Page 38 - April 2017 Newsletter

Believing and Achieving
Lodge 7 honors Moore for her dedication and support to thousands of members
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
n PHOTOS BY AMY WRIGHT
Kathy Moore had been asked to leave the third floor and come down to the hall for the Lodge 7 members meet- ing on March 21. Now, most members know Kathy as the Lodge 7 staffer who spearheads writing responses for Chi- cago Police Officers charged with misconduct. And most members know she doesn’t like to leave the third floor when there’s work to be done.
“Doreen (Plachta) called me down to watch the Officer Awards, and I wasn’t very happy about it,” Moore said of the request her sister and the Lodge 7 Executive Assistant to the President had made.
When she stepped into the hall, Moore noticed her three kids waiting. And President Dean Angelo, Sr., then began a presentation that culminated with Moore being honored as the first-ever recipient of the FOP Lodge 7 Lifetime Achievement Award.
When President Angelo made the announcement, a standing ovation erupted for Moore. Then another. And as she made her way to the podium to receive the award, an officer standing on the side shouted, “She saved my job. Twice.”
Tens of thousands of Chicago Police Officers could give a similar shout-out to Moore. Part of her job is to write “To-Froms,” the response from the union to a charge of misconduct on behalf of the officer at issue. She estimat- ed that in 20 years of serving the Lodge in this capacity, she has authored more than 30,000 To-Froms.
“I was shocked and I was humbled,” Moore said of the honor. “I’ve been very lucky to make friends on both sides. In working with the Department, I’ve been able to do my job by understanding that you’re not getting any- thing done if you don’t treat people right.”
Plachta related that the word on Moore throughout the FOP is how nobody battles harder in support of Chicago coppers. Moore indicated that she wants to make sure she has their backs, especially in these current times when it’s easy for officers to feel that nobody does.
That relentless dedication led then-Lodge 7 First Vice-President Ray Casiano, Jr., and Field Representative Marlon Harvey to recommend honoring Moore for her lifetime achievement.
“Shortly after being elected in 2014, I realized Kathy was queen bee to the buzz on the floor who got things done,” Casiano commented. “She’s passionate about what she does. She cares about the officers and she’s the real deal for them. They know she’s their last lifeline or the last bit of hope for their discipline case or other issues they may be facing.”
38 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ APRIL 2017
She knows because she has been there. She had been on the job for 11 years in 1996, when she lost the last ap- peal on her own case and had to leave the Department. Bill Nolan, Lodge 7 President at the time, knew how much being a copper meant to Moore and hired her on to the union staff. Since then, she has taken each one of those 30,000 cases personally.
Casiano noted that Moore has so much institutional knowledge of the FOP that very little happens without her knowing about it and contributing her expertise. So it was a bit of a monumental achievement to keep the award a secret, especially when Plachta maneuvered to get Moore’s kids to be there and even some of their nine other brothers and sisters.
Afterward, she joined with her family in celebrating the way most Lodge 7 award winners do: lunch at the Palace Grill. As she left the hall to make her way to the celebratory gathering, another round of applause escort- ed Moore out, almost as a thank you from the more than 30,000 officers she has helped. d