Power is the MCC’s 2024 Police Officer of the Year
By Tim Hadac
Managing Editor
Southwest Chicago Post
CPD Officer Michael Power is no stranger to accolades.
In 14 years on the force, he has earned 80 honorable mentions, one Life Saving Award, one Chicago Police Officer of the month award and six Department Commendations.
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| Officer Michael Power |
And this month he adds the Midway Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 Police Officer of the Year honor.
He is a deserving recipient of the award, said Garfield Ridge business leader Al Cacciottolo, who nominated him.
“Officer Power is an excellent combination of a highly effective law enforcement official and a down-to-earth regular joe,” he said. “He’s a great guy with a can-do spirit. We’re fortunate to have him here.”
Power grew up in the Canaryville neighborhood, attending St. Gabriel School and then going on to St. Rita High School, where he graduated in 2002. He then attended Eastern Illinois University, earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
He still lives in Canaryville with his wife, Erin, and their children: Michael, 13, Martin, 8, and Molly, 6.
He has spent his years on the force in the Chicago Lawn (8th) District, on various shifts and in various capacities.
He enjoys it here.
“One of the best parts of the job is the camaraderie [among police officers],” Power says. “In some ways the 8th District is like a big family.”
In 2021 he became the district’s liaison to the business community—a tall order in a big, diverse district with as many as 3,000 licensed businesses.
“A lot of business owners live outside the community, so it’s valuable to them that Officer Power is around to keep them up to date on crime in the area,” Cacciottolo adds. “He is an important ally of business owners.”
Power is quick to return the compliment, especially relating to the Midway Chamber of Commerce, which has grown in recent years—quite a feat in a time when many city neighborhoods have chambers that are shadows of their former selves or gone altogether.
“The Midway Chamber is phenomenal,” he says. “I’ve never
seen anything quite like it. Their meetings are well attended, and their members appear active and involved [in Chamber affairs].”
MCC President Mary Ellen Brown says the Chamber’s members “feel safer and more secure knowing that police officers like Officer Power stand on guard for us. Day in and day out, our police work to alert us to crime patterns, offer useful advice on how to protect our employees and our property, and encourage business owners and managers to get more involved in helping make the community a safer and better place. That’s why we established the Police Officer of the Year award. We recognize that and want to encourage that by saluting people like Officer Power.”
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