Page 43 - November 2019 FOP

Veterans Presence
Chicago officers bring military experience to police work
n BY MATT HANLEY
Even now, when looking at a picture from nine years ago, U.S. Army Reserve Lt. Col. Roberto Garcia can feel how tired he was. The adrenaline drain and muscle aches aren’t distant memories; they’re right there with him.
The enemy had discovered Garcia’s base in eastern Afghani- stan and bombarded it with rockets. For hours, Garcia and his unit traded gunfire while jets roared overhead.
In the photo from after the firefight, Garcia stares straight ahead, his helmet tucked under his left arm. Visible in the background are parts of his base, still smoldering.
Garcia’s expression is neutral, but it was a good day. On the other side of the world, fighting under terrible conditions, his team had survived. The photo is proof.
Just a few weeks after that picture was taken, Garcia was back in Illinois, working with his other team for the Chicago Police Department’s Bureau of Organized Crime, tracing guns used to commit offenses.
His police work and military duty might seem worlds apart but for Garcia, they’re roots of the same tree. “My path has al- ways been a path of serving the public,” Garcia said. “I’ve al- ways wanted to serve.”
Garcia is one of many Chicago officers who served in the military. These officers-veterans travel parallel roads with the same destination — to protect others. And while it can be a life of sacrifice, it’s inseparable to who they are.
“There’s few professions where somebody calls you and they don’t know you but they put complete trust that you ar- en’t going to let them down,” said Seventh District Patrolman Matt Heuver, who served seven years with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. “I think that’s a pretty awesome thing.”
Heuver enlisted at 17. After just months of training on the ground, he found himself in line to jump out of a plane. He didn’t hesitate.
“I knew I had four seconds to count before my parachute deployed. After that, pull your reserve. I remembered that,” he said, laughing. “I just figured it out on the fly.”
When he landed, Heuver sensed that he’d found a career. He deployed to Iraq in 2007, conducting raids and searching for high-value al-Qaeda targets.
“It was like I found the thing in life that I was really good at,” Heuver said. “I’m not going to say it wasn’t scary at times, but you’re serving with good people.”
Two years later, during a training exercise, he hit the side of the plane on a jump. His parachute deployed but couldn’t catch air. It trailed behind him like a fluttering, useless sock.
Heuver remembers feeling his legs hit the ground. After that, he blacked out.
Incredibly, he woke up in a hospital. Miraculously, he hadn’t severed his spinal cord. But his military career was gone.
Heuver began to take inventory of his abilities and goals. He realized he’d developed skills that would translate well to a police force position.
After months of rehab and studying, he was sworn in as a “rookie” officer — one who’d already traveled the world.
For Heuver, Garcia and other veterans, their military experi- ence allows them to start their police careers ready to handle the most difficult circumstances.
“People don’t realize [that] in the military, you can’t just shoot whoever you want. You can’t act on impulse,” Heuver said. “So in police work, maybe certain situations don’t make
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