Mokena Names Former Joliet Police Chief As Interim Chief

MOKENA, IL — The Mokena Village Board of Trustees Monday voted unanimously to name former Joliet Chief of Police Brian Benton as its interim chief. Benton will be stepping into the role effective Aug. 30, the day after current Mokena Police Chief John Keating is scheduled to resign.

The move came as a surprise, as there was no mention of the appointment listed on the Village Board's agenda prior to the meeting.

"Over the past couple weeks our chief, Chief Keating, had to resign for personal reasons," Mokena Mayor Frank Fliescher said. "... In the meantime, we moved quickly on this because we needed to fill the slot. We discussed bringing Mr. Brian Benton on board, but we will make that motion tonight."

Benton's final years as chief in Joliet had been marred by some controversy. He and the city of Joliet were the subject of a lawsuit regarding pay for one of the Police Department's sergeants.

A separate lawsuit against Benton accuses him of racial discrimination against a 30-year veteran of the Joliet Police Department.

Benton, who left the Joliet Police Department in August of 2018, remained on the payroll until November of that year so that he could retire at the age of 50 and begin collecting his police pension.

Current Mokena Police Chief Keating announced his plans to resign last week. His resignation is effective Aug. 29. Keating was hired to replace former Chief Steve Vaccaro, who himself was the subject of a vote of no confidence from the Mokena Police Department in October 2020. Vaccaro ultimately retired in December of 2020, and Keating took over in May of this year.

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