Bolingbrook police chief trades Peterson saga for parks job
Bolingbrook Police Chief Ray McGury is turning in his badge and taking up a new job: running the Naperville Park District.
The police veteran will start Sept. 15 as executive director of the park agency, which has gone through eight directors -- including interim leaders -- in the last 12 years.
After agreeing to a one-year, $135,000 contract with the park district, McGury, 48, said he is eager to start his new assignment.
"I'm trading in the badge, gun and uniform and moving on to the next chapter," McGury said Friday. "I'm ready to make the switch."
It's a homecoming for McGury, who spent 20 years as a Naperville police officer before being named Bolingbrook police chief in 2005.
There were tumultuous times during his tenure in Bolingbrook, most notably the criminal investigation of then-Sgt. Drew Peterson that began after the October 2007 disappearance of Peterson's fourth wife. Peterson retired from his police job within weeks of Stacy Peterson vanishing and has been named a suspect by investigators in her still-unsolved disappearance.
The high-profile case focused extensive attention on the department. McGury called it "one of the most difficult situations I've ever encountered in my career."