Page 5 - October Newsletter

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
Standing together, and standing up, will help us get through
Three stories have been on my mind the past few weeks. My thoughts go from one to the other.
One arose from an event for the Brotherhood of the Fallen, in which one of the guests was an Arkansas police chief, whose son also was a police officer.
The chief described one of the most harrowing and devastating events that could ever befall someone in law enforcement. He responded to a call of officers down and found that his own son was the victim of a fatal shooting.
His son and another officer had been murdered by two men who had declared themselves sovereign citizens and were at war with the government. They used an AK-47 in their attack on the officers.
How does one cope with such an event? Well, the chief explained that some responses proved to be crucial in helping him deal with the next few days, weeks and months. The arriv- al of police officers from across the country, including Chicago, provided a sense of solidarity and support that helped him get through the ordeal.
Around the same time that I heard this story, I was getting ready to attend a conference in Las Vegas. The day before I was supposed to depart, news broke about the shooting in which 59 people were killed and hundreds more were wounded by a crazed gunman perched high up in a hotel room.
Among the victims were members of law enforcement. And among the many narratives that arose from this nightmare was the recurring description of police officers moving toward the gunfire, not away. Later, news broke that the shooter had booked rooms in cities through- out the country, including Chicago at the time Lollapalooza, of the city’s biggest musical fest. The reservation was made at the Blackstone Hotel, across the street from where the festival is held.
The outpouring of support for the victims in this shooting, and for the police officers who were victims, unified the country in a way only a crisis like this can. And it is this support that will sustain the families of those killed and wounded. And it is the support of fellow officers that will help the families of the fallen officers endure.
Perhaps too many people will forget just how traumatic it will be for all the officers and oth- er first responders who responded to the nightmarish crime scene in Las Vegas. Such ghastly, inexplicable images stay with them for the rest of their lives. One way to deal with it will be to reach out to other officers, to rely on the unity among officers throughout the country.
It is building this unity and solidarity that first compelled me to get involved in the FOP and then to run for president.
Then there is the last story that has been on my mind. You’ve heard about it endlessly in the media. It is the decision by many members in the National Football League to kneel during the playing of the national anthem.
This decision by the NFL players doesn’t help the morale of law enforcement officers. It’s based upon a false narrative. The police are not systemically abusing the rights of any group; they are enforcing the laws that protect public safety and civil rights every day.
The shameful injustices of our nation’s past must not be forgotten, but they must not also prevent us from building the solidarity and unity that preserves a republic.
Watching the first responders in Las Vegas hopefully made some of those who knelt during the national anthem feel embarrassed by their actions. The FOP is committed to protecting equality under the law for citizens and its members alike.
KEVIN GRAHAM
As well it should. d
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