Oak Park Police Commander Schonella Stewart has been selected to serve as the next police chief of Beloit, WI.
Stewart has spent the last 19 years serving on the Oak Park Police Department, rising from patrol officer to serve as patrol commander, community policing commander and investigations commander for the department over the course of her career. She also served as a homicide task force member, Internet Crimes Against Children task force member, FBI hijacking task force member, and human trafficking task force member, according to the city of Beloit news release announcing her selection.
“In addition to going through two rounds of interviews with the PFC (Police & Fire Commission), Stewart excelled in an assessment center conducted by three police chiefs from other communities, a community forum, and in interviews with city leadership and department staff,” the release said. “A conditional offer was extended to Stewart, who accepted. The conditions include a standard employment drug screen, a background investigation and formal Police & Fire Commission approval. The PFC is expected to meet in early November to take formal action on the selection.”
Stewart’s twin sister Schenita Stewart was named the chief of police in Evanston in 2022.
Beloit is a town of about 37,000 people on the Wisconsin-Illinois border, about 18 miles north of Rockford. Geneva Police Chief Anthony Miceli and Rockford Police Department Assistant Deputy Chief Ty Eagleson were also in the running for the position, according to the Beloit Daily News.
Stewart would be the first woman to hold the position. She would succeed former Chief Andre Sayles, who left the town earlier this year to accept a deputy chief position with the Seattle Police department, according to the Beloit Daily News.