CONSEQUENCES

More Than a Third of Chicago Cops Face Punishment for Refusing COVID Vax

While 28 percent of Chicago Fire Department employees have defied the city’s mandate.

As Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s vaccine mandate deadline passed last Friday, the Chicago Sun-Times reports that now more than 35 percent of the Chicago Police Department and 28 percent of the Chicago Fire Department face discipline for refusing to comply. Chicago police had the lowest compliance rate of all city departments at 64.4 percent, while 72.1 percent of the fire department reported being fully vaccinated. Employees have been given one last chance to report their vaccination status on the city’s online portal. If employees continue to defy the mandate, they will be sent home without pay.

A department member who “disobeys a direct order by a supervisor to comply with the city of Chicago’s vaccination policy issued Oct. 8, 2021, will become the subject of a disciplinary investigation that could result in a penalty up to and including separation from the Chicago Police Department,” said Tina Skahill, deputy director of CPD Superintendent David Brown’s office.