Page 15 - February 2021

Communications Report
Essential work is done in person
So much has been made of late about essential workers working from home, working remotely and learning remotely, and the risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19 by coming into close contact with others.
COVID-19 is real. As we have seen firsthand, thou- sands of our members have contracted the virus while working. Some were hospitalized and, even worse, the Chicago Police Department lost four members to the disease. Thankfully, each tragic loss was rightly considered a line-of-duty death because each officer contracted the virus serving the people
of Chicago.
We hope at this time that the City, its residents and all members
of the Department never forget that we are essential workers. We must leave home every day, leave our families, and respond to a domestic, make a street stop or chase a suspect with a gun.
And while so much of the world is working remotely from home, refraining from coming into contact with others to avoid contracting and spreading COVID, we are too essential to have that choice. We are not the public service workers who call them- selves essential but insist they don’t want to show up for the job in person.
We are the ones who are going to work through riots, looting and civil unrest, working every day with days off cancelled, man- datory overtime and extended tours of duty. We are the ones who have suffered from COVID-19 while serving the people of Chica-
go, even while taking proper precautions to avoid contracting the virus.
But this is what makes our job essential. We will never hesitate to risk our own well-being to serve the people of Chicago in every community across the city.
Other essential workers we are reading about in the news me- dia have been working remotely for nearly a year. They contin- ue to choose to work remotely, even if it is detrimental to those they serve. Bolstered by the efforts of their union, those essential workers have chosen not to mask up, chosen not to take proper precautions to avoid contracting the virus and chosen not to get back to their essential work in person. I think we all know which workers and which Chicago public union are at the forefront of this.
Our officers will never sit out. Our officers will continue to go to work in person and work tirelessly on behalf of the people of Chicago.
Lodge 7 members will continue with their essential work and continue to risk their lives and their well-being for the benefit of all residents in the city. It’s service of others, serving all commu- nities — the elderly, moms and dads and, most importantly, chil- dren — that emphasizes why our work is so essential.
Never forget that there are thousands of officers on the street working in every community, every hour of the day, serving and protecting the people of Chicago. Working in person. Because it’s essential.
MICHAEL CARROLL
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ FEBRUARY 2021 15