Longtime St. Charles Deputy Police Chief Dave Kintz announced this week that he has accepted a position as the chief of police at Elgin Community College.

Kintz also served as the St. Charles Police Department public information officer, and he was one of the best. The department’s new PIO is Deputy Chief Erik Mahan, and he’s already done stellar work, letting the public know about an armed robbery at the St. Charles Domino’s two days after Christmas.

Kintz said he is looking forward to the ECC job, and he thanked local media representatives for their shared responsibility of keeping citizens informed on public safety issues.

“I always tried to be open and responsive to all of your requests, knowing that all of us just had a job to do,” he wrote. “I hope that came across in my service levels, whether it was an on-camera interview, simply checking on the status of a case, or an after-hours response for crash information, I tried to assist where I could.”

Kintz said the most trying case of his career probably was the Coffland shooting earlier this year, a tragic March 10 incident in which a man reportedly shot and killed his twin 16-year-old daughters, wounded his wife in the leg and turned the gun on himself.

“I always tell people who watched the coverage and followed the articles that working with all of you was the easiest part of the entire case,” he told area journalists. “I appreciate the patience and professionalism you extended to me knowing that this was a high profile case that garnered national attention. My goal has always been to get you the information you need quickly and accurately.”