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like any other administration, we’ve held Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx accountable. We’ve established some great ties with the DOJ, which has helped us quite a bit. We want to make sure our members are getting fair treatment at 26th and California by keeping pressure on the prosecutor to make sure batteries against police officers will not be swept under the rug. We’ve fought the biased and ludicrous exonerations and got the DOJ to take up cases the prosecutor has dropped.
We’ve established some new, strong committees. We have a Criminal Justice Committee that Marty is heading up, and Field Rep Bob Bartlett is heading up a Consent Decree Committee. They’re off and running, and I expect to see real accomplish- ments out of those committees during the next year.
Our blog received more than a quarter of a million hits this past year, which is allowing us to further our message to our members. And attorney Joel D’Alba has done some great work for us, especially with the contract, unfair labor practices and the consent decree.
We have also built up our political partnerships. Trustee Dan- ny Gorman has worked with me on our Political Action Com- mittee, and we have built relationships with elected officials who respect law enforcement. We have tried to establish ties in the city council so when our contract is finally done, we will have support to get it approved.
There are enormous challenges ahead, but we are up for all those challenges. We’ve had bills passed in Springfield, which we haven’t had in six years. This union has never been stronger.
What are you not so positive about?
The continuing disparaging comments about the police and the FOP stating, “We need to have community oversight” affect all of us. But these comments are coming from people who are out of touch with the reality of police work. Toward that end,
one of the things I’m going to do is to get the new mayor to go through the “shoot/don’t shoot” training at the police academy. I am hoping she can take time after the election to get a better understanding of what we do. That’s my goal and she will cer- tainly have the opportunity.
The previous administration not doing more to contest the consent decree left us in a tough place. But we are grateful to President Trump and his administration for helping us in many ways to battle something that we never should have been under.
What’s the state of negotiations for the new contract?
We’ve had a number of meetings, and we have made propos- als that we think are innovative and to the members’ benefit. A downside is that some things the City is asking for are because the community wants it, not because it’s necessarily the right thing to do.
The negotiations are intense. We are digging in like an infan- try battle, and we’re not giving in. We have always been willing to negotiate and listen to reasonable arguments. It’s about hard work, and the people I trust to get this job done are working night and day almost seven days a week to try and do the best for our members.
Joel D’Alba’s counsel has been so valuable. Members of our contract committee like Marlon Harvey and Tim Murphy have really been working hard. Tim has added a real dimension when we talk about police-involved shootings. Marty has been work- ing every weekend and Bob has been working nonstop. We have people knocking themselves out to ensure that we get a fair con- tract and members’ rights are protected.
Looking back, what are some of the achievements members should be most proud of?
The three officers who were falsely accused of covering up in the Van Dyke case were acquitted. And soundly acquitted. And minimizing Jason’s sentencing, of course. I can’t explain how
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