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have on addressing violence. Most academics are convinced that law enforcement agencies need to adopt policies about the use of non-lethal options, and that these policies will bet- ter the future of policing. Other solutions offered deal with more diversity training, less proactive policing and the docu- mentation of all street stops to address heavy-handed prac- tices. They offer solution after solution, hold discussion after discussion and attend conference after conference; all the while violence is on the rise, shootings are increasing and murders are up in every major urban environment in Amer- ica.
Facing Violence
increasing the Tier 2 Survivor’s Annuity; and 3) SB 440 adjusted the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for retirees born before Jan. 1, 1966. The action taken by the governor allowed the widow and Tier 2 corrections to go through, but it stopped short of approving the COLA adjustment for those born before Jan. 1, 1966. Therefore, our work is once again cut out for us as we gear up for another override attempt. Right now, the projected vote will be forthcoming shortly before (in the Senate), and immediately following (in the House), Thanksgiving. As things progress, we will update the mem- bership.
Retiree Healthcare Update
As the membership continues to deal with the onslaught of robberies, shootings and murders that are now occurring in every corner of our city, some are crying for the governor to send in the National Guard. The Illinois State Police has already been lending a hand within the city limits. The Cook County Sheriff’s Police has been performing regular missions in Chicago for several months. To take the need for any out- side presence an additional step further, several private secu- rity firms have already been hired to supply security officers as additional uniformed bodies in certain high-crime neigh- borhoods. No matter how it is perceived, one thing is more obvious than anyone downtown is willing to admit: These ini- tiatives do nothing but further prove that manpower condi- tions within the Chicago Police Department are beyond desperate.
At the time of this writing, the retiree healthcare issue is more or less winding down in Judge Cohen’s room. While the counsel of record (Mr. Krislov) continues to report on his plans to move ahead with additional appeals, we continue to move ahead as previously reported with our two-year effort of working on an alternative retiree healthcare program. The program is nearly prepared to bring forward and the option will become available to any and all Chicago Police Depart- ment retirees. Throughout our campaign, long before getting elected into office, we made a promise that we would work on searching out and securing an alternative healthcare option. As we promised, our goal was to work tirelessly so that we would have something ready prior to the Dec. 31, 2016 healthcare deadline. We are pleased to inform our members that our goal has been realized and our program will be ready as soon as we get the final figures of the two participating groups – the city and the pension fund.
Even with the implementation of outside agencies and pri- vate security groups, it is the women and men of the Chicago Police Department who continue to face the worst violence Chicago has witnessed in decades. Our members continue to meet the taunts and threats head on. Chicago Police Officers are the only ones truly engaged and on the front lines. They never refuse a call for service. They never avoid offering assis- tance. Chicago Police Officers are constantly engaged in tak- ing a position between the threat and the innocent.
On a separate, but related, item, we have been made aware that there are some retirees who have left City of Chicago plan for one reason or another. Retirees need to make their own decisions. Choices are based on someone’s collective family situation and an individual’s affordability and/or medical needs, just to name a few. However, please make sure that no matter your decision – if you stay with whatever the city even- tually decides, leave altogether or enroll with the vendor the Lodge has been working with – you must make 100-percent sure that the company you decide to deal with is aware of your annual HELPS write off. In an attempt to speak to this issue as quickly as possible, if a municipality and/or, in our case, the pension fund is not paying the healthcare-related fees directly to the vendor, the HELPS benefit is lost. Therefore, it is critically incumbent upon all annuitants who are planning to, or have already decided to, seek out inde- pendent healthcare coverage to address the HELPS option with their eventual healthcare provider.
It is apparent that most of what members are experiencing on the streets of Chicago will not be changing for the better anytime soon. The violence that many thought (or prayed) would taper off, was worse in August than any time in recent history.
In addition to all of the “same as usual” aspects of what is happening within the CPD, everyone is less than hopeful that the eventual Department of Justice report will do little more than slightly improve matters. Even with limited resources and minimal support, Chicago Police Officers continue to do the work no one else wants to do. Members know that there is limited support for them. They read the negative stories in the local papers nearly every day. They listen to the negative broadcasts nearly every evening. No one is expecting anything to change anytime soon. As we said, some things never seem to change.
Obviously we cannot explain everything here in relation to the future healthcare program(s). There are still several unan- swered questions that remain within the courtroom, City Hall and the pension fund, all of which limit us in multiple ways. For everyone concerned about what lies ahead concerning retiree healthcare, please keep an eye on the Lodge website and our Facebook page for further clarification and updates. As soon as the program we have been working on is totally completed, an information packet will be mailed to all eligible annuitants. Dates of informational sessions, contact tele- phone numbers and all other pertinent materials will be shared.
Legislation Updates
Recently, Governor Rauner performed an Amendatory Veto of Senate Bill 440 (SB 440). To refresh everyone’s memory: 1) SB 440 contained an increase in the minimum annuity for widows from $1,000 to a level of 125 percent of the Federal Poverty Level; 2) SB 440 addressed and corrected an error by
6 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ SEPTEMBER 2016