Page 41 - June2020 FOP Magazine

cry on social media as groups assembled to as- sist neighbors in need. Officer Roderique Mc- Clain and others teamed up with students from Robert Lindblom Math & Science Academy on June 2 to clean up areas in Englewood impacted by unrest.
The district also helped amplify messages of support by broadcasting the pastors’ messages live on Facebook and promoting a fundraising effort by the Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce, which plans to provide financial as- sistance to businesses that suffered damage at the hands of looters.
Looking out for your own wasn’t a theme lim- ited to the 7th. Taking care of the 11th District is important to Sergeant Daniel Allen. When Brand B Sports, a business that manages professional athletes, emailed him to ask how they could help
repair the West Side at the beginning of June, he began thinking about the community he loves.
“Together, we started coming up with different locations,” Allen said. “They called me because they wanted to identify different places in the district specifically that really needed a cleanup service.”
Starting just a few days later, Allen partnered with the organization for cleanups almost daily. The unity of so many people coming together meant a lot, as he played quarterback to direct assistance to the locations that needed attention.
“They were people of all races that were out there doing the cleanups,” Allen said. “There were a lot of people in our district that you could tell did not live in the district, may not even live in the city. Yet they still had a passion to come out and repair the West Side as best they can.”
n BY KAREN STAHL
Jermaine Harris has a drive for giving back in the 11th District. Harris’ heart for service led him to do more than answer when Harvest Christian Academy called — he delivered.
The church originally reached out to Harris in early June, wanting to help out the community on the West Side in response to the ongoing pandemic and civil unrest.
Officers in the 11th District have es- tablished relationships with the commu- nity through Westside Police and Youth Sports, in which officers promote safe activities for children and their families in high-crime and under-resourced ar- eas.
The church knew that because of the program, officers throughout the West Side districts — 10th, 11th, 15th and 25th — were equipped to help their commu- nity.
“One of the ideas was, ‘Let’s create re- lief packages to support with COVID-19, protests and a lot of other issues com- bined,’” Harris conveyed. “We decided to deliver to families that were part of our sports program, because a lot of these kids have had their seasons delayed. They haven’t been able to get out.”
Through generous donations, Har- vest Christian Academy’s church mem- bers were able to build relief packages for 300 families across the four districts. Each box contained about $50 worth of materials, including paper towels, toi- let paper, all-purpose cleaner, laundry
detergent pods, dryer sheets and fidget spinners, as well as a number of different canned goods and nonperishable food items.
On June 17, June 20 and June 24, mem- bers of the Area 4 Community Area Re- sponse Team (CART) helped make deliv- eries around the West Side.
Dave Vazquez in the 10th District shared that officers in attendance each led a team from the church and took 16 packages per vehicle to spread out the deliveries.
“It’s rewarding in and of itself,” he said. “Seeing the smiles on the community members’ faces felt good, and being on the other side of things, where you could actually go and have interaction with the community helps people see the hu- manity portion of us and breaks down those walls.”
Harris noted that the giveaway helped build positive relationships in the com- munity as well as foster a connection among officers throughout different West Side districts.
Sergeant Jermaine Harris (right) helps with Har- vest Christian Academy’s initiative to provide care packages for families on the West Side.
“In the same way we collaborate and build with community partners, we have to collaborate and build with other of- ficers, too,” Harris said. “When we’re building relationships from across CPD with other officers in various neighbor- hoods and understanding each other’s challenges, we’re able to talk and com- municate to help and support each oth- er.”
And Harris conveyed that through ini- tiatives like the West Side giveaway, he’s able to go into neighborhoods that have negativity associated with them and see the positive aspects of where he works.
“It gives a great balance to what we do as police officers, and I think it’s an im- portant job of every officer to see that balance between light and dark,” Harris said. “Community policing is a lot of the things that put fuel in your tank and keep you going. This kind of thing shows you what you’re fighting for.”
West Side districts fill boxes of supplies for their community
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