Michael Lindgren:  

as gotten to be a much quieter city. For the past two years I have excelled in the department in DUI arrests, receiving the AIM award two years in a row. In our department it is difficult to do since our volume of calls for service is so high, it is hard to squeeze a good DUI in since it is so time consuming. Even though it took me changing majors 9 times over my ten year college career (both full and part-time), I am glad that I settled on Law Enforcement. There is nothing more rewarding than helping people, which, sadly the opportunity only presents itself rarely since most people truly do not want help, but when it happens it is a good thing. I have often felt bad after having to arrest a parent in front of a child, fearing that I would alienate the child from police contact in the future, however, after one arrest a 5 year old told me that he told his mother she was going to get in trouble and that she needed to go to jail so she would believe him. Since then, I have realized that the children, even the young ones, know when mom and dad need discipline. I am thankful for that little boy, since he has made my job from that point far easier at times when I think about him. I am grateful for the opportunity that I have been given to serve the City of Kankakee and hope that the community knows that I have done and will continue to do my best in the struggle to improve the city. I can not think of anything else I would rather be doing for a career.