CHICAGO (AP) — The head of Chicago’s largest police union has carried out his promise to retire from the force rather than go through with a disciplinary hearing that could have ended with him being fired.
In documents posted online, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 President John Catanzara on Tuesday submitted the paperwork to retire from the department after 27 years as a police officer. The 53-year-old’s retirement announcement came Monday, during a three-day Chicago Police Board hearing on incendiary comments he made online.
Catanzara plans to remain president of the union and says he will run against Mayor Lori Lightfoot in 2023.