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CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JULY 2016 25
n MITCHELL KRUGEL
vey whose job includes responding to actions when such heroics go down. “It’s not all about putting the cuffs on somebody and putting him in jail. There are so many times when a police officer gets to help peo- ple, and when it’s all done you have that feeling that you know you were successful. That’s what makes it worth putting on the uniform every day.”
Every now and again police officers can pick up the newspaper and read all about an achievement like what happened on June 21. Officer Jennifer Jacobucci was driving westbound on I-90 back to her
assignment at O’Hare when she noticed a house on fire. She bee-lined toward the blaze, burst into the house and rescued four residents. And three dogs.
The Good News
Every day, it seems, police officers can pick up the newspaper and see headlines that, well, you know what they say. So Lodge 7 is here to remind you that there are so many actions and responses which should
Imagine the feeling of success 7th District Officers had recently when they took time to stop by and wish an Englewood man who was turning 104 years old “Happy Birthday.” They sang to him and brought him some presents, and the event generated a Facebook commemoration.
be making headlines and you can read all about some of them right here:
Think, however, about the headline it could have generated, something like:
Dec. 7, 2015: “7th District officers pull victim from burning car”
“Cops throw a birthday party for the ages”
June 27, 2015: “Marine Unit revives 50-year-old man who collapsed”
“I recall a quote from one of our elder statesmen sometime around the middle of the 20th century that was, ‘Man’s failures are on the front page; man’s accom- plishments are on the back page, which is the sports page,’” reports Lodge 7 Field Representative Keith Car- ter who also related the story about the 104-year-old man.
June 7, 2016: “Cops start softball league to mentor kids in JISC”
June 7, 2016: “5th District reunites family with lost dog”
Sept 28, 2015: “11th District patrol officers save chok- ing baby”
Actually, the quote is from Earl Warren in 1969 when he was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and it actu- ally reads: “I always turn to the sports pages first, which records people’s accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man’s failures.” The point is certainly well taken, so let’s delve into some accomplishments during the past several months that deserve headlines, starting with the ones you have already read on the cover of this issue and here:
“A lot of officers feel the media doesn’t respect them, that they expect us to do right,” observes Lodge 7 First Vice-President Ray Casiano. “It’s like a parent who ex-
pects their kids to come home with straight As. It’s only when that kid comes home with Cs or Ds do they lay into them.”
So even though cops are making headlines with almost daily acts of heroism, they don’t need to be reading head- lines lauding their professionalism and expertise be-
cause they have too much professionalism and expertise to make it an issue. The oath they all took when coming on the job, the pride of putting on the uniform every day and the recognition that comes from a colleague and does more to affect camaraderie and morale than any headline
7th District o cers pull victim from burning car
create the daily doses of good news.
“They’re doing it and they don’t even realize they are do-
O cers Ryan Krolikowski and Eric Wicencyjusz were work- ing in the 7th District on Dec. 7, 2015, when they observed a vehicle travelling westbound on Gar eld Boulevard on re. As ames and heavy smoke engulfed the driver’s compartment, Krolikowski and Wicencyjusz removed an unconscious driver.
ing it,” exclaims Lodge 7 Field Representative Marlon Har-