Aurora Police Chief Keith Cross announces command staff appointments

Aurora Police Chief Keith Cross has appointed two new commanders to join the police department's Command Staff.

Liz Robinson-Chan was appointed to the rank of Commander and will oversee the department's Bureau of Support Services, a multifaceted bureau with numerous divisions and units that work to support the overall mission of the Aurora Police Department. The bureau includes the 911 Telecommunications, Records, Administrative Services, Central Services, Jail Divisions, along with other support units.

Dan Eppard was appointed to the rank of Commander and will oversee the Bureau of Neighborhood Policing, the largest bureau of the department, which encompasses the Patrol Division, the Community Oriented Policing (COP) Unit, the K-9 Unit, Crisis Intervention Unit, and Traffic Division.

Commander Steve Stemmet will take over as the Bureau of Investigative Services. Commander Steve was promoted in 2021 and previously oversaw the Bureau of Support Services. The Investigative Services Bureau consists of General Investigations Division, the Domestic Violence Reduction Unit, the Evidence Unit, the School Resource Officer Unit, and the Special Operations Group.

The Command Staff appointments come after the retirements of Commander Jack Fichtel and Commander Rick Robertson. They combined gave more than 60 years of dedicated service to the Aurora Police Department and the citizens of Aurora.

"I would like to thank Commander Jack Fichtel and Commander Rick Robertson for their service to the department and to our Aurora community," Police Chief Keith Cross said. "I would like to wish them well on their well-deserved retirement."

"Please join me in congratulating Commander Liz Robinson-Chan and Commander Dan Eppard for their appointments to the rank of Commander and their continued work to move our department forward," Cross said.

Commanders Robinson-Chan and Eppard will be officially recognized during our employee recognition ceremony in early June.

###

Commander Liz Robinson-Chan, a Florida native, began her career as a police officer at the Aurora Police Department in 1993. Commander Robinson-Chan earned her Bachelors' Degree in Sociology on the Criminal Justice Track at North Central College in Naperville, IL in 1993. She then went on to get her Masters' Degree in 2006 at North Central College in Business Administration with a dual focus in Leadership and Management.

During her 29-year tenure at the Aurora Police Department, Commander Robinson-Chan has worked in the Division of Patrol, Community Oriented Policing, Field Training, the Crisis Intervention Team, Sergeant of the Evidence Unit, the Deadly Force Investigative Team, the Administrative Sergeant, Lieutenant of Patrol, and Administrative Lieutenant before being promoted to the rank of Commander in April of 2022.

Commander Robinson-Chan is a long-term member of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (former Secretary and has been the current Vice President since March of 2022). She is a member of the Police Benevolent and Protective Association (Secretary of the local Unit from 2013 through January 2021). Commander Robinson-Chan was elected as a member of the Police Benevolent and Protective Association (PBPA) State Executive Board in October of 2021. She was also elected as member of the Board of Directors for the Aurora Women's Empowerment Foundation (AWEF) in March of 2022.

Commander Dan Eppard joined the Aurora Police Department in 1992 as a Police Cadet and was sworn in as an officer in 1995. Dan is a graduate of West Aurora High School and earned his Associates Degree from Waubonsee Community College. He also graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School's Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program and Northwestern University's Police Supervision Program.

Dan began in the department's patrol division and has held numerous assignments at APD, including serving as a Defensive Tactics Instructor, Firearms Instructor, Field Training Officer, Special Response Team member, Sniper Team leader, Special Operations Group Sergeant, Training Division Sergeant, Deadly Force Investigations Team, and Office of Professional Standards Investigator. He was promoted to Sergeant in 2006 and Lieutenant in 2017. He most recently served as the Lieutenant of the Office of Professional Standards.

Dan was appointed to the rank of Commander in 2022 and currently oversees the Bureau of Neighborhood Policing.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.