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First Vice President’s Report
Time to put our health and wellbeing first
How did we come to this nonsensical way of po- licing that includes days off being canceled on a reg- ular basis and officers working 12-hour days?
I remember NATO and how well the department prepared for the protestors and agitators. As the af- termath of the death of George Floyd unfolded, it became apparent that our City and Department did nothing to prepare for any civil unrest. Even after the craziness at the end of May going into the beginning of June, our “leadership” in Chicago still did nothing
to keep it from happening again. Oh, to be a fly on the wall at 35th Street or City Hall.
I wish I could tell you exactly why those in charge would allow our city to fall so far down into the abyss that has become the new norm across the U.S. I still cannot understand why the Depart- ment has not formulated contingency plans for responding to the constant civil unrest. The last-minute RDO cancellations and changes to schedules are not contingency plans and need to stop.
Lodge 7 President John Catanzara gave the Department a pro- posal more than two months ago about how to better handle this. And, although the Department seems to like the idea, it is still stuck in limbo. Something needs to change, and it should start on the fifth floor at headquarters.
I am not laying all the blame at Superintendent Brown’s door, but it does start there. We need real leadership to start showing up from the top brass. They need to start putting the health and well-
being of the men and women on the front lines ahead of political and personal gain. After all, this lawlessness seems to be the new norm.
It also seems to be accepted by certain politicians. The anar- chists who would love nothing more than to completely disman- tle the American way of life have become the good guys, while we lowly police have been turned into the enemy. How can this be? It is simple. Between the mainstream news media and the local rags claiming the police were constantly being too rough when dealing with the “mostly peaceful” protestors, the narrative took off.
Even Mayor Lightfoot further revved up the anti-police band- wagon. She called for the firing of an officer for an incident that should not have been anything more than a SPAR. We had officers being stripped to make our “leadership” look stern on police mis- conduct. This entire summer was a big F-U from City Hall to our membership. And our membership deserves to be well-rewarded in this next contract period.
With the constant rhetoric and attacks from City Hall and the media, even after working most of the summer with little to no time off and even after most of those days lasting 12 hours or more, our officers still showed up to keep our city as safe as it can be. Their resiliency is truly amazing. Now more than ever, we need to be united as a membership to ensure we are taken care of for the remarkable work being done on a daily basis.
Keep your head up and, as always, stay safe!
MICHAEL METTE
8 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ OCTOBER 2020