Page 16 - July2021

RDO cancellation arbitration update
Lastissue,Iwroteabouttheclass-actiongriev- ance that the Lodge filed over the City’s decision to cancel RDOs inside the 28-day period, depriv- ing police officers of their collectively bargained days off. Indeed, many officers worked 12 to
14 consecutive days, often 12-hour shifts, without any reprieve. As I mentioned in the article, the City is placing officers in harm’s way.
An arbitration hearing is currently set to begin
on Tuesday, July 20, in front of Arbitrator George Roumell. We expect the hearing to last several days. The Lodge is hearing from officers about the emotional, psycho- logical and physical toll the City’s actions have placed on them. Last month’s issue also contained a heart-wrenching open letter submitted by an officer, describing the impact his grueling work schedule posed on him and his family. As he poignantly explained, “I recall sleeping on the couch be- cause I didn’t want to wake up my wife during that time. Though what I recall most was when my own son didn’t rec- ognize me because I had been away from home for so long. I still haven’t recovered from that moment.” This is inexcus- able.
In preparation for the hearing, the Lodge could not help
but notice a press conference in which Superintendent Brown laid out some statistics for reporters. Not surprising- ly, the Lodge did not find the information reported in any major news outlet. The Superintendent’s comments are
worth noting. Specifically, at the May 24 briefing, Super- intendent Brown (along with a cadre of commanders standing behind him wearing face masks), reported
the following:
In contrast, and Jeremy, I think you’ll like this, the Chicago Tribune recently reported that 94 people charged with murder have been released on electronic monitoring this year. In addition, 261 peo- ple charged as armed habitual criminals have been released back into the community on electronic moni- tors. I’ll talk slow because I want you to get these num- bers: 534 people charged as felons in possession of a weapon have been released back into the community on electronic monitoring; 569 people charged with ag- gravated unlawful use of a weapon have been released back into the community on electronic monitoring; 33 people charged with vehicular hijacking have been released back into the community on electronic mon- itoring; 53 people charged with domestic battery have been released back into the community on electronic
PAT FIORETTO
16 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JULY 2021