THOMAS CULHANE

Positions Held:

Bike Officer 2005

- Completed OLPD's in house bike certification program.

- Responsible for enforcing current laws and village ordinances while patrolling residential neighborhoods, parks, and special events.

Field Training Officer (Alternate) Jan 2007-Mar2009 & Sept 2012 - May2015

- Primary responsibility was to train new officers after the completion of the Police Academy or ones that were hired as lateral transfers.

- Trained officers using Soklov's Field Training System.

- Responsible for helping develop officer's basic skills in relation to applying state laws and Village ordinances to real world situations and calls.

- Trained new officers in becoming proficient in the Oak Lawn Police Department's policies and procedures.

- Responsible for completing Daily and Weekly Evaluations for trainees along with participating in weekly evaluation meetings with trainees and Field Training Supervisors.

- Passed along my personal knowledge and experience to new hires on how to be proactive and aggressively patrol "hot spots" in town by focusing on parolees, drug dealers, and gang members all while keeping officer safety a top priority.

- Also taught new hires how to spot possible criminal activity, cues to look for, and how to develop that information into a possible arrest.

Gang Unit Mar 2009-Aug 2012

- Completely overhauled the way gang records were kept within the department.

- Prior to our current CAD system (OSSI & RMS), I developed a new and current database that included an EXCEL spreadsheet that listed gang members and associates that lived in town, along with other members and associates that did not live in town but frequented Oak Lawn. The database included links to current photos of members along with any relevant IDOC or officer safety information.

- Rode and worked with the Cook County Sheriff's Police Gang Crimes and Narcotics Unit (GCNU) four to six times a month. While riding with the GCNU I developed an expended knowledge of gangs, their members, and how they operate in Chicago and the South Suburbs.

- Assisted the GCNU with numerous gang related narcotics investigations in Chicago and the South Suburbs and took part in serving over twenty narcotic and gun related search warrants.

- Also developed relationships with members of the Cook County Jail Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU).

- Presented numerous gang power point presentations to local schools and community groups.

Field Training Officer (Full Time) May 2015 - Nov 2016

- Performed many of the same tasks as listed under the Alternate Field Training Officer section.

- Conferred with the Training Commander and other FTOs on how to improve the program and also how to further help trainees progress through the program successfully.

- While working as an Alternate and Full Time FTO, I assisted in training over twenty Officers that worked for the department.

Patrol Officer Jan 2017 - Present

- Answer emergency and non-emergency calls for help from citizens and business owners.

- Investigate traffic crashes along with crimes against property and / or persons.

- proactively patrol my designated beat by focusing on businesses, local "hot spots", and individuals known to be involved in criminal activity.

- assist newer officers while on calls or in making arrests, including completing complaints and reports.

- assist supervisors during "hot" in progress calls or major investigations.