After 30 years of service to the village, Winnetka\u2019s Police Chief Marc Hornstein retired on Jan. 5.<\/p>\n
Hornstein\u2019s seasoned career began when he was just 19 years old as a community service officer in Buffalo Grove, an experience which assured him that law enforcement was the right path for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI liked that there was a variety, something kind of different every day. When you\u2019d answer phone, a different inquiry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In addition, he found himself motivated by \u201cthe opportunity to serve and truly to help people.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1993, after earning his bachelor\u2019s degree in criminal justice from Northeastern Illinois University, Hornstein accepted a job as a police officer for the Village of Winnetka.<\/p>\n \u201cI could have landed anywhere,\u201d he said. \u201cFor me to have ended up landing in Winnetka was really special. I was fortunate for that.\u201d<\/p>\n Over his career, Hornstein filled many roles in the department, working as a drug abuse resistance education officer and spending a lot of his earlier years in schools before being promoted to chief in June 2017. But what he says he valued most at every stage are the relationships he forged with Winnetkans and colleagues.<\/p>\n He enjoyed seeing some of the students he worked with growing up in the village, going on to have success in life before getting married, having kids and coming back to the village. One of his former DARE students at Sacred Heart School, Victoria Taylor, even grew up to become a police officer in his department.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what you get when you stay in one place for such a long time and invest in people, and put value in relationships,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n That spirit of investing in people was echoed by Hornstein\u2019s former colleague and the current Interim Police Chief Brian O\u2019Connell, who said that Hornstein\u2019s prioritization of relationships \u201cis what he\u2019ll be most known for.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Connell went on to say Hornstein\u2019s focus on positive connections manifested in both a productive workplace and a good rapport with the community. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople were willing to work and willing to give their best effort every day, knowing that there was support from him,\u201d O\u2019Connel said. \u201cYou couldn\u2019t go into a coffee shop in town without him having a conversation with someone he knew, or someone who came up with him wanting to have a brief discussion. He was always willing to have those.\u201d<\/p>\n While Hornstein\u2019s value of relationships was largely consistent over his career, he still witnessed many changes over his 30 years \u2014 first and foremost, the advancements in technology.<\/p>\n When he started with Winnetka in 1993, the department didn\u2019t even have email yet. But now, all calls are received and assigned to officers via a computer-based system, and officers have in-car computers and give paperless crash reports and citations.\u00a0<\/p>\n Crime itself has changed as well; two prevalent crimes today, identity theft and phishing scams, were virtually nonexistent in the preinternet era. All of these changes have drastically changed law enforcement, shifting the training that officers and detectives receive and forcing the departments to frequently update their practices to keep up.<\/p>\n It\u2019s bittersweet. It\u2019s really hard to walk away, but I know the time is right and I\u2019m certainly proud of what we\u2019ve been able to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n As Hornstein looks back over this tenure as chief, he has a few accomplishments he likes to think of.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNo doubt we strengthened our relationship with our area schools. We were able to get our first ever reciprocal reporting agreement with District 36,\u201d he said, an arrangement that allows for the police department and schools to share limited types of information as it concerns public safety. <\/p>\n He also helped create a business liaison officer, a specific officer who local businesses could call with policing needs particular to their work.<\/p>\n Hornstein oversaw the department during the tumultuous first years of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing civil unrest, and took that opportunity to renew the department\u2019s commitment to professional policing. He worked with the village to adopt the Ten Shared Principles<\/a> developed by the Illinois NAACP chapter and the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, which he calls a set of common beliefs on how people should be treated and shown respect. The Ten Shared Principles are on display under glass in the lobby of the Winnetka Police Department.<\/p>\n \u201cHe did a really nice job of navigating our way through that to have that balance, to continue to serve and protect yet appreciate the individual feelings that came along with the pandemic,\u201d O\u2019Connell said of Hornstein\u2019s leadership during the challenging time, adding \u201che kept communication open and continuous, he did not shy away from having those conversations with us and the community.\u201d<\/p>\n At his retirement reception earlier this month, Hornstein surprised himself with how emotional he felt about the transition. <\/p>\n \u201cIt reminds me how fast time goes,\u201d he said. \u201cIt seems like just yesterday I just started my career, and here we are 30 years later and it\u2019s done. It\u2019s bittersweet. It\u2019s really hard to walk away, but I know the time is right and I\u2019m certainly proud of what we\u2019ve been able to accomplish and certainly grateful for all of the talented and amazing people I\u2019ve had an opportunity to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, Hornstein is looking forward to the next chapter and the chance to unplug after working in a career that almost never let him turn off or disengage. <\/p>\n While not sure what his future plans are, for now Hornstein said he will \u201cfind some other interests and things that I can do to continue to serve and help others. I do play the drums and will spend a little time getting into that.\u201d<\/p>\n While Hornstein is still determining his next steps, one thing he feels confident about is the state of Winnetka\u2019s police department. <\/p>\n \u201cThe organization has done a great job over a long period of time of succession planning and developing leaders over the years to continue to carry the torch,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ll continue to provide the highest level of police service to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n The Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan community newsroom that relies on reader support to fuel its independent local journalism. <\/em><\/p>\n Subscribe<\/a> to The Record to fund responsible news coverage for your community. <\/em><\/p>\n Already a subscriber? You can make a tax-deductible donation<\/a> at any time.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.therecordnorthshore.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/001-Law-Enforcement-Show-at-Randhurst-Mall.-.jpeg\")
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Marc Hornstien, Retiring Winnetka Police Chief <\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.therecordnorthshore.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/35425382_478723512541760_6567371970474672128_n.jpeg\")
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