Elgin police commander to become new Sandwich police chief

Elgin police commander Kevin Senne will take the reins as Sandwich police chief next month.

At their Aug. 21 meeting, Sandwich City Council members unanimously approved Mayor Todd Latham’s appointment of Senne as the city’s new police chief. His anticipated start date is Sept. 11.

The city decided not to renew the contract of Sandwich Police Chief Jim Bianchi, whose contract expired at the end of April. He had served as police chief since September 2013.

“We need to make sure that we’re fulfilling the community’s needs.”

—  Kevin Senne, newly appointed Sandwich police chief

Senne, 47, has worked for the Elgin Police Department since 2001. He has been a police officer since 1998.

His starting annual salary is $118,500.

He said he is committed to listening to the community.

“We need to make sure that we’re fulfilling the community’s needs,” Senne said. “So that’s really where I want to focus on, making sure that the police and the community operate as one. One of the biggest things to do is making sure that you’re out there, talking to the community and listening to the community.”

Senne said he anticipates working with those in the community.

“I look forward to listening to them and making the city of Sandwich a better place to live in.”

His wife also is a police officer. The couple live in Sycamore and have two children.

“I look forward to working with the members of the police department, I look forward to working with the members of the City Council and I really look forward to working with the community,” Senne said.

In its search for a new police chief, the city worked with the Illinois Association of Police Chiefs. Latham said he thought the process worked well.

“They do an assessment, they do some field work type of activities and they are judged by a panel of existing police chiefs,” he said. “We relied on a group of experts to make the recommendation to the City Council and then we also had the chance to interview Kevin Senne several times to see how he would fit in line with the goals of the city. It was an unanimous recommendation to me.”

In May, the City Council voted to hire former Normal Police Chief Richard Bleichner as the city’s interim police chief. The city found Bleichner through the Illinois Association of Police Chiefs.

Bleichner retired as Normal police chief last year after leading the department for 11 years.