Page 32 - October 2018 FOP Magazine

32 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ OCTOBER 2018
Well Said
Well Said
Napolitano voices unique, unequivocal support for first responders that resonates through the City
■ MITCHELL KRUGEL
Moments after sitting down for his first City Council meet- ing as an alderman, Anthony Napolitano felt the fires stoking and the need to blow the whistle. When defeating a member of the mayor’s coalition to be elected in the 41st ward in 2015, Napolitano planned to sit back and find a place for his voice representing the city’s largest ward, filled with first responders.
But he couldn’t hold back.
“I’m thinking ‘keep your mouth shut,’ but there were peo- ple pandering for the purpose of being anti-police,” the former Chicago Police Officer recalls. “I just lost it. I got up and gave a speech about how the police should be treated.”
Somebody recorded the speech and posted the video on Facebook. And it prompted more than a million hits. From day one as an alderman, Napolitano has pursued his mission to make sure Chicago coppers get the support, the credit and the respect that prompts the public to always wave at them when- ever they pass – with all five fingers rather than the one-finger salute he feels they get way too often.
Every action as a public servant, every initiative he pushes through the council, every response to the residents in the 41st drives from Napolitano’s breeding as the police and his long career as a first responder. After spending five years working rapid response and then with the gang unit in 016, Napolitano moved to the CFD side of public safety, where he spent the next 10 years.
All that cast him smack in the middle of a group of West Side city workers from the ward talking about the way the city was being run. More and more of them kept showing up for im- promptu gatherings, and they wanted to take back their ward. Who could best represent them?
“They passed around some names, and when it came toward me, I figured I could be the one to step up and do this,” Na- politano reflects. “We had somebody representing us who was alienating herself from police and fire. We’re city workers here. We’re blue collar. We’re union strong. She was agreeing with the mayor 100 percent of the time. You don’t even agree with your spouse 100 percent of the time. We had to have representation not for what the mayor wants, but what the neighborhood wants.”
Clearly, Napolitano felt the fire sparked from living in the neighborhood for 43 years. And from being in a family that counts his father, brother, several uncles, many cousins, father-in-law and brother-in-law as the police. A handful of other family members are firefighters.
Napolitano would have been more than content with being a police officer until his father urged him to test for the fire de- partment. And he would have been more than content with that, had he not felt a greater inspiration to fulfill what his fa- ther taught him:
“Public service is not a calling,” he declares. “It’s a way of life.” From day one after being elected, it has become a way of life
Anthony Napolitano (right) joins 3th ward Alderman Nicholas Sposato on one of their many outings to show support for Chicago Police Officers.
for Napolitano to interface with Chicago Lodge 7 members. Two or three days a week, he talks to FOP members and leaders.
Sometimes, it’s just to shoot the wit. Sometimes, he reach- es out to get feedback on political issues. Sometimes, it’s to bounce ideas back and forth.
“I’m here, so utilize me,” Napolitano directs to Lodge 7 mem- bers. “That’s why I took this job. If you have my number, call me and tell me what you want me to look for. If there’s a vote com- ing up, I call them for feedback. They’re honest, and I love it.”
He fervently represented the rank-and-file sentiment about
the new West Side police and fire training academy that is cur-
rently being built. For Napolitano, this wasn’t just about voting
“yes” to approve the city funding for the facility but to relate i how passionately Chicago Police Officers want to pursue train-
ing to be the best in the country.
He has been at the forefront of pushing approval through the l council for every officer to get certification to carry the AR. And
he has been so gung-ho on the move to equip every officer with
a LEMART kit and training that he took the training class him-
self. i It’s personal for Napolitano. It’s what compels him to ges-
tures like the day when he was invited to speak at Oriole Park
School and decided to bring shirts to students – many of whom
are children of first responders – that amplify his feelings about
the contributions their moms and dads make.
Napolitano has also been most active in spreading the blue
gospel through the council, like 38th ward Alderman Nicholas Sposato and 14th ward Alderman Ed Burke have before him. He is not quite up to Burke’s standard of being able to boast that he can still into his uniform. But if you have seen Napol- itano in uniform for the FOP Stars hockey team he has played with since being on the job – or the CFD hockey uniform he also dons – well, that is not the only evidence that he is the al-
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