Chicago City Wire

The Chicago Fire Department is limited in its authority to assess the conditions at police stations based on recent photos and is unable to assess whether conditions at police stations revealed in the photos are hazardous or not.

The Chicago Fire Department’s Larry Merritt clarified that their department lacks jurisdiction over these facilities and highlighted the distinct nature of police stations in comparison to venues with specific occupancy regulations.

“It's not it's not under our purview,” Merritt told Chicago City Wire.

A hallway packed full of illegal immigrants at the 22nd District police station. | Dan Proft / X

“The police station isn't a venue like a restaurant or a concert venue where there's an occupancy number. We've had this question posed to us from different reporters. It's it's not under our purview. Those buildings aren't, for lack of a better description, just they're not rated for for for for that. So it's not under our purview.”

Merritt’s comments come after a photo was posted on X from Chicago’s Morning Answer radio show host Dan Proft.

The photo showed a ramshackle makeshift camp on the foor and in which hundreds of illegal immigrants have made the floor and hallways of the Chicago's 22nd District police station their homes.

The image shared by Proft has played out throughout police stations across the city.

While the initial purpose of utilizing police stations for housing illegal immigrants was temporary, a substantial number of them have been residing in these facilities for an extended period.

This prolonged stay is due to the city's shelters operating at full capacity, and as a result, approximately 1,600 illegal immigrants have sought refuge in police stations, according to WTTW.

Towards the end of August, the President of the Fraternal Order of Police, John Catanzara, remarked on the Chicago Fire Department's limitations on evaluating the conditions in question.

“This is absolutely unacceptable and ridiculous working conditions,” Catanzara in a recording showing conditions at the Chicago Police Department’s 12th District police station.

“I was told there were calls made to the fire department out of the 12th district and they refused to send anybody.”