Bill Backus retired in July 2022 as a Master Sergeant with the Illinois State Police after 27 years of service to the agency. Over the course of his career, Bill specialized in mobile field force operations and undercover narcotics investigations. For 11 years, Bill served as the director of a multi-agency undercover drug task force operating in the Chicagoland area. The task force operated in three counties and had officers assigned from 24 different police departments. Since 2013, Bill also served as the statewide mobile field force commander for the Illinois State Police. Bill supervised 250 Troopers assigned to 4 regional crowd control teams during protest activity throughout the State. Bill was responsible for writing ISP policies concerning mobile field force operations and tactics. Bill was the lead instructor for both the ISP’s basic narcotics training and the mobile field force program.