Page 15 - February 2016

Keep up the great work – citizens do appreciate you
Let’s start with the hope that as the winter weather breaks, spring will soon be here, because as a baseball fan I look forward to the season starting. But as we the police all know, normally as the weather gets warmer in the City of Chicago, there’s always a spike in violent crime. That spike has come ear-
The Lodge always recommends that the member hand- deliver the form to headquarters, because stuff has a ten- dency of getting lost in police mail. There are way too many times when the Lodge is unable to assist a member with a grievance because the member failed to respond within the
FIELD REPRESENTATIVE REPORT
lier and is more violent this year due to certain politicians who become reactive instead of proactive.
timeframe of seven days of being harmed by the depart- ment (i.e. CR numbers, failure to pay medical bills). When filling out a grievance form, if a member is not sure how to fill it out, call the Lodge or check with your Unit Rep for the wording on what con-
KEITH CARTER
Over the past several months they have decided
to save their own jobs by implementing unrealistic policies and procedures that could cause us to perhaps lose our jobs. We have families to support too. Due to some circumstances that are beyond our control, the media has made it easy to hate law and order, not only in Chicago but nationwide. Let’s face it, shock and awe sells papers and looks good on TV.
tract section has been violated.
I just would like to say that I’m very proud of my chosen profession of more than 29 years and know that my fellow brothers and sisters in blue take pride in their profession too. Keep your heads held high and don’t let the words of a few very shallow individuals, who do not walk in our shoes, keep you from maintaining the highest levels of profession- alism. We are some of the best-trained police officers in this country. Time and time again, when the crap hits the fan, the response from the majority of our officers is, “My train- ing kicked in, which carried me through this incident.” Keep up the great work because, believe it or not, there are people out there who really do appreciate Chicago police officers.
I would like to touch on tuition or educational reimburse- ment. Just like with PAR and grievances forms, there are time limits with submitting the appropriate forms to be reimbursed. The member must file applications for reim- bursement with human resources no later than 30 days after the beginning of the semester. Upon conclusion of the term, the member must, within 45 days on official letter- head, bring in the following: official grade report, original tuition billing statement with the breakdown of tuition costs, an original receipt of payment for classes taken in the term of application. The course each member takes must be through an accredited college or university. Reimbursement for undergraduate studies is still 100 percent for an A and 75 percent for a B. If a member plans on attending graduate school on or after Sept. 1 2016, the reimbursement will change to 75 percent for an A and 50 percent for a B. If the member is enrolled in the graduate program before Sept. 1, he/she will be “grandfathered” in at the full reimbursement rate.
Tips on filing forms
The Lodge always recommends that members hand carry these forms to headquarters as well.
When filling out grievance and PAR forms, there’s always a timeframe for these forms to be filled out and received by the department. When the department has recognized vacancies available, they shall list these vacancies at least 14 days before the start of the 28-day police period. Officers within the same D-1 or D-2 job classification, within 72 hours of the time the list has been posted within your unit’s CO book, may bid on a recognized vacancy. Filling out the form means filling out the form completely. Fill in all sections that apply, including the recognized opening bid box, your signature and, most important, the signature of a supervisor with the date and time.
Finally, I would like to remind all our members, whether active or retired, that there are forces at work trying their best to break us apart. The easiest way to win a battle is to overwhelm your opponent with superior numbers, but to win a war you must infiltrate your opponent from within, break down his/her will to fight, divide and conquer. We must stay together, stay strong and not let outside influences weaken and bring us to our knees, for if that hap- pens, we will be puppets to dance on strings. d
Tuition reimbursement
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