Page 5 - August 2018

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
A briefing on Lodge 7 issues
I hope everyone is having a good summer and getting to spend a little time with your families. Although I could write a separate article about each item the FOP is working on, I will give a brief update as to what is going on.
Consent Decree
We engaged in talks with Attorney General Lisa Madigan‘s office trying to make sure that our contractual rights are protected. When we realized it would be nearly impossible to get what we were looking for out of her office, we filed to intervene. (This means we have a vested interest in the lawsuit demanding to be part of the ongoing process).
Shortly after we intervened, the attorney general’s office contacted us to engage in further negotiations. The FOP Board of Directors decided to go forward with the lawsuit to protect our members’ rights. There is certainly some risk involved in going forward with this lawsuit. How- ever, as many people have already seen, some of the ridiculous items the attorney general is proposing in this draft order would put officers at serious risk of endangering themselves and their partners.
We will not allow people who have no idea about all the dangers that policing encompasses dictate policy when their necks are not on the line. We expect the judge to rule sometime in Au- gust as to whether we have standing.
Secondly, we have a motion to dismiss Madigan from the lawsuit simply because she does not have standing in federal court and civil rights cases. It was also clear from reading the draft proposal by the attorney general that she had already made a deal with the City about the use of body cameras, even though we were in contract talks about this issue relating to the unfair labor practice that we won several months ago.
Which brings me to my next item.
Contract talks
Almost the entire negotiation process has been devoted to the use of body cameras, and, as I’ve already stated, the City has not been bargaining in good faith. They came to the negotiation table wanting us to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). WE REFUSED!
It is very clear that they wanted us to sign this prior to the consent decree draft being released. Brothers and sisters, it may take a very, very long time to get this contract worked out. Please keep in mind your current contract is in place until a new one is ratified and put in place, either by members or by an arbitrator.
Easterseals fundraiser
As you can see on the cover of this issue of Chicago Lodge 7 Magazine, there is a squad car door that has been signed by White Sox players to be auctioned off with the proceeds going to Easterseals. I encourage members to participate. If possible, fill out the payroll deduction to help support Easterseals and children with special needs. Thank you.
Final thought
On another subject with Lisa Madigan‘s office, we have asked and sent a letter trying to find out why the City is not complying with the state law of using lead homicide investigators to in- vestigate police shootings. At this time we have not received a response. d
KEVIN GRAHAM
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ AUGUST 2018 5