Woodstock deputy police chief leaves to become Pingree Grove’s next chief

Longtime policeman Jeffrey Parsons, who rose through the Woodstock Police Department’s ranks by serving the roles of detective, school resource officer, sergeant and deputy chief, has left the city to become Pingree Grove’s next police chief.

The Woodstock City Council and Woodstock Police Chief John Lieb on Tuesday honored the outgoing Parsons, who was introduced as Pingree Grove’s next top cop earlier this month.

Parsons spent 24 years as a Woodstock officer in a variety of positions. Before coming to Woodstock, he served as a patrol officer for the village of Maywood.

His deftness as a detective will be missed by the department, Lieb said.

“He was integral in countless cases of locking up some of the worst of the worst. I don’t think a lot of those cases would have been solved if it hadn’t been for [Parsons],” Lieb said.

Parsons was hired as a patrol officer and detective before to being promoted to patrol sergeant in 2011, and in early 2012, was appointed as the detective sergeant to lead the department’s investigations division. He was appointed deputy chief in 2016.

He urged the council to continue supporting the police department and approving its budget requests, predicting that policing would become more costly because of legislative changes.

“It’s going to get worse as time goes by, with new legislation that is out there. It’s going to be expensive. I just want you guys to know that if this police department and this current administration asks for something, it’s not a want. It’s a need,” Parsons said.

Mayor Mike Turner also thanked Parsons for his service as well his family, wife Manychan, and children, Tyler and Alyssa, for sacrificing the time away from their husband and father and the difficult emotions experienced by relatives of people in the law enforcement profession.

“It’s impossible for us as civilians to know what it’s like. We can empathize it, but to know what it’s like when he puts on the vest and goes out, and you don’t know what that day or night is going to bring, can’t even identify with it,” Turner said.