Page 12 - FOP JUNE Newsletter

The fight for well-deserved benefits wages on
Underwood Case
On June 15 the Lodge will have a bus to take retirees to the Daley Center at 1:30 p.m., Judge Cohen’s courtroom 2308. This is when and where the arguments for the case will be heard. We don’t know when the Judge will issue his ruling, but as soon as he does, we will send out an email blast and post the results on the FOP website. There is great concern over
form by Oct. 1. You must retire by June 1, 2017, to receive the free healthcare benefit and after June 1, 2017, the cost of retiree healthcare will be 2 percent of your annuity. There is a concern that after our contract expires, and if the retiree healthcare cost changes, the change will affect anyone who retires after June 30, 2017. I have consulted our attorneys and whenever the contract is settled, any changes will take effect upon the contract being ratified
by the city council.
Our Contract
The Tribune headline read: “Cops traded away pay for protection in police contracts.” Now we, and our contract, are to blame for the failures at the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA). Our contract is the reason it takes six to eight years to complete an investigation. Our contract is the reason IPRA can’t do a thorough investigation of a police shoot- ing. This would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious! Who came up with this nonsense? Was it a reporter or one of
Emmanuel’s hipsters or both?
The truth is IPRA can no longer hide it’s incompetence,
and I am positive that discovery will come out in the De- partment of Justice investigation. The red flags fly when a sergeant in the district or an investigator in IAD investi- gates a complaint, and the investigation is complete with- in 10 days to a few months. Why does it take IPRA six to eight years to complete a comparable investigation?
When our detectives investigate a police shooting, the report is done within days. The media recites over and over how our officers get 24 hours before they can be in- terviewed by IPRA because of the contract. If they both- ered to do just a little research they would find most agen- cies wait anywhere from 48 hours to four days before a shooting officer or agent can be interviewed. You get the best interview at least 24 hours after a traumatic incident akin to the ones our officers are involved in. Don’t you want the most accurate interview possible? The length of the IPRA investigations is not fair or acceptable to the public or our officers.
Go ahead and change the name of IPRA to anything you want but remember how we got IPRA. The Office of Professional Standards (OPS) investigations were not ac- ceptable so Daley changed OPS to IPRA. They can change the name but, as long as they keep the same investiga- tors, nothing will change. You can buy a Yugo and put a Cadillac emblem on it but remember it is still a Yugo.
Have a great 4th of July! Be safe and God bless America.d
GREG BELLA
the city’s threat to eliminate healthcare on Jan. 1, 2017 for retirees affected by this case. The Lodge has been working diligently with Local 2 and Jack Byrnes from Source One to offer an alternative in the event this happens. In the meantime we will keep fighting for the benefits you earned, and were promised by the city.
Retirement
If you are planning to take advantage of the free retir- ee healthcare benefit in 2017, you must submit your PAR
12 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JUNE 2016
RECORDING
Secretary