Page 46 - February 2018 FOP Newsletter

th istrict Officers get rolling with secial rec rogra
n BY NICK SWEDBERG
Getting a new perspective on life sometimes means walking in another person’s shoes. For some officers out of the 24th District, seeing life from a new angle meant strapping themselves into wheelchairs and playing a game of basketball.
Last month, about 15 officers played against members of the Chi- cago Skyhawks wheelchair basketball team.
“They kicked our butts pretty good,” said 24th District CAPS Ser- geant Shawn Sisk. “It wasn’t even close.”
But the point for the officers wasn’t the competition. Sisk said the Chicago Park District’s special recreation program does a lot to serve its communities. Working with the participants provided offi- cers with a unique opportunity to experience a program that gener- ally doesn’t get a great deal of attention, he said.
“It’s important that police officers see things through different eyes as well,” Sisk said.
The wheelchair basketball game also featured Ixhelt Gonzalez, a Chicago eighth grader who has become the youngest member of the 2018 U.S. Women’s National Wheelchair Basketball Team.
In the 1960s, the park district first began training employees on how to serve people with disabilities, and the Chicago Park District became the birthplace of the Special Olympics in 1968.
Sisk grew up volunteering with the Chicago Park District and used to work with it before becoming a police officer more than 21 years ago. Last year, he reached out to friend Gerry Henaghan, who runs the special recreation program that serves people with disabil- ities and veterans.
The goal is to create a “steady stream of recurring events for of- ficers to interact with the special rec community,” Sisk said. “The
wheelchair basketball game that we held was the first one. Each month, we’re going to be doing something with them. We have a lot of stuff cooking with them in 2018.”
Next month, officers will be playing a hockey game with mem- bers of the program. And another basketball game is in the works with the district’s adaptive sports program.
“I think the officers really enjoyed [the wheelchair basketball game). The more we keep it going, the more it becomes a frequent thing,” Sisk said.
Officers across Chicago are always looking to be involved in worthwhile causes. Sisk is trying to give officers in his district who are like that a chance to have yet another outlet for working posi- tively with the community.
“I can’t worry too much about what’s happening City-wide,” he said. “I have to concentrate on 24.” d
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