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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to congratulate Aurora Police Chief Greg | ||||||
| 4 | Thomas on the occasion of his retirement on November 13, 2015; | ||||||
| 5 | and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, Chief Thomas began his Aurora police career as a | ||||||
| 7 | cadet in 1978 and worked his way
through every rank; he was | ||||||
| 8 | sworn in as a patrol officer in
1982 and was promoted to the | ||||||
| 9 | rank of Sergeant in 1993, Lieutenant in 2003, Commander
in | ||||||
| 10 | 2005, and Deputy Chief in 2007, ultimately reaching Chief of | ||||||
| 11 | Police in 2008; under his leadership,
the city continued | ||||||
| 12 | unprecedented decreases in crime, greatly reduced the number of
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| 13 | traffic crashes, and focused on intelligence-led and | ||||||
| 14 | community-oriented policing; he
also oversaw the move into the | ||||||
| 15 | state-of-the-art police headquarters, which included a new
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| 16 | digital radio system and 911 telephone system; and
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| 17 | WHEREAS, Chief Thomas excelled in most of the divisions of | ||||||
| 18 | the police
department, including patrol, investigations, | ||||||
| 19 | support services, the Special Response
Team, and many others; | ||||||
| 20 | and
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| 21 | WHEREAS, Chief Thomas has become known as a strong advocate | ||||||
| 22 | for Aurora through his work with
several faith-based groups, | ||||||
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| 1 | business agencies, and community organizations; he
recently | ||||||
| 2 | resurrected "Aurora Cares", a collaborative group of various | ||||||
| 3 | agencies working
together to reduce violence; he also sits on | ||||||
| 4 | the board of the Aurora Human
Relations Commission; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, Chief Thomas received the Kendall County Medal of | ||||||
| 6 | Valor and was named the Exchange
Club of Aurora's Police | ||||||
| 7 | Officer of the Year in 2005; he was also nominated for Officer
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| 8 | of the Year in 1998 and has been the recipient of numerous | ||||||
| 9 | department
commendations and letters of appreciation; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, Chief Thomas was born in Aurora; he graduated from | ||||||
| 11 | East Aurora High School and holds a Bachelor of Arts in
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| 12 | Criminal Justice from Lewis University and a Master of Business | ||||||
| 13 | Arts from Aurora University; he
lives in Aurora with his wife, | ||||||
| 14 | Julie, and has 3 adult children, Todd, LeighAnn,
and Alexis; | ||||||
| 15 | therefore, be it
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| 16 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 17 | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 18 | congratulate Aurora Police Chief Greg Thomas on his retirement | ||||||
| 19 | and wish him the best in all his future endeavors; and be it | ||||||
| 20 | further
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| 21 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 22 | presented to Chief Thomas as an expression of our esteem and | ||||||
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| 1 | respect.
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