3-year-old cancer survivor becomes honorary CPD officer

David Juarez, a 3-year-old cancer survivor, became the newest honorary member of the Chicago Police Department on Wednesday, thanks to a collaboration between CPD, The Make A Wish Foundation and charity group Costumers With A Cause.

David, whose dream is to be a police officer, was sworn in by Chicago Police Supt. Eddie T. Johnson before joining police officers at the McCormick Center for a training session complete with tactical scenarios.

CPD filled the convention hall with police vehicles, including SWAT and undercover cruisers, which David said were “too loud with the sirens,” and even the bomb disposal unit robot “F68,” much to David’s delight.

After a tour of the vehicles, David undertook his tactical scenario, which involved stopping a bank robbery perpetrated by villains from “Zootopia,” his favorite movie. Costumers from Costumers With A Cause dressed as anthropomorphic animals from the film before being arrested by Officer David and his backup of uniformed police.

After lunch, bomb technician Kris Evanoff showed David how to control the bomb disposal robot, and David wasted no time making it do doughnuts. David quickly caught on to controlling “F68,” requiring only an occasional guiding hand from Evanoff. Once he had the hang of things, the new officer turned the robot into a weapon by attempting to drive it into the animal felons from his training scenario who had gathered around to watch.

“I scared the monsters with the robot,” the young officer said of his experience piloting the robot. He added that doing so “takes a police officer.”

Daisy Santillan, David’s mother, said seeing her son have fun Wednesday helped to make up for what has been a hard year.

David started getting sick in December 2015. Doctors discovered a lump on David’s kidney next to his spine, and in March 2016, he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare form of adrenal cancer. As of Wednesday, David’s tumor is in full remission.

“It just kind of compensates for a lot of suffering he went through,” Santillan said.

David said he wants to be a police officer because “I want to be brave.” When asked if he had a message for the city’s bad guys, David responded, “I want to turn them good.”

After a long and tiring first day, the young officer had no trouble naming his favorite part of the day.

“The Cake.”