Page 38 - December 2020

POINTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37
As the pandemic raged in March, “We’re all in this together” chronicled members leading the city through the unthinkable. In April, “Three of a kind,” celebrated the lives of Marco DiFran- co, Ronald Newman and Clifford Martin, who became the De- partment’s first officers lost in the line of duty to COVID-19.
By June, “Visionaries” presented the 2020 Vision Team that was elected to become the voice Lodge 7 had been missing from its representation for so long. In July, a “Big Meeting,” took place, the first of many when members have packed the FOP Hall
to express their support and appreciation for the
new Lodge 7 voice, the 2020 Vision Team led
by outspoken President John Catanzara
that was elected in the spring.
In August and September, “Making a Stand” showed how the pushback against anti-po- lice accentuated “A Fine Line” that members bond-
ed to thicken the blue line. By October, the union flexed its political action to “Rock the Vote.”
As the year culmi-
nated with a “Salute
to Service,” these were
some of the actual
headlines that creat-
ed this toast to the re-
markable resilience of
Chicago Police Officers
and their union. Lodge 7
Trustee Brock Merck cap-
tured the essence of what
2020 reaped for members
with a passage from a book he
is reading that suggests, “Hard times create strong men and strong men create good times.”
Looking back at a tumultuous 2020 reinforces the strength and good times that made it a more successful year than the news headlines would indicate.
“The sheer perseverance and fortitude of our members shined through and through and their resiliency showed every day,” Lodge 7 Recording Secretary Rob Noceda praised. “De- spite being underappreciated by politicians and the media, they refused to yield. They’re still getting guns off the streets. They’re still helping people in mental distress. They are still interacting with the public in a positive way. They are still the working po- lice with a level of professionalism that is the finest in the na- tion.”
Upon further review
When looking at 2020 in the rearview mirror, it’s hard to ig- nore the multiple incidents of officers getting attacked in their beat cars, having windows busted and tires slashed as they were trying to respond. It’s hard to overlook those who were part of the riot response, wound up separated from their groups in the melees and had to take a beating from thugs. It’s hard not to be haunted by the images of all the members who had to work the streets amid COVID without having the proper PPE.
“They put us through the ringer,” Lodge 7 First Vice President Mike Mette confirmed on behalf of the membership. “They did little or nothing to make sure officers on the street were actually protected.”
38 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ DECEMBER 2020
But that only serves to magnify the successes members achieved in 2020. The microcosm of it all might have been that July 17 afternoon when rioters attacked the Columbus statue. Despite a sergeant taking a projectile to the face that broke his eye socket and 52 officers being injured in the assault, there was not a single incident of use of deadly force, unjustified or other- wise. And it seems it certainly would have been justified.
Likewise, it has to be considered that with a record number of police-involved shootings and a record number of homicides in the city during 2020, that not a single officer was lost in the line
of duty to such an incident. And then top off the suc- cess stories with recognizing the performance of groups like the bike units that put up with the protesting and rioting almost on a daily basis, but never wavered despite daily incidents of people yelling at them and spitting on
them.
“It shows their resolve
as a group that definite- ly stuck together,” Mette added. “No matter what kind of animosity or crap that was thrown at them, they did their job
and did it well.”
If 2020’s historic and
monumental challeng- es showed anything about Chicago Police
officers, it’s that you can never question their val- ues, their courage, their
intestinal fortitude.
“We’re always in the
game. We don’t sit on the sidelines. We don’t take a break. We work 24-7 so people can enjoy their freedoms,” Noceda noted. “You can call it an uncommon
valor. It’s just a sheer will to win the day.” What the city should praise is that members never made excuses to not come to work. What the Department should praise is officers following all the general orders as best as they could, knowing that many were danger-
ous for them to follow.
It all perpetuated a fraternalism that made a huge impact,
especially when COVID hit. One of the great worries for so many members was being exposed on the street and bringing it home to family members. Fitzpatrick related how officers with no families would step to take calls so those who had families would not have to endure the additional risks.
“It happened multiple times throughout all the districts,” he stated. “I’m proud to be a cop because of the people I work with, and if you don’t see the police in a different light now, then you weren’t paying attention the past year.”
If the media and the elected officials had been paying atten- tion, they would have noticed that there were few legitimate al- legations of wrongdoing by officers. They would also have seen repeated examples of members of the community supporting officers with small acts of kindness such as dropping off meals at the districts and larger statements such as standing with them on the streets.
The protesting might have made the headlines, but a differ- ent story would have come from talking to most of the City’s residents.