With 32 years of law enforcement training and experience, Brown has worked as a lieutenant at the University of Illinois Police Department, is currently the Deputy Chief of Police at the Tolono Police Department, is the Public Guardian for Champaign County, has been METRO SWAT Team Commander, Field Training Unit Commander, and many more that would take up half a page.
On top of these positions, Brown has had oversight over units such as the K-9 Unit, Crisis Intervention Team, Security Guards, and Student Patrol.
After attending Southern Illinois University and earning a Bachelor of Science while majoring in Administration of Justice, Brown also went on to get a Graduate Certificate at the University of Virginia in Criminal Justice Education.
Brown’s interest and reasoning for putting in all this effort to serve his community date back to his childhood. Born and raised in Rantoul, Illinois, as the son of three-term Champaign County Sheriff Joseph T. Brown, Brown and his twin brother Tony Brown idolized their father growing up. During our conversation, Brown reminisced on what it was like to grow up watching police shows or shows with characters that were police officers.
“As a little kid, when all the cop shows at the time that we watched were all lieutenants, you know they’d be based on a lieutenant you know that was an investigator it was kind of, we just kind of thought that that was cool. You know we looked up to our father,” said Brown.
He said that he and his brother were in the fifth grade when their father first became Sheriff and that both of them knew they wanted to follow in their father’s footsteps.
While both knew that they would one day become officers and even spend 27 years working at the U of I Police department together, it seemed to both that Tony would be the one to become County Sheriff. Tony thought about running four years ago but decided against it when he was offered the position of Chief of Police at the Rantoul Police Department.
In fact, running for Sheriff wasn’t even on Brown’s mind when he was approached by a member in a committee that was in charge of looking for a Republican candidate to run in this year’s election. Brown originally turned down the offer.
Photo Provided By: John Brown
“I didn’t care if the Sheriff was a democrat or a republican, if they were doing a good job,
John Brown
I was not going to run against them,”
But the person who reached out to Brown urged him to at least call around and hear from people who work at the Champaign County Police Department and talk to them about the current situations happening within the department. So, he did.
What he ended up finding led him to his decision to run. Brown believes he has the experience and the ability to make situations in the department better. When the incumbent Sheriff took office, he had less than five years of full-time experience in law enforcement. Ultimately Brown expressed that he just wants to help the community and continue to do what he does best, serve.
He referenced the Champaign County Police Department and compared it to that of his family due to his father’s involvement with the department when he was growing up. After hearing the complaints from people within the department, Brown knew he had no other choice but to run, because as he said, “It’s like a family, and you want to see your family do well.”
As for his family life, Brown said he’s the proud father of two, Evan and Elena, and the proud grandfather of two as well. Much like he and his brother did with their father, his son has also chosen a career in law enforcement and is currently a corrections officer for Champaign County.
His loving wife, Margaret Brown, has supported him throughout his career and encouraged him to run for Sheriff even though she had previously told him jokingly not to take on any more positions. If Brown does win the election for Sheriff, it will be an automatic resignation from his current position. Even with a big life shift in a career that he was slowing down in, Brown’s family and close friends have been nothing but supportive and helpful during this time with him.
To help John Brown achieve his goals as Sheriff make sure to vote in the upcoming election this November 8th. For more information on Brown or to find out ways to help you can go to his campaign website.
Editor’s Note: This article was corrected on October 19th at 5:30 pm. There were a few mistakes regarding Mr. Brown’s family and the incumbent’s experience. To be clear Tony Brown was never an official candidate for County Sheriff, Dustin Heuerman had five years of full-time experience in law enforcement upon taking office, and John Brown’s wife is named Margaret. We apologize to both candidates, Mr. Brown’s family, and the readers.
