Page 35 - FOP August 2019 Magazine

The Department brought out its helicopter and a SWAT truck to give members’ kids a chance to see up close what Chicago Police Officers do on the job.
continues to come to Gaelic Park each year and set up his tent and cooking apparatus because he has always done it.
Moore has been coming to the picnic for so many years that his nephew, Nicholas Wimberly, who was 5 years old the first year he came with Moore, just completed his cycles and is as- signed to the Third District. So what is it that keeps Moore and Wimberly coming back?
“This is a day when everybody enjoys being a police officer,” he explains. “When I first came here, it’s like I obtained a lot of extra sisters and brothers. I wish the public could see us like this and know that we’re part of a big family. It’s just unbelievable.”
Wimberly keeps coming back to the picnic because it’s an- other day that shows how officers are a family outside of work.
“It’s a great thing to be a part of,” he adds.
Anywhere else, the family thing might sound like a cliché. But if you are a Chicago Police Officer, you know what that means, and very few events accentuate the family way of the FOP more than the picnic.
Joe Barrios, who has been on for 27 years and currently works in 008, exudes that family pride that fills up a tent with flags ris- ing out of the top. An American flag with a Sox logo sits under a blue line flag, which is capped by an American flag.
His clan includes his daughter, Jessica, who is a Cook County sheriff, and cousin, Argelia, who works at headquarters. Other Eighth District officers are part of his party that revels in what the picnic provides.
“It takes us away from the city and the monotony,” Barrios relates. “When we go to work, we have to put on a uniform, and we’re looked at as a blue individual. But we’re also human be- ings. We have a heart and we have to live our lives on a regular basis.”
So it’s not unreasonable for Lodge 7 members to view this event as a day of therapy. Zachary Scott seemed to feel that way. Scott has been on for 26 years and currently works in 005. No district in the Department may have had a harder year than 005,
of course.
“It’s been rough, but a day like today, it makes everything
worthwhile,” Scott confides. “It’s just a fantastic day.”
He wishes everybody could see and feel the jubilation that
oozes through Gaelic Park on this fantastic day.
“It’s a sight to see. It really is,” Scott adds. “What people need
to understand is that we stick together and we’re there for the public. We’re there. We’re doing the best work we can, and we’re doing a fantastic job.”
The value of the event can’t be underestimated. Tony Jureca, who works on a tac team in the 12th District, has been trying to get to the picnic for a few years. He finally secured a day off this year to attend, and he had one objective for being there.
Lodge 7 staffers Marikay Evans (left) and Cricket Oboikovitz show the plethora of prizes the FOP once again raffled off this year.
A picnic mainstay has become Sandoval and his brothers who all came on the job together in 011: Arturo Bracho, Car- los Sanchez, Andrew Beluso and Alejandro Lagunas. Lagunas shares chef duties with Sandoval, who is now an instructor at the academy.
He could do a course on grilling. Nobody can venture through this group without having to sample the rib tips, sausages or carnitas. Feasting on this dish made with pork dark meat is more than just pigging out.
The food is an accoutrement to this one time of the year when they can all be sure to see each other. And the fact that the pic- nic has become such a prolific gathering place fulfills the great- est need for all Chicago Police Officers these days.
“It boosts the morale,” Sandoval declares. “This is what this whole thing is about, and, honestly, it’s getting harder to do on the job. This is our way of taking our own personal time, getting with one another, showing our love for each other.”
Perhaps the attraction of the picnic is the opportunity to meet up with sisters and brothers you worked with 10 or 20 years ago. Perhaps the magnetism comes from bringing the kids to a place where they can meet their parents’ partners, see the K-9s, the horses in the mounted unit, sit in the CPD helicopter, run the sack race, partake of some food and get a taste of what mommy and daddy do for a living. Or perhaps it’s just that all-too-unfa- miliar feeling of having time to enjoy a cold beverage and win a few prizes.
“When you’re out here, there’s no bosses, there’s no one judg- ing you and the camaraderie is fabulous,” Oboikovitz confirms. “Even if they came here with no one, they would meet 25 people they worked with or met over the years and pick up right where they left off. I believe that is why they keep coming back.”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 36
“A lot of relaxation,” he notes.
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ AUGUST 2019 35