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CHICAGO LODGE 7
Official Magazine
President’s Report
FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE CHICAGO LODGE #7
EXECUTIVE BOARD
KEVIN GRAHAM
President
PATRICK J. MURRAY
First Vice President
Martin Preib
Second Vice President
Jay R. Ryan
Third Vice President
Greg Bella
Recording Secretary
Michael P. Garza
Financial Secretary
John Capparelli
Treasurer
Dean C. Angelo, Sr.
Immediate Past President
Sergeants-at-Arms
William Burns James Jakstavich Michael Mette
Trustees
Harold Brown Andrew Cantore Mark Donahue William Dougherty Pat Duckhorn Sergio Escobedo Fernando Flores Joseph Gentile Danny Gorman Ken Hauser Rick King Frank Quinn Carlos Salazar Ron Shogren Mark Tamlo Daniel Trevino Michael Underwood
Field Representatives
Robert Bartlett Rich Aguilar
Lodging a protest
At the end of May, hundreds of Chicago Police Officers went to the City Council to protest the Mayor and the City Council for not having our backs in policing the City.
The Fraternal Order of Police was loud and clear that morning. We did not appreciate the City of Chicago’s failure to back our police officers in the course of their duties, specifically an officer who clearly was within the “Use of Force” guidelines and who was cleared by the department. The of- ficer was still subject to being fired by the Chicago Police Board, which was, of course, unfair and unjust, and the Fraternal Order of Police needed to
speak out.
This isn’t the only issue we are upset about. There is the lack of progress in contract
negotiations. There have been only two meetings with the City during the past year. And there are proposals for civilian oversight of the Department, which we also need to speak out about.
In addition to COPA, Internal Affairs, the inspector general and ranks of supervisors overseeing police officers and making sure that everyone is doing what they are sup- posed to do, do we really need another oversight agency? On May 21, I spoke at the City Club of Chicago against the need for additional civilian oversight, explaining that we have civilians who volunteer every month and our advisers to the District Commander in all 22 Districts. I was surprised that Alderman Roderick Sawyer, who introduced the ordinance for additional oversight along with Alderman Harry Osterman, stated that he didn’t disagree with the majority of what I had just said to those in attendance at the City Club presentation.
This and other matters culminated with our protest at City Hall on May 23. I felt the protest was very successful, mostly due to the hard work of First Vice President Patrick Murray, Second Vice President Martin Preib and FOP Field Representative Robert Bart- lett.
I also want to thank all our members and Gold Star Family members who showed up, marched and supported us on May 23. Our members were peaceful and professional in expressing our dissatisfaction with the Mayor and City Council. The anti-police pro- testers did everything they could to try and provoke a confrontation with our mem- bers, including hitting us with verbal and physical abuse. One woman even spit on one of our unit reps. We offered a $1,000 reward for information about this person, and within an hour we started getting information. We hope to have the woman arrested soon and charged.
Turning to another matter, we continue to monitor the progress of the consent de- cree brought in by Attorney General Lisa Madigan asking a federal judge to oversee and monitor the Chicago Police Department.
All our members should be assured that the FOP will do everything it can to keep control of our own destiny and not put it in the hands of outsiders who are not working for our members’ best interests.
Parking restrictions around the Lodge 7 headquarters
KEVIN GRAHAM
In the past, the Plumbers Union Hall just east of FOP Headquarters on Washington
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