By Tyler Durden

During her tenure in the Wrigley Mansion, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has given her deeply unpopular predecessor Rahm Emmanuel a run for his money.

After royally pissing off police by accusing the state’s largest local police union of trying to induce an insurrection over the vaccine mandate, the Chicago Fraternal order of Police asked Cook County judge to grant a restraining order that blocks the City of Chicago’s vaccine mandate – and won a temporary reprieve, of sorts.

On Monday, Cook County Judge Raymond Mitchell ruled that Chicago police can skip the Covid-19 vaccination, for now, but that officers do have to report their vaccination status per the city’s current requirement. The order, which appears to only apply to CFO Union members, also prevents the city from disciplining police who are not fully vaccinated or exempt by the year’s end.

That said, Mitchell’s order still allows Chicago to place noncompliant officers who refuse to report their vaccination status on no-pay status. What’s more, the Dec. 31 vaccination deadline remains in place for all other city employees, according to Courthouse News.

In his written ruling, Mitchell wrote that he partially granted the FOP’s request for a temporary restraining order to protect the polices unions’ collective bargaining power and what he deemed the “arbitrability” of their grievances with the vaccine mandate. Both the city and the FOP agreed in court last week that the ongoing fight over the vaccine mandate would be best solved via arbitration.

“I don’t commentate on wins and losses regarding a judge’s ruling,” said Chicago Police Supt. David Brown. “But I will say we are proceeding with our protocol to get officers in the portal.”

City attorneys will face off against the Fraternal Order of Police again next week as city hall continues to maintain that the Police Department’s decision to get around the vaccine mandate puts others at risk (even though recent research shows that there’s little risk).

Stay tuned for more…