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CHICAGO LODGE # 7 lÑÑáÅá~ä j~Ö~òáåÉ
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. Jim Jakstavich
Trustees
Robert Rutherford, Chair 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 McDonagh
Magazine Committee Members
Greg Bella, Chair Joseph Gentile Bill Burns Thomas McKenna Michael Carroll
President’s Report
Is FOP Finally Being Heard?
During the past two-plus years, we have been quite busy making many public statements, both by print and television media outlets. Whenever we are available, and there are no scheduling conflicts, we never turn down an oppor-
your local police” events that they are hosting. Even elected officials (although few would do so publicly), corporate executives, academics and many work- ing-class Chicagoans reach out to assure us that the daily efforts performed by the women and men of the Chicago Police Department are truly and unwaveringly appreciated.
DEAN C. ANGELO, SR.
tunity to speak out on behalf of our mem- bership. Our conversations with the media generally address the state of the Chicago Police Department, the violence in Chicago and even the contributing social factors which directly relate to the city’s most crime-ridden areas – such as poor education, lack of familial structure, minimal support options, exposure to cycles of violence and access to weapons...just to name a few. Further- more, one issue we reference time and time again is the overwhelming and obvi- ous need for the city to hire more police officers.
We only wish that those who do truly support the police would do so in more of an obvious manner, and also in a way in which their supportive voices could be heard over the deafening anti-police rhetoric.
Interview after interview, statement after statement; each and every one of our interviews is solely intended to drive home the Lodge agenda: Inform the politicians and every law-abiding Chicagoan about how serious it is for them to publicly support Chicago Police Officers’ efforts to stem the non-stop vio- lence that has taken over our city. More often than not, shortly after our interviews end, the accolades begin to pour in. Law enforcement organizations from across the country reach out to thank us for speaking up on behalf of ALL officers. Local and national news media outlets repeatedly request the hard data we use to substantiate our comments regarding crime statistics. Often times, local clergy and community leaders call the Lodge with words of support and inform us of prayer services or “support
It appears that, at long last, what we have been hammering home is not only being heard, it is being repeated. During the past few weeks, certain individuals on the speaking circuit have said exactly what we have been saying for the past two-plus years. One perfect example of our messaging getting out there is evident by several people using the tag line, “the world is upside down” in reference to what we had been saying whenever we had discussed false narratives and other anti-police/pro-criminal movements.
“Imitation,
the Sincerest Form of Flattery”
Another example of our messaging being picked up by others is how certain politicians and community activists have begun repeating our position regarding the long-standing and impoverished areas of the city, and how these neighbor- hoods have been left unattended for far too long. Directly associated with this particular discussion continues to be the unrelenting fog of violence and despair that has been overlooked for decades.
When we spoke at the City Club of Chicago on June 28, we addressed several
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