Page 22 - November 2020

Portraits by Peter Bucks
Tributes to officers from the CPD Officer, Lodge 7 member and renowned artist
‘I’ve enjoyed the job’
n BY KAREN JENKINS
When 29-year-old Francis Bochnak told his mother that he wanted to go to the academy as a first-generation law enforcement officer in his family, she couldn’t believe it.
She asked Bridgeview native Bochnak why he would think about quitting his current job as an executive chef. She inquired about his plans to provide for his five-year-old son while leaving a lucrative position. She questioned his Washburne Trade School ed- ucation transferring to another career.
But Bochnak knew that work- ing 90 hours a week in the restau- rant industry wasn’t his passion. He needed an outlet that could help him build a better life. He craved more time with his son in a job that fulfilled his passion for public service.
So he went to the academy and, on Feb. 6, 1995, Bochnak began his new career of serving others in the 10th District.
“I was quite nervous,” he expressed about his first day. “The biggest challenge was just that I definite- ly wasn’t street smart, and I had to learn those street smarts.”
In 1995, right after he came on the job, Bochnak was questioning a suspect who was sitting in her car and
was accused of stealing a chain from a jewelry store.
She cried while proclaiming that she wasn’t guilty, and Bochnak felt sympathy — until he searched her car.
He looked in the backseat, which is where she had stuffed the stolen chain. That was the day the new officer understood that he couldn’t blindly accept every plea from a suspect.
“That’s when you really learn a bit of street smarts,” he said. “I knew at that point that you really can’t believe everything you hear.”
Bochnak employed that early lesson every day after moving to the 9th District and working in narcotics for the next 16 years on a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) task force team and a bypass team.
The most recent team Bochnak found himself on was a 10-person package interdiction team working with postal in- spectors. Officers went to FedEx and UPS at 5 a.m. every day to profile boxes. Before the pandemic hit, he shared that they were recovering $2 million a month in narcotics.
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“It was kind of neat,” Bochnak said. “I really liked doing that with them.”
But the officer’s retirement on Feb. 15, 2021, which will mark just over 26 years on the job, prompt- ed him to leave the package in- dictment team two months ago to work in the chief of patrol’s office until February.
“I’ve enjoyed the job,” he said. “I’ve been in narcotics for so long that it’s part of my personality now to always try to catch the bad guy and keep the city safer.”
Bochnak has plenty of stories to share about his life of combat- ting crime, with the most memo- rable being the recovery of his first wife’s mother’s car.
Within an hour of a shift, Bochnak was able to locate the car, give chase and personally roll up to his mother-in-law’s drive- way in the recovered vehicle. He shared that she acted as though he was a superhero.
But despite impressive stories detailing Bochnak’s illustrious ca- reer, his most treasured law en-
forcement legacy is his now 31-year-old son, Blake Francis, who works as an officer with Cook County Corrections. Blake is the same son who, as a five-year- old, helped spur Bochnak’s decision to go into law en- forcement.
Blake would never say it, Bochnak joked, but the rep- resentation of seeing his father in uniform throughout childhood likely played into his own decision to become a law
enforcement officer.
“He just wasn’t sure what he wanted to do,” Bochnak recalled.
“And then one day he decided to become the police – he defi- nitely was influenced.”
As Bochnak heads toward retirement, he loves reflecting on the incredible moments of his 26-year tenure as a law enforce- ment officer — from a partner he had for eight years to all the teams he’s worked with, the friendships will last far beyond Feb- ruary.
And he’ll always be thankful for the ambition that at 29 years old propelled him not only to a career but also to a multi- generational legacy of public service.
“Looking back, I’m thankful I took the test and had things just sort of fall into place,” Bochnak shared. “With the way things worked out, I’m just really glad I made that decision to get me here.”
FRANCIS
“FRANK” BOCHNAK
Star # 19020 Unit 142