 |
| Chicago police on parade, 1897 |
Rooting around in the clips to get a sense of what I've written over the years about the CPD, I noticed this 2009 column below, when I joined officers picketing City Hall. It was not a warm welcome, but I did my best to present what they had to say. The column is from when my column filled a page and ended with a joke, and I've kept the joke.
A great many Chicago Police officers —I didn't count them, but it was at least 2,000 — circled City Hall on Thursday to protest their lack of a union contract.
Whatever the number, they made for an impressive display of law enforcement displeasure, a ring of cops, five or six deep, completely surrounding the block-square building, timed to coincide with a key visit of Olympic officials who will decide whether the mayor's dream for bringing the 2016 Olympics here will become a reality.
With so many officers gathered in one spot, and since the most frequent comment I get from the law enforcement community is their voices are never heard, I could not pass up the opportunity to go there and talk to as many as I could.
Of all the sore points — the 21 months without a new contract, their deep dislike of Supt. Jody Weis — the strongest beef is the way the city yanked back its contract offer.
"We were in extremely late in the negotiations, they had an economic offer they made to 37 other city unions . . . and on March 16 they pulled it off the table" said Dennis Mushol, the Fraternal Order of Police union rep for the 19th District. "That's what precipitated this."
They blame Daley, personally.
"Why would he do that, a slap in the face of first responders?" said Bill Dougherty, FOP first vice president.
Mark Donahue, the FOP president, said the city's withdrawal was "the most stupid thing I've ever seen happen."
Dougherty said that if progress doesn't occur soon, their public struggle will continue on billboards, with another mass protest, perhaps at Taste of Chicago.
The marchers were white and black and Hispanic, young and old, men and women, gray-haired veterans and kids held on shoulders and pushed in strollers.
With the exception of union officials, the officers wouldn't give their names, because of fear of repercussions and disdain for the media in general (and, some made clear, for me in particular).
Weis, a former FBI agent, was singled out for special contempt. "He's not a cop," said one.
"Why is he still getting $310,000 a year?" one asked. "He doesn't deserve it."
The protest was animated but orderly, and — needless to say — there were no arrests.
To show you what kind of romantic I am, some part of me hoped that Daley might even show up — his office is just upstairs, after all.
Because really, what kind of boss, what kind of leader, would let thousands of unhappy workers circle his office for 90 minutes and not stop by and at least pretend to care?
I've written some critical things about cops, and walking among them — they tend to be a lot taller than me — trying to talk to them for two hours is not my idea of fun. But just as it was my job to be there, so it is Daley's job to give these officers the attention they demand and deserve, because in the end, whatever affects the police force affects us all.
Any hope the protest will spur the city to action on a contract?
"We'll see," said Donahue, noting that negotiations reconvene at noon today. "If he doesn't get the message now, he never will."
The rank and file are not optimistic.
"We could have twice as many guys out here, and he's going to do what he wants," said one.
"I don't think it's going to be a good summer in Chicago," said another.
Today's chuckle . . .
This slogan, from a T-shirt at the police protest, struck me as printable, barely:
Q. How often do Chicago police officers get screwed?
A. Daley.
A great many Chicago Police officers —I didn't count them, but it was at least 2,000 — circled City Hall on Thursday to protest their lack of a union contract.
Whatever the number, they made for an impressive display of law enforcement displeasure, a ring of cops, five or six deep, completely surrounding the block-square building, timed to coincide with a key visit of Olympic officials who will decide whether the mayor's dream for bringing the 2016 Olympics here will become a reality.
With so many officers gathered in one spot, and since the most frequent comment I get from the law enforcement community is their voices are never heard, I could not pass up the opportunity to go there and talk to as many as I could.
Of all the sore points — the 21 months without a new contract, their deep dislike of Supt. Jody Weis — the strongest beef is the way the city yanked back its contract offer.
