Jon Oliver

Jon Oliver is a Lieutenant with the Waukegan (Illinois) Police Department and has been a police officer there for more than 23 years.  Jon began his career in the Patrol Unit, primarily working in high crime areas.  In May of 1997, Jon was transferred to the Detective Bureau at which time he investigated cases ranging from misdemeanors to murders.  Jon was promoted to Sergeant in 1998 and placed in charge of the Narcotics Division, which conducted both tactical and undercover drug operations.  In early 2000, Jon successfully built and commanded the Neighborhood Enforcement Team (N.E.T.), the largest drug and gang unit in Lake County.  Jon was promoted to Lieutenant in 2001 and later returned to patrol where he supervised each of the three patrol shifts.  During that time, Jon graduated from Northwestern Illinois Police Staff and Command school.  In 2005, Jon was given the opportunity to put together a street crimes unit from scratch.  Jon created the Significant Incident Group (S.I.G. Unit) and was in charge of its day-to-day operations.  Jon and his officers were awarded the Waukegan Police Department’s Meritorious Award for their unprecedented crime fighting results

Currently, Jon is in charge of the department’s Tactical Anti-Crime Team (T.A.C.) and Strike Force Unit.  Under Jon’s command, these teams have identified and pursued some of the most violent criminals in the Chicagoland area.  In the summer of 2017, Jon and his teams were assigned to regain control of a Section 8 housing development with over 400 apartments that had been plagued with extreme violence, including several homicides and many shootings perpetrated by drug dealing gang members from the Chicagoland area.  Within weeks, Jon and his team members were able to uproot this gang presence, stop the violence, and eventually restore peace and order to improve the quality of life for the 2000 plus residents of this community.

Jon has received the following awards throughout his career with the Waukegan Police Department: Waukegan Police Department’s Meritorious Service Award, Nicasa Public Safety Award, Lake County Gang Alliance Award, and over 50 local commendations and letters of appreciation from various law enforcement agencies.  For many years, Jon has trained officers at his department in tactical street interviewing, foot pursuit tactics, ground fighting, weapon retention, and informant case management.  Jon has long been recognized in the 19th Judicial Circuit of Lake County as a respected expert witness in narcotics trafficking and has testified in numerous cases leading to the convictions of major drug dealers.