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Management Team

Tim McCarthy

President

UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE (RET.)
CHIEF OF POLICE, ORLAND PARK, IL (RET.)

Sentinel Security is led by Tim McCarthy, a renowned leader in law enforcement, and a decorated former Special Agent of the United States Secret Service. Tim, whose distinguished career spans nearly half a century, exemplifies the integrity and professionalism Sentinel Security is all about.

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Terry Meehan

Senior Vice President

Cathy Van Wagner

Office Manager

James Smith

Vice President

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Management Team

Terry Meehan

Senior Vice President

Terry brings a wealth of invaluable experience to Sentinel. During his distinguished 20-year career in law enforcement, he worked in a variety of fields including Child Support Enforcement, Fugitive Apprehension, Court Operations, and Complex Crime Investigations.  Terry held the ranks of Investigator, Sergeant, and Lieutenant with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office prior to his retirement in 2021. In addition, Terry served in the roles of Police Detective and Police Sergeant with the Merrionette Park Police Department in the Chicagoland area.

Terry’s background in law enforcement is supplemented by over 20 years of experience in the security industry.  He has worked as a security officer, operations supervisor, and administrator in a variety of settings including, residential (private homes and group living communities), healthcare, entertainment and athletic venues, dining establishments, retail businesses, Hotels, conferences/special events, construction and communication infrastructure sites, and dignitary protection.

Terry is a certified Law Enforcement Officer and is licensed through the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation as a Private Detective and Private Security Contractor.  He currently serves as the Senior Vice President/Director of Operations and Licensee/Contractor-in-Charge at Sentinel Security, PLLC.

Management Team

Cathy Van Wagner

Office Manager

An invaluable asset to Sentinel, Cathy is a seasoned professional with a decades-long career at law enforcement organizations. Cathy has a multi-year history of working alongside Tim McCarthy at the Orland Park Police Department (OPPD), and brings expertise in sensitive material handling, hiring practices, and finance and payroll systems. During her tenure at OPPD, she maintained Illinois Training and Standard Board mandates for sworn personnel, managed hiring and staffing issues, and has supervised and maintained filing and document management systems, including archiving and purging sensitive files.

Drawing from her past experiences, Cathy supports Sentinel’s hiring initiatives, conducts research to obtain relevant data for staffing certifications and requirements, and supports the handling and prioritization of urgent inbound calls, ensuring that callers are immediately connected with the appropriate parties.

Management Team

James Smith

Vice President

During his 27-year career as a Deputy US Marshal for the Department of Justice in Chicago, Jim was responsible for executive protection, investigations, surveillance, and risk management. His expertise spans all facets of crisis containment and response, emergency action planning, and training for high-profile organizations and situations. He has supervised and coordinated special assignments such as high-threat trials, witness security details, and judicial protection missions. 


Jim has planned and supervised security plans for numerous judicial conferences by assessing risk for personal, physical, and information security. His efforts resulted in incident-free events. In 2005, Jim traveled to the Republic of Pakistan to conduct a security assessment and establish training protocols for their judicial system.  

Jim also has deep experience in training law enforcement personnel. As Deputy US Marshal stationed in Central Illinois, he was assigned to train new deputies at their Academy. Most recently, Jim served as a Commander at the Chicago Police Department for the Mayor’s Executive Protection Unit. 

Jim earned a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from St. Xavier University and has provided expert testimony in several high-profile cases.