Page 5 - October 2018 FOP Magazine

CHICAGO LODGE 7
Official Magazine
President’s Report
FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE CHICAGO LODGE #7
EXECUTIVE BOARD
KEVIN GRAHAM
President
PATRICK J. MURRAY
First Vice President
Martin Preib
Second Vice President
Jay R. Ryan
Third Vice President
Greg Bella
Recording Secretary
Michael P. Garza
Financial Secretary
John Capparelli
Treasurer
Dean C. Angelo, Sr.
Immediate Past President
Sergeants-at-Arms
William Burns James Jakstavich Michael Mette
Trustees
Harold Brown Andrew Cantore Mark Donahue William Dougherty Pat Duckhorn Sergio Escobedo Fernando Flores Joseph Gentile Danny Gorman Ken Hauser Rick King Frank Quinn Carlos Salazar Ron Shogren Mark Tamlo Daniel Trevino Michael Underwood
Field Representatives
Robert Bartlett Rich Aguilar
What happened in the Jason Van Dyke case is just wrong
As I write this, it was just yesterday that Jason Van Dyke was found guilty at the Cook County Courthouse. I deliberately waited to write this article until after the verdict was rendered. It is truly devastating to have officers go to work, do the job they were trained for, answer the call, and do exactly what they were taught to do by firearms instructors at the range: shoot until the threat is eliminated. This decision is not based on what the public thinks, what the offender thinks or even what the Chicago Police Department thinks. It is based on what the officer believes is the danger.
The prosecution in this case saw it differently. Instead of risking criticism from the politicians, the state wanted to punish a police officer for doing his job. I found it truly disturbing that the prosecutor said justice was accomplished, and that anybody
would contend the prosecutor did a good job.
He is wrong!
The politicians, prosecutor and police-haters lack any understanding of what police of-
ficers face day in and day out. There is an implicit bias against the police stoked by years of media stories pushing the mythology of police corruption. It is not true. It is political ideology disguised as journalism, and it has had a devastating effect on Chicago, including in many court cases.
As I stated only minutes after the verdict, there will be an appeal. First, that will go to the Lodge 7 Legal Defense Committee and then to the board of directors for approval to pursue the appeal. Everyone I have talked to has told me that we must go forward with an appeal, and I agree.
I learned only a few hours ago that the U.S. Department of Justice will be coming to Chicago to find out what is going wrong in the City, and why the City entered into an agreement with the ACLU that is hampering good police work and putting the citizens of Chicago at greater risk. I also believe the DOJ will be asking questions about the consent decree that the Trump administration has said it does not want. We have been asking for help from the president for several months. It now appears that we may be getting it.
The Fraternal Order of Police stands by its members – in Chicago, in the state of Illinois and across the nation. I want to thank other leaders throughout the FOP for standing with Chicago and Jason Van Dyke during these difficult times. We will return to the courtroom and correct the injustice that was done to Jason Van Dyke and Chicago Police Officers!
Please note: We had three contract negotiation sessions set up for the month of October, though the City already called, talking about canceling one of them. We will keep you in- formed as to the progress of the contract negotiations. d
KEVIN GRAHAM
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ OCTOBER 2018 5