Chicagoan likes Pocatello

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jbulger@journalnet.com

POCATELLO — The train carried Dan Milovanovic to town, so to speak.

Milovanovic, 37, is the senior special agent with Union Pacific Railroad. Besides handling all law enforcement issues for UP, he also lends his expertise with hazardous materials safety.

Milovanovic came to Pocatello by a circuitous route. Born in Wisconsin, he spent his early years in Chicago before moving to Skokie, Ill.

Milovanovic joined the Chicago Police Department in 1992 at age 22. He worked traffic division before doing field training in the city’s 15th district, which had one of the highest crime occurrences in the city.

“Sometimes we did roll call on the street,” Milovanovic said, as a demonstration of the force’s presence in the inner city.

Milovanovic worked various assignments, including vice — his primary focus was on prostitution — during approximately 10 years with the force. The work was not always pretty.

One of the tasks he had to take part in was the removal of bodies, whether from crime scenes or natural causes.

“Chicago was on of the last major cities doing their own body removals,” he said.

In 1998, Milovanovic took leave to join the International Police Task Force, monitoring conditions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The region was in upheaval, and Milovanovic was singularly suited for the work. Not only was he well-versed in law enforcement, he had grown up speaking Serbian.

At times, he was the only officer in the multinational force postings who could speak the language.

Stationed in Banja Luka, he served first as a monitor and then as a human rights investigator. The force was created out of the Dayton Peace Agreement, implementing a United Nations-established civilian law enforcement that adhered to

internationally recognized standards.

“We had authority to go into any government building at any time,” Milovanovic said.

The task force was composed of law enforcement personnel from around the globe. Milovanovic served with Russians, Austrians, Chileans, Argentines and officers from many other countries.

“I thought it was a lot of fun, talking to police from all over the world,” he said.

One of his most memorable cases was a burglar who was in prison and was routinely taken out of his cell and beaten by his captors. They assumed because he was convicted of burglary, he would have information on other unsolved burglaries. While visiting the prison, a guard took him aside and divulged what was occurring. The situation was quickly stopped and the participants stripped of their jobs.

He recounted being stopped from bringing his camera into a prison by a guard. When the warden eventually showed up, hat in hand, he was allowed to proceed. The intransigent guard was nowhere to be found.

Milovanovic enjoyed his work and planned on extending his stay, but a death in his family caused him to return home. Once home, family members persuaded him to stay. His belongings were shipped home to him.

He went back to the Chicago Police for three years, assigned to the city’s highest homicide rated district. Looking for a change, he applied for a job with Conrail and was hired. The job exposed him to Union Pacific employees, whom he liked. When a job finally opened with U.P., he jumped at it.

The job had much of the hectic pace his Chicago police work had — burglaries, traffic violations, property crimes, suicides and fatalities.

“I always kind of thought I’d retire and move out West,” he said.

When an opening happened in Pocatello, he decided to apply and was hired. Because the work involved management of hazardous materials, it was considered a promotion.

Milovanovic misses his family, friends and co-workers in Chicago, but he is happy with his change in scenery and the quieter life for his wife, Marie, and their three young children.

“I think it’s a better place to raise our family,” he said. “I definitely like living here better than Chicago.”

But he does miss being able to find a good pierogi now and then.

By John Bulger

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