Page 45 - October 2018 FOP Magazine

this great city.”
Evidence of increased awareness, appreciation and support
has bubbled up more this past year than in any of the foun- dation’s first three years. The most substantive manifestation is the filtering of funding to meet requests from frontline officers for equipment and resources that previously had little other support.
But that changed when the Department initiated a directive in September to request funds or resources from the CPF. The process was in the works for two years and will be run through the director of strategy to consider ideas and initiatives to fur- ther the foundation’s pillars of technology, training, safety and community relations.
In simple parlance, the directive allows for any requests that will make officers’ jobs better. And it will allow tracking of ful- filled requests to celebrate return on investment.
“It will provide formality and transparency for what it’s doing for the department,” Robak explains. “It’s a big deal to us be- cause in addition to raising greater awareness among the rank and file to understand our mission, we believe that everybody in the Chicago Police Department should have a voice and great ideas can be found anywhere in the organization.”
Awareness has spread to all levels of the Department, re- sulting in some private donations earmarked to address very specific equipment and technology needs. The CPF has also increased its diversity through the addition of board members and the inauguration of an auxiliary board, which held its first fundraising event this past year.
The CPF is continuing its program to provide LEMART kits to every academy graduate and is halfway to its goal of purchas- ing 5,000 kits by 2020. The foundation also sponsored a delega- tion from the Department to travel to New York City to observe
its Neighborhood Coordination Officers program, which has been deployed to reduce violence through data-driven policing strategies.
And the latest drive has been working with the superinten- dent to kick around ideas about mental healthcare options the CPF can sponsor to touch the lives of all Chicago Police Offi- cers, who continue to deal with the aftershocks of facing dai- ly trauma. Robak adds that the foundation still wants to raise enough funds to make a “big give” to the Department, but the CPF is working its way up to that.
“I recently spoke at an event and was able to thank police officers who were there for their service,” Robak shares. “They stopped me right away and wanted to know about the police foundation. The awareness we have raised through the new di- rective and other means is giving officers a greater sense of who we are, and now we have to deliver on that. We are committed to make a difference in the lives of police officers every day.”
The commitment will be on display at the True Blue Event, which has gained enough cache that Verizon has stepped up to be the presenting sponsor. BMO Harris Bank is the title spon- sor, and Axon and ShotSpotter are among the more than 20 supporting sponsors. The event will again feature live auction items that generate a little wow and a lot of philanthropy, like the lunch with the superintendent that was so coveted, it in- spired a second offering and more than $15,000 in donations. The fast-paced bidding to sponsor LEMART kits, which last year raised enough to purchase 500 more, will also be reprised.
“We’re going to raise money, raise awareness and have fun,” Robak forecasts about True Blue. “Officers not only have to be appreciated, they have to be taken care of. We have to come to- gether to make sure they have what they need to be safe.” d
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