Page 5 - April 2017 Newsletter

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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
National Appreciation
Before getting into how events transpired to result in the photo on the cover of this issue of Chicago Lodge 7 Mag- azine, we must extend our sincerest appreciation and utmost gratitude to National FOP President Chuck Canter- bury and National FOP Exec- utive Officer James Pasco for
DEAN C. ANGELO, SR.
offering us the opportunity to participate in such an historic event as meeting at the White House on March 28. We also need to take a moment to put our White House invi- tation into perspective. For those who might not be as familiar with the size of the national as they should be, the National Fra- ternal Order of Police Grand Lodge is, in fact, the world's largest law enforcement organi- zation. The National Lodge represents more than 330,000 members and boasts more than 2,200 subordinate lodges. Chicago Lodge 7 is the largest subordinate lodge.
However, such was not the case with this particular call.
So on behalf of the women and men of Lodge 7, allow me to personally thank you, Chuck and Jim, for giving me the opportuni- ty to address our members’ frustrations and to share with President Trump and his administration how the officers of the Chicago Police Department continue to perform at such an amazing level of profes- sionalism and dedication despite the politi- cal fallout and undeserved criticism that have become commonplace in the City.
As the conversation began, the questions centered around my availability for a trip to Washington, D.C. to attend a once-in-a-life- time meeting with President Trump, Vice- President Mike Pence and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Availability? Nothing was going to stop us from freeing up the time necessary to get to that meeting and have the President hear our concerns about morale, violence and the overall anti-police climate that has been adversely impacting our members for far too long.
Presidential meeting
As quickly as we had a meeting scheduled, it was cancelled due to the ever-changing schedule of the White House. Shortly after the initial date came and went, our next meeting was on my calendar for the second week of March. The plans came together, and final travel arrangements were made and kept as quiet as possible. The invitation to include Lodge 7 to go to the White House was due to the litany of events that have taken place in our city the past three years.
The process began with a phone call from President Canterbury. Typically, when the national calls a local lodge there’s an issue – or three – to be addressed. When the call first came in, we immediately asked, “What now?” With all the events surrounding our recent election process and grabbing the attention of lodges from across the country, we thought that might be the issue.
Also during the past three years, the strength of the relationship that has been built between Lodge 7 and the National Lodge has developed into a level of mutual
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