Unfortunately, the push for safety (and security) fell through the cracks during J-Fled's tenuous tenure. Now the FOP is reduced to filing safety grievances in the hopes of shaming the City into doing something that should have been covered years ago:
- The Fraternal Order of Police has reportedly filed a safety complaint in Chicago.
The police union is especially concerned about safety at the Harrison District.
"There is more security at a Chicken Shack at this neighborhood than at a police desk," said Pat Camden of the Fraternal Order of Police.
What Camden is talking about is the front desk inside Area 4 Police Headquarters. Located in the high-crime Harrison District, the station has had four security breaches in the last six months.
On June 7, a man entered the station, threw computers on the floor and assaulted at least one officer. On Aug. 11, a man walked in with an unloaded assault rifle. On Sept. 10th, a man jumped onto the station's front desk screaming and waving his fists. And finally, on Nov. 24th, a man walked into the station carrying a fully-loaded assault rifle.
While somewhat "minor" in the fact that no one got killed during any of these breaches, the problems faced by Area 4 are not unique. In fact, each of the Area HQ buildings feature an easy to leap over, unsecured, wide open desk and lobby area. 025, 019, 005 and 002, along with 011 have the same security issues. At least with the new stations, you have to run around a 4 foot high desk area to get at the desk personnel. We're pretty sure it's just pressed particle board, so it provides minimal protection in the event of an attack, but some shielding is better than none in the cases of the Areas.
We're also pretty sure that exactly nothing will be done until someone gets seriously hurt, or god forbid, killed.
We're also pretty sure that exactly nothing will be done until someone gets seriously hurt, or god forbid, killed.