Thread by @BauerJournalism

Police Supt. David Brown has a news conference at 4 p.m. where he'll talk about officers being taken off the streets for defying Chicago's vaccine mandate.

I'll live tweet. Follow for updates and let me know if you have questions.
blockclubchicago.org/2021/10/19/19-…

Just beginning. Watch here: facebook.com/ChicagoPoliceD…

Brown: 67% of staff entered info into portal. Of those, 82% are fully vaccinated.

Brown: Of those who didn't enter it, some have said it was just an error. CPD gives them opportunity to enter info if they hadn't already. "Many" chose to do so.

Brown: Those who still refuse are then sent to Human Resources to be put on no-pay status. Some then enter it.

...

Afterward, if they still won't enter it, they're put into no-pay status and are sent to Bureau of Internal Affairs for a direct order to enter into the portal. "Many" then enter into the portal, too.

Brown: 21 sworn officers have not entered info. They are in no-pay status.

Brown: This has been a "very emotional ... very difficult conversation to have with employees."

Brown: Of those who were put on no-pay status, "many" decided to go back and comply. CPD has allowed that.

Brown: "This is about officer safety. ... We believe the work of either getting our employees to enter their information into the portal then provide twice-a-week testing will save lives, will save the lives of the officers that we are getting into the portal. It will save ...

"the lives of their family members. We believe it will save the lives of their coworkers, other officers in this department; and, finally, we believe it will save lives in the community. ... We often are in people's homes and businesses. And without that vaccination and/or ...

"testing, we risk community harm, harm [to] the officers and their families."

Brown: This past week, he was in Washington, D.C., at National Police Memorial with families of Chicago officers who have died from COVID-19. They're still grieving.

Brown: "It's really front and center to us, all of us, from a professional standpoint, of the serious nature of the virus. The virus is the No. 1 killer of police officers."

blockclubchicago.org/2021/10/19/19-…

Brown: Just last month, Brown lost his first cousin to COVID-19 — and her husband and her daughter in a two-week timespan. They were anti-vaxxers.

"I have been tested personally by this virus."

Brown: "I will say and do anything to save an officer's life. I will."

Brown: "This virus is no different than the gunfire we take as cops. And I will do everything I can, and I will say anything I need to, to convince officers to do everything they can to save their lives, the lives of their families, the lives of other officers and the lives of...

"the people who we are sworn to protect in this community. We're sworn to protect these people int he community. We would go against our oath to take this virus into their homes."

Brown: "We want them to live, we want them not to get COVID and die like my cousins. We don't want them to spread it to another officer, and they take it home to maybe a family member with secondary medical conditions, and they die from COVID ... ."

Brown: Many officers who didn't comply "have been misinformed. They talk about that. ... As far as the numbers, we do it throughout the whole day; this team has gone through the whole day. We likely have several more days of sitting down with each individual employee. ..."

Brown: We've done "several hundred. We likely have several hundred, if not 1,000, more to do."

Brown: We have a lot of work to. "But as the word gets out in this department, more and more people enter the portal."

Brown: Officers have come to work. We've been fully staffed. There hasn't been a shift that's been short.

Press conference over.

STORY: blockclubchicago.org/2021/10/19/19-…