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tation of its video release policy and its effects on the bargain- ing unit.
After conducting an investigation, on Sept. 31, 2016, the State Labor Board found merit to the charge and issued a complaint. Once the administrative law judge conducted a formal hearing and issued a preliminary decision, the State Labor Board decided to hold that case in abeyance while the City and Lodge negotiate a collective bargaining agreement. The parties have been bargaining to no avail.
A change of administration took place on May 20, 2019, when Mayor Emmanuel chose not to seek the office and May- or Lightfoot assumed the throne and continued to follow in the path of her predecessor. To hell with following state law. The Lodge has filed no fewer than five new unfair labor prac- tice charges against the City during Mayor Lightfoot’s short tenure. One of the most egregious violations highlights the similarities between the two mayors.
On Feb. 5, 2021, the City of Chicago unilaterally issued Ex- ecutive Order No. 2021-1, which Mayor Lightfoot called “Ac- cess to Information Regarding Alleged Police Misconduct.” An old saying comes to mind: If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. This executive order is nothing more than an extension of Mayor Emmanuel’s video release policy.
On March 16, 2021, the Lodge filed the latest unfair labor practice charge for the City’s failure to negotiate the video re- lease policy despite the Lodge’s demands to bargain the ex- tension of the policy in the form of Executive Order No. 2021- 1, as it affects the terms and conditions of employment of the
City’s police officers.
The executive order also deals with matters related to the
effects of the body-worn camera implementation, because some of the information that can be disclosed under the executive order is derived from recordings made with body- worn cameras. The City remained obligated under a prior La- bor Board decision to bargain with the Lodge over aspects of the body-worn cameras.
Some of the ongoing concerns the Lodge continues to have include limitations on the disclosure of an officer’s image and the blurring of an officer’s face; the possibility of releasing re- cordings of privileged conversations, which are protected by the union–agent privilege; as well as a number of other safety and privacy concerns. Mayor Lightfoot, in following the for- mer mayor’s footsteps, chooses to publicly shame police of- ficers rather than address the criticisms she now faces. Sadly, a total of 10 police officers have taken their own lives since 2018. A 2017 Justice Department report found the Depart- ment’s suicide rate was 60 percent higher than the nation- wide average for officers. Perhaps Mayor Lightfoot should step out of the former mayor’s shadow and start focusing on officers’ well-being in earnest, rather than “alleged police misconduct.” Maybe, just maybe, she (and the City) will be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.
For now, the Lodge will continue to hold the Department accountable and make sure that the rights that all police of- ficers currently have in the collective bargaining agreement are protected and not changed at the unilateral whim of the Department. Please continue to be safe.
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