Page 17 - May 2017 Newsletter

Field Representative’s Report
More than a job
Like many other police officers, I have other family members who are and were the police. Growing up, I was fortunate to have two uncles who are now retired Officers, one who was a K-9 handler and then a sergeant, and one who became their union president. Being around them gives you an insight into what it is to be the Police. Into things that people who are not
the Police don’t understand: the bonds and camaraderie you have with a partner, a team and a watch.
I also had a grandmother whose dad was a Chicago Po- lice Officer in the ’20s and early ’30s. She would always tell me stories about him, about how he worked Michigan Av- enue. How he then worked in Jefferson Park, and how he would pick her and her sister up from the movie theater in the police car and drive them home.
The story she would tell the most was how he died when she only nine. He had contracted a staph infection from a puncture wound that he sustained while working. At the time, there were no antibiotics to fight it. The infec- tion eventually reached his heart after several attempts to stop the spread with amputations. The thing that has stuck with me after reading through newspaper clippings
that my grandmother saved: over the course of his fight, hundreds of officers came to give blood transfusions. So many that they had to turn some of them away. It showed me at an early age how being part of the brotherhood was more than a job.
How when you take the oath you not only make a prom- ise to protect the citizens of the Chicago, but you also be- come a part of family. When a member of your family is in need, you rally together to help.
I didn’t know it way back when I started on the job near- ly 19 years ago, but I think I have always been moving to- ward working at the FOP in one capacity or another.
Why? Because I already have fought several battles on behalf of my coworkers; some I have won, and some are still ongoing.
I want to bring this same fighting spirit to the FOP, and I am honored that President Graham brought me up to the FOP offices when a position opened up after the election.
Let me explain.
Before I got on the SWAT unit in 2005, I worked SOS, 24th District gang team, and patrol in 24 and 11. In those years, I often studied the Lodge contract and issues of la-
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ROBERT BARTLETT
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ MAY 2017 17