Police sergeant named Addison employee of the month

ADDISON – The Village of Addison's employee of the month has given almost 27 years to her job at the police department and still loves going to work every day.

"There's never any two days that are the same," said Sergeant Cathy Hundley.

Throughout her career, Hundley has learned and served in all types of law enforcement, from working undercover to crime prevention and as supervisor. Her experiences, she said, have come full circle.

A Lombard-native, Hundley settled on her career path after she took a law enforcement class as a freshman at College of DuPage. She transferred to Western Illinois University her junior year because of the school's reputation in law enforcement education and graduated with a bachelor's degree in law enforcement justice administration in 1987.

After a semester-long internship with the Lombard Police Department, the Addison Police Department offered her a full-time job less than six months after she graduated.

"I was very lucky," Hundley said about finding a job so quickly after graduation.

At 22 years old, she found herself working undercover on drug cases with the Criminal Investigation Section, but spent most of her first six years with the department as a patrol officer. She learned what real police work entailed on a day-to-day basis.

"On TV, everything's solved in 60 minutes," Hundley said.

A big percentage of her time is spent working with people to resolve their concerns or individual issues, she said. Hundley said working with the community has taught her a lot about life through other people's experiences.

"Police officers are just everyday people just like everybody else," Hundley said.

In 1993, she was assigned to the Criminal Investigations Section as a detective, her favorite assignment. She worked with a group of men who were older and more experienced. They taught her a lot, but they also became her friends.

In 2001, she changed roles again and worked in the Crime Prevention Unit, where she taught D.A.R.E. classes and was a Crime Free Multi-Housing Accreditation Manager.

"Now I was learning how to teach the community how to protect themselves," said Hundley.

An Addison resident now, she often sees people she who remember her as their D.A.R.E. officer, and it reinforces the sense of community she feels. It's one of her favorite parts about her job.

"Everybody cares so much about their community," Hundley said.

She earned her master's degree in criminal social justice from Lewis University in 2002, and was promoted to sergeant six years later.

When she's not working, Hundley can usually be found on the sidelines of football field or volleyball court supporting one of her active children.

While she doesn't know who nominated her for employee of the month, Hundley said she feels honored to be recognized, because she thinks Addison has a lot of talented employees that all care just as much as she does about serving the community.

"It's nice to be part of the team," Hundley said.