This is Officer Coates. When we first saw him at approximately 4 p.m. this afternoon, he was standing on a Segway (instant annoying!) and appeared to be telling some dudes with big signs announcing a 50% off sale on tuxedos (?) on Michigan Avenue that they couldn't stand there or something. This was right out front of 535 N. Michigan Ave. just south of the Intercontinental Hotel. We thought, "Who cares? Leave them alone!"
All of a sudden, some people quickly got his attention, and he seemed distracted from the sign guys. We thought, "Good. Those guys can get away unnoticed." And then we saw what he was attending to. There was an older woman (hard to tell ... she wasn't looking good at all, so she could have been 55 or she could have been 70) on the bridge over Grand Avenue. She was flat on her back with her Walgreens bag on the ground at her side. We saw her. Her lips were blue. We were scared. There was a good chance this woman was already dead or was dying before our very eyes.
Officer Coates walked up and called in and started proper emergency procedure. He tried to get her attention, to no avail. He checked for vitals. And when there was no response, he began CPR. His much younger partner didn't seem to be of much help (he was making an attempt, but Coates was doing the majority of the work), and we wanted to scream — "Do something! Help him!" But, after a bit, the woman started to rouse ... just as the Fire Department and EMTs got there.
We silently sat there, sending up silent prayers to the universe, not sure if it was really OK to be sitting there watching it all like some sick reality TV show. But we wanted to know if she was going to live. And we wanted to see what happened afterward. Coates seemed visibly shaken, filled with adrenaline. We couldn't help but to take a picture, because we know we like to get on about how much corruption and horror goes on in the CPD, and we wanted to come back to Chicagoist and tell you about an everyday hero.
He Segwayed away some, just to get out of the stares of the bus stop that was right there and talked to the EMT some. Then he came back near Chicagoist, and we said, "You saved that woman's life." And he said, "Yeah. She wasn't breathing. Her eyes were ...." and he just made this sort of dead stare-y motion. He wasn't bragging. We think he was marveling at it just like we were. Just how quickly it all can come and go and come again. It was when he was talking to us that we saw his last name. Kudos, Coates. You're one of the great ones.
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The story should end as you are one of many of the good ones!
It's nice to see some positive police stories out there. They mostly do good out there.
Just another typical leftist post from the increasingly left-leaning writers at Chicagoist, spouting off about whatever the Democratic party wants them to.
Nah, just kidding. Nice job commending those that deserve to be commended.
Argh! Guest was just taken out of a nice feel good story at the end by Chicagoist's awkward use of the whole "Chicagoist said, Chicagoist did" gimmick. Guest feels Chicagoist needs to read big sister Gothamist more to learn how to do it a bit less intrusively.
Oh, and nice job, Officer Coates.
[smiles]
I'm not sure why it was "instant annoying" to see an officer on a Segway, but I am happy that this example of an officer doing good was reported, whether or not he was on a Segway. Please note, however, that a Segway-riding officer will be able to respond faster to an incident in the immediate vicinity than an officer on foot or patrol car. Officers on Segways are much more approachable to the general public on a Segway than in a patrol car. For neighborhood beats, it makes much more sense for officers to get to know the locals and do their patrols either on foot or on Segway.
unknown guest #6: i guess i just find segways in and of themselves annoying. i don't know why. i'm sure if i had one, i'd be lovin' the thing. and then i extrapolate it out to the fact that an officer of the law is towering over the general public on this big "toy," and a part of me is just annoyed. it doesn't make him feel more approachable to me. i was just being honest.
right on! i see police officers doing a lot of good out there from day to day. it's sad that a few bad apples an a media driven by scandal can ruin it for the rest. nice to see a positive story that puts things back into proper perspective. they are there to protect and serve. and they're doing one hell of a job!
