Page 22 - June2020 FOP Magazine

Portraits by Peter Bucks
Tributes to officers from the CPD Officer, Lodge 7 member and renowned artist
“Never leave any man behind”
n BY KAREN STAHL
Matthew Hoyas knows how to run in a pack, and an under- standing of true-blue teamwork is a value he’s lived out every day of his 18-year career.
As a rookie in the Academy, he was told by his instructor, along with the rest of the class, that they should always act as a team and make sure their broth- ers and sisters in blue were safe. That ideal etched itself deeply into Hoyas.
Every time his Academy class ran, they embarked as a group. If someone started falling be- hind, Hoyas was the man slow- ing down and running alongside them to make sure everybody finished together.
“That’s what that instructor taught us, to always act as one,” the officer reminisced. “He al- ways told us to never leave any man behind.”
For Hoyas, who was 22 at
the time and one of the young-
est rookies in the 13th District
when he came on in April 2002,
growing up was part of the job.
He began learning about true community and the im- portance of looking out for each other. After developing close friendships during training, he moved to the 3rd District for a year.
But something still didn’t feel settled. He loved the camaraderie of being on the job, and he craved being on a team where he could invest all his time and resources. After a year-long tenure in the 3rd District, he moved over to the 14th District – and that’s where Hoyas finally found his family.
“I’ve always had the bug for wanting to be a Police Officer,” the officer relayed. “This job has been very, very good to me. I’ve been very fortunate in my career to find the people I have.”
While in the 14th District, Hoyas joined a gang team and a bur- glary team doing investigations and tracking burglary patterns. After those stints, he went on Tactical with a group of 10 guys and a sergeant, which became the catalyst for 13 of the most fast- paced years of his life.
“There was a lot of camaraderie on the team,” he shared. “It made the time go by like the blink of an eye. We had so much fun working together, and it definitely made my career much, much better, being where I was and working with the guys that I did.”
22 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JULY 2020
Even now, with the years of Tactical behind him, Hoyas still talks to his former partner al- most every day – in fact, they live down the street from one another, because brotherhood never strays too far.
“I love that I’ve been able to enjoy fellow officers both out- side of work and at work,” he emoted. “I really love this job.”
In 2015, a position in the 14th District became available for a District Intelligence Officer (DIO). Hoyas secured the job, which put him in charge of all gang shootings and gaining in- telligence on investigations via informants, tactical teams and officers on the watch.
He gathered information to give directly to the command- er, and learned how to dissem- inate district-wide information on The Wire, an online platform for officers. But a new team was quickly taking precedence in Hoyas’ life – his wife and daugh- ters.
After more than a decade of his career, Hoyas decided to bid farewell to the 14th District for a new adventure sta- tioned at O’Hare Airport in 2016. Now, he spends two days a week in the airfield, responsible for emergencies
coming in on planes and accidents inside the fence. The other two days, he’s stationed in a terminal, com- municating with TSA and aviation, ensuring safety and investigat- ing unattended baggage. Though different from his high-speed world in Tactical and Intelligence, the newer, slow-paced lifestyle is one that Hoyas cherishes for the time it allows him to spend
with his 9-year-old daughter and 18-month-old daughter.
“My family is the best thing in my life,” he emoted. “It’s the greatest thing. I try and take them for walks every day and try and make time for them, because with my job, it can be hard. What I did for most of my career is much different than what I do now.
But I still love being a Police Officer.”
And Hoyas will be sure to teach his girls the value of teamwork
and the importance of close relationships that form while running in a pack.
“My career and my family have molded me into the person that I am,” the officer conveyed. “I want to carry what I’ve been taught and teach my children what it means to be there for others.”
MATTHEW HOYAS
Star #4067