Page 47 - November 2018

f cer advocate and author
Andre Van Vegten, who was paralyzed in an on-duty accident 20 years ago, passes away
n BY DAN CAMPANA
Severely injured in an on-duty crash 20 years ago, Officer Andre Van Vegten remained connected to law enforcement despite his physical impairments.
Van Vegten promoted officer safety to new recruits, advocated for injured officers, contributed photos of the Horses of Honor and K-9s for Cops statues to the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation’s website and even authored Chicago Cop: Tales from the Street, his book describing life on the job as a Chicago Police Officer.
On Nov. 2, Van Vegten died at the age of 65. He is survived by a daughter. Services were held on Nov. 13 in Orland Park.
Originally from Amsterdam, he arrived in the United States in 1972 and became a U.S. citizen in 1984. He entered the academy in 1986 before being assigned to the 3rd, 8th and 12th districts. Van Vegten also served as a field training officer and helped with the early introduction of CAPS in prototype districts in the early 1990s.
Working in the 8th District on Jan. 7, 1997, Van Vegten and his partner responded to a shots-fired call at 43rd near Latrobe Ave- nue near a public housing development. While on their way to that scene, the officers observed a vehicle containing four known gang members fleeing the area at a high rate of speed. Van Vegten and his partner began a pursuit, but almost immediately a vehicle crossed into their path and forced the officers’ car to take evasive action. Their vehicle struck the center lane curb and crashed into a con- crete planter.
Passing motorists pulled Van Vegten and the second officer from their burning squad car before it became engulfed by flames. Van
Vegten was immediately taken to a nearby hospital in critical con- dition, suffering from a collapsed lung, a broken femur and a bro- ken rib, which pierced his aorta. The amount of blood that he lost left him paralyzed from the chest down and legally blind, according to CPMF. He spent six weeks in a coma and underwent a series of surgeries at Northwestern Memorial Hospital before going through therapy as part of his recovery efforts that would last for several years.
“There is no issue of greater importance than officer safety. As permanently disabled police officers, we are uniquely qualified to do what we can to keep you from sitting where we are. I will con- tinue to put my two cents in whenever I can,” Van Vegten said in February 2010, when he was honored as the CMPF Officer of the Month. d
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