We had 11 questions for Officer Chris Hawk in our ongoing series to get to know Division of Public Safety staff:

How long have you worked for UIPD?

Twenty years and three months.

What is one thing that makes you different?

I was born on the Leo/Virgo cusp (August 23). This means I have all the arrogance of a Leo and all the anal retentiveness of a Virgo.

What is something you’d like to see changed on campus or in the community?

It would be nice to see a return to civil manners and mutual respect among people.

Where is your favorite place to eat in Champaign-Urbana?

Pizza:  Papa Del’s

Italian:  Biaggi’s

Mexican:  Dos Reales

Steak:  Not in C-U!

What’s one of your funniest or fondest memories as a UIPD officer?

Most of my co-workers are very funny people.  “The Skip and Roy Show” (aka Third Shift briefing with Skip and Roy as sergeants) was consistently funny.  There are also (at least) a couple hundred laugh-’til-you-cry moments over the years.  Many, unfortunately, are not suitable for documentation….

If given the chance, who would you choose to be for a day?

I kind of enjoy being me. If I could be Bill Gates for a day, though, I might give a very nice gift to a police officer in east-central Illinois.

What is your motto in life?

I’m livin’ the dream!

You have once in a lifetime front-row tickets and a backstage pass to meet a recording artist, who would it be?

Weird Al Yankovic.

If money doesn’t grow on trees, why do banks have branches?

The money’s not on trees, silly, it’s all in the rivers. That’s why rivers have banks.

If a fork were made of gold, would it still be considered silverware?

No, but clothes made of silver would be silverwear.

What’s something you would like to tell students?

That depends on the student and the circumstances. Mostly, I’d like to remind them that police are not “the enemy,” but are actually in the job to help people. Of course, if you’ve taken someone’s property and I’m helping the victim, you may not be so happy about it.  In that case, I’d like to channel my inner Tony Baretta and say, “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.”