Cops Care More About Black Lives Than 'A Lot Of Black Politicians,' Says Police Union Head

By Stephen Gossett in News on Mar 6, 2017 5:26PM



Screenshot from 'The Contract'

As the battle between the Chicago police union and police-reformist aldermen continues to percolate, union president Dean Angelo said in a recent interview that Chicago police care more about black lives than many black politicians.

In an hour-long interview with The Daily Line publisher Mike Fourcher for The Aldercast, Angelo, President of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge, said, “Police officers are more concerned about black lives than a lot of black politicians, because we risk our life for people that don’t look like us.”

“Politicians that demonize the police—and these activists that think all the sudden—we’re the problem, we’re not the problem. We’re not the demon out there. We’re the ones you call when your junk is hitting the fan, because you know we’re gonna come,” Angelo said in the interview, which was posted on Sunday.

Angelo also said the police contract is “under attack” and criticized aldermen who he claims have not read the contract, yet are pushing for revisions.

At the same time that Angelo is running for re-election as union president, the City Council’s Black Caucus, along with some other aldermen, is pushing hard for those fundamental reforms to the police contract.

Among the aldermen’s requests are an end to the requirement for an affidavit that prevents anonymous complaints for advancing; a stop to the controversial 24-hour so-called “cooling off” period that officers have before making a statement after police-involved shootings; and an end to the clause that allows disciplinary record older than four years to be destroyed.

While members of the Black Caucus lobby for the changes—for which Mayor Rahm Emanuel has gestured support—Angelo looks to shore up his re-election bid, as officers’ ballots are due in this month.

The wide-ranging interview also touches on the Department of Justice recommendations for reform in the Chicago Police Department and the FOP’s lawsuit against the city of Chicago, which alleges that investigators for the city’s police oversight agencies are not properly trained. You can listen here.

Angelo raised eyebrows late last year when the union president appeared to defend a code of silence while speaking with filmmakers for an Al Jeezera documentary about the police union and its contract.

Chicagoist has reached out to members of the City Council's Black Caucus—including Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th), the chairman; and Ald. Jason Ervin (28th), the vice chairman—for comment. This post will be updated as necessary.