A very good question
Thursday, Oct 6, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Dan Mihalopoulos asks “Where are Chicago cops who are ready for reform?”…
Lost amid Donald Trump’s hot takes on life in Chicago during last week’s presidential debate, Hillary Clinton made a statement that could sound overly optimistic to many people here in the city of her birth.
“We also have to recognize, in addition to the challenges that we face with policing, there are so many good, brave police officers who equally want reform,” she said.
“We also have to recognize, in addition to the challenges that we face with policing, there are so many good, brave police officers who equally want reform,” she said.
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Many good and brave officers? No doubt.
You have to be very brave to even show up for work at the Chicago Police Department, especially these days. Let’s also put aside the alleged “Ferguson effect” and assume the vast majority still do the job as well as they can.
But all these officers who Clinton says “want reform”?
If they’re really out there, it’s been hard to hear them in the debate that’s roiled politics here since last November, when the dashcam video of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald’s death in a hail of 16 CPD bullets became public.
Go read the whole thing.
- Honeybear - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 10:14 am:
Code of silence works both ways. Good officers feel unsafe for speaking out.
- anon - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 10:28 am:
Not just silence, but backing up what the officer said who killed Laquan McDonald.
- Been There - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 10:31 am:
===“want reform”?===
What the heck does that really mean? The gap between what the cops might consider a reform is probably light years away from what a lot of the protestors are demanding. You can see that from the vote the city council took yesterday on the new police board.
- A guy - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 10:31 am:
I’m not sure where anyone has heard of any groundswell of support for “reform” from CPD, or their affiliated organizations.
- anon - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 10:32 am:
Of course I can’t think of any profession that welcomes greater accountability for itself. Reforms that pass for legislators, for example, typically grandfather current members.
- Payback - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 10:33 am:
It’s finally starting to sink in to the brains of average baby boomer Americans that police commit crimes, like planting false evidence on suspects, or torturing suspects to obtain false confessions and then sending them to death row like CPD detective Jon Burge.
Hanging on to the idea that “most police are good and we can trust them” is the last hope of adults who choose to act and think like children. This absolves those who choose to believe in the Tooth Fairy from confronting police abuse in their own communities.
One of the real dirty secrets of police culture is retaliation against fellow officers and their families by police criminals. Watch the cheesy 1980s Chuck Norris movie “Code of Silence” or “Serpico” then ask why Jon Burge is pulling his pension. That’s because the Police Pension board is loaded with cops and former cops.
- Bothanspied - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 10:49 am:
This reminds me of the same argument you here about non-radicalized Muslims and why they are not speaking out in droves against radical Islamists. I think the fear of retribution is the largest factor. I cannot imagine what it must be like to be an officer to rally against other officers and then, suddenly, not receive adequate back-up in a life threatening situation because you have been blackballed.
- Arthur Andersen - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 11:02 am:
Good point, anon.
How many versions of “pension reform” have we had since the start of Rod’s Reign of Terror?”
- Keyrock - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 11:12 am:
Just out from Jamie Kalven, who has been working on this issue a long time:
https://theintercept.com/2016/10/06/in-the-chicago-police-department-if-the-bosses-say-it-didnt-happen-it-didnt-happen/
- Belle - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 11:21 am:
Like all of us, they are enmeshed in their jobs only their lives are dependent on their relationships. There are not many gigs where your life is dependent on the jerk that sits in the other cube?
I think they live in fear of more than anything we can imagine. Sometimes, they don’t even have the proper equipment. The people in the hood rarely talks, sometimes they just don’t want to spend the time to get involved.
Laquan McDonald happened at a bad time for CPD, all police. We need to get back to supporting the police while realizing none of them are perfect so we keep on eyes open like we do for the bad guys.
- Chicagonk - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 11:24 am:
Reform means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. I’m sure a lot of rank and file would be pro-reform if it meant cleaning the department of the political hacks and incompetent bosses that rely on clout to advance in rank and salary. The vast majority of cops that have done nothing wrong are likely to resent being lectured by the aldermen and alderwomen that have hamstrung their department in the first place.
