Progressive Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been secretly protected by a specialist squad of greater than 70 cops — one arrange the identical yr she pushed to slash $80 million from the police price range, in keeping with reviews.
Chicago police’s beforehand unknown Unit 544 has 65 officers together with 5 sergeants and a lieutenant assigned to guard the mayor — on prime of her private bodyguard element of about 20 officers, the Chicago Solar-Occasions revealed Monday, citing public data.
Additionally referred to as the Authorities Safety Element, the unit’s potential recruits have been instructed its “mission might be to supply bodily safety for Metropolis Corridor, the mayor’s residence and the mayor’s element command publish,” the paper stated.
“Via the coordination of intelligence and sources, officers will reply to all threats associated to the mayor’s bodily properties to make sure its safety,” a recruitment memo reportedly stated.
That memo was despatched in July 2020, the yr that Lightfoot pushed to slash the police division’s price range by $80 million, axing lots of of jobs, amid rising calls to defund the police throughout protests over the homicide of George Floyd.
Lightfoot later backtracked, rejecting the decision to defund the drive and finally rising the price range.
However critics famous that the secretive police unit was employed at a time of rising complaints over the dwindling presence of patrol officers — satirically partly on account of patrols holding “Defund the police” protesters from Lightfoot’s home in Logan Sq., the Solar-Occasions famous.
“Whereas murders are hovering, whereas districts are barebones for manpower, all that issues is defending her fortress,” John Catanzara, president of Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police, instructed the Solar-Occasions.
Lightfoot confirmed the existence of Unit 544, insisting it was set as much as cowl for the shortage of a “unified command” for potential mayoral emergencies.
“After which clearly, in 2020 specifically, there have been a big quantity of protests all around the metropolis, and a few of them focused at my home,” she instructed the Solar-Occasions
“All of the extra motive why having a unified command to know and share intelligence and be prepared to reply if there was any type of menace was crucial,” she stated.
That menace turned all too actual final month when a person offended over parking tickets was busted firing a gun and making an attempt to ship a letter to her dwelling, the paper famous. Joseph Igartua, 37, is being held with out bond on expenses of stalking and reckless discharge of a weapon.
“I thank God for the police safety that we now have, however this one is absolutely unnerving. And scary,” she stated.
“When any individual reveals up at your home, clearly going by means of a psychological disaster, with a loaded gun, that’s scary,” Lightfoot stated.
“This was actual. And it scared us. I’m not gonna lie. It was very, very scary. So I’m grateful for the short work of the police division to essentially shield us towards this actual menace,” she instructed the Chicago paper.
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