Page 16 - January 2021

What a year 2020 has been
As we move on from 2020 and look forward to the start of a new year, many of us thought 2021 could not come fast enough. A pandemic crip- pling the world. Riots and unrest, not only in the streets of Chicago but across the nation. Busi- nesses facing economic disasters and being forced to close their doors. These are just
some of the low points of the past year.
Sounds like an unbelievable Netflix series.
Yet despite these and many other herculean chal-
lenges, first responders donned their uniforms and reported for work each and every day. Police officers, in particular, without regard for their own safety, sacrificed daily and put themselves at risk of contracting the novel coronavi- rus in order that Chicagoans could continue with their daily lives. Once again, Chicago Police Officers continued to pro- vide law and order to all while encountering a new, invisible threat, often with little guidance. It seemed the City took its time to provide police officers with the resources, information and support needed to fight the pandemic and protect them- selves. I’m sure the City will tell you otherwise.
While listening to a recent podcast presented by Will Aitchi- son of the Labor Relations Information System,I was shocked to learn that the leading cause of in-the-line-of-duty deaths for law enforcement officers across the country in 2020 did
not come from the “known dangers,” but rather from a clan- destine culprit: COVID-19.
According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, an organiza- tion that has tracked law enforcement fatalities for decades, 2020 saw 296 line-of-duty deaths among Law Enforcement Officers across the country. Of those deaths, an aston- ishing 179 have been classified as COVID-19–related. To put that number in perspective, 45 officers died by gunfire in 2020, while 20 deaths resulted from auto-
mobile accidents.
Another nonprofit group, the National Law Enforce-
ment Officers Memorial Fund, noted that total line of duty deaths increased more than 50 percent from 2019, largely at- tributed to the virus. In fact, fatalities due to non-COVID caus- es are actually down from last year. The organization found that on-the-job coronavirus infections accounted for more of- ficer deaths than gun violence, car accidents and other causes combined.
Sadly, the Chicago Police Department lost four of its own this past year, with many more known (and unknown) infec- tions attributed to COVID-19. In one month alone, from Oct. 1, 2020 to Nov. 1, 2020, the Chicago Police Department logged 293 new, confirmed cases of infection. However, there is some good news on the horizon. Several vaccines have recently been approved and are starting to roll out across the country.
PAT FIORETTO
16 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JANUARY 2021