Princeton swears in Officer Alex Jaramillo; police department now at full force

City Officials, police officers and family members gathered at City Hall on Tuesday as Princeton police officially welcomed Officer Alex Jaramillo to its department.

Jaramillo was sworn in by City Clerk Peter Nelson in front of those in attendance including his wife Lorena and daughters Aaliyah and Olivia.

Jaramillo earned a criminal justice degree from Illinois Valley Community College in 2017 and began working as a part-time officer in DePue in 2019. He would later become a full-time officer in 2020. He is a certified juvenile officer and is also bilingual.

“We are grateful to have (Jaramillo) on our team and his family’s presence here tonight exemplifies that,” said Police Chief Tom Kammerer. “With his prior experience he will hit the ground running here. Once he is fully trained he will begin working on the day shift.”

Jaramillo’s addition also means he Princeton Police Department is at full strength of officers working the street according to Kammerer.

“This has been a long time coming,” Kammerer said. “I am very appreciative of the extra hours our officers have worked to fill in for the vacant positions while we searched for new officers to fill the vacancies.”

Aside from thanking the team of officers, Kammerer thanked the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners, Terry Madsen, Barry Portman and Rodney Lange for their hand in helping the department fill its vacancies.