- AlfondoGonz - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 11:40 am:
The couple cops with whom I am close are concerned about reform because they are worried about how it would affect their personal safety. They agree that something needs to be done, but if it isn’t done with a methodical hand, it could put them in harm’s way.
I don’t envy the police in the current environment. Neither do I envy the innocent people who are unfairly scrutinized by State actors. It’s a tricky spot, to say the least.
- titan - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 11:47 am:
The cops I know are good people. But expecting them to put their own lives in danger to be a focal point in a reform movement is asking a lot.
- X-prof - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 11:49 am:
I was sad to see FOP endorse Trump. I get that the average cop might not be a big fan of BLM, but there’s a middle ground where hope for a resolution lies. It is possible. Here in CU, there’s a stark contrast in relations between police and the community on the Champaign and Urbana sides of the border. Neither situation is perfect, but one city has been voluntarily working this issue for years.
- ChicagoVinny - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 12:43 pm:
From my point of view, the FOP in particular won’t even admit there is a problem. Until we get consensus that there is a problem, we can’t even begin to discuss solutions. This isn’t even a left/right issue because I’ve seen more and more conservative columnists who say there is a problem.
For instance, one obvious step seems to be uniformly reporting and tracking incidents of the use of deadly force to the justice department. Without this sort of data, how can we even begin to tackle some of these issues?
- Son retired - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 1:18 pm:
Everyone will agree that some reform is needed. But those who demand reform or chose to shove reform may do more harm then good. Anyone who is tasked with reform must first put themselves in the place of any police officer. No one should be allowed to draft legislation that demands reform until that person actually witnesses what police officers do. To demand change/reform without witnessing the the job officers so is idiotic. So many Monday morning quaterbacks who have never had to deal with what officers deal with. It is easy for someone to demand change, but more important to understand how the change adversely effects all parties.
- Payback - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 1:24 pm:
I have to agree with Chicago Vinny re. the pervasive denial surrounding police criminality. Considering that Mayor Emanuel allowed the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) board to hold four different public hearings about selecting a new Chicago Police Superintendent, then rejected their suggestions to name a top cop who was not even on the IPRA list, it seems that the police bureaucracy has a lot of highly placed protectors of the status quo.
Real police reform must start with state level legislation. For starters, make it a crime to delete or alter video or audio evidence. This can be done by amending the SB1304 Body Cam bill.
Next, perhaps add “whistleblower” protections for police that come forward and report criminal conduct by other officers, forbidding any change in their work assignments, hours, pay, etc. until the investigation is completed. This could possibly also be accomplished at the municipal level by changing the labor contracts for P.D.s.
- Original Rambler - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 2:10 pm:
Isn’t there a black patrolman’s association? Are they in lockstep with the FOP on these issues?
I also wonder why the black caucus doesn’t use its leverage to force changes in collective bargaining law limiting what the FOP can negotiate to improve investigating incidents. That rule in the union contract that a cop cannot be questioned in the first 24 hours after an incident is abominable.
- CapnCrunch - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 2:49 pm:
“Hanging on to the idea that “most police are good and we can trust them” is the last hope of adults who choose to act and think like children……”
That would be those who don’t acquire their knowledge by watching movies, especially those starring Chuck Norris.
- Will Caskey - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 3:13 pm:
Considering the votes against the COPA ordinance included the aldermen of traditional “cop” wards- 19, 41 and 38- I have no reason to believe the aldermen weren’t representing their constituencies.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 4:07 pm:
–“Where are Chicago cops who are ready for reform?”…–
In the room with all the Internal Affairs volunteers. Watching “Serpico.”
I’ve known plenty of cops who’ll rail about the cowboys among them in private. Stepping out in public is not part of the culture.
It’s going to be a long slog.
- The Cardinal - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 6:57 pm:
A female Chigago police officer was beaten silly last night by a guy that was on PCP. She was afraid to use her weapon even though she was in a life threatening situation because of all the racor of police shootings the CPDs reputation. Ask her about reform and with whom where it should start ?
- Red tower - Thursday, Oct 6, 16 @ 11:37 pm:
Cops who complain about the ‘no snitching’ idea prevalent in certain neighborhoods are hypocrites if the support their own code of silence.