Page 5 - Sept 2017

CHICAGO LODGE 7
Official Magazine
President’s Report
FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE CHICAGO LODGE #7
EXECUTIVE BOARD
KEVIN GRAHAM
President
PATRICK J. MURRAY
First Vice President
Martin Preib
Second Vice President
Jay R. Ryan
Third Vice President
Greg Bella
Recording Secretary
Michael P. Garza
Financial Secretary
John Capparelli
Treasurer
Dean C. Angelo, Sr.
Immediate Past President
Sergeants-at-Arms
William Burns James Jakstavich Michael Mette
Trustees
Harold Brown Andrew Cantore Mark Donahue William Dougherty Pat Duckhorn Sergio Escobedo Fernando Flores Joseph Gentile Danny Gorman Ken Hauser Rick King Frank Quinn Carlos Salazar Ron Shogren Mark Tamlo Daniel Trevino Michael Underwood
Field Representatives
Robert Bartlett Rich Aguilar
No reason to ‘consent’
No one was more surprised than I was to hear about the lawsuit filed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, and supported by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, to put the Chicago Police Department in a consent decree.
No one in my administration, and few Lodge 7 members, believe that such actions are necessary. Politicians and media activists are milking the Department of Justice (DOJ) pattern and practice investigation for every- thing they can get out of it. They have simply ignored the fact that Attorney General Jeff Sessions dismissed the investigation after he took over the of- fice, calling the need for a consent decree “unscientific” and “anecdotal.”
Some politicians and media activists have simply shrugged off how sus- picious it looks that President Barack Obama’s AG, Loretta Lynch, rushed to finish its report on the investigation of the CPD before the Trump administration took power, a clear sign that they knew General Sessions wouldn’t support it. One wonders if the DOJ report, then, is of more a political statement or a legal one.
Obama’s DOJ established a record number of consent decrees throughout the coun- try, few of which have actually improved public safety or reduced crime and violence. In some cities, the violence has escalated.
Another element that makes Madigan’s announcement that she is filing this lawsuit and attempting to put the City in a consent decree appalling is the fact that my adminis- tration has made every effort to negotiate with the city in good faith.
There is already a process by which the city and the FOP Lodge establish policies and procedures. It is called collective bargaining. We are, in fact, engaged in negotiating a collective bargaining agreement right now. From day one, we made sure that we would meet with the mayor and the City to iron out our issues.
So why file a lawsuit? Why impose a consent decree? Why not go through negotiations, just as we are showing that we are willing to do? The only answer is that something is rotten in this whole plan, and it could seriously threaten our collective bargaining rights.
Perhaps elected officials should remember that violence in Chicago is intense. Gangs are running wild. Because of this, perhaps going after the police for political capital may not be such a good idea.
So Madigan’s lawsuit, and the mayor’s support of it, pose a complex and crucial set of questions that we need to answer. And answer them we will. At the most recent Lodge 7 Board meeting, these questions rose to the forefront of discussion. In the end, there were still a lot more that needed to be asked. This lawsuit appears to be a unique situation for a police union – all the more reason that we get the right answers to our questions.
As a result, our attorneys are digging even more. We will no doubt be revisiting the case in our next general membership and board meetings, and I want all members to pay close attention to the developments in this lawsuit, as member input will be key.
If the elected officials in Chicago and the state of Illinois are going to play politics with police departments, they are playing a dangerous game. And in the end, there may not be any real winners. d
KEVIN GRAHAM
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ SEPTEMBER 2017 5