Mark became a police officer on October 31, 1977 after serving four years in the Marine Corps and had been assigned as department pilot, underwater recovery diver, field training officer, tactical officer, narcotics agent and various investigation teams. Mark has taught NIMS classes through both Illinois Fire Safety Institute and FEMA as an independent contractor. Mark retired from Rock Island Police Department in October 2010 and became Chief of Police in Coal Valley, Illinois. Mark assisted in forming a public safety dive team which meets the Class 1 FEMA dive team standards and volunteers as an instructor for public safety diving to police and fire department dive teams. His team has responded to requests for divers from ISP, and several police and fire agencies throughout Illinois and Iowa and is listed as a resource through ILEAS.
He became involved in police pensions as a trustee in 1980 and has served continuously on the Rock Island Police Pension Board until 2010. He was responsible for recruiting the Rock Island Police and Fire Pension boards to become members of the IPPFA. He is actively recruiting other Boards to join the organization.
As a Director of the IPPFA, Mark has served on the legislative committee and was Secretary / Treasurer of the IPPFA Political Action Committee. He is also the author of several articles for
the IPPFA newsletter.
Mark is married and has one son. He received an Associate degree in Law Enforcement Technology from Black Hawk College and a B.A. in Business Administration from Marycrest College. His post graduate work was completed at the University of Iowa in Business Administration and Multimedia Presentations.
