Veteran Buffalo Grove Police Officer Retires After 23 Years

BUFFALO GROVE, IL — After 23 years serving the Buffalo Grove Police Department, and longtime Lake County homicide detective has announced his retirement, the department has announced.

Police Sergeant Tony Montiel announced his retirement on Friday after serving many roles within the department after beginning his law enforcement career as a community officer in Buffalo Grove in 1996. After transitioning to the Mount Prospect Police Department in 1997, Montiel returned to Buffalo Grove in 1999 as a police officer.

During his career with the department, he served as a patrol officer before being assigned as a youth investigator in 2000, officials said in a news release. Montiel’s other assignments during his career include criminal investigator, the Greater Metropolitan Auto Theft Task Force in 2014, and the Lake County Major Crime Task Force in 2015.

Montiel was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 2020 and since then has supervised all three patrol shifts with the Buffalo Grove Police Department.

Police officials said that Montiel focused his knowledge and experience in many areas, including countless cases with the Lake County Major Crime Task Force as a homicide detective. During his career, he also served as an evidence technician, youth officer, and member of the peer support team, as well as a Buffalo Grove Police Union board member and president of the Police and Fire Pension Board.

Montiel earned numerous awards over his many years of service with the department, which include several unit citations, honorable mentions, Employee of the 3rd Quarter in 2018, and Officer of the Year in 2019. Montiel is also known for having an incredible sense of humor and has been an exceptional mentor to his colleagues and fellow officers, the department said.

“Sergeant Montiel has had a tremendous career, serving our community in so many capacities,” Buffalo Grove Police Chief Brian Budds said. “He will certainly be missed by his colleagues, and we wish him well in his retirement.”