Romeoville police officer to appear in "Chicago P.D." episode

A Romeoville police officer will appear on an episode of the popular NBC television show “Chicago P.D.” on Wednesday night.

Officer Gary Augustine, an 18-year veteran who currently is assigned to the Community Oriented Policing unit, put in an application to be an extra on the show through a casting agent, according to a news release from the village of Romeoville.

He ended up getting a call and was able to take part in four scenes, including one they did in 21 takes, although he is not sure which scenes made the final cut. The show follows uniformed patrol officers and the Intelligence Unit of the 21st District of the Chicago Police Department as they pursue criminals in cases such as drug trafficking and high-profile murders.

“They put me with the main character, Hank Voight [played by Jason Beghe],” Augustine said in the release. “Atwater, another character, is arresting someone behind me and I’m talking to Voight in the foreground.”

You won’t hear his voice, though. He said that since he doesn’t have a Screen Actor’s Guild card, he cannot speak on TV shows.

Over an 8½-hour shooting day, Augustine said it was a great learning experience and that the show was pretty authentic.

“The magic of TV is incredible, but it’s a long process,” he said. “You have no idea the days of work that go into each episode and the hours and hours behind a 7-second scene. It was just incredible to see how they do that.”

He said he has the blessing of Romeoville Police Chief Mark Turvey, but his friends tease him about becoming the next Dennis Farina, a former Chicago police officer turned movie and TV actor best known for his roles in “Midnight Run” and “Get Shorty.”

Augustine added that while it was his first time being an extra, he hopes it won’t be his last, as he’s already been called for other episodes. He hasn’t been able to schedule time yet to go back, but he said he’s on stand-by all the time, according to the release.

“They keep in touch with me,” he said. “Check my availability and try to get me in as many episodes and scenes as they can.”

The episode, titled “Allegiance,” will air at 9 p.m. Wednesday on NBC.