Almost every morning at about 5:00 a fire truck drives past homeless people sleeping outside in Edgewater, waking them up with the siren just for fun. This little game – sometimes played by paramedics in a Chicago ambulance instead – has gone on for some time now. People might wonder why out of the blue, sirens go off. At certain intersections in Alderman Osterman’s ward, early morning wake up calls are a common – but not very polite – occurrence.
I interviewed three homeless persons on the north side of Chicago to get their take on what should happen to the police officers and the firemen who refuse to get vaccinated. Or at least report on their vaccination status.
All three said the public servants should be fired immediately.
Running a siren on an emergency vehicle when people on the sidewalk are trying to sleep does not seem like a very neighborly thing to do to them. It seems those city workers think it is very funny indeed. Does somebody go to where they are sleeping and wake them up with a siren a few feet away? This is the kind of brain and mean-spirited nonsense the homeless people deal with—and dealt with a lot more in the past.
Perhaps the idea came from the alderman himself?
Frank (not his real name) made an interesting point. He said that some of the more racist and anti-homeless employees in those ranks are probably the same ones who harass the homeless, just for fun, or for some strange sexual enjoyment.
“They are stupid people who would do these things… and rotten to the core.” Why Frank would not like these public servants is understandable. “They wake us up good and early, but they have no damn bathroom for us to use and no coffee or food to offer us.” He went on to ask, “Why wake us up just so we can wander around with no place to go so damn early in the morning?”
Shelly echoed the “unhappiness” she feels about fire fighters and police officers who treat the homeless that way. “Most are happy, helpful, supportive, and they try to find ways to check in on us and bring us cheer.” She said many of these workers will bring burgers and coffee. They check in on the older homeless. They have to let insults “slide off their backs like water off a duck” sometimes when there are homeless people who are not so welcoming of the attention. Some people are “confused,” Shelly says.
Shelly’s boyfriend is not as nice about the situation. Carl (again, not his real name) resents the police coming around and trying to help. “I don’t trust them at all, and I think they are spies to see what we are doing and trying to see if we have stolen goods or booze or drugs.”
Shelly warns Carl to not be so negative. She insists some of the helpers are decent people. She does understand some of the animosity between the uniformed workers and the average homeless person, sometimes having issues, sometimes tough problems and attitudes to deal with.
All three homeless people say the police officers who are defying the mayor’s wishes need to go.
When asked whether the police and fire workers are supportive, if they are all trouble, all three agree most are. But Shelly makes the following very clear by using strong language: “If we call police because somebody is bugging us, 9 officers out of 10 will help and will threaten to arrest the troublemaker.” But she warns that 1 officer in 10 is a problem.
The problem officer, according to Shelly, is a “throwback” to years ago when the police harassed the homeless, sometimes demanding money from them, and always forcing them to grab a handful (only!) of their items and go to a different neighborhood. They assume whatever the problem is, it is the fault of the homeless person. They threaten to arrest the homeless person, take their important papers and IDs and then of course, not return them.
There are also stories of those abusive officers—and firemen—doing inappropriate things to the homeless men and women, like making them take their clothes off or worse. “That bad cop might want oral sex,” Shelly said. Stuff happens in the alleys of Edgewater and the corners of other neighborhoods. She continued, “I used to always be afraid of what would happen to some of the younger cute boys who would be ‘new homeless’ and not know the score… them getting abused in all ways by some police officers.”
She admits that now things are a lot better and the younger officers are not as racist or as anti-homeless as some of the older ones.
Carl chimed in, “Some of those guys especially in the past could not read, I don’t think.” He said he thought they got onto the force because of some uncle or other family member who “had pull.” He thinks that some of the less intelligent public servants do not understand the facts about vaccinations—or about the importance of wearing masks.
Frank agreed. He said that if they are “stupid guys” it is hard for anyone to talk to them and teach them about the important rules for avoiding COVID-19 infection. “It is not just about them; they are supposed to be protecting us and serving us and keeping us from getting the virus.” He uses rather strong language to say things have gotten “ironic” in this crazy city. He says for being homeless and what some people call “losers,” people sleeping outside are doing pretty well at NOT getting the virus.
Ironically, the homeless people are asking police officers and firemen to put their masks on, not stand around chatting with no mask, and not come right up to a group of homeless people and start a big conversation with no mask and very possibly no record of vaccine.
When asked if more education for these public servants might fix the problem, all three say a big “no!”
Carl was straightforward. “They are receiving information from the beginning of the pandemic… they just suddenly now are going to understand it and believe it?”
Frank spoke up and exclaimed, “Fire them all!” He added, “If they get fired, we will wind up with a bunch of cops who get vaccinated like they are supposed to, will follow the rules and wear their masks, and who are bright enough to do what’s right.”
Shelly said she hoped things would work out and they would figure out what is happening in the world.
The harassment of the homeless is an embarrassment in Ward 48 some other parts of the city, still in 2021. Taxpayers are paying for a lot of gasoline—and work hours—for police officers and firemen to drive around and harass people.
For the harassment alone they should be fired, emphasized the three homeless persons.