Page 12 - FOP March 2017 Newsletter

Accountability: an imbalance
IthasbeenaninterestingmonthattheFOP. Rahm took away our retirees’ Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance, forcing our retirees to move to the market for health insur- ance. Not a month later, the City sent those same retirees insurance cards
get a one-day suspension. Yet when a city worker de- letes health insurance for 6,000 city employees, every- one laughs. These mistakes are unacceptable and not a
laughing matter. We spoke to the Lodge attorneys and a complaint was filed with the Inspector Gen- eral’sOffice,askingforaninvestigationintowho is responsible for these mistakes and how they
will be disciplined. We will keep you updated.
Our pension fund
GREG BELLA
for Blue Cross Blue Shield health in- surance. I called the City and was told it’s impossible – it couldn’t have hap-
RECORDING
Secretary
pened. The City called back and stated that it did happen by mistake, and asked if I could tell the retirees to throw the insurance cards away. Next, the City acci- dentally canceled 6,000 city workers’ Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance. Once again, I called the City and was told “that doesn’t sound right” and that they would “look into it.” I got a return call from the City and was informed a mistake was made that accidentally de- leted our members’ health insurance. The City said its officials were in the process of restoring everyone’s ben- efits. The good news is, everyone affected has had their health insurance restored.
I asked if the people responsible for the mistakes had been disciplined. The response I received was that the supervisors talked about it, but no action will be taken. I told the City, if I worked for Microsoft and spilled my coffee on the keyboard and deleted the company files, do you think I would still have a job? The response was laughter.
Why isn’t anyone accountable? It appears the only employees working for the City who are accountable are Police Officers. When we make a mistake, it is called mis- conduct and we get disciplined. When we accidentally discharge a Taser by the radio room, we automatically
CASIANO CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11
me in the morning” cure. However, there are a number of approaches we can take; a number of treatments to try. I’m not sure if our Department is ready to invest the resources. It seems our Department is more concerned about mitigating liability than it is about the health and well-being of our members. So we must be careful not to create an environment or program that labels officers as damaged goods and thereby put a larger liability on the Department.
It’s not an issue or a concern that can be addressed one way. It must be a collaboration of different ideas, different treatments and different programs. This situ- ation can be a learning opportunity for the Department to reinvest in its officers, to take care of the investment to the point when officers can come back to full duty, maximize performance and be healthy again.
12 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ MARCH 2017
The Chicago Police Pension Fund received a let- ter from Finance Committee Chairman Burke, citing a resolution introduced by Alderman John Arena from the 45th Ward for the City of Chicago Pension Funds to cease investing in fossil fuels, which would cost our pen- sion fund $30 million. Fossil fuel investments give our fund some of the biggest returns; so, an alderman makes a demand while he offers no suggestion on how to re- place the money that will be lost if we comply with his folly. In the past, when politicians stuck their noses in our pension fund, the result to the fund was a huge loss of money.
These are the same people who instituted the ban on plastic bags in stores. It is not environmentally sound to use plastic bags but it is acceptable to kill more trees to make paper bags. Aldermen should worry about gar- bage being picked up, alley-and streetlights working, snow removal and potholes being repaired. That is what they get elected to do, not legislate us into the Stone Age. Alderman Arena, you need to worry about addressing your constituents’ concerns on your housing develop- ment, and leave our pension fund alone. d
If the Department truly cares about its officers, it can- not continue to ignore those suffering from PTSD. If the Department really cares about its officers, it cannot resort to putting them on forced medical because they may have a problem, or carry them Code 49 indefinitely to care for themselves. If it’s clearly defined as a prob- lem, don’t take their ID and Star, yet let these officers walk out with their firearm. That’s what happening. And this is what will happen next: You take two pills in the morning. Then two more at lunch. Then a beer in the afternoon. Then another and another.
If you feel like PTSD is driving you to this point, call EAP at 312-743-0378 and get some help. Or, as always, reach out to me at 312-733-7773. d
FOP is here to “Serve and Protect” you, so that you can better “Serve and Protect” the citizens of Chicago. God bless!