Whether it is his job as a lieutenant with the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office or as a coach of a traveling baseball team, Russell Belcher is no stranger to teamwork.

The Manteno native has been with the sheriff’s office for 23 years. Before that, he spent three years as a corrections officer with the Illinois Department of Corrections.

While working for DOC, Belcher joined the SWAT team and tactical unit for Stateville. Then-Sheriff Tim Bukowski later asked him to join the sheriff’s office.

“You always want to be that helper to people. So when I started thinking about policing, I decided I do want to get involved. I like helping the community,” Belcher said. “And when they’re having rough times, I can be an asset. And that’s really when I made that decision. So, I said, I’m doing it.

“Not to be the cliche of ‘To help the community.’ But truly, that really was what it was about.”

Belcher said that the coaches who mentored him helped shape how he handles people and situations throughout his career.

Sheriff Mike Downey, his boss, took notice.

“In critical incidents, when tensions are high and decisions matter most, Lt. Belcher is someone we rely on without hesitation,” Downey said. “His leadership on our Emergency Response Team and with the ILEAS Mobile Field Force has made him an integral part of nearly every significant incident we face across the region. He brings clarity, confidence and professionalism when it’s needed most.”

How Belcher relates to those he calls “the guys and gals” patrolling the streets changed a little when he began working as a Kankakee School District 111 school resource officer.

Belcher said he connected with people in unique ways when working with students who had discipline troubles.

“I would break the ice by learning some card tricks,” he said. “It would break a little bubble here and break a little there. Then they would come up with something that they would learn online that they were going to show me. They would always impress me in some type of way.”

Doing that helped Belcher become something like a role model or father figure to those students.

“Mentor is what it was,” he said. “But, you know, we had some fun. All of those guys, even the ones that didn’t have the buy-in, now when I see them, they’re always coming up. And we share a hug, share a story.”

Belcher’s technique carried over to youth league coaching.

Belcher and his wife of 32 years, Andrea, have two kids. He became involved in their youth sports as a coach, and his daughter is now in college while his son is in high school.

“They keep me busy,” Russell said. “That’s what keeps me young and makes me old.”

“Beyond the badge, Russ is just as committed to this community,” Downey said. “Whether he’s mentoring others, coaching or giving back his time in countless ways, he continues to make a lasting impact well outside the walls of this office.”

Russell said the one sport he still coaches is the one he has loved all his life.

“Baseball has always been my passion. So, that is the one I haven’t let up on yet,” he said. “Everything else I’ve kind of grown out of, or I don’t have the time for it anymore. But baseball is there.”

Russell said his current team is a very competitive group of guys.

“But, more importantly, they’re learning to become young men while with me,” Russell said. “They get the discipline. They get the mentorship. They get how to overcome this adversity that they’re facing, whatever it may be.”

Having fun is important, too, he said.

“They’re going to have fun, but they’re going to play hard,” Russell said. “And they know that. They’re held to a pretty high standard. But we’re going to have a freaking blast doing it. And they do. It’s a really fun group of kids that get along with each other.”