NYPD Killings Generate Concern Among Chicago-Area Law Enforcement
(CBS) – The head of Chicago's police union has warned members about copycat attacks on officers in the wake of an ambush on two New York cops, which has spawned heated rhetoric in that city.
"We have to be on the edge constantly. We don't know when next attack is going to come," Dean Angelo, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Chicago Lodge 7, said Monday during a news conference.
His comments come as New York investigators were trying to piece together the final hours that lead up to the murder of two officers in Brooklyn.
Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were ambushed, shot and killed over the weekend as they sat in their police cruisers. The suspect believed to have murdered the officers, 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley, acted alone before fatally shooting himself, authorities believe.
He had shot his ex-girlfriend in Baltimore early Saturday and posted on social media his intentions to kill cops.
Evanston Police Cmdr. Jay Parrott says the murders make officers stop and think about just how dangerous their jobs are.
"I think every police officer thinks about, 'Am I going to get in a situation today that's going to jeopardize my life?'" he says. "They want to go home safely to their family. Police officers are human, just like everyone else."
Chicago FOP On Alert After NYPD Cop Deaths
Hoping to calm the situation, New York City leaders called for a pause in protests until after the officers' funerals and urged everyone to lower the rhetoric. A police union official there has said Mayor Bill de Blasio bears some of the responsibility for the officers' death.
Angelo said all Chicago cops are sickened and outraged by the killings. He said he's encouraging Chicago cops to stay in their cars until backup arrives and look out for each other.
He said lines of communication between Chicago City Hall and the union have been open regarding officer safety, but he'd like Mayor Emanuel to give them 2,000 more officers.
After learning about this weekend's killings in New York, Gary, Ind. Police Office Tom Tatum makes each traffic stop with a heavy heart for fallen comrades—and extra caution, too.
"I pray every day that he protects me every time I come and do this job," he tells CBS 2's Pamela Jones.
