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to be sure, confirmed by the line out the front door of the Hall, through the courtyard and stretching all the way to Washington Street 30 minutes before the start.
The packed house came with no parking available in the Plumbers Local 130 UA lot next door, which is typically made available for members meetings. (A class at plumbers hall caused the lot to be full.) Catanzara confided that he thought that might diminish attendance, so the turnout was even more of a confirmation that members are starting to understand the importance and significance of attending the monthly meeting.
“I’m coming to find out where the FOP is going and what an officer is going to do about these new laws coming out,” ex- plained Officer Van Watts, who has been on for 31 years and works the traffic detail in the Special Functions Unit. “We know that it’s going to be a hard thing to deal with, but they’re giving the information we need to know. People ask questions, and they answer them for us.”
Every meeting now begins with an expression of Lodge 7’s commitment to its members. This comes in the form of the monthly Officer Awards.
This used to be an opportunity to recognize a few members or groups of members going above and beyond. But at the March 24 meeting, Financial Secretary Jim Jakstavich needed nearly 45 minutes to present eight awards for lifesaving efforts, meritori- ous service and acts of valor.
One of the teams honored included 22nd District Officers Mi- chael Wagner and Mark Rosciani, who rescued two residents in a building on W. 100th Street who were unconscious due to car- bon monoxide poisoning. Dressed in his Class A uniform, Wag- ner shared how the thundering applause made this the biggest accolade of his career and more importantly, served as a confir- mation about how members maintain their selfless approach to go out of the way to do the job, despite what the anti-police rhetoric says.
“The FOP obviously does a lot for members, continually rec- ognizes that we still have each other’s backs and that the sup- port is always there,” Wagner added. “We don’t always get it in the street, but this is one place that we know we always have support, and we can trust the Lodge.”
If the events of the March 24 meeting are any indication, then there is never a dull moment at general membership meet- ings. Following the awards presentation and before Catanzara launched into a revealing and emotional president’s report, Illi- nois FOP President Chris Southwood took the podium to deliv- er some momentous words.
First, Southwood presented Greg Bella, who retired last year as the Lodge 7 Recording Secretary, with the state FOP President’s Award. As Southwood honored his good friend, he praised Bella “for over 35 years of trust and leadership and resolute dedica- tion to the membership of Chicago Lodge 7.”
Southwood also made the trek from Springfield to give Lodge 7 members some fighting words about the heinous criminal justice reform bill the Illinois General Assembly forced through at the end of the January lame-duck legislative session. He re- lated that the law spawned from HB 3653 has become known as the Safety Act and then inspired some reaction by saying it is anything but safe. Southwood also shared a story about how the FOP fought this thing to the end.
Southwood had requested that the FOP have a seat at the table for any police reform discussion. He was told by Illinois Senate President Don Harmon that to do so, the union better be prepared to come to the table and admit that the police are the problem.
“Before I could say anything, your Lodge 7 president stepped up and told him exactly what he felt about that,” Southwood
Detective Erin Jones didn’t hesitate to bring her daughters, because attending the meeting is that important to members.
More than 30 minutes before the start, the line of members waiting to get into the meeting extended out the door.
disclosed. “I won’t tell you exactly, because there are children in the room. But I can tell you the meeting ended abruptly.”
Southwood concluded his similarly passionate remarks by imploring members to start targeting their votes for the 2022 election, in which every seat in the House and Senate, as well as the governor’s seat, will be on the ballot.
“We can flip this thing,” he added. “Remember, nobody is fighting this harder than the FOP.”
President Catanzara then ignited the way the general mem- bership meeting has become a venue to vent, to cry and to call out when his report turned to the way the Department respond- ed to an officer who took his own life in the 19th District, one of two in early March. He fought back some tears over how the job is leading to these tragedies and vented how the Department didn’t provide the sensitivity and support that members in 019 and throughout the city deserved.
Officer Carolynn Crump, who works with Unit 125 Field Tech-
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