'You're like a zombie': Mass exodus of cops from Chicago PD because of burnout, targeting of police

Cost of defunding? New contract for Chicago’s police includes $378 million in retroactive raises

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CHICAGO, IL – The Council approved a $600 million contract on Tuesday with the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, including 20% raises for Chicago police officers who worked for years without one.

The City Council voted to approve a collective bargaining agreement with the Chicago Police Department’s 1,2000 rank-and-file employees, bringing an end to a four-year stalemate in negotiations.

Aldermen in a 40-8 vote approved the eight-year, $600 million contract with the Fraternal Order of Police, which codifies policy changes including a ban on the destruction of disciplinary records and a prohibition on officers changing testimony after reviewing an incident video.

Some aldermen said the pay increases were too generous while not going far enough to include police accountability measures in the contract language. Eight aldermen rejected the deal.

Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa of the 35th Ward said:

“I fear that once we give the FOP that big pay raise, which is going to be very costly and it’s going to come at a major big cost to taxpayers.

“The incentive is just not going to be there for them to continue to work with our city, to get the rest of those reforms done via this contract.”

Ald. Rod Sawyer, former chair of the City Council’s Black Caucus, stood up to defend the compromise. He said many of the reforms that the Black Caucus identified in a resolution following the police murder of Laquan McDonald have been included and that additional reforms could be negotiated later:

“And it’s true that the police do stand a benefit. But I think the larger benefit is for the citizens of the city of Chicago, which has a fair contract, a more responsive police force.”

Workforce Development Committee Chairman Susan Sadlowski-Garza warned her colleagues to support the contract, even if it was not what everyone wanted:

“If this contract is voted down, we will be facing an unprecedented situation in the history of our city. Our tentative agreements will be void. Our gains in police accountability will disappear.

“Our financial obligations to our officers will continue to grow. And we will be putting these negotiations into the hands of an arbitrator who makes decisions without consulting this body.”

Approximately 80% of the FOP members voted in favor of the contract.

The new pact with the FOP, which expires in 2025, includes more than $360 million in retroactive pay raises for officers who waited since 2017 for a new contract. It also called for adjusted compensation for officers who joined the force after the expiration of the last contract.

Ald. Nicholas Sposato of the 38th Ward said the officers deserve the raises:

“(The raises are) well-deserved for these hard-working men and women.”

There are some police reforms built into the new contract.

Mayor Lightfoot’s office said the contract also included a number of changes to the process for investigating claims of police misconduct, including an end to the 40-year ban on investigating anonymous complaints filed against officers.

The contract would also eliminate a requirement to destroy police disciplinary records after five years, in light of an Illinois Supreme Court ruling last year that destroying those documents would violate that state’s public records law.

Mayor Lightfoot said she supported the new police pact, but that more work needed to be done:

“We fought hard to get this contract done, and in my view, it took way too long, but that’s water under the bridge now.

“It’s been passed, we’re going to be moving forward, and we’re going to continue our negotiations with the FOP that ultimately will lead to arbitration on additional measures or some workload changes, as well as other additional reforms that I think are critically important to get into the contract.”

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LET Unity

Chicago cops turn their backs on Mayor Lightfoot – but in fairness, she stabbed them in the back first

August 10, 2021

 

On Saturday, August 8, 29-year-old Officer Ella French was needlessly gunned down during a routine traffic stop in crime-ridden Chicago. Her partner is currently in critical condition at University of Chicago Medical Center.

Over 30 police officers gathered to mourn the loss of Ella French, and offer their support for Ella French’s partner, whom is currently in critical condition at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Mayor Lightfoot approached the officers but, in solidarity, they all stood up, and turned their back on the mayor.

The police officers were expressing their deep and growing frustration with the Mayor — which is clearly at a boiling point. 19th Ward Alderman of Chicago, Matt O’Shea, stated:

“Our police officers have been under siege, under-appreciated, and thrown under the bus for the last year and a half.”

The frustration stems from the mayor’s defund-the-police policies that put the lives of officers in jeopardy.

The officers felt, and rightfully so, that these policies are, in part, responsible for the death of Chicago Police Officer Ella French. When asked whether police officers needlessly dying in the line of duty where preventable, Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President, John Catanzara, stated:

“The reckless policies that are permeating throughout this country, make it more and more possible, every day, and it is inexcusable and it is avoidable”

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has advanced defund-the-police policies in Chicago that have directly put the lives of police officers in jeopardy. These defund-the-police policies swept the nation last year with mayors across the nation promising to cut police spending, reduce manpower, and reallocate the funds to social programs.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and her policies, have stretched the Chicago Police Department razor thin, and put the lives of officers needlessly at risk. These policies have put a strain on the ability of the Chicago Police Department to provide adequate policing.