Great story and enjoyed the first-hand account. Good to see positive human interest stories still have a place ;)
One problem though... "watching it all like some sick reality TV show"... NO!!!! This was reality! Has it finally come back full cycle and now reality TV has made reality an abstraction??!? In reality, you're allowed to sit and watch real things happening! That's just what you do. Never a need to justify. That simple.
Just felt I had to add that in. And thanks again for a very interesting and optimistic piece.
Thank you for posting this story.
As a webmaster for a national police memorial, over 500 men and women with the Chicago Police Department laid down their lives for us. Even more have had their careers ended because of catastrophic injuries.
The CPD is very fair & laid back towards us compared to many other departments out here.
how was your day honey?
i saved a life and then i segwayed home!
ROCK!
martin: (finally not a guest!) -- my reference was more to the way people watch trainwrecks on reality tv shows (cops, people losing their shit on various others). i was sitting there, watching a woman who was dead/dying and didn't just leave the officer to his work. i stayed riveted to the scene in front of me much like i can't turn off some reality tv shows even though i know i should. i knew the proper thing would be to leave the lady alone to whatever fate awaited her, but i couldn't help but to watch.
i *did* call in the incident in case he didn't, though, unlike everyone else who didn't have a thought to pull a cell phone and dial 911. not trying to pat myself on the back, but it frightens me to watch that social construct at work -- one where people just sit back and watch a potential disaster unfold without taking any actual constructive action themselves. i'm sure they thought everything was 'under control,' but what if he had just gone to the work of saving her and not called 911? maybe i was overstepping my bounds, but i'm just not bashful about calling the 911 when necessary.
I notice that the writer didn't apologize, either in person or in their minds for thinking Officer Coates was (A) annoying for using a Department issued Segway, a transport vehicle embraced by the mayor for starters and (B) enforcing the duly passed laws and ordinances legislated by the City Council and signed off on by the mayor restricting sidewalk displays and impediments to pedestrian traffic on what is arguably the most heavily pedestrian area in the city.
Lucky that old lady stopped breathing, or the writer might have assumed Officer Coates was a real putz if he ended up issuing a citation...or even worse, arresting someone breaking the law.
i agree with guest 13. the snide comments about these officers were unnecessary and silly. if no one enforced this law banning advertisers from blocking the sidewalk on michigan, it'd take 30 minutes to walk a block on that street. considering that 99% of laws are in place for a good reason, criticizing the police for enforcing them is childish
It is really nice to see an acknowledgement of the work that the police do every single day- they are often the first to arrive at medical emergencies, fires, etc., due to their sheer numbers and presence on the street. Most people don't realize that. They may not be the ones fighting the fires or starting the IVs, but they're helping to carry victims out of the fire, and, as Officer Coates has illustrated, performing CPR until the paramedics are on the scene.
Instead of jumping all over the author of the post, I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that next time she sees a police officer enforcing a law she may not agree with, she'll remember this, and remember that most police officers are not, in fact, fascists, but hard-working, honest people (who, by the way, are doing a job most of us would not for all the money in the world).
last night i saw a segway cop arrest a guy and take out the guy who he was arrestings cell phone and take a picture of him with it.
weird.
yeah, why are Segways "instant annoying"? Is riding horses any better? I'm guessing the Segways are compromise between horses and squad cars.. less cost than horses/cars, but keeps them 'on foot' amongst the pedestrians.
Those Segways probably save a lot of wear and tear on the officers' bodies over the years, so good for them.
And totally agreed, if there wasn't advertising regulation in this city, downtown would look like a highway stop with 90 foot neon glaring signs every 5 feet. So kudos to the officer for enforcing that law.
I love seeing the Segway police.
Perhaps if you tried riding one ( http://www.citysegwaytours.com/chicago/ ) you'd get over your dislike.
I sent this post to my brother who is a Chicago policeman in that district. Unfortunately the woman suffered cardiac arrest and died in the ambulance shortly thereafter. Just thought I'd pass that along as a postscript to the incident.
