Crime & Safety

Public Service a Family Affair for Two Brothers

Brothers John and Mark Cooper fight crime and fires for the city of Darien, John Cooper as a deputy police chief, and Mark Cooper as battalion chief for the Darien-Woodridge Fire Protection District.

As kids, brothers John and Mark Cooper were both drawn to the firefighting field.

“If I heard a siren I’d be running out chasing the fire truck down the streets,” said Mark Cooper,  who was recently promoted to battalion chief of the . “As far as I can remember I’ve been obsessed with fire trucks and firefighting.”

Older brother John Cooper became a firefighter cadet at age 16 in what is now known as the , before eventually becoming a paid-on-call firefighter with the organization for several years.

Find out what's happening in Darienwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Today, he is a Darien deputy police chief.

For both brothers, the path which led them to their respective fields has been a circuitous one.

Find out what's happening in Darienwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

John Cooper had been working as a part-time firefighter trying to get on full-time when he applied for and got an offer for a job with the . He decided to pursue the police field.

“It’s one of those things where I could be happy doing either one—firefighting or police,” he said. “I like them both.”

Though he’s been in the police field for many years, firefighting is still very much in his blood.

“John still loves the fire department,” Mark Cooper said. “He still gets excited and asks me questions about what’s going on all the time.”

Though the passion for the firefighting field also runs through his own blood, Mark Cooper did not initially decide to pursue it as a career.

He went to college on a music scholarship, but soon decided to seek out another major.

“I don’t know if I changed or just lost the passion for music,” he said. “But I started looking for something else.”

After meeting with a few FBI recruiters during a career day event, he thought he found his calling.

“The FBI was my ultimate goal,” Mark Cooper said. “I thought maybe I’d start as a police officer.”

After graduation, he landed a job as a security guard but “knew from day one I hated it.”

“It wasn’t what I really thought of when I thought of law enforcement,” he said.
His brother encouraged him to look into the fire service industry.

“I hadn’t seriously given it a thought since I was younger,” Mark Cooper said.

He eventually left his security guard post for a retail management position. He also tested and scored highly with the Darien-Woodridge Fire Department.

Though still unhappy in his new management position, he initially turned down an offer from the fire department.

“I had gotten a promotion and my salary had gone up quite a bit,” he said. “But I realized that’s where money doesn’t mean anything if you’re miserable.”

He decided then if he were to get another offer with the fire department, he would take it.

Luck was with Mark Cooper.

A year later, the Darien-Woodridge Fire Department came back with another offer.

“I realized the minute I took that job I made the best decision in my life,” Mark Cooper said. “It’s where I should have been all along.”

Today, 20 years later, he’s just as happy.

“There are different challenges every day,” he said. “We have certain things that are routine, but even those routine things are variable in this job. All the calls are different.”

Mark Cooper describes firefighters as “adrenaline junkies by nature.”

“We’re action-oriented,” he said. “We get in trouble between calls when we’re bored and waiting for something to stimulate us.”

Over the years, the Cooper brothers have at times been able to work side-by-side when they ended up on calls together.

But as the siblings have moved up through the ranks, they don’t see each other on the job as often.

For Mark Cooper, his recent promotion to battalion chief is bittersweet, as he won’t have as much time out on the street.

“I’m looking forward to (the new job) but I’m worried I’m going to miss the inside stuff,” he said.

Both brothers marvel at their luck in landing jobs for the same community.

“That’s pretty cool,” Mark Cooper said. “With all the different towns, we both end up here.”

John Cooper lauds Darien as “the perfect mix.”

“It’s busy enough where you’re active, but it’s not crazy,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of high crime like some other municipalities. It’s a great community.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.