A police officer I know shared a link to a Chicago Police Department video encouraging cops to apply for the 2024 sergeant's exam. The five-minute video was produced for internal CPD consumption, but someone posted it to YouTube, labeled "CPD 2024 Sergeant's Exam."
The video begins with a stolid white-shirt, two pens snugly beside his gold star, looking directly into the camera.
"Hi, I'm deputy chief Rahman Muhammed ..." he says. "I would like to encourage all eligible members to please visit The Wire and sign up to register for this year's sergeant examination, given May 10. CPD is looking for the next generation of dynamic leaders to help to move this great department forward. I look forward to seeing all of your enthusiastic faces on examination day."
All of their enthusiastic faces? Really? Because as the video unfolds ... well, let's give it a look.
"I want officers to know this goal is attainable, with hard work and dedication" says Sgt. Arshanette L. Chambers.
"I encourage you to have at least one study group. It helped me out tremendously," says Sgt. Enrique Martinez.
Six more officers urge hard work. To an outsider, it's an unexceptional piece of management propaganda. So what's the trouble? Let's slide over to Second City Cop, an unofficial, relentlessly toxic Chicago police blog, and tune into the chatter:
"The only white is the shirt"
"Not one Caucasian in that mentor group. ... This is very insulting and straight up racist. This is the new city of Chicago, unbelievable. They do not even try to hide the total hatred for the Caucasian police officers."
"Irish need not apply."
To continue reading, click here.
To rely only on a test result to promote someone is stupid.
ReplyDeleteIt’s tough to get a sampling of every nationality, race, sex - you name the characteristic - who live in Chicago. You’d have a very long video!! Perhaps whites no longer are in the majority in Chicago and need to accept this? And the video reflects that??
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen the video but I'm guessing that everyone in the video were persons. Who cares what their lineage is? They all have being people in common. I'm very disappointed that race is still a big deal at the CPD. I thought we got over that years ago.
DeleteYou did? Then you really aren't paying attention.
DeleteI guess you're right. It's a pipe dream: On the steps of the capitol of Alabama, speaking under a Confederate flag, Dr. King said: “The end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. And that will be a day not of the white man, not of the black man. That will be the day of man as man.”
DeleteDon't dragoon Dr. King into supporting your sedition, even by implication, or use his vision of a color-blind society to justify our bigoted one.
DeleteAs the granddaughter of Irish immigrants, I'm deeply offended by anyone using "Irish need not apply" to whinge about not seeing a white face in a video about promotions. How dare they take the real persecution Irish immigrants experienced and use it to complain that they don't feel included when it fact, the Irish have had such a prominent position in the Chicago police department, and Chicago government, for so long. I think about "Irish need not apply" too, in the context of how our people know how bigotry feels so it should make us empathetic toward others experiencing it now. As my old granny always said, WTAF.
ReplyDeleteBizarre they have to make a video.
ReplyDeleteSend an email next time.
Save us all.
I think if there was any racism in the video encouraging Black and brown cops to take the Sergeants exam, it was the racism of "diminished expectations." The powers-that-be, probably still mostly white, felt that their target audience needed friendly faces to overcome a reluctance by Black and brown policemen, to seek positions of authority, while assuming that there were plenty white officers with ambition and education that needed no encouragement.
ReplyDeletejohn
Well said John. You make a valid point.
DeleteI don't know what I'm supposed to think of this, but I know that I think of it. I think it's great that whether the department chose to have only black and brown faces in this video or whether there are so many black and brown officers in the higher ranks that it happened by accident. Great! I'm sure if you could have video from the 1950s even 60s maybe 70s. It will be all white men and that's just how it was whether it was right or wrong. That's how it was and now this is how it is. Whether it's right or wrong, I don't know. I just think it's great.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, what color is a trusted face? Who knows but what I do know is it's hard to trust police officers these days. Hard to trust that they're doing their job. My cop friends refer to being "checked out". They say they feel like it's a no-win situation being an officer these days. Hopefully something changes that and cops start doing their job again to a larger degree. I understand it's always been a hard job. Probably harder now
Most articles I read about crimes say: no suspect has been taken into custody at the end of the article .
I know crime prevention is difficult, but solving crimes is at least possible. I'd hope to see more of that. That would be great too!
I worked for a fortune 500 company for over 30 years. Nothing unusual here. When I started white men were 90% of middle management, when I left white men were less than 10%. When you're out recruiting young talent they want to see some diversity in the management. Looks to me like they are highly encouraging Black and Brown men and women to think about it and to go for it.
ReplyDelete