Page 12 - October 2018 FOP Magazine

Financial Secretary’s Report
Errors to avoid when submitting SPARs paperwork
Good day...I wish everyone a fruitful harvest season.
A grievance committee was held on Sept. 20 with the following results: the committee deferred five grievances, recommended the withdrawal of seven and voted to go forward with four. Two of- ficers appeared before us and further explained their grievances; one of them provided informa- tion that the committee had not heard before, which brought forth a reversal of decision from the
initial judgment. The committee tries to get all the information it can before making a decision.
On to another subject: I have been receiving calls regarding Summary Punishment Action Requests (SPAR). The Depart- ment has been issuing a few more SPARs lately, and a SPAR is not grievable until the fourth occurrence within 12 months. At the time you are issued your SPAR discipline, you may request a hearing with the commander of your unit.
Here is where some errors have been made: When you write the to-from to request a hearing, there must be a reason for the hearing. If your to-from states a basic “I want a hearing,” the hearing will not be held due to a lack of information on the basis of the hearing. Now, simple common courtesy would be for the Department to inform you that your to-from does not give enough information to warrant a hearing and advise you
to resubmit it but, of course, this is not being done. Then three weeks down the line, the officer asks the front office about the hearing, and he or she is informed that it was rejected and that the timeframe for a hearing has expired. So remember to give a good explanation for why you want a hearing when you submit your paperwork.
Next is a warning to all the PPOs, as well as those officers who work with a PPO, to advise them not to do anything that would lead to trouble off duty until their year-and-a-half proba- tion is over. There have been a few officers getting themselves into trouble by not using better judgment when a tricky situa- tion comes up. If you encounter something that seems a little “off,” be the most cautious person in the world and walk away. I hate to hear about an officer in trouble when it could have been avoided.
Finally, congratulations to the officers who submitted their retirement papers by Sept. 30 for retirement in 2019. I have spo- ken to many retired officers, and each one has had an active and long retirement: Fred Sosinski, Joe Carrillo, Cornelius Knox, Danny Roy and Ron Jamieson (I was in the academy with the latter two) are all enjoying their retirement. After working in one of the most difficult jobs there is, they’ve earned the right to a long and restful retirement.
Stay safe. d
MICHAEL GARZA
12 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ OCTOBER 2018