I'm very sad to find out the poor woman didn't make it. But this was a good post and I was glad to see another side of the police force.
As for the Segways, I think it's just a matter of getting used to seeing them around.
Oh! And I just noticed how you spelled "Saviour"... awesome. Jocelyn, this Canadian thanks you!
Has Chicagoist in the past repeatedly bitched about how crowded the sidewalks are on Michigan Avenue? But then Chicagoist gets upset when a police officer tries to clear said sidewalk of people holding giant signs. Chicagoist needs to get their collective opinions straight.
I'm with the author in my annoyance at the sheer obnixious idiocy of the Segway, although I will say that city police work is probably the only actual useful activity you can do with the things. For everybody else, it's just another way to take up way too much space without troubling yourself to move your legs.
As for the story itself, like any demographic Chicago police are represented by their worst components, and a lot of good people get a bad rap because of it. I've seen Chicago police do a lot of good and be happy and laid back while they're doing it. They willingly give directions, they help out people in need, they make the city a better place. So I'm glad to see them recognized for the good work they do as well as the bad.
#20: yeah, i didn't want to put it in my original post, but i am really good friends with a nurse and from hearing a lot of her stories, i pretty much guessed there was a big chance she wasn't going to live. but he gave her a fighting chance.
now, to the rest of you pit bulls that won't give up, i guess i will explain a little bit about the writing process.
it's a human interest piece. in order to set up and heighten the great warm fuzzy feeling i got from watching this incident, i thought i'd be completely honest about my initial reaction/perception of the officer -- not entirely super wonderful. the segway thing, as i commented earlier, is completely not based in anything rational, and i bet i'd love them if i actually got to try one. again, i was being honest in reporting the day's events as they occurred, and not sugar coating them.
as far as the laws on michigan avenue -- the tourists/suburbanites who loll and stroll down michigan with bags 5 people wide and stop in the middle of the sidewalk right after the crosswalk --- these are the people who annoy me. bucket boys -- no. homeless people -- no. street performers -- no. i didn't even know there was a sign law -- i've never noticed people with signs being a huge problem (maybe cause there's a law?).
again, i was just being honest about my initial perception, largely in part to contrast what i quickly realized -- that i have a very quick snap judgment of cops, and that i need to remember that next time i start to get annoyed about what i think they're all about.
Jocelyn, please stop responding to reader comments. Why not just let your words stand on their own instead of repeatedly inserting yourself in the public comment space. Just a suggestion.
So it's not really about the difficulty getting down the sidewalk, otherwise it would be a global annoyance at anything/anyone that gets in the way of Chicagoist struttin' their stuff down the Mag Mile. It seems to really be about Chicagoist's giant stick up their ass about visitors that have the audacity to come to "their" city. Got it.
If I pass out, I'd like it be on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago. I'm not sure what you guys found to differ about with this one. Chicago's best 'serve and protect'.
#26: As writers, we like to respond to our readers comments. Sometimes it can help us clarify a misconception, other times it can help move the conversation along. Why do you think only the public should be able to voice an opinion?
So what can a segway do that a bike can't for several thousand dollars less, including maintenance?
Segways /are/ silly, it's not the cops fault though.
See the problem here was that the tone/attitude and comment about the segway in the beginning distracted the reader, so in the end thats what people remembered and took away from what was otherwise a thoughtful post. Not attacking here, just constructive criticism from a professional journalist.
Ms. Oppenheimer,
If a piece of writing is well thought out and written, the author shouldn't have to come back three times, as Jocelyn did, to sort out what she was trying to say. Nor does she need to "explain a little bit about the writing process," as she put it. Chicagoist readers are a fairly literate bunch who understand what it takes to put pen to page. We also understand that blogs are basically unfiltered ramblings without editorial intervention, so there's no need to parse it out. Let us grumble and move on to your next post.
Cut them some slack or they will all quit and we won't have anything to read.
you promise?