The Fraternal Order of Police fired back at Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Thursday, saying her letter to Mayor Lori Lightfoot about violence ignores the real problem — that Preckwinkle protégée Kim Foxx is “not working with the police, but against them.”

“Despite the difficulty of policing in a city with elected officials like Ms. Preckwinkle and Ms. Foxx, the police prove time and again that they are still doing their job, including getting guns off the street,” the police union argued in a post on Facebook.

“The false and politically motivated claims of Ms. Preckwinkle will only serve to increase violence within the city, but it is encouraging to see that Mayor Lightfoot is willing to look at the real causes of crime in the city and speak openly about them,” the FOP argued.

Preckwinkle fired off an angry letter to Lightfoot on Tuesday, accusing the mayor, Police Supt. Eddie Johnson and the FOP of spreading a “false narrative” that Preckwinkle’s and Foxx’s bail reforms are driving the city’s violence.

In its unsigned Facebook response, the FOP argued that many factors contribute to shootings, including the weather, but said Preckwinkle is ignoring a major problem.

“Ms. Preckwinkle ignores the overwhelming evidence that [Cook Cook County State’s Attorney] Kimberly Foxx is not working with the police, but against them,” the post reads in part. “Her bail reform strategies are part of that pattern, along with her willingness to release convicted killers on frivolous claims of wrongful conviction. Many detectives, active and retired, are being falsely accused. This is a key reason for the low resolution rates.”

In her letter, Preckwinkle complained about the city’s and FOP’s attempts to trace the violence on the county “county judges, county prosecutors — and their failure to do their job and that’s simply not true.”

“It’s a false narrative, and they know it, and it’s infuriating,” she said, referring to the story she says is being perpetuated by Johnson and the FOP.

Preckwinkle pointed to the city’s homicide clearance rate — “one of the lowest in the nation” — as a reason for the city’s violence, writing to Lightfoot that it emboldens violent perpetrators to “continue wreaking havoc in our communities.

Earlier Thursday, Lightfoot also responded pointedly to Preckwinkle’s message, accusing her former mayoral rival of political motives.

“It’s July — not March. The election’s over and we had a result,” Lightfoot said, referring to her 74 percent landslide over Preckwinkle in the April 2 runoff that saw Lightfoot sweep all 50 wards.

“We’re gonna continue to take the high road and move forward. But, there are legitimate issues that have been raised and the superintendent, I think, is right to raise them.”

In a statement Thursday, Preckwinkle said the matter was about politics “plain and simple” and extended an invitation to “the city” to come to the table for dialogue.”

“We can go back and forth all day about statistics,” part of the statement read. “The public doesn’t care about spreadsheets they care about solutions and results. I stand by my statement that false narratives do not help us achieve the goals of making sure all of Cook County is safe and viable. Nor does it save lives.”

“Criminal justice reform is a priority and it is necessary. We must do all we can to reverse the devasting impact of mass incarceration of black, brown and poor people in this country; and, equally so, it is our responsibility as leaders to ensure that every resident has the ability to live in safe and healthy neighborhoods,” Preckwinkle said.

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