As I walked into the spacious third-floor office at Aurora Police Department headquarters recently for a final interview with the retiring police chief, Keith Cross was in the middle of reading an email from a resident asking him for the names of the three officers who responded to his missing child call and to make sure they were properly thanked for their professionalism and kindness.
Not every email Cross received while sitting in that chair was positive, of course. But he wanted to make a point of just how important feedback is from the public because the Aurora Police Department’s relationship with the community has always been a top priority to him.
“You can’t,” he insisted, “put a price tag on those kind of things.”
Cross, who turned over the reins of the department last week with an emotional farewell, entered law enforcement in 1994 in what he described as the “Rodney King” days of social unrest. And his goal – to change the public perception of cops – was evident as he rose through the ranks, working directly with residents of the city he’s called home since moving here as a 7-year-old.
As an officer with Community Oriented Policing and as a school recourse officer he got to know the city’s neighborhoods and their residents well. He also used those people skills while in special operations, eventually working his way up to commander in 2016, while also taking on the leadership of the Northern Illinois Chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
And, following the George Floyd fallout, which hit close to home in 2020 with unrest downtown, city leaders felt this tall and steady cop, deputy chief at the time, was the best choice to take over when Police Chief Kristen Ziman announced her retirement the following year.
“I needed this leader to be a proven public safety professional, who is steady under pressure, firm in resolve and compassionate and relatable to fellow officers and members of the community,” then Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin said at the time.
Close to retirement back then, Cross let Irvin know earlier this year he’d be stepping down after the April 1 city election, no matter what the outcome, because, among other things, “I’m looking forward to sleeping through the night,” the chief told me, referring to the responsibility that comes with leading the police department of the second-largest city in the state.
“I thought I knew (what it involved) going thorough (the 2019 Pratt mass shooting) and George Floyd,” he continued. “But until you sit in that chair, you can’t describe it. You are never away from the job” because “the buck stops here.”
Cross says he learned that valuable lesson as a basketball player at East Aurora High School from Coach Scott Martens, a “boot-camp” disciplinarian who handed his talented player a not-so-flattering evaluation, criticizing the teen’s poor attitude as a “complainer” who liked to point the finger of blame at others.
“It made me angry at first,” Cross recalled. “But the more I reflected, I had to ask myself ‘is this how others see me?’ That’s when I made a conscious decision to change.”
Cross, who spent much of his youth on basketball courts, also credits Waubonsee Community College Coach Dave Heist with bringing out his leadership potential after “we lost a number of good players to bad grades … and ended up with a better winning record.”
Those were the leadership lessons he built upon after joining the Aurora Police Department at a time when some of the kids he grew up with had taken wrong turns and were terrorizing good neighborhoods. Cross, well-regarded as authentic and humble, also was known as a good listener who believes breaking down barriers is more critical than breaking down doors. And it’s his deep connection to the community that shaped his commitment to focus not only on enforcement, but also engagement, partnership and trust, noted former Aurora Police Chief Bill Powell.
“He really truly cares about the community,” said Powell, adding that it was Cross’ close interaction with youth that defined so much of his career.
Longtime Aurora Ald. Mike Saville, 6th Ward, considered the “responsive and steady” Cross as someone “I could always count on whenever I encountered a challenge in my ward.
“I never had to ask him twice for help,” Saville said. “Our city has been safer with Keith on duty.”
For Cross, much of police work comes down to transparency and trust. But factored into that is the whole idea of perception versus reality. Which is why the chief is proud of the fact the APD was the first law enforcement department in the country to implement My90, a community engagement platform, which sends out post-contact surveys to residents who requested a police response and collects feedback about police interactions, including procedural justice, community sentiment, demographics and public safety concerns.
Using it, insisted Cross, has been an eye-opener and a game-changer.
“We thought gang-banging, shootings and violent crimes were the number one concern for residents, when it turned out it was traffic safety and theft,” he said, adding that the data supplied by the feedback did indeed “change our goals” to include more traffic stops and “mixing detectives with community and gang officers” to put more cops on the streets.
Cross is also proud of the ongoing success of the department’s Citizens Police Academy, which was expanded in 2023 to include rapidly-growing classes for Hispanics. And, if he had another year or two in the big chair, he said he’d like to continue to improve upon the department’s professional development program.
His successor, Matt Thomas, considers Cross “a mentor in the truest sense of the word,” who “never looked at leadership as a rank” but instead focused on relationships.
“Chief Cross led with humility, empathy and purpose. He created a culture where every member of the department felt seen and valued, regardless of rank or role. Whether you were a young officer just learning the ropes or someone in command, he took the time to coach you through challenges and share his experiences in a way that helped you grow both professionally and personally,” noted the new police chief.
“Over the past four years working side by side, he treated me more like a teammate than a subordinate,” Thomas added. “He gave me the space to lead, the trust to make decisions and the guidance when I needed it most.”
Cross has no doubts he’s leaving the department in “excellent” hands, describing his 49-year-old successor as “smart and a great communicator” whose “investigative background” – analytical, organized and detail-oriented – “made me a better leader.”
As much as he looks forward to retirement, Cross admits he’s got some “trepidation” about “running a race at 100 miles an hour and suddenly you stop with no cool-down.” And he used the word “uncertainty” when I asked what it would feel like to take off for the last time that uniform he’s worn for 31 of his 55 years.
“People will ask what you do for a living to calculate how much respect they should give you,” said Cross. “I’ve been in places where people see me in uniform and treat me a certain way. But when they see me outside of it, they don’t even look my way.
“That’s why I appreciate genuine people. I’m not into titles or shiny things, only treating people with respect regardless of their uniform or title.”
Outside the office, it’s his role as dad and husband that makes Keith Cross most proud. The chief admitted that Deanna, his spouse of 27 years, and 25-year-old son Devan, a Cornell University grad now working in finance in New York City, often had to “take a back seat” because of his work. But his wife’s unwavering belief in him, “even when I didn’t see it myself,” helped “motivate me,” as did the drive of his high-achieving son “who really became my role model.”
There is no doubt family is important to Cross, who becomes emotional when talking about his sister, also named Deanna, who died on her 16th birthday when he was 12. Both siblings contracted spinal meningitis at the same time. She developed cerebral palsy and “was in and out of hospitals the rest of her life.” He recovered, and because their parents worked, was often her “caregiver and protector,” while also dealing with “survival guilt.”
Cross said he took another emotional hit last September when, after helping his mother Deborah take care of his dad and “best friend” in the last three weeks of his life, father Lonnie lost his battle with a rare form of cancer.
“I was not right for a long time,” Cross admitted, crediting a Catholic neighbor for gently pushing him in the direction of faith, and Purpose City Church for the spiritual and emotional support needed to “start to be myself again.”
So just who is Keith Cross?
Chief Thomas describes him as “genuine and selfless,” a man who “never made it about himself. He always centered others, whether it was the officers doing the hard work day in and day out, or the community members we serve.
“And he led with heart. He had this rare ability to be both calm and commanding, humble but unwavering in his principles,” he said. “His authenticity set the tone for our culture — what you saw is what you got. That’s rare in leadership and it’s something I’ve tried to model in my own career.”
After being honored with an emotional farewell by the Aurora Police Department on Thursday, Cross says the next chapter in his life will likely include some coaching with the Aurora Christian School basketball team, working on his golf game and paying more dominoes.
Aside from spending more time with family and friends, however, what’s the one thing the retired chief is really looking forward to?
“I want to go to sleep at night, close my eyes,” Cross said with a smile. “Then wake up and it’s morning.”
dcrosby@tribpub.com
