* Sun-Times…
With high turnout and low morale, rank-and-file Chicago Police officers decided Wednesday to change union presidents heading into contentious contract negotiations.
With 9,811 votes cast, Police Officer Kevin Graham captured 56.2 percent of the vote to incumbent Dean Angelo’s 43.8 percent. […]
Graham could not be reached for comment. His election virtually guarantees that contract talks with the city will be even more contentious than normal.
Hours before the results were announced, Angelo was anticipating defeat because of the level of discontent.
“Everyone’s frustrated. Very, very, very frustrated on this job. Morale is at the lowest I’ve ever seen. . . . Sometimes when you get frustrated, you want to make a change just for change sake. If that’s the case, there’ll be a different person representing the FOP,” Angelo said.
* Tribune…
Graham, a staunch critic of outside intervention in the department and efforts to strengthen officer discipline, will take the helm of the department’s most influential police union at a moment of uncertainty and consequence.
The FOP — which represents the wide majority of the department’s approximately 12,000 officers — is heading into a contract negotiation later this year.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has announced and enacted a series of reforms to a police department plagued by misconduct, but FOP contracts have historically helped shield rank-and-file cops from disciplinary investigations, protections reform advocates would like to see scaled back. […]
Graham, a 22-year veteran patrol officer assigned to the Town Hall police district on the North Side, sought to position himself as an opponent of outside intervention in the department and criticized Angelo for failing to more aggressively resist the Justice investigation. Graham has slammed the media for allegedly lying about police misconduct claims and tied the city’s violence to attempts to “put the handcuffs on the police.”
The city council’s Black Caucus reaction should be something to behold.
…Adding… Statement…
- Railrat - Wednesday, Apr 12, 17 @ 5:07 pm:
Union leaders should have term limits as well as legislators! This rank and file have voiced an opinion ( note turnout) good for them time will tell if it’s the right vote but !!! unfortunately many/most union leaders are comfortable and can control membership voting ….just like legislators!
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Apr 12, 17 @ 5:15 pm:
Mr. Angelo was a person who totally let me down and pretended my CBA rights did not exist. I am a fool for trusting him along with the lawyer who was reffered to me by a family member. Thru out this process the verdict is in and I was played by everyone I trusted while losing my benefits, my health , my friends, my family and confidence in myself all while being thrown into the fire to look like a scammer and fraud. On top of it I got put in the Suntimes and smeared. I have no doubts the Suntimes will now write more nonsense since I am speaking out. The pension board ignored all the evidence that was in my file and then my former lawyer even removed a MRI report which clearly shows my diagnosis. Now I have nothing besides my faith. I have a real fear of Chicago and the people in power.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=zF82qVCJYXs
- Almost the Weekend - Wednesday, Apr 12, 17 @ 5:27 pm:
Mt Greenwood and Beverley are happy I don’t know if the rest of Chicago should be.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Apr 12, 17 @ 5:28 pm:
Two words on that release tell me everything I need to know about this new president…..Martin Preib. His work has uncovered lots. For years, the lying Northwestern professor led a project that tilted much of the dialogue in one way with his “journalism” students and casework that was lying. Martin Prieb’s serious work digging has brought some balance into the discussion. that Prieb is working for Graham speaks volumes. Cue the scheduling of Heather MacDonald in Chicago and we’re off to the races.
- PENSIONS ARE OFF LIMITS - Wednesday, Apr 12, 17 @ 5:43 pm:
“Everyone’s frustrated. Very, very, very frustrated on this job. Morale is at the lowest I’ve ever seen. . . . Sometimes when you get frustrated, you want to make a change just for change sake. If that’s the case, there’ll be a different person representing the FOP,” —–
-That’s exactly how we wound up with gov. Rauner and his superstars. Good luck to the FOP.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Apr 12, 17 @ 5:48 pm:
I don’t think any CPD union president can negotiate the cameras out of every cell phone on the street, or every security camera on every building.
That stuff’s here to stay. Just like the rest of us, you can just go ahead and assume that every movement you make on the street is recorded.
- Red tower - Wednesday, Apr 12, 17 @ 6:01 pm:
And you wonder why people don’t trust police. They testalie in court and then whine when they get investigated for the crimes they commit. They are just another gang in the city.
