Page 30 - July2019 FOP Magazine

Faith in the Community Policing
■ BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
Peace in the Park After Dark has be- come an annual defining moment for community policing in the 6th District. Each year, hundreds of kids come to Nat King Cole Park in Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood, where violence has be- come an all-too-familiar way of life.
That violence took the life of Chicago Police Officer Thomas Wortham, who was shot and killed across the street in 2010. Many of the kids who come to Peace in the Park have their first expe- rience camping out on an August night alongside Chicago Police Officers, creat- ing a lasting bond that furthers the safe- ty, connectivity and vitality of the com- munity.
Similar impacts ripple through 024 during Movie Night for Seniors in Rog- ers Park. Each month, officers turn the community room into a movie theater, complete with fresh popcorn. The mov- ie often follows a theme, like the current one about movies and Chicago. A speak- er comes in afterward to host a discus- sion. When “Backdraft” played, a retired Chicago firefighter who served as a tech- nical advisor on the film spoke. “Dead- lock,” a film about author Sara Paretsky’s Chicago detective, V.I. Warshawski, also
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played one night. Paretsky came in to speak afterward.
“We’re trying to make as many connec- tions as possible, and those connections build on themselves,” explains Hank Kline, a community policing officer in the 24th District. “It’s raising awareness of what our role is and what actions they can take to prevent themselves from be- ing victims of crimes as well as how to appropriately report crimes so we can do a better job.”
When he moved to the community po- licing unit in 025 a year ago, Officer Ru- pert Medina embraced the opportunity to solve problems in the neighborhood where he grew up. He is the liaison to the faith-based community, and his favorite activity is the Community Conversation. The district invites community mem- bers and stakeholders to a night at the Grace and Peace Church in the Hermosa neighborhood to speak freely about sug- gestions to affect policing strategy.
“It kind of shows that sometimes peo- ple need a voice and we just need to lis- ten,” confirms Medina, who has been on for 12 years. “That’s what they’re train- ing us to do in community policing. Just showing them that we’re human beings, too.”
Chicago Police Officers are building relationships and trust with citizens throughout the city