Three longtime Peoria police officers receive promotions

The Peoria Police Department promoted three longtime police officers last month during a ceremony at police headquarters in downtown.

Erin Barisch was promoted from lieutenant to captain, while Michael Johnston got a boost to lieutenant from sergeant. Matthew Rogers was promoted from officer to sergeant to round out the trio.

The three were officially elevated to their new roles on Sept. 26 in front of family, friends and fellow officers.

Barisch has been with the department since 2001, arriving at the Peoria department from a five-year tour of duty with the Air Force. He served for fifteen years in a variety of roles, rising from second shift patrol officer to the street crimes unit to violent crimes detective before he was promoted to sergeant in 2016.

As sergeant, he worked with the special investigations and criminal investigations units before his promotion to lieutenant in 2022. Earlier this year, he was the interim criminal investigations lieutenant before he became interim patrol captain. In his official capacity as captain, he will serve both special and criminal investigations units.

Johnston was hired by Peoria in 2004 and has also served in a variety of roles across the department, from the patrol unit to special and criminal investigations. He was promoted in 2016 to sergeant, with a specialty in major and general crimes in the criminal investigations unit. He also continued to serve in patrol during this time.

Johnston also serves as a firearms instructor for his fellow officers and works with the explosive ordnance disposal unit and the safety assessment team.

Rogers is a 23-year veteran of the police department, working as a hostage negotiator, juvenile detective, drone operator and a field training officer. He also is a member of the executive board of the Peoria Police Benevolent Association , the union representing the lion's share of Peoria officers.

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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Three longtime Peoria police officers receive promotions