A SERIES OF SALUTES
At graduation ceremony, Lightfoot praises slain officer, outgoing — and absent — superintendent as well as ‘heart and character’ of rank-and-file
Mayor Lori Lightfoot, attending possibly her last Chicago police graduation ceremony, said Tuesday the death of Officer Andrés Mauricio Vásquez Lasso had left a city full of broken hearts.
“Officer Vásquez Lasso did what we ask all of our police officers to do — he responded to danger in order to protect a life and protect our city,” Lightfoot said.
There was a moment of silence for Vásquez Lasso during the Navy Pier ceremony. Vásquez Lasso was shot several times as he chased an armed suspect March 1 in the 5200 block of South Spaulding Avenue, across the street from Sawyer Elementary School. Steven Montano, 18, has since been charged in Vásquez Lasso’s death. Montano, whom Vásquez Lasso shot in an exchange of gunfire, remains hospitalized.
Lightfoot said she had been at the hospital where Vásquez Lasso was taken.
“The number of officers who were gathered there to show their support and respect — that should tell you something about the heart and character of this great department,” Lightfoot said.
Noticeably absent Tuesday was outgoing Chicago Police Supt. David Brown, who resigned last week after Lightfoot’s defeat in the mayoral election. Brown said last week that his resignation is effective March 16.
Lightfoot took time Tuesday to praise Brown.
“He came to our city in the middle of a pandemic, and shortly thereafter he had to deal with not only the issues of learning a new department and leading in a time of a [federal] consent decree, but following the murder of George Floyd — the civic unrest, the rise in crime and all the other things that seemed to coalesce in the moment of a COVID time in Chicago in 2020,” Lightfoot said.
“He stepped into what may be one of the hardest police jobs in the country because he had a vision and determination and a commitment to make our city safer and he succeeded in that work,” she said.
Lightfoot urged the new graduates to get out of their cars and get to know the communities they patrol.
“Realize that the residents and families who live there want the same exact thing that you do: They want to live in peace and prosperity,” Lightfoot said.