Page 4 - November 2015

CHICAGO LODGE # 7
FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE CHICAGO LODGE #7
EXECUTIVE BOARD
DEAN C. ANGELO, SR.
President
RAY CASIANO, JR.
First Vice President
Frank DiMaria Second Vice President Daniel D. Gorman Third Vice President Greg Bella Recording Secretary Kevin Kilmer Financial Secretary John Capparelli Treasurer
Bill Nolan Immediate Past President John Dineen Parliamentarian
Sergeants-at-Arms
Bill Burns
Al Francis, Jr. James E. Moriarty, Jr.
Trustees
Robert Rutherford, Chairman Dean Angelo, Jr.
Mark Donahue
Pat Duckhorn
Sergio Escobedo Kathleen Gahagan Michael Garza Joseph Gentile
Ken Hauser
Tom Lonergan
Kevin McNulty Landry Reeves
Inez Riley
Jay Ryan
Steve Schorsch
Ron Shogren
Daniel Trevino
Field Reps
Keith Carter Marlon Harvey Thomas McDonough
Magazine Committee Members
Greg Bella, Chair Joseph Gentile Bill Burns Thomas McKenna Michael Carroll Reggie Smith
President’s Report
Official Magazine
Veteran Appreciation
4 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ NOVEMBER 2015
As our cover demonstrates, this month’s issue focuses on members who have served in the military. All too often, Veterans are overlooked for their years of serv- ice. Seldom do we take the time to appreciate or recognize the sacri- fices they made. Dedicating this issue to our Veterans is the Lodge’s way of ensuring the military heroes among us are not over- looked.
The Lodge suggests that we all take a moment (or three) to say thank you to our Veteran co-work- ers, family members, friends and neighbors. As Police Officers, we know all too well how working as a public servant can add unique pressures to one’s life, cause stressors that civilians never expe- rience, force separation from family and require us to deal with the dark side of life only we witness.
Consider, those same unique pressures, job- related stressors, family absences and dark experi- ences than multiply them by 10,000. That is what we can only imagine our Veterans have gone through while serving, and what some will go through on their next deployment. For these fac- tors, and many, many more, we thank them for their commitment.
We would also like to take a moment to thank each of the members that responded to our requests to participate in compiling this special issue and for taking the time to send photos and share their stories. Even though we were not able to include all who have served or still serve in the military, we wish to include them in our indebt- edness.
Thank you for your service!
Mayoral “Fetal” Comment, Lodge Response and Accuracy
Shortly after media reports began to circulate the comments that the mayor made during an Oct. 14 meeting with 100 of the top national law enforce- ment officials, concerned members began to tele- phone, email and text the Lodge. Generally, several of the media outlets focused on his use of the word “fetal” to describe how departments have been impacted by recent national events and the upsurge of smartphone recordings of police activity. The following information will hopefully
address and satisfy the membership’s concerns: Initially, several members asked why there was no formal response from the Lodge. We were also asked how the Lodge could stand by silently when such an objectionable label was used in reference to policing. We were further asked why the Lodge was not outraged by the mayor’s unflattering and critical comments. We were asked why we wouldn’t. Finally, we were asked how on earth we would not demand an apology. As with everything this administration has done thus far - and to continue to protect the integrity of the Lodge - we took the time neces- sary to search out The Washington Post article that was the first to mention the mayor’s original comments. We then were able to listen to a poor- quality recording of the actual statement that was made to U.S. Attorney General Lynch and others of the national law enforcement commu- nity. Only after listening to the recording did the
Lodge form its response to media outlets. Answers to these concerns are best addressed here to ensure as many of our members as pos- sible have the opportunity to be aware of what exactly occurred. On Oct. 16, the Lodge formally responded to local print and television media outlets. Our official response was clear in its crit- icism of using the word “fetal” in any context related to the field of law enforcement. We were anything but silent as evidenced by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times and eventually The Washington Post printing the Lodge’s response. We were even contacted by a representative from The Bill O’Reilly Show for further comment, but were unable to follow through with the invitation being withdrawn due to the lack of an available local studio. We stressed that the women and men of the Chicago Police Department continue to perform at the highest level of productivity and professionalism. And when it came to being outraged, critical and demanding of an apology from the 5th Floor, our caution allowed the Lodge to avoid inaccurate embarrassing conclu-
sions.
Were we silent? No.
Did we demand an apology? No.
Were we outraged? We were extremely both-
ered that “fetal” was used to refer to depart- ments.
NOTE: We invite you to read the mayor’s remarks shown here on page 5.
DEAN C. ANGELO, SR.