- When we went through the police academy, we all had some senior police officer tell us “Kid – this job ain’t what it used to be.” Well,it ain’t. No matter when you came on the job, it is never the same as it used to be and it never will be. However, some things do stay the same.
My father told me that when he entered the Chicago Police Academy in September of 1938, he heard this same saying from his instructors. Now, as I enter my thirtieth year as a Chicago police officer, proudly wearing my father‘s Lieutenant’s star number, I find myself saying exactly the same thing to the young kids working for me.
In August of 1968 after the Democratic Convention, the Chicago Police were vilified by the media across the country as thugs and the enemy. The Chicago police officers at the convention were ordered there. They did not freely choose to be there like the demonstrators who attended the battle on Michigan Avenue. The officers were there doing their duty. Politicians and officials called for federal indictments against the police. Eight Chicago police officers were charged with civil rights violations and 41 officers were disciplined after an internal police investigation. Oh, yeah and by the way, 119 police officers were injured during the convention. That part never seems to get mentioned.
UPDATE: To the reading challenged, we are deleting references to "13 years." If you read carefully, you can see it says "30th." Also, the grammar police posts are getting annoying so we're deleting them, too.