- Tempo - Wednesday, Apr 12, 17 @ 6:22 pm:
You can bet whomever Graham’s opponent is in the next election will run on the same platform he just did — and beat him.
- Regular democrat - Wednesday, Apr 12, 17 @ 6:34 pm:
Dean Angelo is hardly what rank and file officers would call a hard liner. He a decent congenial guy tried a softer approach and it didnt pan out in these diffucult times.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Apr 12, 17 @ 6:56 pm:
@Red Tower, so I’m assuming when you are in danger you are not calling the police right? hyperbole much?!?
- Amalia - Wednesday, Apr 12, 17 @ 9:50 pm:
and, Martin Prieb is now the 2nd VP with promises from Graham
to be more vocal in the media. this will ramp up as Prieb has great skills.
- Red tower - Wednesday, Apr 12, 17 @ 10:29 pm:
@amalia you do realize that is exactly what happens in many parts of the city. People are afraid to call the cops because they can be just as dangerous as the people they want to report.
Personally I don’t call the cops because nothing good ever comes of them. I have been robbed before and all they do is file reports, sometimes not even that, and nothing ever happens. In all the times my home or car have been broken into or vandalized not once have the police even followed up or investigate let alone caught anyone. They are just Mobil random tax collectors issuing tickets and only show up after the fact to fill out paperwork. Not once have I heard of them actually stopping a major crime in my area and in several cases the state of the Feds have busted the local cops for selling drugs. So yea cops are rather useless.
- Regular democrat - Wednesday, Apr 12, 17 @ 10:44 pm:
Not exactly sure where u live red tower but it not in Chicago. Sounds like Detrout to me. Hope u stay tbere
- blue dog dem - Wednesday, Apr 12, 17 @ 10:46 pm:
I believe that FOP contracts should not have third party arbitration options.
- Payback - Thursday, Apr 13, 17 @ 12:49 am:
Check the language on the Blue Voice press release shown here, “…fighting the anti-police movement in the city..” What is that statement supposed to mean anyway? Note that it does not say anything at about fighting crime, which is supposed to be the job police are paid to do. Talk about Orwellian doublespeak. You really cannot make this stuff up.
What’s the whole deal with “the Lodge?” Makes them sound like a den of Freemasons performing mystic rituals with robes and altars. Maybe they should rename their union hall “the FOP Church.” Ridiculous.
FOP is a union, no different than garbage collectors and snow plow operators. Except that cops can manipulate the legal system to retaliate against political adversaries, which is why corrupt politicians fawn all over them.
- Rod - Thursday, Apr 13, 17 @ 6:16 am:
Not surprising to me this result. CPD on a daily basis deals with every social ill of our City. Most officers I grew up with don’t get excited about the idea of shooting down a kid with a gun or a knife, but they do want to live to see their families.
To tell police to show restraint is easy for those us who aren’t dealing with the daily confrontations they have, it is also easy to say nobody told them to take the job. I will bet many African American police officers voted for the Blue Voice slate because they see the very middle class black communities they live in under siege from a wide variety of crimes, they see black youth lost and pointlessly confrontational with them on the street and fear for their own children on a daily basis.
- Robert the Bruce - Thursday, Apr 13, 17 @ 9:02 am:
The last clause in the press release sure is rich: what more “fair due process” do officers want, given how few are ever convicted?
One week wait to get their stories straight before they talk to investigators? Squad car cameras that accidentally break via voice command?
- Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 13, 17 @ 9:10 am:
Who will guard the guardians?
- Jerry 101 - Thursday, Apr 13, 17 @ 9:44 am:
Man, the cops in Chicago are pretty well disconnected from reality. The teachers union kicks Rahm’s backside because voters support them.
You think the whiny bullies in the police union will get that kind of support?
- Galena Guy - Thursday, Apr 13, 17 @ 10:14 am:
Amalia - sounds like you are one of those who believe that, by and large, the CPD can do no wrong. Maybe you can explain that to my GF (criminal defense attorney) and her client who is serving in Menard for a murder he didn’t commit. All the evidence is there that they set him up to take the fall through false testimony. How about the people who have sat in Cook County for years because cops won’t show up for hearings. There is NO “war on police” in this city - the only thing that is happening is people demanding that the police show the same respect for the law that thWY demand of everyone else - and to be held accountable when they don’t.