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murder. A short foot chase of an armed gang member ended when the offender, who was suspected of purchasing a gun, shot and killed Officer Jacobs. The Greenville Police Depart- ment recently re-designed its use-of-force policy to conform to the new PERF guidelines. As articulated within PERF’s “Use of Force Guiding Principles,” the Greenville PD’s new policy instructs officers to protect and defend the “dignity of individ- uals and the sanctity of human life.”
identified the 30 Guiding Principles that PERF proposed for all law enforcement agencies to adopt as policy. For those that are not familiar with what PERF does, who they are, what they regularly get involved in and their recent publications; please visit their website at www.policeforum.org.
When you are on the PERF website, click on “Re-Engineer- ing Use of Force” and then click on the three bullet options: “Use of Force Guiding Principles,” “How PERF’s Use of Force Guiding Principles Were Developed” and “Re-Engineering Training on Police Use of Force.” We strongly suggest that you take a seat before you read what PERF is trying to sell. It is extremely critical that everyone become as familiar as possible with the direction PERF wants all law enforcement agencies to adopt as “use of force gospel.” We are very con- cerned that the CPD might be on the short list to conform to these PERF guidelines.
Also under PERF, police officers could be held punitively accountable - or worse, as with the tragic results involving Officer Jacobs - for behaviors and actions that don’t comply with what PERF has decided departments mandate officers to do when confronted with an individual who poses a threat or chooses to not comply with a lawful order.
There is nationwide concern about the PERF as is evi- denced by (for the first time ever) the International Associa- tion of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the National FOP teaming up and recognizing the dangers of how PERF wants to change use-of-force policies. Both groups also have major concerns over the subsequent related training. (See the joint statement from President Canterbury and IACP President Cunningham on page 7.)
A long-time friend and Gang Crime North co-worker, Pat McCarthy, wrote about compliance in his new book, Chicago Street Cop: Amazing True Stories from the Mean Streets of Chicago and Beyond (see story on page 44), about officers who face non-compliant offenders:
To further strengthen the national anti-PERF argument, South Carolina media outlets recently reported that Greenville Police Department Officer Allen Jacobs (EOW: March 18) had his weapon holstered at the time of his
Pat’s words could not be more fitting.
“I never believed that there were fair fights in the street; most cops don’t [either], because no one signs up to be [a] police officer to be beat up or hurt by anyone. The reality is there is no nice or easy way to subdue a noncompliant or combative subject. Sadly, too many officers are injured every single day, just doing their jobs in their cities or towns”
Tattoo ARB Victory
As this month’s magazine cover illustrates, there are no more lingering restrictions when it comes to the members exposing their tattoos. Not too long ago, the Department took the stance that all uniformed officers would be required to cover up any of their exposed tattoos, whether they be on forearms, hands, fingers or any other exposed areas. A Febru- ary 2016 change in Departmental policy read: “Members assigned to uniform duty with tattoos or body brandings on their arms or legs that are visible when wearing the short- sleeve shirt or shorts will wear the prescribed long-sleeve shirt and long pants with appropriate neck wear, regardless of sea- son.”
It did not take much time for the Lodge to take up the fight to address the arbitrary policy change, as well as the dangers associated with the Department’s misguided edict. On behalf of all officers similarly affected, a grievance was filed in the name of our Sergeant-of-Arms, Al Francis Jr. Immediately everyone involved realized that our grievance had no chance of being resolved, nor did the Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) that we filed. The next step in the process was to schedule this case for an arbitration hearing. Pat Fioretto and Patrick Ryan of our labor law firm, Baum Sigman Auerbach and Neuman, Ltd., took ahold of the case’s preparation and never looked back. The arbitration was much more extensive and involved than space allows, but the full arbitration is available on the Lodge website for your reading pleasure.
6 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ APRIL 2016
One of our next steps was to enlist the involvement of some of the affected members. A call for names went out and after multiple interviews; Francis, Trustee Jay Ryan, Mounted Offi- cer Robert Galassi and 22nd District Officer Thomas Grimm became the main cogs in the Lodge’s wheel of contention. These members eventually offered testimony about how the