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The great internal divide
We had a remarkable general meeting on Sept. 22. The day began with a protest at our office by various misinformed community groups. Thanks to the outstanding work of the officers on scene, the violence was limited. What really disturbed me
history of the Chicago Police Department, we are argu- ing about semantics in a by-law instead of focusing on things like the formation of the Civilian Office on Po-
KEVIN
KEVIN
KILMER
KILMER
was, despite 40 or so people spewing hate toward the people who attend- R
lice Accountability or the rising amount of attacks on police officers across the country. Now is not the time to campaign for your desired spot... now is the time to come together and be united as the largest police Lodge in the country, and put the city and the police critics on notice and say, “Enough is enough.” Save the campaigning and political infighting for a time when the guys working the street have the luxury of not having their heads on
a swivel 24 hours a day.
While other unions overwhelmingly vote to autho-
rize strikes, they demonstrate unity by standing to- gether behind their leadership. d
ed, it didn’t seem to faze the indi- viduals with self-serving agendas at the meeting inside. Specifically, a by-law proposal was presented which, as you may have seen in our last issue of the magazine on page 22, provided that:
“Any Board of Director in order to be eligible for a monthly stipend must attend and address a min- imum of two roll calls (other than the member’s unit of assignment), or other membership event only after receiving the pre-approval of the Lodge President as well as the Lodge First Vice-President; or forfeit of the monthly stipend per each of the two roll calls or other membership events not attended.”
This would seem like a reasonable request. In order for a board member to earn his or her $600 dollars per month, he or she would be required to meet with some members to discuss the current events of the Lodge and the Chicago Police Department. However, much to my chagrin, a line formed at the microphone that rivals one at an Apple Store when the latest iPhone is released. Those in line wished to argue the merits of this straightforward proposal. The people trying to make their voices heard were the “who’s who” of FOP elections past. As their arguments were very illogical, one can only assume that the only reason they wished to speak was to ensure their relevance to the attendees of the meeting. To see this sideshow for yourself, please log on to the Lodge 7 website, as all videos of the meet- ings are accessible. By the way, those same people left the meeting at their first chance, not wishing to stay to learn about the latest state of the FOP.
As we wasted time on this topic, employees of the “Independent” Police Review Authority were going through old cases in hopes of reopening an investiga- tion to show their boss how good they are at bringing up police officers on charges without any facts of the case changing. Why do I bring this up? Because it dis- gusts me that at one of the most critical times in the
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CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ OCTOBER 2016 13