Page 22 - FOP June 2019 Magazine

Portraits by Peter Bucks
Tributes to officers from the CPD Officer, Lodge 7 member and renowned artist
‘I want to catch bad guys’
■ BY AMBER RAMUNDO
It was not customary for a rookie cop to be accepted onto a Chicago Police De- partment tactical team with only two years on the job. It was even less common in 2001, especially if the offi- cer was a female. But when Carrie Iser played an instru- mental role in apprehending the most wanted serial rap- ist in the city, an exception had to be made.
“Back then, it was hard for a female to get onto one of those teams,” Iser recalls. “Everything kind of fell into place. There are many times where I tell people that my job picked me.”
The night that altered Is-
er’s career took place less
than two years after she be-
came a sworn officer, on July
12, 1999. The young officer
was working a midnight shift
when a 9-1-1 call came from
a college student who had witnessed a man aggressively snatch a woman walking down the street. Upon further investigation down an alleyway, Iser tracked down the vic- tim, who was nude and fighting to escape her abductor.
CARRIE ISER Star #20966
duced Iser to the harsh re- ality that inspired her to be- come a CPD officer.
“I just had this thought that I want to catch bad guys,” notes Iser, recalling one particular case working with a young woman who had been burned by her parent as a child. “I want to hold people accountable for hurting other people. It was this feeling that came over me.”
Iser followed her gut and took the police exam. She immediately got a job work- ing with the Forest Preserve Police in DuPage County, but continued to test for the CPD. Within two years, she was hired and assigned to the 14th District.
“It wasn’t like I was trying to change the world,” she clarifies. “But I felt like if I could even change one per- son’s world or help validate them, then that is what I
wanted to do.”
After working five years on the tactical team unit where
“I was driving the car that night,” Iser details. “I grabbed the girl, put her in the car, and the chase was on.”
Iser’s fearlessness while apprehending the rapist, infamous for abducting a foreign diplomat, made it clear to the CPD that she was destined for tactical work. Iser was recognized for her actions and awarded with a rare reassignment to a plainclothes tactical team.
“The guy who trained me was all about gangs and recovering guns. I honed my skillset on that for a while,” Iser shares. “We did a lot of good work for five years.”
Catching bad guys was exactly what inspired Iser to become an officer in the first place. Her exposure to law enforcement began with an internship at Project Oz, where her role as a youth interventionist led to daily calls from various police de- partments. From there, she transitioned into social work with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), where she helped provide children with the tools and resources they needed to live independently.
The intensity of the job was eye-opening, especially for a 20 year old who grew up in the suburbs of Hillsdale. But it intro-
22 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JUNE 2019
she worked (alongside Peter Bucks, the artist who drew this portrait), Iser was promoted to detective in 2006. Her work in- vestigating violent crimes placed her in many dangerous set- tings like North Avenue, where she often posed undercover as a prostitute.
“It’s a hard job because you see things that you can nev- er unsee,” she explains. “We all have our stories and the most significant memories that stand out. You have to learn to com- partmentalize those and realize that you’re making a difference every day.”
Iser’s career came full circle when she was asked to transfer to a special investigations unit at the Chicago Children’s Advo- cacy Center. Working on cases involving abused, traumatized and displaced children has proven to be as challenging as when she started as an intern with Project Oz. But her background in social work and tenacity on the job have made her a near-per- fect match for Unit 079, where she plans to stay active for the remainder of her career.
“It’s like an emotional pride. Through all of the craziness and stories, [the CPD] has been there saving each other’s lives every day,” she says. “I am still absolutely in love with my job. The day that changes is the day that I’ll turn in my star.”