When Norman Nissen Jr. retires as Northlake’s police chief on Nov. 19, it will bring to a close more than 60 years of his family’s service on the city’s police force.
Nissen, who has been Northlake’s police chief for the past seven years and has been a part of the police department for 38 years, followed in the footsteps of his late father, Norm Sr., who logged 33 years as a patrolman in Northlake, from 1960 until 1992. Known as “Big Norm,” Norm Sr. died in 2012.
“Growing up watching my dad, I don’t ever remember wanting to be something else,” Nissen told Pioneer Press/Chicago Tribune in an interview. “What a blessing.”
An Elgin resident and a married father of four, Nissen, 62, grew up in Northlake and was born shortly before his father got a job as a Northlake police officer. As an adult, Nissen briefly worked at his father’s side job at a small cement company before he went to the police academy.
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When Nissen joined Northlake’s police force in 1982, he reported to his father. That wasn’t the case for long, however, as Nissen moved up fast in the department.
“It’s like everything in life — timing,” Nissen said. “The fellows and ladies working here (at that time) weren’t as interested in advancement, so I threw my hat in, and I got early promotions. I was a detective and worked juvenile and did everything available. I then got promoted to be deputy chief at age 30 after being a sergeant.”
Nissen’s rise in Northlake’s police department meant that by the time Norm Sr. retired in 1992, Nissen actually had become his father’s boss.
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Nissen served as deputy police chief for about 25 years under six police chiefs, and he worked to get Northlake’s police department national police accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, as well as from a state accreditation agency. In February 2015, Nissen was chosen by Mayor Jeffrey T. Sherwin to be police chief, succeeding longtime chief Dennis Koletsos.
“I think he really came into his own under Chief Koletsos. He really let him blossom and bloom, so it was an easy transition for us when it came time to pick a replacement for Koletsos,” Sherwin told Pioneer Press.
On Nissen’s watch, Northlake’s police department, which has 34 sworn officers and a total staff of 49, has worked to build ties with residents, even as the town’s demographics have undergone change. More than 60 percent of Northlake’s residents were of Hispanic origin in the 2020 census, which is up from 35 percent in 2000.
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“We’ve been trying to match up as a police department with the demographics (of the town), but a good employee stays 20, 25 years,” Nissen said. “Knock on wood that we have a great connection with the community and with our schools. Our officers visit our schools on a weekly basis. We do a lot of special things that a lot of towns don’t do as far as outreach.”
Sherwin said Nissen has done a “great job,” both in terms of the department’s accreditation and with regard to building relations with the community.
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“One of the best things he’s done really is he takes surveys from our residents and people we serve. It’s kind of like customer service,” Sherwin said. “We consistently get high marks from people with contact with our police department and also in surveys at random of our residents. The police here enjoy a large amount of support in the community, and Norm is really focused on relationships with the community. Our police department’s come a long way.”
Nissen said he is most proud of having made transparency a priority, particularly as it relates to the department’s use-of-force order, its law enforcement agency role, its use of force review, its serious physical injury or death response investigation, its internal affairs policies and citizen complaints. Nissen’s efforts predated nationwide calls for a review of policing.
“A great value of the job is being able to set the tone of what your mission is, and we really took off with transparency. In 2015, even before it was popular, we put together…a group of citizens to start looking at the use of force,” Nissen said. “We started putting use of force (incidents) on our website. Anybody can see what the use of force is and how many people complain about it. It was received very well. When we first did that, it was like jumping in a cold pool, and other police departments were like, ‘You’re crazy.'” I just feel…that if your kid is out there, you’re going to want to know how often is this happening to other people, and our answer is right there on the web now. In Northlake, we are pressing ourselves to the top. We’re not perfect, but we’re sure the hell trying.”
Nissen acknowledged that managing a police department through the COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge, but he noted that 2020 “was a great year to be a leader.”
“Every person I knew, people said to me last year, ‘Don’t you want to leave?’ No — this is where you show what you’re worth,” he said.
As he rides off into retirement, Nissen doesn’t intend to stay still. He plans to form a nonprofit group to offer community service for youth who have been charged with crimes.
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“I have learned from personal experience that not every kid who gets jammed up (with the law) wants to wash a police car, so I want to do something more constructive and partner with local businesses,” Nissen said. “The cool part is that the CEO is going to sit with the group in his office and tell his story. That’s the concept — once I get this situated here and stabilize the transition, I can really roll it in.”
Northlake officials plan to use the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police to advertise and vet both internal and external candidates for Nissen’s job, to help winnow down the list to five finalists, Sherwin said. From there, the mayor and City Council will interview the five finalists, and together will decide on a new police chief.
Sherwin said the city followed the same process in the late 1990s when Koletsos was chosen.
“I don’t know if we’ll have somebody in place by Nov. 19, but I’m hoping by the end of the year,” Sherwin said.
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Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
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