Refusing to Back Up Federal Officers Is a Disgrace to the Badge

A Brotherhood That Transcends Departments

I’m going to cover the recent events surrounding the Chicago Police Department’s refusal to provide assistance to federal officers because this isn’t one of those issues that many say “hits close-to-home.” As far as the police-world is concerned, it is HOME! Those outside of law enforcement, no matter how many family members or friends you have that are cops, cannot fully understand what goes on within our ranks and culture, particularly what happens on the street, and that’s where we part ways with any other profession or vocation. Every day during my 37 years with Miami-Dade Police, I walked out the door not knowing if I would be coming back home. Understand that we don’t dwell on this because that would negatively impact and preoccupy our minds when we should be focused on what’s in front of us at any given moment. This would be akin to playing a game in any sport not to lose instead of playing to win. There are several factors of course that might get us, and/or prevent us, from being seriously injured or killed, but perhaps the most important one is knowing that your brother and sister officers will be there when those moments come. And notice I said “moments,” plural, because there will be many during a career.

The Codes That Keep Us Alive

To dramatically drive my point home, I will be using some of our Miami-Dade County-specific parlance; police codes, so you can hear us in your mind and feel how we feel when we talk about this to one another, so stay with me. The code for an arrest is “39.” The code for cancelled is “07,” but in this context take it to mean “fired.” And when we need back-up in a hurry, we call that a “3-15!” which is the most important code of all. Even if we ourselves don’t like each other, when we hear that 3-15 call go out, we drop everything we’re doing, which includes sitting on the toilet, and we GO! We arrive and make sure we keep each other alive, we jump into the fight, render aid, whatever is called for, and then we go onto the next one. Personally, you and I could despise each other, or you’re from another agency that we don’t play well with in the sandbox, but I’ll practically kill myself to get to you to make sure you’re ok, because that’s what we do, period!

What “Backing Each Other Up” Really Means

When we get into the Jack-Pot as we call it, we must first and foremost react to the situation and that is strictly self-preservation. If you are with other officers, then you have better than a fighting chance to survive the incident and prevail. Part-2 to this is knowing that when you are alone and things are heading south, that the cavalry is on its way and you might get out of this situation. Sadly, this isn’t always the case, but fortunately most of the time help arrives and you thank your lucky stars that it did. Backing-Up one another is the main edict in police-work and everything else, including citizen safety is secondary. Harsh sounding perhaps, but officer safety, as I’ve written about previously, both in my Op-Eds and my book, comes first. We back-up other cops, end of story!

The National Disgrace in Chicago

Now that I’ve set the stage for why this is so important, let’s get into the national disgrace that just took place in Chicago. With the increased presence and operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) throughout the country, interactions with local law enforcement agencies are inevitable and necessary. There are and have already been, many incidents where ICE and police have interacted, both in making arrests and encountering violent protests and attacks on law enforcement. Due to the covert nature of some of these operations, ICE won’t always be able to, by design, notify the local PDs of where they’re working. They must be able to “surprise” if you will, the bad guys to catch them either literally sleeping or otherwise off-guard to prevent a shooting, serious physical altercation, or escape. And frankly, I don’t blame them for sometimes not making notification to some local agencies because given the lack of cooperation and utter push-back by their politicians, democrats mostly as is the case, ICE cannot trust the police to keep it secret, and how sad and disappointing is that?

A Call for Help Ignored

The most glaring example of this finally came to pass on October 4th, at 1234 hours, when a call for assistance from ICE/Border Patrol came in that agents were being rammed and boxed in by two subjects using their vehicle. When Chicago PD received the call, the dispatcher was ordered to make the following announcement over the police radio frequencies; “Per the Chief of Patrol clear everybody out. We’re not responding over there. Alright again, per the Chief of Patrol, we have all the units that, per 999, Chief of Patrol said all units clear out from there. We’re not sending anybody over to that location.” W-T-F!!! It is absolutely unacceptable for any law enforcement officer or department to refuse a request for back-up from another agency. We cops and dispatchers that listened to this transmission could hear and feel the disgust by the dispatcher ordered to broadcast this message. Never ever in my time serving, have I heard of such a thing, and it sent shock waves throughout the law enforcement community.

