By Steve Pomper
I recently read about two disturbing situations affecting Chicago cops. I know, only two. First, there’s the Chicago Police Department (CPD) Superintendent’s public criticism of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) for recommending the CPD fire over two dozen officers.
The Second concerns Chicago Board of Education (CBE) kicking CPD school resource officers (SRO) out of public schools.
And, I’ve included a bonus third item involving a chief in a sheriff’s office out West extending an attractive, and timely, job offer to Chicago cops.
Sam Charles at the Chicago Tribune (via Police1.com) wrote, “Despite a freeze on police discipline cases [due to litigation], the superintendent of the Chicago Police Department [Larry Snelling] late Thursday issued a lengthy, stern critique of the city agency that probes police misconduct, accusing investigators of leaning on ‘personal opinions and speculation.’”
Snelling’s observations ring true to me, bolstered by personal experiences with my department’s politicized Office of Police Accountability (OPA). He cites a hallmark of the leftist cop-haters’ thought processes: “personal opinion and speculation,” which he says, “leads to unfairness.”
Further, he said, “When we speculate, when we add our personal opinions, then those penalties become punitive and unfair and unfair to the officers.”
Snelling mentioned issues including imposing excessive penalties to punish officers for even trivial violations. He said even when he agrees an infraction should be sustained, he said, “a 30-day (or) 90-day suspension is egregious.”
But, moving to the more extreme discipline, in the last two months, COPA has recommended CPD fire 28 officers, which Snelling says is “unprecedented.” He said 19 of those termination requests arrived on his desk in a single day in January. How does that extraordinary number not emit a scent of malice?
That bewildering number of referrals in just the first two months of 2024 nearly matches that of the entire 12 months of 2023. Statistically, that’s a “hockey stick” graph reminiscent of another infamous hoax. Charles noted CPD’s chief legal counsel, Scott Spears, and Yolanda Talley, the chief if internal affairs, also made statements which “largely echoed” Snelling.
COPA’s chief administrator, Andrea Kersten, said the surge of cases was intentional, blaming “that collective bargaining agreement.” She is not a fan. She added that COPA only “presents findings” and does not “impose discipline.” But we all know that by inflating the level of discipline puts CPD leaders like Snelling in the position of being seen as “easy” on officers when they must advocate for lesser penalties, only trying to be fair.
I didn’t find any examples of specific CPD disciplinary cases, but I can mention one of my fellow officer’s incident for which she was fired. The suspect was uncooperative, refused to put down the golf club he’d been swinging over his head, whixh the officer told him to put the club down some 19 times before arresting him. Also, there was zero officer use of force, thus no injuries. Yet, she was fired. I assume some of the CPD officers’ cases are similar in nature.
This is an unusual public battle between two city departments and—as usual—the cops (and city residents) suffer the most. How can officers do their jobs properly and effectively if they’re constantly worried about COPA blowing up some minor issue by employing their cynical criteria (personal opinions, speculation), resulting in bogus suspensions, terminations, or even indictments?
As I’ve said so many times, just because you don’t like what the officers did doesn’t make it wrong. It’s just so hard for cops to make a use of force look all warm and fuzzy.
Now, for the second contestant in Chicago’s police hate-fest. Greg Wehner and Ruth Ravve, at FOX News, reported, “The Chicago Board of Education [CBE] voted on Thursday to end its contract with Chicago police and remove uniformed officers from the city’s schools.”
I have family members who’ve withdrawn their children from public schools, in part, because the school district where we live (aside from the garbage—BLM, DEI, CRT, etc. indoctrination) also kicked cops out of schools. School officials contended that “students of color” expressed their “fear of cops in schools.” Yeah, right. Maybe after their anti-police indoctrination.
And, right on cue, in the Chicago situation, the cop-haters also asserted, “Some students told school board members that police in the schools scare them.” Again, maybe because of the anti-cop indoctrination in public schools, but I remain skeptical that kids volunteered that. And adding the obligatory, reflexive racism, “Supporters of removing police from schools said the officers targeted minorities and did not make schools safer.”
Normal people don’t think like that. For example, the school board said it favored “a new ‘Whole School Safety Policy,’ which eliminates the use of school resource officers.” Those who rely on a radical leftist, anti-police mythology think like that.
But don’t worry. According to the CBE, the schools will still use unarmed security guards, crossing guards, and “Safe Passage workers.” The cop despising just oozes from these people. The average person doesn’t think of police officers as racist brutes who abuse children. But the radical left doesn’t like anything cops do. So, they pretend they want to fix policing, while they actually work to destroy it.
But wait, there’s more. The CBE says it will redistribute school resource officers’ funding (de-fund the police) to “‘alternative safety positions resources, and interventions,’ like restorative justice coordinators, youth intervention specialists, wrap-around supports and mentoring programs, and more.” Oh, goody.
“Restorative justice coordinators…” and “wrap-around supports….” Now, I feel better. I doubt most parents support removing cops from schools, but too many believe they’re supposed to because the radical bullies intimidate them, so they don’t speak out. Instead, they pretend or convince themselves they’re doing what’s best for their children.
Ask yourself if banks and jewelry stores are safer with or without police officers guarding them. Don’t strain yourself. The answer is obvious.
Reportedly, local school councils already have the authority to choose whether to have officers on campus, “but district leaders are taking away that local control.” Not surprisingly, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) also opposes police officers in schools (What else would Marxists do?).
FOX reported, “Earlier in January, the Chicago Board of Education was reportedly seeking to strip Local School Councils, organizations made up of parents, teachers, and students, of their power to choose whether to have SROs at their schools. After taking the decision away from local councils, the board will remove all officers from school grounds, according to local outlet WBEZ.”
The CTU said, “‘These students along with the parents, teachers, and staff that support them have looked at the data, experienced the brutality and are calling for police-free schools,’ the CTU said in a statement in June 2020.” What data?
“Experienced the brutality…?” I think these folks have broken brains.
These issues make you wonder how Chicago has any cops left. Regardless, they are remarkable people who’ve found a way to serve a city that disrespects them as if that were their primary mission and not public safety. But, for those who are finally fed up, there are agencies around the nation, even in blue states, that still appreciate their cops. So, here’s that “bonus” I mentioned up top.
One of those agencies is the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department in Washington State, headquartered in Tacoma. Responding to the CSB yanking CPD officers out of public schools, PCSD’s Chief of Administrative Services, Nick Hausner, who went to school in Chicago, posted an invitation (below) on Linkedin to CPD SROs who may want to bring their public service commitments and unique talents to where they are appreciated.
Applications are available at this email: pccivilservice@piercecountywa.gov