May 12, 2021 MACOMB, IL Derek Watts, the interim director of the Western Illinois University s Office of Public Safety (OPS), has been named the director of the department, effective June 1. Watts has served as the interim director since March 2019. He becomes the first internal candidate named to the director/chief position.
Watts joined OPS in 1998 as a patrol officer. He was promoted to corporal in 2006 and to sergeant in 2009. A 1996 and 2015 graduate of the WIU School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration, Watts was promoted to lieutenant in 2018. He started his law enforcement career with the Bushnell Police Department in 1996. Before joining the Office of Public Safety, Watts worked as a police officer for the Morton Police Department.