INDIANA – Indiana Republican Senator Mike Braun has extended an invitation to Chicago police officers who are being let go due to their disinclination to receive a COVID-19 vaccine despite a mandate in place.

Braun said that the officers losing their jobs “deserve respect.” He continued, “Our police do the hardest job in the world, and they deserve respect, not losing their pay or being fired for refusing to comply with a ridiculous vaccine mandate.”

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot demanded that FOP President stop encouraging officers who didn’t want the vaccine to stand up against it. Additionally, Police Superintendent David Brown had threatened to withhold retirement from those who refused to comply with the orders.

As of Monday, 79% of City workers had reported their vaccination status, and of those, 84% were fully vaccinated.

One officer from Chicago has already fled that City to a “brighter future right over the border,” according to Munster Police Chief Steve Scheckel.

Braun’s message to the “3,000 Chicago cops defying this government overreach” was, “Indiana’s police departments are hiring now and will welcome you with the respect you deserve. My office stands ready to help connect Chicago police officers to an Indiana police department that is hiring now and doesn’t have a vaccine mandate.

“Welcome to Indiana!”

“We’ve been seeing more and more Chicago police officers when we do an emergency hire,” Chief Scheckel said, “which is basically a lateral transfer. They already have the academy. Here in northwest Indiana, in Munster, we have one of the top rated school systems in the state.[Officers] can send their kids to public school. It’s a low-crime community. Even though we’re 30 minutes from Chicago, we’re rated one of the 10 safest cities in the state of Indiana. So, it’s really just a step across the state line to a better life for the officer.”

Scheckel said that the mandates appear to be “politically motivated” and not “rooted in science.” He also acknowledged many other problems in Chicago PD and said that the mandates are just the “straw that broke the camel’s back.”

“From the governor on down,” Scheckel said, “in Indiana, we support our law enforcement. I think there’s a clear contrast between what’s going on in the city of Chicago right now and what’s happening in the state of Indiana.”

This piece was written by Leah Anaya on October 20, 2021. It originally appeared in RedVoiceMedia.com and is used by permission.

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