Illinois Biggest Offenders Newsletter

              FEATURED OFFICER
Sergeant Kris Schmidt of the
Whiteside County Sheriff’s
Department patrols the rural roads
of this northwest Illinois county.
Approximately six months per
year he works the night shift and
focuses his attention on detecting
and investigating impaired
drivers. Sergeant Schmidt has
made over 300 career DUI arrests
with 52 arrests in 2009. He has
been presented with the Illinois
Department of Transportation’s
Division of Traffic Safety’s 250 arrests
pin. Prior to joining the Whiteside
County Sheriff’s Department in 2001,
Sergeant Schmidt spent five years as
a law enforcement officer in DeWitt,
Iowa where he also reached the rank of Sergeant.
Sergeant Schmidt is an energetic supporter of the Standardized
Field Sobriety Tests (SFST). He has successfully completed the
week-long National Highway Traffic Safety Administration SFST
Instructor School and has put that training to use in providing
SFST updates to fellow deputies within the department. Sergeant
Schmidt also provides SFST instruction for the Police Training
Institute and Mobile Training Units 1, 2 and 4. With the Illinois
Supreme Court’s recent opinion in the McKown case, he looks
forward to the continued admissibility of the horizontal gaze
nystagmus (HGN) test and sharing his observations about HGN by
testifying in upcoming DUI trials.
Whiteside County Chief Deputy Larry VanDyke lauds Sergeant
Schmidt’s ongoing focus on DUI enforcement which has increased
the Department’s overall enforcement visibility and has saved
many lives. Sergeant Schmidt and his wife Sarah, a Sterling
police officer, reside in rural Morrison where they enjoy spending
time with their children.
DISCLAIMER
Information contained in this
newsletter is a matter of public
record. Individuals charged with
criminal offenses are presumed
innocent until proven guilty in a
court of law.
Division of Traffic Safety
1340 North 9th Street
Springfield, IL 62702
SPRING
2010