PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 21, No. 8, Oct. 18, 2001

Hawley hits the road, but finds it leads back to department

By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor
(217) 244 -1072; slforres@illinois.edu

photo by Bill Wiegand Vroom-vroom Viki Hawley retired from the UI police department last December after 26 years of service

Hawley hits the road, but finds it leads back to department
When Viki Hawley decided to become a UI police officer in the mid-1970s, police work was considered a man’s profession. Hawley, who had been working as a dispatcher for the department before accepting a position as a patrol officer, said she knew she could do the job but also knew she would have to prove herself to her male colleagues before some of them would accept her in her new role.

That recognition began to come, Hawley said, when on her first night patrolling without a training officer, she chased two fleeing burglars down a dark alley near Boneyard Creek, tackled the larger of the two and emerged with the burly thief in handcuffs.

In December 2000, Hawley retired from the UI police department after 26 years’ service. Besides having been a dispatcher and a patrol officer, Hawley also had served as an investigator and had been a member of the SWAT team as well as a scuba diver on the state underwater recovery and rescue team.

"I feel like I got to do a lot of challenging, different things," Hawley said. "And I really thought I would miss it because I had so much involvement not just with the university but with the people in the community. I was really surprised that I didn’t miss it once I left, so it must have been time for me to leave."

Less than a year into her retirement, however, Hawley is back at the police department, working 10 hours a week managing evidence. When the opportunity arose as a result of another retirement this fall, Hawley wasn’t sure she wanted to return, but she finally accepted the job because she missed being in contact with people throughout the community.

Hawley likes her new role logging and tracking evidence until the items are used in trials, returned or discarded. There’s far less pressure than she felt working as an officer; there’s no overtime, and she has more control over her workflow, Hawley said.

In addition to her work at the department, Hawley also has been "playing catch up around the house," doing the painting, staining and yard work she didn’t have time for before her retirement.

Hawley’s retirement also afforded her and her husband, Charles, who’s six years into retirement, the opportunity to take a 6,500-mile motorcycle trip with friends this past summer. Riding her BMW B-1200 motorcycle is her passion, Hawley said, and she’s been an avid motorcycle rider for more than 30 years.

The Hawleys belong to three motorcycle groups: Twin City Tango, a Champaign-Urbana club; as well as the Dinky Dozen, a Bloomington group; and the BMW Motorcycle Association of America, a national organization. Although they belong to three groups, Hawley said they prefer riding alone and meeting up with other group members at their destinations.

This summer, she and Charles traversed 15 states and two Canadian provinces, going as far west as California before riding to Oregon to visit an old friend and then on to Canada.

The wildfires raging in the western states forced them to take an alternate route out of Yellowstone National Park, Hawley said, but the spectacular scenery more than compensated for the change in their plans.

Recently, another abrupt change in their travel plans was brought about by the Sept. 11 attacks, Hawley said. She and her husband had been planning to attend her stepson’s Oct. 20 wedding in Italy. Some guests’ apprehension about international travel prompted the engaged couple to reschedule their wedding, and the wedding was rescheduled for the weekend of Oct. 6 in St. Louis.

Asked what plans she has for her retirement, Hawley said she has no immediate plans other than spending time with family and friends.

"I’m having fun, so I guess that’s what counts," Hawley said.