Oh, man. Whichever Chicago Police Department-affiliated person called my house yesterday to ask for money to help buy bulletproof vests should be happy that the Boy got to the phone before I did. The Boy is much more diplomatic than I am. If I'd have gotten the call, you might have heard my voice all the way in your office.
Why? Why wouldn't I want to donate some money to help buy our fine police officers get some bulletproof vests? Well, part of me wondered how many the CPD has, how many you need, and why can't you afford to buy them out of your own budget. Sure, I can imagine that times are tough, the budget's been cut, and you probably can't afford them. That part my empathetic self can understand. However, that self would totally be drowned out by the self who is sick and tired of the cops calling me and begging.
Almost every month, someone related to the police department calls and asks for money for some police function. These have included:
- Money for violence awareness programs for youth
- Money for the families of fallen police officers
- Money for bulletproof vests (more than once)
- And I believe money for some sort of athletic program--maybe also for the kids
Who in the police department has time to call me so often? And why are they spending my tax dollars doing so? If you don't have the money for these programs, maybe they shouldn't exist. Violence awareness? I'm pretty sure everyone in the city knows that there's a lot of youth violence. We don't need to be made more aware!
Please, stop the begging. It's only giving the CPD a bad image in my eyes. It's a shame that the face of the police, most of whom are doing a good job and working hard to keep our city safe, is now one that I see as a big harasser.
Your pal,
Jill
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