Huntley Police Officer Brock Larkin on receiving Department Life Saving Award: ‘You don’t really join this profession for the recognition’
Photo submitted. Huntley Police Officers Brock Larkin and Daniel Rowe presented with awards on behalf of the Kane County SWAT team in 2018
HUNTLEY – As many local residents may have already heard, Huntley Police Officer Brock Larkin was honored for his bravery at the January 28 Village Board Meeting. Huntley Police Chief Robert Porter presented Larkin with a Life Saving Award for his quick response in saving a woman along with the family dog, that were trapped in the basement of their residence due to a fire.
Porter recalled the Oct. 9 incident to attendees at the meeting. Larkin arrived on scene at approximately 8:54 a.m. to assist the Huntley Fire Protection District. The heroic tale ends with Larkin pulling both the woman and the dog out to safety through a basement window where they were treated by paramedics soon after.
In response to Larkin’s achievement, Porter made the statement, “Officer Larkin should be commended for his swift and heroic actions that very well may have prevented a tragic loss of life in a house fire. Despite many of the negative law enforcement stories that we have seen over the course of the last year, there are heroic, selfless acts such as this one, taking place all across the country. I appreciate not only Officer Larkin’s dedication to duty, but also the countless other police officers who have chosen to faithfully serve and protect their communities.”
Despite the potential threat to his own safety, Larkin explains that it’s just part of the job as he gives a little insight into his life and his experience in the world of law enforcement.
When he’s not on the job, Larkin describes himself as being an avid admirer of the great outdoors, as he enjoys various activities with his wife and four kids, including hunting, fishing, and even being the occasional soccer dad for his children’s traveling soccer league.
Larkin’s dedication to his career extends far beyond the Huntley Police Department as he also maintains a part-time job as an instructor at the Suburban Law Enforcement Academy. The same academy he attended for two months, prior to being hired in Huntley back in 2013.
When asked what inspired him to pursue a career in law enforcement, Larkin stated, “I guess as cliché as it sounds, you know, I’ve always kind of enjoyed helping people and I’ve always kind of liked helping people that can’t help themselves more so than just assisting with things. If there’s a way that I can help, in whichever aspect it is, I feel a sense of pride in that for sure.”
Larkin enlisted in the Air Force after graduating from Huntley High School. He served for 10 years working as a military policeman at bases in North Dakota and Texas as previously reported in My Huntley News’ affiliate newspaper, Sun Day.
Larkin believes his military background helped shape the way he handles situations in this day and age, while also explaining his favorite part of being a police officer.
“I think that just being able to help certain people, that again, one, can’t help themselves, but then also they’re seeking help from someone in one way or another. Whether it’s actually criminal related or even if it’s a Del Webb resident that’s having issues with scams, things like that. If we can kind of fix it, if I can fix it, that makes me feel pretty good. It makes me feel like I’m doing something positive in the world,” Larkin said.
Having grown up in Huntley was one determining factor in Larkin choosing to work for the Huntley Police Department when presented the opportunity to work in either Huntley or Hoffman Estates. Though he does admit that he would enjoy working in a more serious area such as Chicago, but takes his family’s wellbeing into consideration.
As for what the hardest part about his job is, Larkin stated that would be trying to ignore the negative comments from the public, about law enforcement.
“I consider myself [to] have pretty thick skin, so I don’t get bothered by anybody’s opinion on police, politics, any of that. I don’t pay attention to it so none of that really bothers me. I can block that out pretty easily,” Larkin said.
He added, “I think, it might not even be a personal thing, just there’s people who do support the police but they in a sense, maybe don’t want to actually like come out and be vocal and support the police. So, its almost like sad for me to see somebody who supports in anything, but you know, you support the police but you don’t want to come out and post that on your social media because you don’t want to get bashed or you don’t want to get backlash from that. So, I mean its just kind of a weird time with all that.”
Apart from staying positive, Larkin said that some advice he can give for those interested in a career in law enforcement, is to develop thick skin prior to or in route to becoming a police officer.
“You’re going to hear negative things non-stop and again that’s the negative stuff, especially media driven. It’s the extreme minority. You know, it’s the 1% of the bad things that happen in this career field and the majority of times, like my chief had said earlier too, there’s things like what I did, that happens every day all around the nation and even on a larger scale and stuff like that. Like its great and everything, what I did, but like I said, it happens non-stop around the country. You know, guys and girls are always doing awesome stuff in police work. Always doing above and beyond and things, and it never reaches that media standpoint,” Larkin said.
Larkin, who also serves on the Kane County SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team, says he doesn’t take things too seriously, ending with, “You know, a lot of cops will tell you, you don’t really join this profession for recognition and things like that and to be honest, it’s great and everything. It’s a feel-good story and that’s awesome, but for me, like you know personally, its just on to the next day type thing, and that’s how it is, I would imagine, for the majority of other cops too. We’re not robots. We’re not people who are out to get other people. It all comes down to just being a good person at the end of the day. As long as I stay a good person, that’s all I care about.”