"We were in extremely late in the negotiations, they had an economic offer they made to 37 other city unions . . . and on March 16 they pulled it off the table" said Dennis Mushol, the Fraternal Order of Police union rep for the 19th District. "That's what precipitated this."
They blame Daley, personally.
"Why would he do that, a slap in the face of first responders?" said Bill Dougherty, FOP first vice president.
Mark Donahue, the FOP president, said the city's withdrawal was "the most stupid thing I've ever seen happen."
Dougherty said that if progress doesn't occur soon, their public struggle will continue on billboards, with another mass protest, perhaps at Taste of Chicago.
The marchers were white and black and Hispanic, young and old, men and women, gray-haired veterans and kids held on shoulders and pushed in strollers.
With the exception of union officials, the officers wouldn't give their names, because of fear of repercussions and disdain for the media in general (and, some made clear, for me in particular).
Weis, a former FBI agent, was singled out for special contempt. "He's not a cop," said one.
"Why is he still getting $310,000 a year?" one asked. "He doesn't deserve it."
The protest was animated but orderly, and — needless to say — there were no arrests.
To show you what kind of romantic I am, some part of me hoped that Daley might even show up — his office is just upstairs, after all.
Because really, what kind of boss, what kind of leader, would let thousands of unhappy workers circle his office for 90 minutes and not stop by and at least pretend to care?
I've written some critical things about cops, and walking among them — they tend to be a lot taller than me — trying to talk to them for two hours is not my idea of fun. But just as it was my job to be there, so it is Daley's job to give these officers the attention they demand and deserve, because in the end, whatever affects the police force affects us all.
Any hope the protest will spur the city to action on a contract?
"We'll see," said Donahue, noting that negotiations reconvene at noon today. "If he doesn't get the message now, he never will."
The rank and file are not optimistic.
"We could have twice as many guys out here, and he's going to do what he wants," said one.
"I don't think it's going to be a good summer in Chicago," said another.
Today's chuckle . . .
This slogan, from a T-shirt at the police protest, struck me as printable, barely:
Q. How often do Chicago police officers get screwed?
A. Daley.
—Originally published in the Sun-Times, April 3, 2009
Cop unions should be outlawed, as their sole purpose is to prevent bad, violent or corrupt cops from being fired!
ReplyDeleteAs a fire/medic I worked with lots of cops and the vast majority tried to do the right thing. It's the bad apple thing. Too many of them... sure, but let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater.
DeleteEven as a union member I have mixed feelings about their value. I despised the fact that they defended really bad fire/medics and never got a real answer as to why. The best I could come up with is that some of the union officers were really bad fire/medics themselves.
On the positive side, as with all unions, they try and often succeed in improving our safety by way of better equipment and better policies in addition to providing a very comfortable living during and after active duty.
If workers don't have a real say, management will walk all over them.
There has to be meaningful dialogue.
Les, I think you’re right. I work on scene of community emergencies and deaths with police and EMS/FF. So many good people, so many risks involved in work it takes courage to do. There needs to be dialogue and greater understanding.
DeleteI knew Dennis Mushol as a young man, before he became a cop. We hung out at Nicks on Armitage and Halsted late 70s early 80s. He passed in the fall of 22. he was one tough hombre.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Clark St.
ReplyDeleteHard to work up many tears for these guys, especially since the city could prolly offer them a better contract if it weren't paying out millions in brutality settlements every year. A cost the FOP conveniently forgets during contract negotiations.
Many (many) years ago now, we had a Chicago police officer working part-time in our office doing deliveries. He was a pleasant type, sociable to all (and I was surprised to find that he had a hobby of writing Letters to the Editor, frequently published), and was not above fixing the occasional ticket for someone, but his sense of humor showed that he was a street cop through and through:
ReplyDeleteQ: How many officers does it take to push a suspect down a flight of stairs?
A: None. He fell!
My wife has a t-shirt that reads:
ReplyDeletefuck the police
ESPECIALLY STING!