Mount Prospect promotes Officer Brogan to sergeant

Mount Prospect police officer Jack Brogan, who began serving on July 7, 1989, was promoted to sergeant last week. He served the department as a breath test operator and a field youth officer before distinguishing himself as an investigator.

"Boy, has he had a career," Chief Tim Janowick said prior to the swearing-in ceremony at the village board meeting. "In those 26 years, Jack has done a lot of good things for this community."

He cited Brogan's "dogged determination" in his police work. "This guy's commendation file is about an inch-and-a-half thick."

His work has earned him Officer of the Year in 2003 and 2014.

Brogan paid special tribute to his wife Kirsten, who joined him along with his son Jack Jr. and daughter Charlotte Ann.

During the 2014 Officer of the Year ceremonies, Janowick mentioned one case in particular, in which Brogan tracked two people who matched the description of suspects who broke into the home of a woman alone, and then helped obtain their confessions.

Janowick also mentioned another case in which Brogan investigated an armed robbery outside of an apartment building near Golf and Busse roads, but found inconsistencies in the stories a husband and wife told.

The couple were Bulgarian nationals, and Brogan was aware that nonimmigrant crime victims in the U.S. can apply for a special visa, called a U visa. He followed up, and sure enough, the next day the couple filed a visa application.

Brogan went back to the husband, who confessed the robbery was faked in an attempt to obtain a visa. The couple was charged.

In another case, Brogan was able to take the suspect in a drive-by shooting "and break him down to get him to finally confess," Janowick said.