Page 39 - November 2021

In 2017, Dean joined the National FOP to visit President Trump in the Oval Office.
“He would tell us, ‘I think this is something that’s going to be good for us. We should all go to the meetings,’” Lappe reported. “He had a vision that it would be good for members.”
Dineen and Nolan had such a profound influence on Dean that Dean Jr. would often hear about what his father learned from “Mr. Dineen” and “Mr. Nolan.” Dean was first elected to the Lodge 7 board of directors under Nolan.
Dean eventually decided to run for third vice president. His opponent in that election was Greg Bella, who was the record- ing secretary in Dean’s administration. Bella won that election, but he heard something from his worthy opponent that would
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel shares a moment with Dean.
have a profound impact on the future of the Lodge.
“He told me to never forget about the guys in the beat car,”
Bella related. “That was his advice, and it was true.”
Around 2013, the Lodge 7 leadership seemed to forget about the guys in the beat car. President Mike Shields ran into some issues that led to him being removed from office. Contract ne- gotiations were about to accelerate, and the Lodge was spiraling
downward. Somebody had to step up.
“I asked John and Bill about what we were going through and
if they had ever seen anything this bad,” Dean confided during a
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