Chief Jamal Simington

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Chief Jamal Simington is a veteran law enforcement executive with over 34 years of leadership and law enforcement experience. He has been with the Bloomington Police Department since 2021. He remains focused on increasing employee wellness, reducing crime and the fear of crime in our community, and fostering trust between the women and men of the BPD and the communities we serve.

Career

Kankakee County Sheriff's Department

Chief Simington started his law enforcement career at the Kankakee County Sheriff's Department in 1991, where he served as a correctional officer and telecommunicator. In 1994, he was commissioned as a Sheriff's Deputy. He was assigned to patrol, investigations where he was an undercover narcotics officer, and the traffic unit.

Illinois State Police

Simington joined the Illinois State Police in 1999, where he first served on patrol in District 21-Ashkum. He later transferred to investigations where he served as a Special Agent working homicides, financial crimes, gang and gun crimes, as well as illicit methamphetamine laboratories.

Chief Simington County Picture

Chief Simington earned the ranks of Sergeant and Master Sergeant while in investigations. He later returned to patrol as a Lieutenant/ Operations Commander in District 21-Ashkum.

Chief Simington commanded his first patrol district in Pesotum, District 10, the largest geographical district in the state police. He was later appointed as a Major and the Region Commander of Central Illinois leading 6 patrol districts and 2 investigative zones.

Chief Simington then became the Lieutenant Colonel of Field Operations in the Division of Operations, leading the statewide intelligence center, special weapons and tactics team, statewide weapons of mass destruction team, crash reconstruction team, commercial motor vehicle team, and air operations, amongst other responsibilities.

Director Leo Schmidt later appointed Chief Simington as Colonel to serve as the agency's Deputy Director of Internal Investigation. In March of 2021, Chief Simington transferred to the Division of the Academy and Training. He retired from the Illinois State Police in September of 2021 to become the Police Chief of the Bloomington Police Department.

Education

Simington is a graduate of the Northwestern University Center for Public Safety, School of Police Staff and Command. He also earned a bachelors degree in Criminal Justice and a masters degree in Public Administration from Governors State University. Simington holds a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace and Inclusive and Ethical Leadership in the Workplace certificates from the University of South Florida.

He successfully completed the prestigious Executive Leadership Program at the Naval Postgraduate School, Center for Homeland Defense and Security in 2024. Chief Simington also completed the Northwestern University Center for Public Safety Executive Management Program in 2024.

Chief Simington's 2026 Goals
Based on the BPD's Strategic Priorities

Recruit diverse and qualified police candidates to reach a full sworn staff count of 134
Reduce overall violent crime by 10%
Reduce traffic crashes by 5% through expanded education, engineering and enforcement
Ascertain an Illinois Law Enforcement Accreditation Program (ILEAP) Tier II Accreditation
Conduct a performance-based sworn and professional staffing analysis to determine appropriate staffing needs
Leverage continuous process improvement strategies
Employ key employee development and succession planning strategies
Add a safety education officer to further impact community education and engagement to further build trust, lessen crime and increase safety
Add a fair and dependable personnel evaluation system for sworn officers and other staff development
Improve BPD Community Dashboards to increase transparency
Determine the need and plan for a police department building expansion
Complete a new Emergency Management Plan