Spaur Promoted to Lieutenant as Litchfield Police Add Three Officers

Article Summary: Zack Spaur has been promoted from sergeant to lieutenant and will serve as second in command of the Litchfield Police Department. The department also said it has added three new officers, one of them a former St. Louis County police officer.

Litchfield Police Personnel Key Points:

Zack Spaur promoted from sergeant to lieutenant, becoming second in command after 19 years of service to the city.

Three new officers added: Michael Laughlin, Mason Patton and Kaden Boyd.

Laughlin, previously an officer with the St. Louis County Police Department, has begun field training and is expected on solo patrol within a few months.

Patton and Boyd will attend the University of Illinois Police Training Academy before entering the department’s field training program.

LITCHFIELD — Zack Spaur has been promoted from sergeant to lieutenant and will serve as second in command of the Litchfield Police Department, the department said in an announcement issued recently. Spaur has served the city for 19 years, according to the department.

The department also said it has added three new officers: Michael Laughlin, Mason Patton and Kaden Boyd.

Laughlin has completed a police academy in Missouri and most recently served as an officer with the St. Louis County Police Department, the department said. He is working with ILETSB to transition his Missouri law enforcement certification to an Illinois certification and has begun the first phase of the department’s field training program, the department said, adding that he is expected to be on solo patrol in a few months.

Patton and Boyd will attend the University of Illinois Police Training Academy to become certified Illinois police officers, the department said. Both will then enter the department’s field training program before moving into full-time officer positions.

Mayor Jacob Fleming said the department has for some time been operating short-staffed and without a lieutenant serving as a clear second in command. Fleming said the decision to assign one officer full time as school resource officer placed additional responsibility on the remaining officers, and that those officers continued answering calls and supporting one another while the department was stretched thin.

Fleming said the addition of three officers is a major step for the department and the community, and thanked members of the department who absorbed the extra workload.