Page 34 - February 2020 FOP Magazine

HERE’S LOOKING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33
evidence documenting how Chicago Police Officers are work- ing in districts throughout the city to offer kids a chance that many of the coppers who came from these neighborhoods did not get.
To provide a positive role model the city’s young people might otherwise not get.
To go out of their way every day for that one moment that could change a kid’s perception of the police, and perhaps
change their lives.
To embrace the teens and
tweens and win the battle on the streets where the city is losing them to the gangs and
the drug dealers.
To put a smile on their
faces that the kids so much need.
“If we are touching the next generation, we need to help them put that posi- tive foot forward,” exclaims
James Nash, the youth liai- son officer in the 006 CAPS office. “We have to show them a different way. We
can keep them from be- ing locked up by giving them the proper positive
tools.”
It is nearly impossi-
ble to document how much time officers on the beat put into kids. Some type interaction takes place during every minute of every watch during daylight hours, and certainly
much of the night.
Look at the bulletin boards in every district and see the fly-
ers chronicling the events and programs in and around CAPS to measure how much Chicago Police Officers serve youth. To feel the emotion of how life-changing these efforts can be, scroll through the district Facebook and Twitter pages to see images of kids high-fiving and hugging cops, officers walking kids to school, taking young women to shop for prom dress- es, playing chess after school and, of course, the little ones dressed up as cops for Halloween
“We’re just trying to give kids the ability to become them- selves,” 15th District Youth Liaison Officer William Martinez reasons. “We can give them the experiences so they know there is a bigger world out there, and if they work hard, they can achieve it.”
Bringing out the kids in them
The Department thrives on many, many officers who do random – and not-so-random – acts of kindness for the city’s kids. It’s become
so impactful and inte- gral, however, that ev- ery community polic- ing operation in every district has at least one
youth liaison officer. Some have several.
These are people who fully vest themselves in the kids and
often invest their own time and money. They show the special skills and backgrounds Chicago Police Officers have to culti- vate an innate interest in the youth.
They are officers like Seth Wiselogel in 014, who has an art degree and uses his creative ideas to reach out as a liaison. They are coppers like James Nash, a former professional base- ball player who gravitated from working for the White Sox to the job. They are public servants destined to do this — like Martinez, who prepped for the job by playing basketball with kids at Moore Park on his breaks and now has his 18-year-old son on the Youth District Advisory Council (YDAC) in 015.
They are devoted like Officer Cortez Cox in the 7th District. According to Roderique McClain, a Lodge 7 unit rep in 007, Cox will drive around for two hours before a weekend pro- gram picking up kids who might want to attend but have no way of getting there. He has also paid for prom dresses for kids out of his own pocket.
“He says he used to be one of those kids who missed out,” McClain notes about Cox. “And he doesn’t want these kids to miss out.”
Apparently, the motivation to go above and beyond the call of duty for all their children runs deep for every Chicago Po- lice Officer.
“Putting a smile on their faces just for a few seconds,” Wiselogel declares. “When you see their faces light up, espe- cially when they’re looking up to a police officer, it’s a sense of fulfillment. Like you have made a difference.”
Kids rock
Celebrating those who believe going all out for the city’s youth is more than just kid stuff and what they have achieved is part of this mission. Per- haps there is no better way to do that than to pe- ruse the districts’ and the Depart- ment’s social media pages,
for with regard
to law enforce-
ment, this is
social media
at its finest.
A small sam-
pling of what’s out there is
spread throughout the pages here, snapshots of what
10th District Youth Liaison Officer Dave Vazquez calls, “The selflessness that builds joy and character within the human heart.”
In 014, selflessness went all the way to the top during the district’s National Night Out event this past August. Wiselogel estimates that 1,500 people showed up at the event. District Commander Mel Roman wanted to help the fundraising ef- forts for the local Boys and Girls Club and suggested doing so with a dunk tank. The commander joined his officers taking turns as the dunk tank target. They raised $1,450.
34 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ FEBRUARY 2020
District Officers Brenna Putis (left) and Joy Thompson with two kids who came to the 14th District Halloween party dressed as their heroes.
Officer Juan Diaz reunites with a girl he saved from a home when she was a baby.