Chicago Police Sergeants' Association

Father Tom Nangle

Great Sheepdog on the Run

By Fr. Thomas Nangle, Chaplain CPD

The young policeman was chasing a man with a gun down a west side alley on a rainy summer Sunday night. As our guy leaped over a fence, he dislocated his knee: Instant agony. As he sat and waited patiently for the ambulance, which was sent to the wrong address, the alley swarmed with other police, weapons drawn and flashlights poking into the nooks and crannies. He was taken to a hospital off the Ike, and a small swarm of coppers followed. They weren’t ducking work; they were sticking together. As CFD wheeled him into the emergency department on their yellow gurney, the nurse said whoa, wait, why all these police? She was politely told why, and then she said they’d all have to disarm and leave their weapons with the security people before they’d be allowed into her emergency department. The copper on the gurney said let’s go to Northwestern to his supervisor and they did.

If you’re the police, you surely know about Lt. Col. David Grossman (U.S.Army, ret.) who has written passionately and eloquently about being the police in our disordered society. (I’d love to meet him and shake his hand some day.) He uses images to talk about the lane of life coppers operate in: The citizens are sheep, the bad guys are wolves, the police are sheepdogs who herd the sheep and protect them from the wolves. It’s in the DNA of the sheepdogs to be that way. They come in to this world hard- wired for it. It’s not so much what they do…it’s who they are.

Here’s the point: Various constituencies in this city have the Great Sheepdog on the run. Everyone from the E.D. nurse to the reverends to bogus community groups with no knowledge of police work can take up their sticks and poke and prod the Great Sheepdog and distract him from his noble mission. There’s a considerable cottage industry in Chicago that makes its living by suing the Sheepdog. They prevent him from doing what he’s hard-wired to do and he doesn’t feel good about it. The sheep are attacked and savaged, and other sheep respond with prayer and candlelight vigils and street marches--- empty showboat gestures which cannot accomplish what only the Great Sheepdog can. An Area 4 homicide detective once said, “This police department could be an awesome crime fighting machine, if they’d let us.” That’s the mantra of the Real Police.

I take Thursdays off and go to my cabin in Wisconsin. On the way, I pass a fenced-in farm field with some animals that look like a blend of a sheep and a giraffe to my city eye. I get a kick out of looking at them because they have perpetual smiles on their faces. Llamas or alpacas, I think. When they have babies, they’re particularly cute. They look like cartoon characters. The local paper reported that one night a numb nut went thru the fence and cut off the head of one of the baby animals. After that, the farmer installed three sheepdogs. They live peacefully with the animals they protect, although I notice they don’t mingle with them. I pull over to watch them every Thursday, and when I get next to the fence those three white, shaggy sheepdogs race toward the fence. They always come together, the three of them…not one of them lays back. They bark and run a highly animated short back-and-forth along the fence line. I got too close to the fence once and all three bared their fangs at me. They don’t back down, they stick together, and they never ever fail to respond to a threat to their flock. The sheep-giraffe hybrids never even look up from eating their grass. And I bet the farmer has not lost any since the dogs arrived.

Now… imagine if the farmer was scared of upsetting the neighbors with all their barking. Imagine if he was afraid that his farm’s image would look harsh because of three tough dogs roaming his fence line. Imagine that he’d never even installed the dogs because he didn’t want people to know he had a problem with the numb nut cutting off the baby’s head. Imagine him micromanaging their response time to the fence (too fast, too threatening!), their bark, their bared fangs. Worse yet, imagine the farmer punishing the sheepdogs for getting dung on their paws. Imagine.

Respectfully,
Fr. Thomas Nangle, Chaplain CPD
312-738-7588

INFO FOR THE POLICE

-Your Police Chaplains Ministry took about 70 survivors of CPD officers killed in the line of duty for a Lake Michigan luncheon cruise on the Odyssey recently. No publicity or TV coverage (we don’t want any, thank you), although the strong presence of the CPD Marine Unit shepherding the cruise ship made the honored passengers aware that they are indeed remembered by the CPD. Your donations paid for the whole day, from parking to disembarking. Thank you.

-Your Police Chaplains Ministry is now getting ready to ship about 50 care packages to our CPD in Iraq-Afghanistan. We fill the boxes with first class items that our coppers over there have requested: all CPD items are great, along with MP3 players, cameras, good cigars, gift cards, personal fans, plastic baggies to keep out the sand, books, etc. There is no junk or filler in these packages. If you’d like to help us pay for this mission please send your tax deductable donation to Police Chaplains Ministry, 1140 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago IL 60607. I get some very powerful thank you note from our CPD troops, but the thank-you’s all really belong to you donors and ‘police shoppers’ and those who pack and ship these boxes.


