Arnette F. Heintze
Partner and Chief Executive Officer
Based on nearly three decades of experience working at the highest levels of Federal, state and local law enforcement, Arnette Heintze has an exceptionally strategic perspective on security. As the U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge in Chicago, Heintze planned, designed and implemented successful security strategies for U.S. Presidents, world leaders, events of national significance and the protection of the nation’s most critically sensitive assets. Earlier in his distinguished public service career, Heintze served with the Louisiana State Police, Louisiana Attorney General's Office and the Baton Rouge City Police.
In 1990, Heintze was part of the Presidential Protective Division, where he served for more than four years on the permanent detail protecting President and Mrs. Bush and President and Mrs. Clinton. In Washington, D.C., Heintze also coordinated the 160 foreign embassies in the city and acted as the Secret Service spokesperson and agent in charge of the Public Affairs Office, where he led the crisis communications team during some of the nation's most trying times.
In 1998, Heintze was accorded the honor of being chosen as the Treasury Department's representative to attend the National War College's elite program for select military officers and ranking federal civilians, where he earned a Master of Science degree in national security strategy. Based in Washington, D.C., The National War College provides its graduates with the superior training, decision-making skills and strategic capabilities necessary for leadership in national security policy, foreign policy, defense policy, military strategy, force employment and joint operations.
In April 2000, Heintze's strategic leadership qualifications led to his appointment as a member of the Senior Executive Service and his selection as the Special Agent in Charge of the Secret Service's Chicago field office. In this capacity – and over the next several years – Heintze began to encounter widespread and often acute gaps in the quality of security and investigative services delivered by many of the industry’s well-established leaders. Surprised – and sensing a clear opportunity – Heintze began drafting early blueprints for a firm that would advance a new, higher threshold of service and integrity in these markets.
First, however, Heintze chose to work for corporate America. Upon his retirement from public service, he launched his career in the private sector
as the Chief Security Officer for PepsiCo Beverages and Foods, a multi-billion dollar division of PepsiCo. In this capacity, Heintze planned, designed and implemented a comprehensive security strategy to protect the key assets of the corporation.
As Heintze’s interest in serving a broader range of companies and industries grew, he also recognized an opportunity to form a strategic partnership with Terry Hillard, Chicago’s retired Superintendent of Police – one based on their individual commitments, pursued in different careers over decades, to the same values and beliefs about leadership and service excellence. Together they founded Hillard Heintze LLC in July 2004.
Heintze has received numerous awards and recognition for superior performance, dedicated service and heroic actions, including the U.S. Secret Service Valor Award — the agency's highest. This was bestowed on Heintze for courageous action and heroism he exhibited in a 1983 shooting and hostage incident in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Heintze was Board Certified in Security Management in 2001 and attained the coveted Certified Protection Professional (CPP) Designation as awarded by ASIS International.
A graduate of Louisiana State University and the National War College, he
is an active member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, the National War College Alumni Association, the Association of Former Agents of the United States Secret Service and the American Society for Industrial Security. Heintze serves on the Board of Trustees for Old St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Chicago and
is a member of its Executive Committee. Heintze is one of the founders and board members of Cases for a Cause, Inc., a nonprofit corporation formed
in 2007 to help Illinois foster children find and preserve dignity by providing suitcases as a place to store, organize and transport the few things they call their own during their stay in the Illinois foster care system. He holds a Top Secret Security Clearance.
