'A Great Ride': Former OP Police Chief Honored By Station Dedication (2024)

Community Corner

Former Orland Park Police Chief, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy fought tears as he thanked the Village for naming the station after him.

Posted Tue, Oct 24, 2023 at 1:56 pm CT|Updated Tue, Oct 24, 2023 at 2:50 pm CT

Former chief Tim McCarthy, who served in the role for 26 years, thanked the Village for the honor, noting he got there with the help of many others.

"While my name is on this building—and that’s wonderful that it’s on the building—it’s really due more to the hard work of the police officers of the Orland Park Police Department," McCarthy said.

After a black banner dropped and revealed his moniker on the building McCarthy, 74, praised those at every level and job within the department.

"To the community services officers, the TCO’s—the 911 operators—who are the critical link between the public and our officers—and we have the best TCO’s that are out there, we really do," McCarthy said. "Detention aides, who care for prisoners and detainees. To our administrative staff—it’s all of them put together that makes this the police department what it is. My name may be on there, but it’s because of them that it is on there."

The Village voted in June to rename the building in McCarthy's honor. McCarthy was hired by former Mayor Dan McLaughlin in 1994 and retired in August 2020. Tearing up at times, McCarthy praised the leadership of Orland Park.

"The one thing in Orland Park that’s been common for all our mayors, especially Mayor Pekau and this board, is the support of public safety," McCarthy said. "When you have public safety, our families, our community, and our economy can flourish. That’s what trustees and mayors in the past have done, and that’s what they continue to do. And I want to thank you so much as a longtime resident of Orland Park, and I’ll be here a whole lot longer."

Mayor Keith Pekau enumerated McCarthy's contributions to the department and Village, including the spearheading of the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force, an agency that aides area departments in homicide investigations, but also, creating bike patrols and the citizens' police academy. McCarthy worked to improve police-citizen relations, with neighborhood meetings and cookouts. He also initiated a crisis intervention team built around police response to mental health crisis calls.

"His hard work and dedication elevated the Orland Park Police Department to the top-rated law enforcement agency in the state," Pekau said. "It is an honor and a privilege to be able to recognize his efforts with the naming of the police department building."

Pekau highlighted McCarthy's dedication to his country as a member of the Secret Service. McCarthy was shot in the line of duty in March 1981 while protecting Reagan in the assassination attempt outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. He soon recovered from his injuries and returned to work. A year later, he was awarded the NCAA Award of Valor for the effort.

"Chief McCarthy consistently prioritized the safety and well-being of Orland Park's residents," said current Chief of Police Eric Rossi. "His visionary leadership led to the transformation of our police force through the implementation of new training programs, cutting-edge technology, and an exceptional staff. These efforts have positioned us as the finest police force in Illinois."

McCarthy also later became the inaugural recipient of Chief of Police of the Year award from the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police in 2016. It was one of the first of many awards McCarthy received in his five-decades long law enforcement career that dates back to 1972.

Before joining the Orland Park Department in 1994, he had worked in the Secret Service for eight years, and before that spent 14 years as a criminal investigator in Chicago. He is currently president of president of Sentinel Security in Palos Heights, which provides armed and unarmed security guards and security consulting services. After leaving the department in 2020, he went on to serve as interim police chief in Mokena November 2020-May 2021.

At the announcement of his retirement in 2020, village officials said McCarthy had "transformed" the police department "into a 21st century model with an emphasis on transparency and robust community engagement efforts."

At the unveiling Monday, Pekau gestured toward the building, calling it "the house that he built, the Timothy J. McCarthy Building.

"It was well worth the wait," Pekau said.

UnderMcCarthy's guidance, the nation's first LEED Gold certified police station was successfully constructed. This 62,000 square-foot facility excels in technology and safety, and also sets a benchmark for sustainability and efficiency, with features including porous bricks in the parking lot, a "white roof" that conserves energy by reflecting light, and a 2,000-gallon rainwater collection and recycling unit. McCarthy remarked he was honored and thrilled to see his name on the building.

McCarthy joked with officials that he was happy to see the buildng renamed "before I was dead."

McCarthy again tipped his hat to those he worked with in the department over his nearly three decades there.

It’s been a great ride, it’s been wonderful.

"I take the bows for everything we do and all the work that gets done here," McCarthy said, "but frankly, it’s to the credit of all those men and women."

"It’s been a great career. I can’t say enough to thank you for this really distinct honor. I may be gone, but the men and women in this department are carrying on in the same fashion.

"It’s been a great ride, it’s been wonderful."