Page 15 - Sept 2017

Financial Secretary’s Report
Summer grievances and arbitration awards
It was a very active summer, and I hope things will be calmer in the fall. On Aug. 24, there was a Grievance Committee held with 15 officers in at- tendance. There were 31 cases to be reviewed by the committee. After assessment, the committee decided to defer two grievances, go forward with 16 cases and withdraw 13 cases. Again, withdraw- ing the case usually is done to encourage the of- ficer to come in and address the committee and present further information on their grievance.
Recent arbitration awards have been received, and although most were successful, the ones that we are really taking a beat- ing on are the ones with misplaced or stolen weapons. The ar- bitrators, even given a common-sense explanation of the oc- currence, have been denying these grievances. It is of supreme importance that you properly secure your weapon; keep it on your person if you go out with it or leave it in a safe at home if you are not allowed to take it wherever you are going. To us as Police Officers, it’s our tool for work; to others, it’s a danger at all times.
I have been to a few callouts since the last article; the offi- cers at these incidents have conducted themselves with the highest level of professionalism and exercised complete skill and knowledge at these scenes. One of the officers actually gave
medical assistance to the offender after the incident.
In my opinion, the officers of this modern era have accepted and adjusted to all the job has asked them to do and accom- plish. With this being said, I ask those in command of the De- partment to let the officers have their days off and not cancel them for no other reason than “it could be bad this weekend (or holiday.)” The years that it took to keep reducing the manpower and not invest in department equipment and training cannot be all rectified in one moment. It only increases the pressure in what is an already stressful job. If you just kept it as a voluntary program, I’m sure you would have enough officers to defend the
streets.
I would also like to mention that I met the new “shooting
team” of detectives, some of whom I worked with and some of whom I know. I can say that they are some of the most knowl- edgeable detectives I know. They have time on the job and time in rank and have the most comprehensive knowledge to assist the officers at these scenes. With their complete understand- ing of these situations, they assist the officers under the most stressful circumstances. Thank you for your work.
Finally, we are whittling down the contract proposals that we are taking to the City, and we plan to push forward with an agenda to secure our rights and improve our lives d
MICHAEL GARZA
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ SEPTEMBER 2017 15