Page 31 - May2021
P. 31

 the City about what constitutes exces- sive use of force.
President John Catanzara and Field Representative Andrew Cantore, a past use-of-force instructor and one of the most knowledgeable Chicago Po- lice Officers on the subject, have been participating in these discussions. And their ongoing efforts to relentless- ly advocate for and, more importantly, protect members has created a very astute and penetrating illumination of the issue, the threats it causes and what needs to be done for safety of of- ficers and the people they serve.
“The City is requesting we attend meetings on use of force, but they’re not really negotiations as much as them pretty much telling us what they want them to be,” explains Cantore, who was a use-of-force training in- structor for five years. “I think one of the problems is that nobody is on the same page about language used in the orders. With these current changes, it seems as if they’re trying to be more publicly correct. I don’t want to say they are being forced, but it’s almost like mob rule dictating.”
How can officers make a confident, correct decision about use of force – in a split-second, mind you – when every time there is a shooting, their names and photographs are being released before an investigation is even com- pleted?
They get dragged through the news media and social media mud, where the facts aren’t clear or even known. As a result, there is no due process to make a decision before the investi- gation has concluded, which is their constitutional right.
Consequently – and dangerous- ly – Chicago Police Officers could get locked in a Pandora’s box by elected officials and policymakers who have no idea how hard it can be to subdue and detain a subject.
“We need to let them see firsthand just how deadly these encounters can be when you’re handcuffing officers from actually doing police work,” Pres- ident Catanzara emphasizes. “Some- times, first strikes are necessary to get a subject’s compliance because they’re not going to just give in.”
Force field
Catanzara declared what a state of emergency the use of force situation has become when appearing on the
“To the Point” podcast hosted by Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Be- nevolent Association of New York City. He recalled how the City topped more than 10,000 shootings last year. He added that the crash course is headed to top 10,000 shootings again this year and made a point with a timely bit of irony that Chicago is on the verge of becoming a real-life “Escape from New York.”
Catanzara also acknowledged that the majority of beat cops have fewer than nine years on the job but that the problem is not a lack of use-of- force experience. The union’s concern about keeping officers’ names from being added to the wall is directed at a very obvious root cause.
“The leadership here in Chicago is absolutely lost at sea,” the FOP pres- ident charges. “And if they don’t quit pandering to the squeaky voices, this isn’t going to change.”
The Lodge also is concerned with the way the courts and the state’s at- torney are creating even more danger for cops. On the podcast, Catanzara related information about a person who was arrested for jumping on the field at a White Sox game being hit with a $5,000 bond. In the same court, he said three people charged with fel- ony possession each walked out with a signature bond and an ankle monitor.
“Somebody jumping on a baseball field having a higher bond than a gun offense, it’s ridiculous,” Catanzara de- clares. “They are sending a message
that unless someone gets shot, they are not going to hold anybody on a bond.”
Complicating use-of-force appli- cation and clarification even further is what Cantore describes as a mis- conception about transparency. The Department has responded to pub- lic, legislative and media outcries for transparency by the aforementioned forsaking of due process with the identification of officers involved in a shooting before completion of the in- vestigation.
“The Department believes that giv- ing out every piece of information they have is transparency,” Cantore submits. “Transparency is when you apply context to the information. Ev- erybody is pouring out their orders, their use-of-force policy, but there’s no context. So how is that showing trans- parency? If you want to give out every piece of information you have, then you also are responsible for providing all the context that you have as well.”
Force to reckon with
Resolving the use-of-force discon- nects really needs to be accomplished the old-fashioned way: through train- ing. And that training needs to deploy the fundamentals of the best-retained learning of hands-on, scenario-based, real-world application.
Catanzara interjects that one of the disconnects results from the policy-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 32
 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ MAY 2021 31













































































   29   30   31   32   33