Page 24 - December 2020

Portraits by Peter Bucks
Tributes to officers from the CPD Officer, Lodge 7 member and renowned artist
n BY KAREN JENKINS
Salah Awad grew up with a keen understanding of hard work.
As the youngest of five boys with immigrant parents from Palestine, living on the North- west Side of Chicago proved to Awad that lofty goals were within reach.
“My dad worked pretty hard [as a contractor],” Awad said. “Within the first three years of being in the United States, he was able to save up for a house in this area. My parents still live there to this day.”
Awad attended a tradition- al elementary school while simultaneously attending a secondary Arabic school from third grade to ninth grade.
“Technically [Arabic] is my native tongue, because that’s how I grew up — I always spoke to my parents, my el- ders that way,” Awad noted.
Awad and his four suc-
cessful older brothers were
all born within a seven-year
span, so he had plenty of role
models to observe. When
Awad was only 12, one of his
older brothers joined the Chicago Police Department. That brother immediately became the coolest person in the world through the boy’s eyes.
Growing up in such a close family environment
gave young Awad plenty of time to inquire about what
it took to be a law enforcement officer. There was always a small voice in his head thinking that he might want to follow in his brother’s footsteps one day.
“I looked up to him,” Awad said. “When my brother got onto the force, I used to pick his brain and be like, ‘Ooh, did you ar- rest somebody today? Did you shoot anybody?’ Typical child questions, very farfetched.”
After graduating from high school, Awad decided to attend college as a biology major. But that calling toward a life of public service continued to sit in the back of his mind.
During his freshman year, the older brother whom Awad had emulated since childhood encouraged him to apply to become a law enforcement officer. He fought the advice, as he had al- ready decided he wanted to pursue medical school.
And then, Awad remembered his young self, enamored with
the lives of officers. He knew that he had no choice but to pursue a life of law enforce- ment. He began the two-year process of joining.
As soon as he got the call that he was certified for hire, 22-year-old Awad packed up his bags from college and headed straight to the acade- my for the Cook County Sher- iff’s Office.
He worked at the sheriff’s office for six years on two dif- ferent teams. But even as he put in hard work on the emer- gency response and crimi- nal intelligence teams, Awad didn’t quite feel settled in his work.
Near the end of his time with Cook County, he began to feel a pull to something new. On Oct. 31, 2016, he came on as an officer in the 24th Dis- trict, and he now works the midnight shift.
“I wanted that better oppor- tunity,” said Awad. “I wanted to broaden my horizons. I wanted to work for a larger department, and I knew that Chicago could be that for me.”
Now, Awad feels peace in the fact that he made the right decision. He gets to use his keen understanding of hard work every day and share life with his wife, Senna, whom he married in 2016 right before joining the 24th District.
Senna is a registered nurse. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ve experienced an inexplicable frontline cama- raderie — particularly as two individuals who tested positive for the virus in March and early June.
“I must say that she’s had a much harder go at it, at least in my eyes,” Awad said. “But I think the similarities are the fact that we have to be at work and we don’t have the luxury of staying home. We have to serve our community while being as safe as possible.”
And as Awad continues to live out his childhood dreams that manifested every day watching his older brother come home in uniform, the officer knows that he stands on a strong founda- tion of family and work ethic.
“My parents did their best to give us the best life,” he said. “I’m working to do the same with my own family now.”
‘I looked up to him’
24 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ DECEMBER 2020
SALAH AWAD
Star #14552 24th District