Last year alone, under Mayor Lightfoot’s administration, over 400 police officer positions were cut, and her 2020 budget, proposed an $80 million decrease in funding.

This year alone, in Chicago, there has been a 10% year-over-year increase in the number of people shot, all the while, some city officials, claim there is no connection between reduced police funding, and an increase in shootings in the city.  

Sources: 

Injustice Watch:

“The mayor’s proposed budget includes an $80 million reduction in tax dollars going to CPD, but only about $34 million will come from cuts in vacant positions, according to figures provided by the Mayor’s office to City Bureau and Injustice Watch. The rest will either be offset by grant funding or will be reallocated to the city’s Office of Public Safety Administration to fund clerical jobs once held by cops.”
 
“The city spent $17.3 million between 2015 and 2020 to guard “unnamed city officials.” That’s as Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she’s opposed to defunding police while – we found – 400 police officers positions were quietly cut during 2020.”

The Latest

A third suspect has been taken into custody in connection with the fatal shooting of one Chicago Police officer and non-fatal shooting of another earlier in August, with officials identifying the officer that was killed while conducting a traffic stop.

Two suspects have been charged, and a third is not charged due to lacking evidence, regarding the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Chicago Police Officer Ella French and the non-fatal shooting of her partner that occurred on August 7th.

Officials have confirmed that 21-year-old Emonte Morgan has been charged with first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.

The second suspect charged in the incident was identified as 22-year-old Eric Morgan, who was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, and obstruction of justice.

Both Emonte and Eric Morgan, who are brothers, are slated to appear in court on August 10th for their respective bail hearings.

One of the two Morgan brothers were shot during the incident and was last stated as being stable after being transported to the Christ Hospital.

According to officials, the original traffic stop that preceded the shooting was merely over expired plates on the suspect’s vehicle.

The third suspect, who was only identified as a female passenger inside of the vehicle with the two suspects during the incident on August 7th, has not been charged due to officials citing lacking evidence of criminal culpability in the shooting of the officers.  

Chicago police Supt. David Brown noted that investigators are focused on the Morgan brothers for Officer French’s killing and the injury of her partner, saying:

“There’s one reason that this happened. One reason. These two offenders killed Ella French and tried to kill [the second and third officer] there. That’s the only person we’re pointing the finger at today. I won’t entertain finger-pointing at anyone or anything else. They need to be fully held accountable for her murder.”

However, federal prosecutors have charged another individual who allegedly purchased the weapon that was used during the incident that killed Officer French and wounded her partner.

On August 9th, federal prosecutors charged 29-year-old Jamel Danzy for reportedly buying the gun used during the August 7th incident in Hammond, Indiana, in March and then later providing that weapon to an individual in Illinois that Danzy knew could not buy or possess a firearm.

The Chicago’s U.S. attorney’s office confirmed that the weapon connected to Danzy was recovered from the scene where Officer French was killed, and her partner was severely injured.

Danzy appeared in federal court on August 9th under charges of conspiracy to violate federal firearm laws, knowingly transferring a firearm to an out-of-state resident and knowingly disposing of a firearm to a convicted felon.

While Danzy may not have been the trigger-man, he could be facing up to five years in federal prison for the charges he’s facing.

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, John R. Lausch, Jr., stated the following about the case against Danzy:

“Straw purchasers and firearm traffickers enable violence with deadly consequences. Fighting violent crime is a top priority in our office, and we are committed to holding accountable those who engage in illicit firearm transactions.”

Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the ATF, Kristen de Tineo, made the following statement regarding the matter:

“Tragedies like this happen when people straw purchase firearms on behalf of those who are prohibited from purchasing and possessing firearms themselves. ATF remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate these firearms trafficking schemes and prosecute those responsible.”

This is an ongoing investigation.

—

By Richard Garcia.  Garcia is a conservative commentator and writer with a social media following of forty thousand. Richard previously served 8 years honorably in the United States Army, with one deployment to Iraq. Richard Garcia has a Juris Doctor degree from The George Washington University Law School.  

 

 

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About The Author

Scott A. Davis is a 28-year veteran of law enforcement. He served as a Police Sergeant and as a Detective in Pennsylvania. Scott retired from law enforcement in 2020. Prior to his law enforcement career, Scott was an award-winning journalist and recipient of two Keystone Press Awards.

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