In the latest bid to strengthen the vaccination mandate, Chicago‘s police chief, in a written statement, has threatened to fire officers if they don’t comply with the city’s COVID-19 vaccination policy. Further, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown added that those who choose to retire rather than adhere to the policy might be putting their retirement benefits at risk.

In a memo sent Sunday night, Brown said that those officers who do choose to retire rather than comply “may be denied retirement credentials,” according to the Chicago Tribune reports.

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The Fraternal Order of Police, as it has done throughout this dispute, provided guidelines on its website regarding what officers should do if they are given a direct order to disclose their vaccination status on the municipal portal. It issued a letter that officers can sign and deliver to their supervisors this time.

“Complying with this INVALID order and the violation of MY Bargaining, Constitutional and Civil Rights has furthermore caused me severe anxiety while challenging both my religious and moral beliefs. I am in fact complying with this because I am being forced to do so under complete duress and threats of termination,” the document on the website reads, the Associated Press reported.

This follows instructions that FOP President John Catanzara posted on the website with the advice that includes using body cameras to record orders to report their vaccination status.

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However, Brown’s memo doesn’t come as a surprise. 

Unless they have an authorised medical or religious exemption, officers who fail to disclose their vaccination status by Friday’s deadline may face penalties as severe as termination, according to First Deputy Eric Carter.

Also, late Friday, a judge granted the city’s request for a temporary injunction barring Catanzara from making any public comments that encourage FOP members to disobey the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate until the next hearing on the city’s lawsuit on October 25.