David Lux chose his profession for a simple reason.
“It was something I loved. I wanted to help and serve the community,” he said. “When I first started, I didn’t know how much I made. I didn’t know the benefits. At that point in my life, I just wanted to be the police.”
The Homewood police officer capped off a 31-year career with the Homewood Police Department last week. His retirement became official Sept. 19. A resolution commending Lux will be read at the Sept. 22 village board meeting.
“It’s bittersweet. After 31 years doing the job, it’s kind of hard to step away from it,” Lux said. “It’s almost like a lifestyle more than a job.”
Lux still lives in Homewood. He made friendships in the village with neighbors and business owners. If a kid had a lemonade stand and Lux drove by while on duty, he was buying a glass.
He says those relationships are key to doing the job the right way.
“It’s important to get to know the community. Buy some Kool-Aid. Buy some cookies. That goes a long way with people’s perception. They know they don’t have to watch out for the police. The police are just a regular person,” Lux said. “I’m very proud that I’ve known and become good friends with people that have had businesses in town forever. I really consider them my friends.”
His assignments included being a firearms instructor, truck enforcement officer, motorcycle officer, South Suburban Emergency Response Team hostage negotiator and citizen’s police and fire academy instructor.
He also served as a field training officer starting in 1994, helping to shape young police officers.
“I would tell a young officer to just treat people the same way, every person the same way no matter what,” he said. “Communicate. Somebody may be having a bad day and you don’t realize it. Try to start out at that communication point and treat everybody how you want to be treated. If they give you a reason to step above that, that’s the time to do it, but not until then.”
Lux has no immediate plans in retirement. He’s not ruling out another career but not looking, either. For now, he’s content to fill his time with motorcycle rides and travel.
“(Homewood police) are like family. Thirty-one years of working together, we’re definitely family,” Lux said. “That’s the tight bonding that you get because of what we go through and what we’ve seen in our lives. It’s not always nice. It’s not always good. They’re all considered my family.”