About the Department

The Zion Police Department is comprised of 52 sworn officers,  4 full-time and several part-time civilian employees,
all under the direction of Chief Eric Barden and Deputy Chief Sweeting.

The Police Department is divided into 2 divisions, Operations & Investigations.

The Operations Division consists of;

• Patrol – Sworn officers assigned to Patrol respond to all calls for service, emergency and non-emergency, and are the most visible members of the department. Patrol Officers are divided into three shifts: 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rds and are supervised by seven Patrol Sergeants spread amongst the three shifts.
• Community Services – Civilian employees, assigned as Community Service Officers (CSOs), provide a wide variety of services to the community and the department.  Services such as traffic direction, motorist assistance, parking enforcement and animal complaints. The department employs one full-time CSO and several part-time CSOs for evening and weekend service.

The Operations Division is under the direction of Patrol Commander, Lt. Derek Zaloudek
He may be reached at:

• 847-746-4105, or
• Derekz@zion.il.us

The Investigations Division consists of:

• Investigations – Sworn officers assigned to Investigations as Detectives are responsible for conducting in-depth investigations into criminal complaints ranging from financial crimes, drug crimes to crimes of violence. The Criminal Investigations Unit consists of five detectives. The Drug/Gang Unit consists of two detectives under the direction of one Investigative Sergeant.
• Records – civilian employees who are responsible for processing all reports and citations and providing walk-in service for the department. The department has three Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officers. Please call 847-379-8307 or 847-379-8308 for Records or FOIA requests.

The Investigations Division is under the direction of Investigations Commander, Lt. Paul Kehrli.
He may be reached at:

• 847-746-4106, or
  paulk@zion.il.us

The department also has a Police Canine Unit, Ofc. Rob Ogden and his K-9 partner, Taz. The Police Canine Unit was established in 2010 and has been fully funded by a private foundation since its inception. Ofc. Ogden and Knox are assigned to the Patrol Division. Please contact Patrol Commander, Lt. Derek Zaloudek, if you are interested in scheduling a canine demonstration.

Like us on Facebook!

Chief Eric Barden
Zion Police Department