Thread by @SWSchicago

Two years ago, in the heat of summer, my coworkers and I were transported by bus to a part of the city that was in the final stages of being looted. We were dropped off with no access to water, food, or bathrooms. After clearing the area of looters, we sat for hours doing nothing

We had no method of transportation to respond to calls. A bus is not an emergency vehicle, a bus driver is not outfitted with a ballistic vest. The only bus that remained with us served as a "cooling center" because it was extremely hot outside.

So, we were stuck. After we cleared out the looters, we secured the strip mall, and then sat on our asses for over 10 hours, waiting to get wind of any redeployment plans. That never happened. We sat around until we were released, about 14 hours later.

Some of my coworkers were able to make entry to a nearby business that had already been looted prior to our arrival. They were able to locate the pin code for the bathrooms. The city around us was burning, but everything was out of reach. At least we had bathrooms.

With nothing else to do, no means to actually get anywhere and make ourselves useful, some of my coworkers sought refuge in the shade, on the bus, or inside of the business. Some napped. We were all exhausted. Days off were cancelled. Shifts were 12+ hours with no end in sight.

It was later revealed that, elsewhere in the city, that same day, officers who were in the same predicament as us, decided to seek refuge in a nearby looted office space. (It has been repeated many times, but never publicly confirmed, that they were invited there.)

That office belonged to Congressman Bobby Rush, who has been in political office since 1983. Longer than I've been living on this earth.

Like us, the officers presumably didn't have access to food for their 12+ hour shift, so they helped themselves to some popcorn for sustenance

Not two weeks later, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown (newly appointed at the time), Mayor Lightfoot, and Congressman Bobby Rush held a joint press conference in which they slammed the officers who sought refuge in Rush's office.

Never once was it mentioned that these officers were on a platoon-style deployment and did not have access to squad cars, bathrooms, water, or food during their 12+ shifts, which went on for another 10 or so days. It was in the upper 80s/low 90s.

These officers and their supervisors were all punished, some taking so much time that they would lose their health insurance benefits. Congressman Bobby Rush so kindly declined to press charges on the officers. 🙄

The Superintendent never admitted any fault regarding how poorly planned the looting/riot response was. The OIG released a scathing report, but as usual, shit rolls down hill. Officers who did exactly what we did to escape the heat were vilified in the media.

One day before the now-infamous "Popcorngate" press conference, a Chicago Police Officer, Chinese immigrant, U.S. Navy veteran, and father named Xu Meng died of carbon monoxide poisoning after failing to turn off his car in his attached garage after his 12th 12-hour shift.

While this event made the evening news, neither the Mayor nor the Superintendent held any press conference regarding his death. After almost 2 weeks of non-stop 12+ hour shifts, the callous disregard for this fallen officer, followed up by a finger-pointing press conference [...]

Regarding some snacked-on popcorn and "lazy," "cowardly" officers who were just trying to manage their stress and exhaustion while being unable to relocate to tame the rioting... really struck a chord with the rest of us. Especially those of us who knew Officer Meng.

Those were incredibly dark days. What I've covered only scratches the surface of the hypocrisy and mismanagement by city government and CPD brass.

But, someone asked me why 2 years ago was the worst month of my life. This is just a piece of the reason why.

I'll throw in one more thing, just so this isn't too depressing. A few weeks after the riots, late June 2020, a little girl walked up to me & my partner while we were eating lunch on a patio. She slipped us this note. It's still saved in a folder on my phone called "good things."

After everything I had gone through that month--that we had all collectively gone through--this girl will never know how much that note, that small gesture, meant to me. I have a few similar pictures in that folder, for whenever I have doubts regarding why I'm still in this field