‘Get Behind the Vest’ breakfast looks to raise money for new bulletproof vests for CPD officers

CHICAGO – At St. Ignatius College Prep, pancakes fed the prayers of people looking to help.

On Saturday morning, Ald. Bill Conway (34th Ward) hosted a “Get Behind the Vest” breakfast for the first time.

Since 2014, these events have cooked up the funds for the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation’s efforts to help Chicago police officers buy new bulletproof vests.

“Chicago police officers have our back, so it’s important that we have theirs and we’re putting a good bulletproof vest on their backs,” Conway said.

While the city gives each officer a bulletproof vest when they come out of the academy, officers are responsible for replacements every five years.

“Officers don’t replace their vests like they should upon expiration. They kind of roll the dice and wait to see, and they spend their money on family and the house and everything else,” Maureen Biggane with the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation said.

Just last year, Officer Edwin Gramajo’s life was saved when his vest caught a bullet.

“He was in his squad car. You’ll see pictures of where the bullet penetrated the windshield and then struck him in the vest. Thank God he was wearing his vest, saved his life undoubtably and we were able to provide him with a replacement vest after that incident,” Biggane said.

So far, the police memorial foundation has replaced 14,000 vests at a cost of about $500 each.

“Any protection we can get for our officers, especially when they’re facing the types of challenges they’re facing out there. We know how many officers we’ve lost over the last two years and we don’t want that to happen again. We want to keep our officers safe when they’re out there keeping others safe. Those bullet proof vests do a lot to protect our officers,” CPD Supt. Larry Snelling said.

Conway hopes to raise over $100,000 from sponsors and pancake sales.

“In the military, I was in Afghanistan and wore a bulletproof vest. So I want to make sure that our police officers have the protection they need,” Conway said.