New DeKalb deputy police chief officially promoted during ceremony

DeKALB – The DeKalb Police Department officially has a new deputy police chief and a new patrol commander, after the department held a promotion ceremony for the two officers recently.

On Friday, Nov. 5, Jason Leverton was promoted to deputy chief and Chad McNett was promoted to patrol commander.

The promotion ceremony was attended by family and friends, as well as Chief of Police David Byrd, DeKalb Mayor Cohen Barnes and City Manager Bill Nicklas, according to a social media post by the City of DeKalb.

The promotions were announced in October.

The DeKalb Police Department is undergoing a restructuring, announced amid a 2020 nationwide reckoning of policing following the murder of George Floyd. The restructure added a new division called the community support services division. There also is a patrol division, investigations and records.

Other leadership changes announced including DeKalb Police Cmdr. Steve Lekkas, who last month took over as commander for the Community Support Services Division.

[ Jason Leverton named new DeKalb police deputy chief ]

Deputy Chief Leverton started his career with the DeKalb Police Department in April 1996 as a patrol officer and was promoted to corporal in 2000. He was then promoted to patrol sergeant in 2001, serving as a patrol shift commander and completed the Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff & Command during that time.

Leverton was then promoted to lieutenant in 2012, where he supervised the investigations division, initiated the Targeted Response Unit, and served as the construction liaison in the building of the new police station. He was then promoted in 2013 to commander of the community support services bureau, where he managed the department’s 911 communications center and helped initiate programs including the embedded social worker program.

Patrol Cmdr. McNett started with the DeKalb Police Department in October 1995 as a patrol officer and promoted to patrol sergeant in 2016, according to the news release. McNett also was named the department’s first community relations officer in 2013 and has been active in several community events, including Special Olympics, Heroes and Helpers, DeKalb County Triad and No Shave November, police officials wrote in the release.