Officials at NIU in DeKalb have named Lieutenant Darren Mitchell as the acting police chief.
He replaces Donald Grady who is on paid leave over misplaced evidence in a rape case involving a former NIU police officer.
Mitchell has been with the NIU police department since 2000. His latest role with the department was deputy chief of police along with executive director of the Office of Emergency Management and Planning.
Grady along with a Lieutenant in the department were placed on paid leave after a DeKalb County judge ruled last week that NIU police intentionally withheld important evidence in the rape case against former officer Andrew Rifkin. 2 students allegedly told Grady and the lieutenant that Rifkin had a consensual sexual relationship with the victim.
Those statements never were given to the prosecutors.
