BELLEVILLE, Ill. (First Alert 4) – Belleville Police Chief Matthew Eiskant has died at the age of 49, the department announced Monday.
Eiskant passed away at 4:30 p.m. Monday after a battle with cancer, police said in a social media post.
Eiskant, a Belleville native, graduated from Belleville East High School in 1995 before he went to the Southwestern Illinois College Police Academy. He also held bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice and sociology, and a master’s degree in criminal justice administration from Lindenwood University. Eiskant was also a graduate of the FBI National Academy Session 257.
He joined the Belleville Police Department in 2001, working his way up the ranks as a patrol officer and then as a member of the detective division. He became assistant chief in 2018 before he was appointed police chief in 2022. Eiskant also served with the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis…