‘There’s no guarantee for tomorrow’: Yates paints picture for aldermen about what officers deal with

QUINCY — During a relatively short and uneventful meeting of the Quincy City Council, Jeff Bergman wanted to take a minute to acknowledge the lives of Quincy policemen.

Bergman, a Republican alderman in Quincy’s 2^nd Ward, asked Adam Yates, chief of the Quincy Police Department, to come forward near the end of Monday’s 20-minute meeting. He noted that 11 posts on the department’s Facebook page this month are dedicated to the deaths of officers in other police departments.

“There’s no guarantee for tomorrow,” Bergman said.

He then asked Yates to talk about the environment Quincy police officers deal with today.

Yates said he was taught from the first day he attended the police academy 23 years ago that safety is his top priority.

“When you go to work, your main goal is to go home at the end of your shift,” Yates said. “Those are words we live by. We train hard, we work hard, we want to be courteous, and we want to be fair. We also must be ready for attacks and the inevitable problems that come with law enforcement.”

Yates then provided aldermen national statistics. Thirty-seven officers have been killed by gunfire this year, a 50 percent increase from this time last year. He also said the number of ambush-style statistics on officers has increased 36 percent.

“They don’t count ambush-style attacks when someone shoots at the police and doesn’t actually hit anybody, so that number is actually higher,” Yates said.

He said:

• 293 officers were shot in 2019, with 50 dying.
• 312 officers were shot in 2020, with 47 dying. 
• 346 officers were shot in 2021, with 63 dying.

“We’re going to go out and do everything we can to make the community safe,” Yates said. “We practice de-escalation techniques, and we try to understand the mental health concerns that are out in the community. While we expect our officers to be courteous and professional, I also beg my officers when they go to work to make sure they’re vigilant and that they make sure that they keep themselves and their fellow officers safe, as well as the community.”

“We appreciate your prayers for our officers’ safety as they go out and do the work that needs to be done in the city.”

“Your officers and their families are in our prayers,” Bergman said. “Godspeed to all them and all officers across the nation.”

Alderman Mike Farha, R-4, was voted to chair Monday’s meeting. Mayor Mike Troup was absent.

Aldermen voted to: 

• Allow the Quincy Kiwanis Club to hold its “Peanut Day” on Sept. 2 at various locations throughout the city. 
• Allow Friends of the Log Cabin to conduct a raffle from Aug. 30 to Sept. 10. 
• Allow the District to hold the “Feast in the Heart of Quincy” on Aug. 7 in front of the Corinthian Event Center, 415 Hampshire.
• Allow the Knights of Columbus No. 583 to hold its annual barbecue Aug. 12-14 at the K of C grounds, 700 S. 36th. 
• Allow the Dancer Love Foundation and Q-Town Fitness to hold a “Glow Row” on Sept. 10 on Sixth Street between Maine and Hampshire. 
• Authorize the submission of a $3.892 million Public Transportation Capital Assistance Grant application through the Illinois Department of Transportation to relocate the Quincy Transit Lines transfer point from Seventh and Jersey to a nearby rebuilt parking lot.
• Pay Architechnics $32,000 for the architectural and structural design services required for the roof replacement project at the Quincy Regional Airport terminal building. 
• Pay Rush Truck Center $34,146 for the installation of a new diesel engine block in a 2010 pumper apparatus. 
• Pay SHI $10,849.50 for the necessary network connectivity upgrades to allow for the integration of the new VMware host servers and storage equipment. 
• Adopt an ordinance to change zoning at 1621 S. 24^th from R1A (single family) to R2 (two family).

Nathan Ludwig was sworn in before the meeting as the latest member of the Quincy Fire Department.

Alderman Eric Entrup, R-1, reminded those in attendance about a 5:30 p.m. meeting to hear two presentations for essential air service at Quincy Regional Airport before the Aug. 1 city council meeting at 7 p.m.