HR0902 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0902 LRB101 21851 MST 72810 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate Orland Park Police Chief Timothy J. "Tim" McCarthy on the occasion of his retirement on August 1, 2020; and

WHEREAS, Chief McCarthy is a son of the Irish-American community of the South Side of Chicago; he was born in the City of the Big Shoulders on June 20, 1949 and attended Catholic schools in his youth; he graduated from Leo Catholic High School in 1967 and attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and

WHEREAS, At the University of Illinois, Chief McCarthy tried out for the Fighting Illini men's football team as a walk-on; earning his way aboard through this grueling process, his talent as a strong safety was so great that as a sophomore he earned a belated football scholarship and represented the State of Illinois on the Big Ten gridiron; and

WHEREAS, Upon graduating from the University of Illinois in 1971, Chief McCarthy turned his eyes towards the highest levels of law enforcement, joining the United States Secret Service; the Secret Service selected him to serve in its inner circle, the Presidential Protective Division, the law enforcement officers who maintain perimeter control around the President of the United States; and

WHEREAS, While guarding newly-elected President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981 as the President walked out of a Washington, D.C. hotel and headed toward his limousine, Chief McCarthy heard the first of what would be six shots from the gun of a would-be presidential assassin; utilizing his training, he placed himself in the line of fire and took a bullet in the torso; numerous witnesses stated at the time that they had personally seen Chief McCarthy save President Reagan's life; and

WHEREAS, After the attempted assassination, his discharge from the hospital, and the resumption of his service, Chief McCarthy moved to executive law enforcement and returned to his home state of Illinois; he advanced in the Secret Service Chicago Division and was named Special Agent in Charge (Chicago) in 1989; and

WHEREAS, After leaving the Secret Service in October of 1993, Chief McCarthy was named chief of the Orland Park Police Department in May of 1994 and began a new phase of his life, which is now in its eighth decade; and

WHEREAS, As the police chief of a rapidly-growing and diverse South Suburban Chicago municipality, Chief McCarthy had a new set of challenges to face; highly respected by both his officers and his colleagues, Chief McCarthy had the unique standing and stature to develop community-based law enforcement tools within his own jurisdiction that could be shared throughout Illinois with his fellow chiefs and police officers; and

WHEREAS, Among these pioneering efforts in community policing was Chief McCarthy's strong advocacy, from almost the very beginning of its availability, for adding naloxone to his jurisdiction's standard police vehicle kit; naloxone can be injected into a person suffering from acute respiratory distress following an opioid overdose, and its use has been credited with saving thousands of lives throughout the United States in the years since Chief McCarthy began advocating for its use; and

WHEREAS, As a champion of his police force, Chief McCarthy continually fought for more and better resources for the Orland Park Police Department and for Illinois law enforcement in general; during his service as chief of more than a quarter of a century from 1994 until 2020, the Orland Park police force grew by more than 30 sworn officers; and

WHEREAS, Chief McCarthy received the NCAA Award of Valor in 1982 and the inaugural Police Chief of the Year Award from the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police in 2016; and

WHEREAS, These are only two of the numerous honors, awards, and recognitions that Chief McCarthy has earned over the course of his storied career in national and Illinois law enforcement; and

WHEREAS, Awards and recognitions are less important to Chief McCarthy than his wife of 47 years, his three children, and his seven grandchildren; and

WHEREAS, After being a hero on the national stage, Chief McCarthy returned home to be a pillar of his family and of his home community, the community of Orland Park; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Orland Park Police Chief Timothy J. "Tim" McCarthy on his retirement, and we thank him for his service and wish him the best in all his future endeavors; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Chief McCarthy as a symbol of our respect and esteem.