Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Likens

Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Likens was appointed as Assistant Deputy Director for the Division of Criminal Investigations Statewide Investigative Command in April 2023. Before his appointment, Lieutenant Colonel Likens held the rank of Major and was assigned as the Northern Illinois Investigative Commander while simultaneously being assigned to the Chicago area Unified Command. While in these roles, Lieutenant Colonel Likens worked in conjunction with the Division of Patrol and the Division of Forensic Services to combat expressway violence in the Chicago area, while also supervising investigative efforts throughout northern Illinois. Lieutenant Colonel Likens is currently a member of the Executive Board of Directors of the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force and the Statewide Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee.

Lieutenant Colonel Likens began his career with the Illinois State Police in 1997, with his appointment to Cadet Class 94. Upon graduating from the ISP Academy, he was assigned to District 02 (Elgin), where he worked patrol, in the road rage special enforcement program, and as a Vehicle Investigations Officer. He was a field training officer, an emergency vehicle operations instructor, and a member of the crowd control team. In 2006, he was promoted to Sergeant in patrol and then took command of the Special Enforcement Team. In 2009, Lieutenant Colonel Likens was promoted to Master Sergeant in the Crime Scene Services Command, where he oversaw crime scene investigations and polygraph services for northeast Illinois. In 2012, Lieutenant Colonel Likens was assigned to Zone 3 Investigations as the squad leader for violent crimes. In 2013, he was assigned as the Director of the Tri-County Auto Theft Task Force. In 2015, he was promoted to Lieutenant and assigned as the group supervisor under the Chicago High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Tri-County Initiative, overseeing four undercover narcotics units. In 2021, he was promoted to Captain and assigned as the Commander of Zone 1 Investigations. Lieutenant Colonel Likens holds a bachelor’s degree in Management from Benedictine University and attended Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command, serving as the Vice President of Class #473, where he was awarded the Franklin M. Kreml Leadership Award.