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Portraits by Peter Bucks
Tributes to officers from the CPD Officer, Lodge 7 member and renowned artist
n BY ROSEMARY AN
If you had asked Marcus Dismukes 30 years ago, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” he probably would not have answered with “a law enforcement officer.”
Dismukes, born and raised in Chicago, graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in biology pre-medicine and planned to be a doctor. But he was hesi- tant about the medical field leaning toward prescription drugs rather than holistic treatments.
“It was always about ‘Here’s a drug that can help you,’” Dis- mukes recalls. “But it wasn’t treating the whole body or the cause of the problem.”
All Dismukes knew for sure was that he wanted to spend his life bettering the lives of others.
“I feel like I was put here to help people,” Dismukes says. “To educate, communicate and inspire people in some way.”
Ultimately, he decided to
work for the Department of
Children and Family Services
(DCFS) and a mental health organization for a decade. Then, he learned that his case management experi- ence and science background might make him a great candidate for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“It was quite interesting to me,” he explains, “the in- vestigative part of police work. So I applied in early 2000. I was on track and had several interviews, then 9/11 happened.”
Following the attacks, the FBI wanted people who could speak Arabic, and Dismukes couldn’t. But he was told that having law enforcement experience might help boost his resume. So he de- cided to apply for the Chicago Police Department, and now he can never look back.
“I’ve established roots here with CPD,” Dismukes says. “So I don’t think I would want to leave to go to the FBI now.”
Dismukes, who is the use of force unit instructor at the acad- emy, started in the 4th District. He had worked on gang teams and incident teams before becoming an instructor. He believes receiving crisis intervention training on the job combined with
his previous work history in mental health has been pivot- al in teaching officers how to properly determine when the use of force is necessary.
“It gives me an advantage,” he says. “A calmness when dealing with certain things, because sometimes I know what to expect.”
There is one story he always shares about the use of force. He had responded to a call about an accident and came face-to-face with an agitated woman.
“She took a stance towards me, growled and balled her fist up,” Dismukes recalls. “At that point, most people and most reasonable officers are going to believe that she was about to attack them.”
But Dismukes quickly real- ized that the woman may have been going through a mental health crisis. The situation could have escalated had he struck her or taken her down on the concrete. Instead, he opted for de-escalation.
“I ended up taking her down in the grass,” he says. “It was softer, and she ended up not getting hurt.”
If there’s one thing he has learned, Dismukes says it’s to slow down when dealing with stressful situa- tions. And this is what law enforcement officers want to practice: de-escalation.
“Most officers don’t want to come to work and fight every day,” Dismukes says. “Because you run the risk of getting hurt. So [especially] the veteran officers, the first thing that they want to do is de-escalate a situation.”
Even if law enforcement officers practice de-escalation, Dis- mukes says it’s going to be a thankless career. In his 16 years on the job, one major takeaway is that you must have a passion to protect and serve.
And as someone who has dedicated his life to helping others, Dismukes has no plans to stop, even after retirement. He is con- sidering a master’s degree in counseling so he can continue to assist the community.
“Eventually I’ll retire,” Dismukes says. “So possibly I can do therapy for individuals once I’m done with being the police.”
‘Slow down’
MARCUS “MD” DISMUKES
Star #9777
Unit 124 (police training academy)
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ SEPTEMBER 2021 23