Results tagged “fraternalorderofpolice”

Dozens of family members and friends quietly gathered outside the Fraternal Order of Police hall where supporters raised funds for an officer accused of drunk driving and crashing into a vehicle that killed two men, Chicago Breaking News reports.

The Sun-Times is reporting today that the city and the FOP have reached a deal to let veteran officers retire at 55 instead of 60, in an effort to save as much cash as humanly possible. Cops retiring at the new lower-age cutoff would take a "staggered payout" of their comp time, whereas previously, older police retiring at 60 would otherwise be charged co-pays until Medicare kicked in at 65.

     

As hundreds of Chicago Police officers marched around City Hall in protest of the lack of progress in contract negotiations with the City, Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis addressed reporters on the protest and accusations of low morale within the department. Well, sort of. Weis said he supported the police union's right to protest but expressed disappointment with the timing: the protest happened on the same day members of the International Olympic Committee arrived to begin their on-site evaluation of Chicago as a potential host for the 2016 Olympics.

With the Fraternal Order of Police - the union that represents the Chicago Police Department - scheduling a very public protest over a contract dispute with Mayor Daley outside of City Hall the day the International Olympic Committee rolls into town, it was only a matter of time before Mayor Daley lashed out. Said Hizzonah:

Chicago's police union has made good on a threat to protest contract negotiations by picketing City Hall the day the International Olympic Committee comes to town for their final on-site visit for their 2016 evaluation. The Sun-Times is reporting that the Fraternal Order of Police will bus off-duty officers to City Hall for the 90 minute protest. FOP President Mark Donahue said, "[Hurting the city's Olympic chances is] not our problem. We’re trying to get the mayor’s attention." The Sun-Times compares the timing of this protest to a similar one in 2000 when police picketed City Hall four days before the U.S. presidential election; Mayor Daley's brother William headed candidate Al Gore's campaign in Illinois and the FOP had endorsed George W. Bush. [Sun-Times]

After last night's vote of no-confidence from 160 members of Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police, Mayor Daley today publicly defended Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis. Said the Mayor, "I supported Supt. Weis. He's done a tremendous job. He's a very good, honest superintendent. He has a difficult job. All superintendents have. He has great experience, great judgment." When asked if he still has the mayor's confidence, Daley responded, "Yes, he does, definitely." Daley went on to add, "When you're an outsider, people look at you as an outsider. He understands that. But he's out there, he's out there tremendously at night, working with the men and women in the police department. ... So he's very aware of his responsibility, and he takes it seriously."

While it will have no immediate effect on his tenure as Chicago Police Superintendent, the no-confidence vote that chief Jody Weis received from the "rank-and-file" officers yesterday is a sign of plummeting morale plaguing the Chicago Police Department. The 160 officers present unanimously supported the vote. At the meeting, Greg Bella, third vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, described the department as in a "complete meltdown" and added, "The current superintendent has neither [the respect of officers and better knowledge of the Police Department], and the citizens of Chicago are forced to suffer along with us." F.O.P President Mark Donahue said the vote was mainly due to concern from officers of Weis's support of them, telling WGN, "That could have an impact on the people of Chicago, because, as you say, there are still men and women who are going to go out there and do their jobs everyday, but, from what we're hearing, the men and women are beginning to second guess themselves and second guess their activities." The Fraternal Order of Police represents around 8,000 of the 13,500 sworn-in officers.

New controversy has erupted in the case of former police Cmdr. Jon Burge as the Fraternal Order of Police has announced they will pay for Burge's defense, a bill the Trib speculates could reach as much as $1 million. Burge was charged in October with perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with charges of police torture.

FOP President Mark Donahue confirmed that the union board voted Tuesday to provide funds for Burge's defense. But Donahue declined to comment further Thursday, saying he would have a more complete statement on the issue Friday.

Continue reading "Burge Defense to Be Paid By F.O.P."

The excrement hit the fan today when Mayor Daley unveiled his proposed budget to the city council. Daley and his team hope that this new budget (check out the highlights here) will help close an estimated $470 million shortfall by laying off 929 city workers (hey, they could always go into PR) eliminating more than a thousand vacant jobs, partially shutting down the government near holidays, raising the parking and amusement taxes, doing away with the Fire Department's Segway patrols (seriously?), doubling library fines, and privatizing 35,000 parking meters.

Last week, we wrote about the shortage of police officers as crime in the city was rising, a correlation Mayor Daley denied. In keeping with his line of (faulty?) thought, a number of the proposed job vacancies being eliminated in the City's attempt to get it's $420 million budget under control includes several hundred police positions. According to the Sun Times, "the Chicago Police Department has 329 sworn vacancies and 424 openings for non-sworn police employees. That's in addition to the 705 officers on medical leave and 625 officers on limited or convalescent duty status." These vacancies would be eliminated in spite of Daley's promise earlier this year to add more officers to the force.

It's been a rough year for new Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis. First was the Taste debacle, which led to his grilling by the City Council. Then came news last week that as crime has risen, arrests are down. But that's not the only number down, according to a report in today's Trib. It seems that Weis has been unable to deliver on a promise to hire more officers. In fact, due to "retirements, firings and resignations," the total number of officers on the force is down by 250. According to Mark Donahue, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, the department has lost approximately 375 officers while only hiring 125 new ones since the beginning of the year. And that total number could increase to a -400 difference by the end of the year. The force had somewhere in the neighborhood of 13,4000 sworn officers as of December 2007.

Embattled Police Superintendent Jody Weis just can't catch a break. On Friday, Cook County Circuit Judge William Maki upheld the Chicago Police Board's decision to suspend Officer William Cozzi instead of firing him for the 2005 beating of a wheelchaired man was the correct one. The incident took place in August of 2005 at at Norwegian American Hospital in Humboldt Park. Video of the beating shows then-60-year-old Randle Miles handcuffed and shackled to a wheelchair while Cozzi hit him ten times. Miles had been stabbed by a woman earlier in the day and rather than seeking treatment had "downed a bottle of gin" instead. At the insistence of friends, he finally sought treatment at the hospital where he became "agitated" and "abusive," causing hospital staff to summon Cozzi. Miles was charged with resisting arrest, despite video evidence to the contrary, and the charges were later dropped.