DeKALB | The best of NIU’s finest is about to take on his most challenging assignment to date.

Donald Grady, the chief of the NIU Police Department, will depart for Washington, D.C. this weekend to be briefed before he is deployed to Baghdad in early October, where he will remain for the next year.

Duties and plans for Iraq

Grady was recruited by the U.S. Department of State to take on one of the most challenging missions in Iraq.

The 53-year-old Beloit, Wisc. native will serve as senior advisor to the Iraqi minister of interior. The position is centered on the continued development of Iraq’s police, special police, civil defense, border control and immigration control.

The advisor is responsible for developing and advising policies related to the management and efficiency of these departments. He will also serve as a point of contact for other U.S. departments, as well as the United Nations and the Iraqi government. He will also be providing guidance on improving levels of professionalism within the nation’s police and other forces.

Grady previously had policed, with extremely impressive results, in Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Kosovo before moving to NIU, where crime on campus dropped nearly 60 percent during his first year as police chief.

“I’m looking forward to helping develop plans and strategies for a good democratic police force,” Grady said.

When presented with the opportunity to work on this assignment, Grady would have been hard pressed to turn it down, he said.

“To take on such a vital role in Iraq presented me with the opportunity to take on a big challenge,” Grady said. “They asked me if I would consider it. Given the opportunity, it would have been difficult to say no. I’m excited to be taking on one of the most challenging positions in the world.”

Mixed emotions

As honored as he was to be presented with the assignment, Grady nevertheless realizes what he’ll be leaving behind.

“I have mixed emotions,” he said about leaving DeKalb. “I have a great police department and friends here that I care about, and I’m going to miss all of them at NIU.”

Following his one year of service in Iraq, Grady will return to his position as police chief at NIU. Despite not being present, Grady still plans on being an intricate part of the department.

“I will still be intimately involved with everything that happens here at the department and at the university,” Grady said. “I will continue to have daily interaction with the police department. We will hold daily conference calls, and I’ll be checking and responding to e-mails.”

A hard spot to fill

During his absence, Lieutenants Matthew Kiederlen, Darren Mitchell, and Curtis Young will work together to fill his position.

Grady’s friends and constituents have certainly been left with a strong impression of their police chief.

“He has definitely been a positive driving force within this department and in this university,” Kiederlen said. “He will be sorely missed.”

Ultimately, there is one consensus opinion about the NIU police chief.

“I’m concerned for him, because I don’t want to see him go to one of the hottest areas of the planet,” Mitchell said. “However, I’m also very proud.”

Justin Weaver is the University Police beat reporter for the Northern Star.