Holding Leadership Accountable

So let’s call it BS and call out the chief that actually ordered this, Jon Hein. He is the Chicago PD’s commander of all patrol units city-wide and as such, is responsible, either directly or indirectly, for all decisions made. A 30-year veteran of the Department, which means that he started on the street as a patrol officer and worked his way up through the ranks, similar to most agencies, making corporal, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, and then entering the political realm of a police department, being appointed to major, and then a division head such as chief. But let’s focus for a moment on his time as an officer, corporal, sergeant, or lieutenant on road patrol. Do any of us believe that during his time back then he would have refused or not allowed his units to respond to a 3-15 from another agency? I doubt it. I’m certain that if we had this conversation back then with him and the Chief of Patrol gave this order, Hein would have been cursing and criticizing him no end. So, what made him do this now? Let’s hypothesize.

Politics Over Duty

Given the current state of affairs we know to be true in Chicago, the State of Illinois, and many other Blue and Sanctuary cities and states, the politicians in charge have ordered the police and corrections commanders not to cooperate with federal authorities, which previously meant not to advise ICE they had suspected illegal aliens in custody. Fair enough. This just meant there was no overt notification of illegals afoot. ICE and Border Patrol would just have to work a little harder, but it hasn’t really impeded them. But now we’ve reached an entirely new level of non-cooperation, and it borders on criminal-malfeasance. We must ask what would force/incentivize Chief Hein to issue such an order that would jeopardize the safety and possible lives of other law enforcement officers? As we stated, he is a veteran of police work, so what’s in it for him? He had to have known that when he gave this order the proverbial $hit was going to hit the fan. How could it not? Anyone in our circles could see this coming. The police union is now demanding he be 07’d from his position at the very least, and every real cop in America would agree. Let’s go one step further. This could be criminal in nature, and he should be 39’d for failing to do his job and not allowing the uniform patrol officers to do theirs. I can tell you that I and the guys and gals I worked with would never have obeyed this order. We have a little clause in our manual that states that we don’t have to follow an order given by a superior if it’s illegal or immoral. What does this sound like to you?

A Betrayal of the Badge

It’s both! So why? Within two days of this occurring, his boss, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling, came out to do damage-control and spin the incident. Snelling first denied this happened and then stated there was another incident where his officers did respond, but it was too late, and the damage was done. We have the dispatch tape, so was that a lie? What I want to know is what was Hein promised in return or threatened with? Remember, he and Snelling work at the pleasure of Mayor Brandon Johnson, who we know hates President Trump and obstructs his administration and ICE at every turn. Just ask him. Is Hein the next superintendent of Chicago PD or would he have been fired for disobeying Johnson? Is Snelling either on his way out or being promoted into Johnson’s administration? Perhaps Governor JD Pritzkor’s? What would make a veteran cop abandon and dismiss his training, experience, morality, ethics, duty, obligation, integrity, and most of all – loyalty to those that wear the uniform? You’ll have to ask the Chicago cops if Hein ever really had or practiced any of those things. I can only tell you about ours, but cops everywhere know about their own.

When Politics Jeopardize Lives

We have witnessed the most egregious of orders issued by a police commander-not responding to a 3-15 request from another agency. For this, Chief Hein – 07! and possibly 39’d! For backing up Hein, Superintendent Snelling, 07! For the continual federal obstruction committed by Mayor Johnson, 39! For the continual federal obstruction by Governor Pritzker, 39! And for all the other mayors and governors that are consistently breaking our federal laws, 39! I’ve heard the principles in the Justice Department say repeatedly, “If you break our laws, you will be held accountable!” I’ve previously written about Accountability, but we are yet to see it. You never, ever, refuse or otherwise not respond to a 3-15 for another officer. Chief Hein, if any of this is true, you are a disgrace, and we are as ashamed of you as are the proud men and women of the Chicago Police Department. There is absolutely no place for politics on the street, regardless of anyone’s ideology. You jeopardized and tarnished that which are the two most precious things to a police officer, Life, and The Badge! Turn yours in. You no longer deserve to wear it!