Marseilles police promotes, welcomes familiar faces

There will be some familiar faces in new positions in the Marseilles Police Department, effective immediately.

At the Marseilles City Council meeting Wednesday, Police Sgt. Jim Buckingham was promoted to the rank of captain and former part-time officer Wes Budach was sworn in to a full-time position, both with the blessing of Chief Todd Gordon, Commissioner for Health and Public Safety Melissa Small and the entire council.

“They’re two good men we can count on,” Gordon said. “Sgt. Buckingham, now Capt. Buckingham has helped me out a lot behind the scenes. When I needed something done, he was already doing it. He always made sure things got done … Officer Budach was sent him to the part-time academy and was working for us. He went to Oglesby for a while until this full-time position came open … We’re very happy to have both of them with us.”

Buckingham, the son of Marseilles Commissioner Jim Buckingham and the grandson of a former Marseilles police commissioner, was hired in 2012 and was promoted to sergeant last October. During a subsequent period of many changes in the department – including the retirement of former Chief Brian Faber in February – had “stepped into his role and taken on a lot of responsibilities … going above and beyond,” Small said.

“We needed a new No. 2 in the department (as Gordon was for Faber) and because he’s been working so hard toward that, he’s truly earned it,” Small said. “I believe he’s going to prosper and grow in that position.”

Budach was a part-time member of the Marseilles PD beginning in 2020, but in 2022 left to work as an officer in Oglesby for the last two years. Cross-trained as an EMT-Basic, he returns to Marseilles as a full-time officer that will help cover shift for a roster that is short a man, with one deployed with the National Guard.

“Officer Budach has strong ties to the community,” Small said. “Both want to see the community do well and keep it safe. It’s a home-grown feel and that’s always a positive.”

Gordon acknowledged that finding quality officers in a financially competitive field is difficult, but he’s happy to find two who have close ties to the community.

“Right now we’re almost up to where we should be,” Gordon said. “We have an officer deployed and right now we’re not sure when he’s coming back … All agencies are having trouble finding good officers, even ones that pay a lot more than we do, so we’re happy to find two good men who want to be here and create a good atmosphere in the department and in the community.”

“It’s always very stressful when you’re trying to navigate how to fully staff a police department in times like this, when it’s a profession that people aren’t gravitating to anymore,” Small said. “It’s hard to attract quality candidates, so we’re very happy with the changes we’ve made.”

In other action, the council:

• appointed Judi Johnson to the Marseilles Public Library board.
• heard from Commissioner Buckingham that the Marseilles Swimming Pool finished the year with a deficit of about $10,000, about what it’s been in recent years, mainly because of the high cost of chemicals. Small, the former pool manager, contributed that chemicals alone for the year run to about $10,000 to $12,000.