Page 33 - May 2017 Newsletter

Full Team Ahead
New administration focused on bringing a unifying voice to Lodge 7 and improving working conditions for all members
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
Kevin Graham had to run. The newly elected Lodge 7 President had been on the job for what seemed like a few minutes, and he didn’t have a lot of time to talk. He’s a man of few words anyway, a president who speaks up when the voice of Chicago Police Officers needs to be heard and a leader who knows that actions can often speak louder.
But two members had been shot the night before, an- other ambush on Chicago coppers, and Graham wanted to get to the hospital to check on his men. He wanted to try to and ease any pain possible, for Graham knows what it’s like to stare down the barrel of a gun. It wasn’t that long ago that a perp put a gun to Graham’s face.
He pulled the trigger. The gun jammed. An altercation ensued. Injuries incurred during that fight sent Graham to the hospital. The Department sent a car to bring his wife to the hospital. She didn’t know why. If Graham had one wish as the new Lodge 7 President, it very well might be that no officer knows that feeling.
“Our officers have spouses, children and loved ones who never know if they are coming back that night,” Gra- ham extols. “It is our job at FOP to give as many tools as possible to our members so they can go home safely every night.”
Clearly, Kevin Graham has been there; that’s why he’s your new president. So have the rest of the members of Chicago FOP’s new leadership team. They have a com- bined maybe 100 years or more of time in a beat car and have been elected to represent the perspective of patrol
cops and detectives, the women and men who are the heart and soul of the Department and have been longing for a voice.
“Here’s the thing: A few weeks ago, I was in a beat car,” Graham voices. “I’ve been in a beat car for 22 years in the City. I think everybody (on our leadership team) has worked in patrol and knows patrol cops are treated un- fairly at times. We want to be the voice of every police of- ficer working in the City and make sure those times are as few as possible.”
Leading man
The easy line here would be something like “meet your new president.” But chances are most members have met Graham. During his campaign, he went to roll calls in dis- tricts throughout the City to hear what members wanted from their union. And even 10 days after being sworn in, he showed up on a Friday night at a roll call in 15 to meet with the officers on midnights.
“Keep an eye out for me,” Graham quips. “The roll calls are great and I want to continue to show up.”
If you saw Graham at a roll call on the campaign trail, you probably heard his mantra of bringing the fight to anybody who feels Chicago coppers are not deserving. Such statements could easily be dismissed as campaign rhetoric, but Graham’s presidentiality catapulted on much more than rhetoric.
The first 10 years of his law enforcement career were
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CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ MAY 2017 33