Homewood Chief of Police Denise McGrath closed the book Jan. 9 on a career that spanned more than 30 years. 

McGrath’s career began in the late 1980s when she started out as a dispatcher for the South Holland Police Department, then for Homewood. She then became a full-time police officer at South Holland in 1992 before transferring back to Homewood as a full-time officer in 1995, she said. She was promoted to chief of the Homewood department in April 2021. 

Since McGrath grew up in Homewood, she always knew that she wanted to serve in that community, she said. 

“It wasn’t really common for women to be in law enforcement at that time, so it was something I always had an interest in, but I kind of thought that I would approach it from a different aspect. That’s why I became a dispatcher,” McGrath said. 

According to McGrath, there are currently about seven female officers, including herself, employed at the Homewood department. 

As McGrath reflects on her career, she points out the changes in technology along the way. 

“There were no in-car computers when I started, things that everybody takes for granted now,” McGrath said. 

According to McGrath, now officers are starting to move towards body cameras being used to record reports rather than manually writing them down, she said. 

“I can’t even imagine what things are going to be like 30 years from now,” McGrath said. 

An ongoing challenge and goal for the department is to get information out to the public regarding incidents in the community as quickly and efficiently as possible since there is no designated public information officer in the department, McGrath said.  

The Homewood Police Department Facebook page, which has been running for about four years now, helps improve the communication to residents, she said. 

Developing relationships with people in the community is what stands out to McGrath as one of her favorite aspects of the job. The people she works with became like family to her, and seeing them on a daily basis is what she will miss most, as well as socializing with residents at events, she said. 

McGrath has a history of participating in charity and Special Olympics fundraising events, which she plans to continue. The Polar Plunge is one of newest, which the Homewood Police Department started attending two years ago, she said. 

She also wants to continue her support for the Ronald McDonald House, which she found especially impressive due to its setup and the way it supports families going through traumatic times, McGrath said. 

“You’ll still see me around and pitching in for things,” McGrath said, adding, “I want to support people in the way that I was supported.”