Timothy J. McCarthy (born c1950) is the police chief of Orland Park, Illinois, but is most famous for leaping in front of US President Ronald Reagan and stopping one of John Hinckley, Jr.'s .22 caliber bullets with his abdomen on March 30, 1981. Surgeons at George Washington University Hospital successfully removed the round from his stomach and he fully recovered.

McCarthy graduated from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana in 1971 with a Bachelors of Science degree in Finance and joined the United States Secret Service shortly thereafter.

His career included eight years assigned to the Presidential Protective Division in Washington D.C. and fourteen years as a criminal investigator in Chicago. McCarthy was the Special Agent in Charge of the Secret Service Chicago Division from 1989 until his retirement in October 1993.

McCarthy has served as Chief of the Orland Park Police Department since May of 1994 and earned a Masters Degree in Criminal/Social Justice from Lewis University in 1999.

He is married with three children.