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.

Tim’s Secret Service work included two tours of duty on the Presidential Protective Division of the United States Secret Service under the Carter, Reagan, and Bush administrations. Tim was famously wounded while protecting President Ronald Reagan during the 1981 assassination attempt. 2024 has been a particularly busy year for our President. Along with managing Sentinel Security; he has been in demand on the speaking circuit in his spare time. In January, he was the keynote speaker at the Florida Chiefs of Police Conference in Orlando, Florida; in March he spoke at the Marco Island, Florida Police Association. He will be speaking in May at the Northwestern Memorial Hospital Security Conference and then this summer at the Georgia Police Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Tim’s nearly 50 years of experience at both the federal level and local level of law enforcement along with his numerous achievements at each level make him a sought-after speaker on all law enforcement topics.

During his tenure, Tim was appointed to the Senior Executive Service of the federal government, the highest level of management in the government after completing extensive coursework at leading universities and private management training sites.

Tim also had a distinguished career as a criminal investigator, and supervisor, and rose to Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the US Secret Service supervising over one hundred special agents in a three-state area. 

Tim was appointed Chief of Police of the Orland Park Police Department (OPPD) in Illinois, where he served as chief for over 26 years. Under Tim’s leadership, the Department became one of the most progressive in the state of Illinois with historically low crime rates and the highest level of accreditation in the State through the Illinois Law Enforcement Accreditation Program (ILEAP).

During his 26-year career with the OPPD, Orland Park achieved historically low crime rates and earned a 92% approval rating from residents. Tim grew his team by 30+ sworn officers and instituted numerous improvements in community policing, crisis intervention, and technological advancements. Tim formed the department’s first crisis response team for mental health-related incidents. He led the way for Orland Park to become the first municipal police agency in the state to receive Federal Aviation Administration approval for use of drones. Additionally, the OPPD was one of the first departments to equip officers with the drug naloxone to counter the effects of opioid overdose and was 20 years ahead of many other departments in adding in-car camera systems before it became standard protocol.

In 2016, Tim received the very first Chief of Police of the Year award from the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police. 

Tim earned his bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, and has graduated from prestigious training institutions, including the Federal Law Enforcement and US Secret Service Training Academies. He received his Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Lewis University, where he also served as an Adjunct Professor and Instructor. Tim was also bestowed an Honorary Doctorate degree from Lewis.