Page 42 - December 2017

K9 O cer Hector Agosto and his partner, Patsy, entertained CPF patrons.
OUT OF THE TRUE BLUE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 41
are now 10-percent down in murders and have 20-percent less shootings. We have about 600 less victims of gun violence. Any of those could have been easily murdered.”
Supporting further improvements facilitated bringing De- partment units to True Blue to demo services. Officer Carl Ha- jdu, a 20-year veteran who has been with the Marine Unit the past seven years, noted the unique impression the evening pre- sented and what the end game could be.
“It makes you feel good,” Hajdu commented. It’s really good to provide a service to the citizens of Chicago, but it’s very true that if you don’t have the proper gear, we can’t do our job. It’s very important that we do have that gear, and events like this help us tremendously.”
If the funding continues to come to provide the gear and the training, well, Johnson has a pretty good idea about where it can lead.
“I tell people all the time, when we’re done with this thing, the Chicago Police Department will be the model agency for the country and around the world,” the superintendent boasted. “You have my heartfelt thanks for the support you have given us, because believe me, we couldn’t have driven down these num- bers like we have this year without your assistance.”
True Blue Crush
The skeptical nature of Chicago Police Officers might beg the questions: Who are these people in the CPF? And why do they give a chit about cops?
Many Foundation members joined the fray much in the same manner DiPaolo became involved. He has some friends who are CPD detectives. That led to a meeting with an elected official
42 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ DECEMBER 2017
A vest signed by members of the cast of Chicago PD was auctioned o to raise money to support Chicago Police O cers.
who told him about the 100 Club of Chicago. After supporting that organization for a few years, DiPaolo received a phone call in 2015 from renowned Chicago business leader Mary Ann Rose, who had become the executive director of this new organization known as the Chicago Police Foundation.
“I didn’t even know what the mission was,” DiPaolo recalled. “Mary Ann asked, ‘Do you want to be involved?’ I said, ‘Yes. What do you need from me? Let’s make it happen.’ The police goes through much and they are out there risking their lives to make us safe. Whatever we can do to help support the team, we will do.”
Word about what the CPF had been doing for the Depart- ment then began to spread. Weber Shandwick’s Komar heard that word, saw firsthand what had been accomplished and it touched a corporate nerve.
“I felt as a leader in the community a sense of civic respon- sibility to get engaged and support our police,” Komar related. “The CPF does a really great job of being able to tie the business community to the Chicago Police Department and ensure that we’re able to support really meaningful engagements for the