Veteran Arlington Heights cop sworn in as new deputy chief
A third and final deputy police chief has been appointed in Arlington Heights, rounding out the department's top administrative structure under new police Chief Nick Pecora.
Shawn Gyorke, who has spent more than two decades with the department, was sworn in this week as deputy chief overseeing the patrol division.
Nathan Hayes previously was appointed to oversee the administrative services division, and Mark Recker as head of criminal investigations and community services.
Pecora, previously a deputy chief, was named the department's sixth chief following the retirement last year of longtime chief Gerald Mourning.
Gyorke has had various roles in the department over the course of his career. In 2011, he was promoted to sergeant, becoming patrol supervisor for the midnight and day shift bureaus. Three years later, he was transferred to the support bureau to oversee the department's accreditation process, grant applications and training program.
Gyorke was promoted to commander in 2016 to manage the day shift bureau, and in 2018 was named the Major Case Assistance Team Investigator of the Year for helping create a regional, specialized traffic accident reconstruction support team.
"I have said this at previous promotions, that if you had gone back when I was like in high school or college or something like that, and you told me that I would have been standing in the village of Arlington Heights accepting a position of deputy police chief, I would have told you that you're crazy," Gyorke said Monday, March 2, after his swearing-in at a village board meeting.
"There are so many great things that have happened in my life that I am very proud of - this being one of them - and so thank you."