anniversary with the department. Volpe said leaving the department will be "bittersweet."

"It's hard," Volpe said. "I really don't want to leave the city. I love working here. It's been my home. The people I work with are great. The City Council is great. But 35 years is a long time. I was lucky enough to get the offer of employment from COD. I am very excited to take on a new challenge training police officers."

He will start with the academy on June 25. The academy, which is based in the Robert J. Miller Homeland Security Education Center, provides basic recruit training and continuing education programs. Volpe has been training with the academy since 1999.

He is proud of the accomplishments of the Wheaton Police Department since he has been police chief, including promoting "new, young, energetic sergeants, lieutenants and deputy chiefs" and joining the DuPage County SWAT team.

"We're continuing to move forward, that's for sure," he said. "With limited budgets and higher demands on service, we are constantly looking at ways to be more efficient with our services. My biggest goal is to really try and be efficient with our services. And I think we've taken some really positive steps toward that. But that will be a never-ending process. We'll always be evaluating what we do, how we do it and how can we do it better."

Volpe lauded the members of the Police Department for the work they do.

"The men and women of this department have a tremendous pride in their service to the community," he said. "The people we train to be police officers love being of service to the community. They're professional, and they're proud. They're proud to be police officers. And I think when you put those two things together, you get a great police department."

The city will conduct a search for Volpe’s replacement later this spring.

“Our police department has a strong leadership structure in place that will allow us to continue to provide top-quality service to the Wheaton community without interruption as we transition to a new police chief,” Wheaton City Manager Mike Dzugan said in a statement.