SOUTH SHORE — Police Supt. Eddie Johnson left a community meeting Tuesday to help a retired officer struggling with “personal difficulties” who had barricaded herself in her South Shore home and asked for him by name.
After a long standoff with police, Johnson arrived. He went inside the house, and after an hour-long talk, safely escorted her outside.
It’s unclear why the former officer asked to speak to Johnson or what the top cop said to calm the situation.
Regardless of the circumstances, Johnson’s actions should be a reminder that our leaders, like us, are imperfectly human.
Even during this period of civil unrest in a city divided by class and race that has pitted unsatisfied Chicagoans against Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration on important issues — public safety, public schools and inequitable economic development that favors the rich part of town — the targets of protesters’ rage (the mayor and his top cop among them) have the capacity to act with compassion and heart.
Maybe you think that should go without saying.
But sometimes it’s difficult to separate our thoughts about city leaders from our opposition to the things they say, the failed institutions they represent and the spin they use to push political agendas.
That’s particularly true when certain policies, practices and agendas feel like a punch in the face, or worse, and the stories they tell are tinged with half-truths and false narratives that feel like manipulation.
Still, it’s important to remember that a person’s flaws and misdeeds alone don’t tell their whole story.
That goes for our mayor, his head of police and the violent young men trapped in poverty-stricken forgotten parts of town.
Even people who do things that hurt — whether it’s a little white lie they tell or a trigger they pull — have redeeming qualities whether we know about them or not.
This May has been a particularly difficult and bloody month filled with controversy.
Emanuel and Johnson continue to be targets of harsh criticism from a variety of protesters and, yes, guys like me.
That might be what most people remember.
But it’s not the whole story.
Last week, Emanuel called the dad of Lee McCullum Jr., the former Fenger High School prom king featured on CNN’s documentary “Chicagoland,” to offer “father-to-father” sympathy.
On Tuesday, Johnson’s effort might have saved a life.
Those things are worth repeating.
The battle for the future of Chicago is important, painful and worth the fight.
But it’s not personal — we should remember that.
We're all in this mess together.
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