There
are certain issues the Fraternal Order of Police should never negotiate.
Pension benefits is one of them.
Unfortunately,
President Dean Angelo and his slate did so in the last contract negotiations,
giving the city a break on $173 million in pension contributions in exchange
for revenue from a casino that does not exist and is not on the horizon.
Another
issue that is non-negotiable is moving to the forefront: the requirement that
anyone who makes a complaint against a police officer must sign an affidavit.
An
affidavit, in theory, gives a complaint against the police the force of law, so
that if it were discovered that the complainant was lying, he or she could be
subject to criminal charges.
How
often are citizens making false complaints? Consider that after the affidavit
rule became law, complaints dropped by nearly two thirds.
But
the law still lacked punch because the city has not gone after one person for
lying about police misconduct since the law requiring affidavits was put in
place by the state legislature.
And
if the city and prosecutors are not going after people for making false
complaints, isn’t it reasonable to suspect that other people, like gang
members, are still making them, knowing there is no real punishment for doing
so?
Nevertheless,
a coalition has already formed in the city to browbeat the Emanuel
administration into getting rid of the affidavit requirement in the upcoming
FOP contract negotiations.
From
Mark Brown at the Sun Times:
The Coalition for Accountability in Police Contracts — which
includes ACLU of Illinois and the Better Government Association among others —
has drawn up a list of 14 recommendations it wants to see recognized in new
police contracts.
These include everything from removing the requirement that
citizens sign sworn affidavits when making complaints against police officers
to removing restrictions on the use of past disciplinary records in the
investigation of current complaints.
What
makes this demand to get rid of the affidavits even more ridiculous is that over
the course of the last five years, a chilling body of evidence has arisen of
false allegations against the police in several high-profile wrongful
conviction cases. Much of this evidence is centered on Northwestern University,
which has seen its claims about wrongful convictions implode in the wake of
renewed scrutiny.
The
university is now embroiled in a federal lawsuit, accused of framing an
innocent man in an attempt to get another man out of prison.
Part
of that lawsuit alleges a pattern and practice of misconduct and false
allegations in several cases, spanning several decades.
Think
about it. False allegations against the police from a prestigious university
and the city wants to take away the affidavits, wants to make it easier to file
false complaints?
It
doesn’t matter that Chicago’s fake media has routinely ignored this or
diminished this evidence of false complaints. Real journalists might have
confronted members of the coalition with it.
But
the fake media in Chicago has shown itself again and again to have an
anti-police bias in its reporting; it is a media that is powerful and endemic,
and its “journalists” will do no such thing.
Which
brings us back to the FOP. This evidence of corruption in the wrongful
conviction movement, based on false claims of misconduct against the police, is
powerful leverage against those arguing to end the affidavit requirement. But it
has been completely ignored by the Angelo administration, even as the evidence has
expanded throughout Angelo’s administration.
In
contrast, the Blue Voice team, headed by Kevin Graham, has pursued this evidence
and determined to make it a force in their negotiations, including fighting any
changes to the affidavit requirement.
The
difference is clear. Angelo capitulates, the Blue Voice, headed by Graham,
fights.
