Page 23 - April2021_Magazine

Portraits by Peter Bucks
Tributes to officers from the CPD Officer, Lodge 7 member and renowned artist
‘My whole life has been in uniform’
n BY KAREN JENKINS
School had never been of much interest to Scott Storr. He remembers sitting in high school classes thinking how much he wanted to leave the classroom.
“I just wanted to get out,” he shared. “I just wanted to go somewhere and get out for a while and see who I was, you know? Be on my own for a little bit.”
Right out of high school — and without much hesita- tion — Storr joined the Navy to fulfill a sense of adventure. His father had served in the Air Force, and he took that example as a guide. After a few years of serving in the Navy, Storr joined the De- partment in the 7th District in 2001 and became part of the Navy Reserves.
“I just thought it was cool. It’d be cool to be the po- lice, to help people and give your perspective on life,” he shared about his decision to become a law enforcement officer while in the reserves. “I’d also just noticed it’s se- cure to have a more secure job.”
After spending two years in the 7th District, Storr moved to the 24th District for two years and landed in the 16th District for the next nine years. He deployed to Fallujah, Iraq, in 2007. He was in the city just a few years after the Second Battle of Fallujah in 2004, which the point of highest conflict during the Iraq War.
had been
to do that?’” he laughed. “She’s like, ‘Yeah, I mean, what else am I going to do?’ It’s like she needed it — she was like me. She thought she knew everything. She was tough.”
For Amber and for Storr, the decision to serve — and for Storr, the decision to serve while simultaneously working for the Department — comes from a family histo- ry of public service.
“Somebody has been in the military somewhere along the line my whole life in my family,” he expressed. “It’s part patriotic, part like, ‘I did this, you can’t take that away from me.’”
Becoming a law enforce- ment officer taught Storr how to remain composed and intense during high-stress situations — like when he gave chase during a shooting in his early years in the 7th District and forgot to tell the dispatchers the cross streets where he was running.
“That’s one thing I learned, know where you’re at all the time,” he explained. “Just know where you’re at and keep your voice calm and collected as much as you
can.”
As Storr begins to plan for his retirement in the next
one to two years, he is raising the next generation of public ser- vants. He has three younger children, ages 15, 12 and 10. While his younger children haven’t expressed interest in law enforce- ment or the military yet, his 15-year-old daughter, Savannah, is currently in the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) at her high school.
When Storr eventually decides to hang up his uniform for the final time, he’ll look back on his life of service fondly, and then maybe take a nap.
“I have a lot of life — I feel like I’ve done everything that al- most a person can do,” he joked about serving since he was a kid. “I can tell people that there’s a light at the end of the tun- nel, no matter how hard the jobs get. I have some issues left over from the military, but [the Department] keeps me grounded.”
“It’s one of those things, when you’re there and you’re young, you hate it, and you get out then you kind of miss it,” he ex- plained about his time in the Navy and reserves. “My whole life has been in uniform and in service of some sort.”
Storr moved back to the 24th District in 2013 on midnights and retired from the reserves in 2017. But his legacy is far from over.
Much like he craved adventure in his younger years, Storr’s oldest daughter, Amber, joined the Marines young. The 27-year- old told her father that she wanted to serve a few years ago, after witnessing his influence of public service throughout her life.
“She said, ‘So I’m trying the Marines.’ I go, ‘You sure you want
SCOTTW.
STORR
Star #17586 24th District
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ APRIL 2021 23