Police unions across the country look to stop mandatory vaccination among officers
As the White House steps up its push to increase vaccinations, police unions across the country are protesting local mandates.
Last month, when Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago said there would “absolutely” be a vaccine mandate for city employees, the local police union promised legal action. “It cannot be mandated. It’s that simple. Our members don’t want to be mandated to do anything like that,” said the union president, John Catanzara. “This vaccine has no studies for long-term side effects or consequences. None. To mandate anybody to get that vaccine, without that data as a baseline, amongst other issues, is a ‘Hell, no’ for us.” Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago adresses a science initiative event at the University of Chicago in 2020. (Kamil Krzaczynski/Reuters)Catanzara also likened the vaccine mandates to the Holocaust, saying, “We’re in America, g*ddamn it. We don’t want to be forced to do anything. Period. This ain’t Nazi f***ing Germany, [where they say], ‘Step into the f***ing showers. The pills won’t hurt you.’ What the f***?”
Catanzara’s opposition to mandates is indicative of a larger trend across the nation’s law enforcement organizations.
“We are a union, and we will defend our members,” FOP executive director Jim Pasco told last month. “You cannot tell people what to do. It’s still an individual and personal choice.”
On Thursday, President Biden announced new measures in an attempt to increase vaccination rates across the country. One of those measures requires that all federal employees and contractors be vaccinated. Last month, the Pentagon said it was making the vaccine mandatory for 1.3 million active-duty service members.
Vaccination rates remain low among many police departments. Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michael Moore said that 51 percent of the department was vaccinated as of Aug. 31.
Comments