‘PRESIDENT HAS OUR BACK’
Itwas a love fest. “It was humbling,” Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President Dean-Angelo told Sneed after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday. “Although we did not come away with specific promises on manpower and assistance, it was good to hear President Trump was truly supportive of us.”
Angelo said that after the meeting, he and the eight other FOP leaders— including national FOP President Chuck Canterbury— were taken from the Roosevelt Room at the White House and into the Oval Office for a photo in back of the president sitting at his desk.
“I just kept thinking, ‘ Man, this is a once- in- alifetime moment, and our president is on our wavelength,’ ” Angelo said.
“At the meeting, I repeated my ongoing statement that when you lose your corner, you lose your block — and when you lose your block you lose your community. And when you lose your community, it catches on fire. And some of our communities are on fire.”
“Although there was no signal yet to send buckets of water to douse our neighborhoods on fire from gun violence, we left knowing the president has our back,” said Angelo, who was with Trump for about 30 minutes.
“It was a 45- minute meeting in total with U. S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Vice President Mike Pence, but when Trump came in, it was really electric.
“The president was very cordial and mentioned it ‘ was a shame what was going on in Chicago and how tragic it was, it was so out of control,’ ” said Angelo, who is running for re- election next month. “He listened to suggestions on the best ways to support law enforcement and listened to [ FOP] President Canterbury’s hopes that if funding for sanctuary cities gets cut, the funds don’t impact law enforcement.
“We told him it is essential to support the rank and file on the front line of this nightmare,” Angelo added. “He noted all the support he constantly receives from law enforcement and the military no matter where he goes.
“I also said that in August 2015, when an agreement was signed to move forward with investigatory stop reports under federal monitoring, it went far beyond the requirements of Senate Bill 1304 to mandate statewide collection of data.
“I said in August 2015, you would see street stops drop tremendously, and before you knew it, there would be 700 murders. “And it came true.” Angelo was notified that his mother was gravely ill before he left for Washington. But his sister assured him things would be OK back in Chicago.
“I almost didn’t go to the meeting,” he said. Life can be challenging at times.”