Page 10 - November 2020

SecondVice President’s Report
Breaking down the OIG quarterly report
This past October, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released its quarterly report. In its report, the OIG reported taking in 724 new com- plaints for the quarter and 430 of those cases were filed online. The OIG closed 411 old complaints and reported only “sustaining” nine cases. Only one sustained case involved the police, and was the subject of mainstream media reports. We are still waiting for mainstream media to report on misconduct in other city departments.
The OIG also made recommendations to the CPD. One of those recommendations addresses the number of “acting up” incidents, otherwise known to us as working “out of grade.” Ac- cording to the OIG, no employee may “act up” for more than 90 days when there is a vacancy, unless the Department of Human Resources issues a waiver.
The OIG has identified that the department uses evidence technicians (ETs) working out of grade in place of police foren- sic investigators (PFIs) rather than promoting ETs to PFIs. The OIG notes that there have been no promotions to PFIs since 2005. The OIG recommends “hiring” or promoting to the PFI positions. (The difference between ETs and PFIs is a subject for another conversation, but we are proponents for ETs to get pro- moted to PFI status).
The department provided a noncommittal response, agree- ing to have discussions with the Department of Human Re- sources and the budget office to weigh the cost of promotions. The department did agree to investigate the associated costs of the PFI positions and will submit a report to the OIG within 120 days.
The mayor also rolled out her 2021 proposed budget, which eliminates 541 sworn positions and includes cutting the num- ber of PFIs down to five. (Let that sink in: only five PFIs.) A further investigation revealed that the department is currently operating with five PFIs but was budgeted in 2020 for 10 PFIs. The annual salary for a 9201 (PFI) with 20 years of service (step 9) is $111,252. As I said earlier, no PFIs have been made since 2005 and the City has already enjoyed the savings through attri- tion. Proposed savings on PFIs in 2021 alone is $556,260. (The amount of homicides and OISs affected by not having trained PFIs process the evidence? Priceless.)
Additionally, despite the elimination of 541 essential posi- tions, only four command spots with unidentified responsibili- ties have been added. The 541 positions are from various ranks. For the sake of averages, let’s take a 20-year police officer (step 9), who currently has the annual salary of $93,354, and multiply that by 541. It comes to $50,504,514.
The 2021 budget calls for one additional deputy superinten- dent (title code 9782) and three additional commander posi- tions (title code 9752). According my research, 9782 is a new title code, but the current first deputy has the title code 9781. The current annual salary for a 9781 is $197,724, and for a 9752 is $162,684, for a combined total of $686,317.
The proposed budget also lists a title code (9155) that was awarded in the 1990s through arbitration. From my preliminary research, title code 9155 P.O. (per arbitration award) was created as a result of an arbitration that awarded the grieving officers at the D2 rate for the affected member’s service in that position. Getting to my point, the 2020 budget allotted for five 9155 slots, but only two officers currently hold that position. The 2021 budget allots for an increase to four. We find this number suspi- cious, because from our understanding the 9155 pay code was awarded one time and should be reduced through attrition (not increased). The current annual salary for a step 9 (20 years of service) for a 9155 is $98,052, for a total of $196,104.
While violent crime is on the rise, there is an increase in ev- idence to be processed — so the diminished potential for ad- vancement to PFI leaves one to make what you will of the below estimates. Have a look on the bright side, though: Maybe some- day the City will create a command spot for you.
Here’s the bottom line:
• Estimated savings from eliminating positions, including
PFI: $50,504,514.
• Estimated salaries of newly created positions: $686,317.
• Estimate of unverified salaries that could go toward ful-
filling the OIG’s recommendation of promoting person- nel to PFI: $196,104.
DAN GORMAN
10 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ NOVEMBER 2020