Page 5 - February 2020 FOP Magazine

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
We do our duty, no matter how much oversight and other challenges
Amid the storms that seem to swirl relentlessly around Chicago Police Offi- cers, there always seems to come a ray of light courtesy of the brave women and men patrolling the beat.
We can’t praise enough the efforts of the officer in the West Garfield Park neighborhood who was shot in the forearm while tailing a pickup truck with a man suspected in a fatal shooting. Members of the SWAT team in 010 picked up the officer to take him to Stroger Hospital. You probably heard the story that they saw the suspect in the truck on the way. The wounded officer wanted to pick up the pursuit. They were able to arrest him.
This sergeant was not going to be deterred from his sworn duty, and I hope it reminds citizens, elected officials, administrators and everybody else of the dedication you all bring to the job every day. This is the mentality of all Chicago Police Officers, women and men who are dedicated to the people of the city and to our sisters and brothers in blue.
Kind of makes you wonder why we need civilian oversight, let alone more civilian oversight. I know you are hearing that the city council is being pushed to add even more layers of civilian oversight of Chicago Police Officers.
We have plenty of oversight already, so more would just be a waste of taxpayer dollars. I have communicated our position to the city council, including Alderman Chris Taliaferro, the retired police officer and Lodge 7 member who chairs the council’s Committee on Public Safety. The council wants to see an ordinance come out of his committee that will create some additional civilian oversight. But the council hasn’t been able to articulate why it’s needed, and quite frankly, this thing has more problems than solutions.
The eye of the storm continues to swirl around anonymous complaints. The City is insisting that it will allow anonymous complaints, even articulating that it won’t accept a new contract for the sergeants and lieutenants without this being included.
We’re not giving up on them. We want signed affidavits, and we intend to go after people who file false allegations against the police. So there’s nothing to negotiate. From all the con- versations I’ve had, I believe the sergeants and lieutenants are taking the same position. What everybody seems to forget is that it’s state law that complaints cannot be anonymous.
What’s important to remember about all this is that when we fight, we win. One of the attri- butes we have fought for is the current schedule and start times. This is a negotiated right that the City is trying to take away. But it can’t be taken away, and we have proven that.
We filed a grievance over this, and it has now gone to arbitration. An arbitrator is going to decide whether the City can change start times, and the only way City negotiators can win this is they come out and lie. Start times and start groups were negotiated years ago. We initially looked at a temporary restraining order to block the City, but the appellate courts said the issue needs to be resolved right away. So we’ve gone to arbitration, and I fully expect to prevail.
Perhaps the only topic around here that creates more conversation than the status of our contract – proceeding as we have communicated to arbitration, by the way – is who will be the new superintendent. I find it interesting that there is such a mass of candidates, but it will probably be cut to a short list and probably very quickly.
We did meet with the police board to discuss what we are looking for in a new superinten- dent. We talked about wanting somebody from within. We want the best possible person to run this department, and we want somebody who will work with the FOP and not against us.
In closing, I just want to say a few words about the upcoming Chicago Lodge 7 elections. The most important request I have is to ask everybody to vote. It is your responsibility to vote. The importance of voting is so you can have a voice in your union. And we want everybody to have a voice.
KEVIN GRAHAM
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ FEBRUARY 2020 5