Meet Your New Police Chief

This week John Cook became Springfield's first police chief since 2009. Cook is a 22-year veteran of the Springfield police force who has worked extensively with other law enforcement agencies, including Union County. 

Cook joined the Springfield Police Department as a recruit in Jan., 1989. After less than three years on the job, he was promoted to field training officer.

In 1993, Cool was assigned to the newly formed Union County Emergency Response Team, which later became part of the County SWAT team. He was a co-leader in the assault team until he was promoted to Captain in Sept., 2010. While he is still a member of that team, he withdrew from active duty to focus on the restructuring of Springfield’s police department.

In 2001, Cook was assigned to Springfield’s Detective bureau, where he worked on general investigations as well as narcotics. As a detective, he was praised by other state and federal agencies for his work on numerous cases, including his work uncovering an international child pornography ring that led to multiple arrests by the FBI.

In 2006, he returned to Patrol, where he was promoted to Patrol Sergeant. In Sept., 2010, he was promoted to Captain. In December of that year, he was named officer in charge of the department. 

He has four children: Vincent, Marissa, Cheyenna and Morgan.