It's the Police!!
(photos by Lee Bey)
For a moment or two earlier in my journalism career, I really considered becoming a police officer. It was 1988. I was 22 and working for the City News Bureau of Chicago and making as little money as allowed by law. I was assigned to Area 4 that summer, covering crime and everything else on the West Side when a pair of young black patrol officers befriended me. Almost like slightly older brothers.
"Man, the rock you are trying to climb has teeth marks all over it," the talkative one told me, telling me a successful career in journalism would be difficult to achieve because I am black. "You need to take the test, come over here and advance. You are smart."
He didn't even have to say it paid more than what I was making then. We both knew that.
"Officer Lee Bey." "Wentworth Area Violent Crimes Det. Lee Bey." "Sgt. Lee Bey." "Lt. Lee Bey." I remember scribbling all that out on a piece of paper, just to try it on for size. "Lt. Bey" sounded good. "Detective Bey" sounded really good.
But the reality is, being a good Chicago cop is a tough ass job. And I say that with respect and acknowledgment. How would I do in a traffic stop on dark night? Or how would I deal with someone I'd have to physically remove? Could I shoot somebody if I had to? Could I not shoot somebody? (And could I tell the difference between the two situations in a split second?) But still, a part of me wondered what might have been. Heck, I'd be coming on 20 years had I joined the department in 1988. Maybe I'd be ready to retire at 42. (Hey, wait a minute..)
All photography is self-portraits, a wise woman told me a few months ago. And it's true. Police frequently wind up in what I shoot. It must be something subliminal.
(Above) A stop at 87th and Cottage Grove.
(Above) A very friendly mounted police woman I met when I was in Amsterdam back in 2005.
(Above) A ballet in blue: Police officer at 8th and State, directing traffic.
(Above): The Commander of the Jefferson Park District police station, relaxing in a breakroom. I took this for an architectural firm earlier this year.
(Above) Police captain (?) on a Segway, directing pedestrian traffic after a May Day protest.
(Above) Cop on the street on a cold day on Dearborn north of Randolph
