Page 12 - July 2017 Newsletter

SecondVice President’s Report
We need to change how we represent
Sometimes, it is crucial to rely too heavily on attorneys. Other times, it is foolish to do so.
I remember, for example, when I was a mem- ber of the hotel union in Chicago and we wanted to file a lawsuit against our union’s international because it had imposed a trusteeship upon our Local we thought was unfair and possibly illegal.
For many months we talked to lawyers, who told us we would never succeed in such a legal endeavor. It’s impossible to get rid of a trustee-
ship, they said.
At first, we heeded their advice. But then we were frustrated
and angry, so we decided to go ahead and pursue a lawsuit. We finally found attorneys who would help us and filed the suit.
Sure enough, we won, and the trusteeship was tossed.
The members of the FOP are in a similar position. We are getting hammered from all sides in every forum: media, civil courts, criminal courts, politics.
Our response is generally providing an attorney to the ac- cused officers. Yet, in the long run, our lot has not improved significantly. In fact, it’s only gotten worse.
This isn’t a criticism of the legal advice we are getting.
Rather, it’s a statement that relying too heavily on the strat- egy of just providing defense to accused officers may not be the best way to fight back on behalf of our members. It’s a
statement that perhaps it is time for the Lodge to take control by employing new methods.
Here are some of the new tactics I think we should consider:
Rather than play defense when it comes to attorneys – that is, just getting a lawyer to defend an accused officer – perhaps we should consider going on the offense. Why not take some of the most glaring instances in which officers have been un- fairly accused and disciplined and pursue civil cases on be- half of the members?
Even if attorneys warn us that such actions are a longshot, this tactic still might be the best course of action. And it would let the Department, City Hall, prosecutors and the media know that we are now standing up for ourselves in a way we have not done in the past.
Discovery in such civil actions could prove highly benefi- cial. The anti-police media in the city would be confronted with evidence and a narrative contradicting their long-held bias.
Perhaps most beneficial would be the long-term impli- cations of such a strategy. It could diminish the accusations against our members and thereby save members the hardship of false accusations and save the Lodge money in our legal fund. And when was the last time the city pursued charges against anyone for filing false allegations of police miscon- duct?
No matter how much money we give to attorneys, it will never undermine the most crucial factor in the anti-police movement in the city: the overwhelming bias of the local me- dia.
Lodge 7 needs to confront the media in two ways and has already begun doing so.
First, the Lodge must monitor stories published that in- clude false, biased or unethical claims. Confronting reporters with such facts and arguments will, in time, detract their nar- ratives. Reporters grow weary of being confronted with their own shortcomings or bias.
Second, the FOP needs to employ the media arts them- selves, particularly social media, to publish its own narratives, ones that will stand up to what the mainstream media is re- porting.
The truth in Chicago, and the country in general, is that people generally still have faith in law enforcement, certainly more faith in law enforcement than in the mainstream media.
Remember in 1969 when President Nixon talked about the “great silent majority” in the face of so much chaos from dem- onstrators? And he was elected by a landslide.
Lodge 7 needs to rally its supporters and show them that the narratives against the police are often false. In doing so, the FOP needs to show that the media must be held account- able, just as the police are.
If we can take away, or significantly diminish, the ties of the media to the anti-police movement in Chicago, then we can make significant gains, including protecting members who are falsely accused, disciplined, terminated or indicted, and help them get back to fighting the terrible violent crime that plagues the city.
MARTIN PREIB
12 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JULY 2017
Now, that’s what you call representation. d