Mayor Chasity Wells-Armstrong has tabbed an Illinois State Police trooper to be the next police chief in Kankakee.

The matter could be a hot issue at tonight’s city council meeting.Price Dumas is the mayor’s nomination.

If approved by the Kankakee City Council, Dumas would become the city’s first African-American police chief.Dumas is a former Kankakee city patrolman. He left the department and joined the ISP three years after he was one of five black Kankakee policemen who unsuccessfully sued the city in 2003 over alleged racial discrimination.

Mayor Wells-Armstrong has said she’s looking for someone outside the city department to change the culture of the department.

Dumas has been working as field training officer with the ISP. He’s a certified instructor for the State Police Academy. He’s also supervised recruits.

The mayor has also named Dumas interim-chief since Lt. Robin Passwater resigned as the department’s interim-chief. That happened after the mayor announced her choice would be Dumas for the chief’s job.

94.1 WGFA