Kankakee Deputy Police Chief Donell Austin will be the keynote speaker for Memorial Day weekend observances at the Ray Olley statue.

Austin is a veteran of the U.S. Army Reserves, the U.S. Army, and the Illinois Army National Guard.

Altogether, he served two years in the reserves, four years in the Army, and eight years in the National Guard. He finished his military career as a Staff Sergeant in the 933^rd Military Police Company of the Illinois National Guard.

His service included deployments in Panama and Germany, along with Operation Joint Guard in Kosovo; homeland security with Operation Noble Eagle; the global war on terror with Operation Enduring Freedom and in Iraq with Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Ceremonies at the Ray Olley statue will get under way at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 23. The statue is located in front of A.N. Webber, 2150 U.S. 45 south of Kankakee. The late Olley was a World War II Navy vet. The memorial is intended to bring awareness to the problem of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Olley had PTSD. It also draws attention to dogs who served in the armed forces and is a focal point for keeping the history of patriotism alive.

Denny Case of WVLI will be the master of ceremonies. JoJo Sayson, organizer of the Ray Olley Memorial Project, will have remarks.

There will be prayer, the playing of “Taps,” a presentation of the colors and a salute by the Momence Honor Guard. Harley motorcycle riders will be invited to rev their engines. There will also be refreshments and a display by Truckin’ 4 Veterans. Sponsorship is by Riverside Healthcare.

Austin says he will speak about the origins of Memorial Day, the problem of PTSD and about his experiences in the service.

Service in the military is an Austin family tradition. His son, Donell Austin Jr., is now serving with the Army in Europe, where he is an ammunition specialist, a job that has no tolerance for error. The deputy chief’s father served for 20 years in the Air Force. Donell Austin’s grandfather served in the Korean War.

Deputy Chief Austin enlisted while still a senior in high school to help create a path to pay for college.

Joining the service was a natural outcome for Austin. He knew what to expect.

His mom and dad, Arthur and Rita, were Chicagoans, but a military life means being on the move, so Austin grew up in England, North Dakota, and Louisiana. Austin graduated from Bossier High School in Louisiana, where he was an All-Parish football player as a linebacker and receiver.

His educational accomplishments include a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from Governors State University, a master’s degree in organizational studies, and graduation from the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command.

Austin came to Kankakee through his family. After retiring, his dad was looking for a place in Northern Illinois to relocate. He picked Kankakee, in large part because it was affordable.

Austin began serving with the Kankakee Police in 2000.

“God steered me this way,” he says.

But he also got good advice from people who saw him as a natural police officer. A boss at work, Lou Rousse, said he should join the police. Ken Tatum was a mentor who thought he should join, too. Police Chief Larry Regnier recruited him.

So he took the police test and came out with the third-best score.

He was promoted to sergeant in 2009 and to lieutenant in 2015. He took on the role of being the department’s accreditation officer, working to make sure all the standards were met. By 2018 he was patrol commander. In 2021 he was named investigations commander.

He oversaw 21 homicide investigations. 75% of those were closed. Two of the cold cases that were closed wound up as documentaries on television crime case shows. Being on a crime case is actually a plus. The shows will bring some resources to a case in the way of tests that speed up the process.

Advances in technology, such as the use of trace DNA, can bring new results in cold cases.

There was a great deal of satisfaction in closing these cases, he says.

“You really want to solve it,” he says, “for the victims and for the families of the victims.”

The families, he said, do care. He has one family that writes or calls every year, still seeking justice.

He adds, too, that success is due to teamwork in the police department. There are excellent department investigators and support staff at work. The department, he says, also has a really good relationship with the state’s attorney’s office.

“They let us know what we will need,” he says of the state’s attorney’s office. “Do we need another witness or more evidence.”

He finds satisfaction in being a police officer. “You make an impact you can see.”

You see people going through traumatic situations, he adds. You must have empathy, but also realize that you will not always be successful.

Deputy Chief Donell Austin and his wife of 18 years, Erica Bedolla Austin, have three daughters, Venessa, Kamilah and Thalia.

For relaxation, Austin likes to fish and camp and hopes one day to get a pilot’s license.