Page 18 - FOP August 2021

Arbitrator finds COPA violated Officers’ Bill of Rights
In another huge victory for the Lodge, on June 28, 2021, Arbitrator Roumell issued his opinion and award sustaining, in large part, the Lodge’s chal- lenges over recent changes implemented by COPA investigators when taking statements during dis- ciplinary investigations. In his ruling, the ar- bitrator specifically ordered: “The City and
COPA [must] cease and desist from COPA’s practice of not providing criminal rights
and preventing officers from exercising their Fifth Amendment rights in cases where criminal prosecution is probable...”
Why is this significant? In large part, because for the past sev- eral years, COPA’s investigators have not been complying with the Bill of Rights protections set forth in Article 6 of the Collec- tive Bargaining Agreement (“contract”).
As it became increasingly obvious how COPA morphed its investigatory practices to further water down the Bill of Rights protections guaranteed in the contract, the Lodge initially filed a formal charge with the Labor Board. The board’s executive di- rector eventually deferred the matter to the parties’ grievance and arbitration procedures. This award highlights the signifi- cance of one of the most important provisions contained in the contract: Section 6.1(I)–which requires COPA to advise Depart- ment members under investigation (based on a complaint) of their rights when compelled to provide a formal statement.
Although the parties resolved several other important issues prior to the arbitration hearing (the City/COPA agreed to the role a primary and secondary investigator will have when a statement is taken; when anonymous complaints can be inves-
tigated; and the historic, ongoing role an attorney has when accompanying an officer to provide a statement), the par- ties agreed to have Arbitrator Roumell address another remaining issue of concern. The crucial issue to be re- solved involved whether the City violated Section 6.1 by COPA’s failure to give officers criminal rights in appro-
priate circumstances.
From the outset of his award, the arbitrator quickly re-
jected the City’s arguments attempting to justify COPA’s re- fusal to provide officers with their criminal rights when appro- priate, stating that the City’s “approach fails to recognize that Article 6.1(I) is there to be read; but because it is general lan- guage, the parties have adopted a past practice in applying the language,” as presented by the Lodge. The arbitrator impliedly rejected the testimony of COPA’s interim chief administrator, Andrea Kersten, instead crediting the testimony of the Lodge’s witnesses (Attorneys Tom Pleines and Tim Grace). Moreover, he gave credence to various letters (submitted as exhibits by the Lodge) from the predecessor agency, IPRA, to find that the past practice was to delay investigations while the state’s attorney considered filing criminal charges because “there were cases where either criminal rights were given or OPS and IPRA inves-
PAT FIORETTO
18 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ AUGUST 2021