Sergeant Richard Wesolowski has been serving the Thornton (IL) Police Department for over 22 years. He started his career as a police officer and after a few years became a detective. He has worked with the Cook County Gang Unit and served three years with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as a Task Force Officer (TFO). After returning from the DEA, he was promoted to Sergeant at the Thornton Police Department. After serving two years on the police department, he was given an opportunity to join the South Suburban Emergency Response Team (SSERT) a multi-jurisdictional team in the south suburbs of Chicago and has served as a member of the team since 1999. Richard has held several positions with the SSERT to include operator, team leader, entry coordinator, assistant commander and he is currently the team commander. During his tenure as part of the team, he has participated in over 1,500 high risk tactical operations. He has received awards for leadership, excellence, trainer of the year and SWAT operator of the year.