Chicagoans Worry Vaccine Mandate Standoff Between City Hall And FOP Will Leave Them Less Safe; 'It's Like This Big Macho Thing'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The clock is ticking on the deadline Mayor Lori Lightfoot has set for all city workers to report their vaccination status to the city, despite warnings from the city's police union that half of the force is willing to defy the deadline and risk going unpaid.
Meantime, worry is mounting for some Chicagoans as to whether there will be enough officers once this mandate starts.
Tonight, those in living in the violence crosshairs are asking "what about us?"
Gunfire woke up Shulonda Stamps on Thursday morning.
"I'd say about 75 to hundred [shots]. It was a shootout," she said. "A blazing shootout that early in the morning."
Stamps has lived on the west side for 30 years. She's surrounded by the violence.
"Last week, I'm trying to save two kids life on the next-door neighbor's porch. Naw, it's ridiculous," she said.
Which is why when she hears about the standoff the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police is having with the mayor about the vaccine mandate, and the possibility fewer Chicago Police officers might hit the street in the coming days, she's beyond worried.
"I think they want to make it about them, It ain't about, really, the people. It's like this big macho thing between both parties," Stamps said.
By 11:59 p.m. Friday, all city employees – including CPD officers – are required to enter their vaccination status into an online portal. If unvaccinated, they must agree to get a COVID twice a week through Dec. 31, the deadline for all city workers to be fully vaccinated.
Any city employees who don't provide their vaccination status by the Friday night deadline could be placed on "no pay" status.
The police union claims half of CPD's force is willing to defy the deadline, and force their bosses to send them home.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot says the mandate won't change, and Chicago police brass has maintained the streets will stay protected, even if cops are not in compliance.
Yet, is the city prepared for the worst?
"My hope is that we won't have to activate any contingency plans, but our number one priority, obviously, is to keep this city safe," she said.
But Stamps and many other Chicagoans feel caught in the middle, relying now on their prayers
"How much of that could you do before someone loses their damn mind?" Stamps said.
To which the mayors tells those officers, "I hope members of the department are not led over the cliff without a parachute by anybody who tells them they can just ignore legal proper directives."