HOME MEMBERS MEMBERS WHAT’S NEW ALERTS/NOTICES UPCOMING EVENTS GOLF OUTING PENSION NEWS LEGISLATIVE RETIREES MEETING SCHEDULE NEWSLETTER EXECUTIVE BOARD CONTACT CONTRACT CONSTITUTION & BYLAWS CHAPLAIN'S CORNER IN MEMORIUM PHOTO GALLERY LINKS	Chicago Police Sergeants' Association Father Tom Nangle Great Sheepdog on the Run By Fr. Thomas Nangle, Chaplain CPD The young policeman was chasing a man with a gun down a west side alley on a rainy summer Sunday night. As our guy leaped over a fence, he dislocated his knee: Instant agony. As he sat and waited patiently for the ambulance, which was sent to the wrong address, the alley swarmed with other police, weapons drawn and flashlights poking into the nooks and crannies. He was taken to a hospital off the Ike, and a small swarm of coppers followed. They weren’t ducking work; they were sticking together. As CFD wheeled him into the emergency department on their yellow gurney, the nurse said whoa, wait, why all these police? She was politely told why, and then she said they’d all have to disarm and leave their weapons with the security people before they’d be allowed into her emergency department. The copper on the gurney said let’s go to Northwestern to his supervisor and they did. If you’re the police, you surely know about Lt. Col. David Grossman (U.S.Army, ret.) who has written passionately and eloquently about being the police in our disordered society. (I’d love to meet him and shake his hand some day.) He uses images to talk about the lane of life coppers operate in: The citizens are sheep, the bad guys are wolves, the police are sheepdogs who herd the sheep and protect them from the wolves. It’s in the DNA of the sheepdogs to be that way. They come in to this world hard- wired for it. It’s not so much what they do…it’s who they are. Here’s the point: Various constituencies in this city have the Great Sheepdog on the run. Everyone from the E.D. nurse to the reverends to bogus community groups with no knowledge of police work can take up their sticks and poke and prod the Great Sheepdog and distract him from his noble mission. There’s a considerable cottage industry in Chicago that makes its living by suing the Sheepdog. They prevent him from doing what he’s hard-wired to do and he doesn’t feel good about it. The sheep are attacked and savaged, and other sheep respond with prayer and candlelight vigils and street marches--- empty showboat gestures which cannot accomplish what only the Great Sheepdog can. An Area 4 homicide detective once said, “This police department could be an awesome crime fighting machine, if they’d let us.” That’s the mantra of the Real Police. I take Thursdays off and go to my cabin in Wisconsin. On the way, I pass a fenced-in farm field with some animals that look like a blend of a sheep and a giraffe to my city eye. I get a kick out of looking at them because they have perpetual smiles on their faces. Llamas or alpacas, I think. When they have babies, they’re particularly cute. They look like cartoon characters. The local paper reported that one night a numb nut went thru the fence and cut off the head of one of the baby animals. After that, the farmer installed three sheepdogs. They live peacefully with the animals they protect, although I notice they don’t mingle with them. I pull over to watch them every Thursday, and when I get next to the fence those three white, shaggy sheepdogs race toward the fence. They always come together, the three of them…not one of them lays back. They bark and run a highly animated short back-and-forth along the fence line. I got too close to the fence once and all three bared their fangs at me. They don’t back down, they stick together, and they never ever fail to respond to a threat to their flock. The sheep-giraffe hybrids never even look up from eating their grass. And I bet the farmer has not lost any since the dogs arrived. Now… imagine if the farmer was scared of upsetting the neighbors with all their barking. Imagine if he was afraid that his farm’s image would look harsh because of three tough dogs roaming his fence line. Imagine that he’d never even installed the dogs because he didn’t want people to know he had a problem with the numb nut cutting off the baby’s head. Imagine him micromanaging their response time to the fence (too fast, too threatening!), their bark, their bared fangs. Worse yet, imagine the farmer punishing the sheepdogs for getting dung on their paws. Imagine. Respectfully, Fr. Thomas Nangle, Chaplain CPD 312-738-7588 INFO FOR THE POLICE -Your Police Chaplains Ministry took about 70 survivors of CPD officers killed in the line of duty for a Lake Michigan luncheon cruise on the Odyssey recently. No publicity or TV coverage (we don’t want any, thank you), although the strong presence of the CPD Marine Unit shepherding the cruise ship made the honored passengers aware that they are indeed remembered by the CPD. Your donations paid for the whole day, from parking to disembarking. Thank you. -Your Police Chaplains Ministry is now getting ready to ship about 50 care packages to our CPD in Iraq-Afghanistan. We fill the boxes with first class items that our coppers over there have requested: all CPD items are great, along with MP3 players, cameras, good cigars, gift cards, personal fans, plastic baggies to keep out the sand, books, etc. There is no junk or filler in these packages. If you’d like to help us pay for this mission please send your tax deductable donation to Police Chaplains Ministry, 1140 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago IL 60607. I get some very powerful thank you note from our CPD troops, but the thank-you’s all really belong to you donors and ‘police shoppers’ and those who pack and ship these boxes.
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