NATIONAL NEWS Mary L. Datcher Defender Senior Staff Writer President Barack Obama Tuesday held his first press conference of the New Year announcing his plans to make gun control regulations already in place stricter. In light of the random mass shootings around the country in the past five years, the President addressed the nation, the press and victims of gun violence and families present in the room. Obama discussed how more than 30,000 Americans have lost their lives by gun violence that includes suicides, domestic violence, accidents and gang shootings. He noted that the United States is not the only country with violent and dangerous people, but the U.S. frequency of violence surpasses other advanced countries. He said, “Instead of thinking about how to solve the problem, this has become one of our most polarized, partisan debates, despite the fact that there’s a general consensus in America about what needs to be done. That’s part of the reason why, on Thursday, I’m going to hold a town hall meeting in Virginia on gun violence. Because my goal here is to bring good people on both sides of this issue together for an open discussion.” The announcement is an historic milestone for those who have fought for stricter gun control laws. Although opponents have challenged the President’s stance on suppressing 2nd Amendment rights, he said 90 percent of Americans supported that idea. “Ninety percent of Democrats in the Senate voted for that idea. But it failed be-
President Obama: Stricter Gun Control and Background Checks cause 90 percent of Republicans in the Senate voted against that idea,” Obama said. Although Congress will still need to pass stricter laws, Obama is putting forward a series of executive actions to tighten up the rules and systems that are currently in place. He says commercial and independent owners selling firearms must be required to have a license and conduct background checks, or be subject to criminal prosecutions. This includes gun shows and Internet purchases. Background checks will expand to cover violent criminals and those applicants that suffer from mental health. Federal medical health records on file that trigger mental
ho Represented W The People?
Former city attorney Mathew Piers, who worked in Harold Washington’s administration and was there shortly after the very first FOP contract was signed, saw potential problems originally and fought the unions, but to no avail. “(Police) misconduct could cost the city millions with there being no repercussions for you as an individual (officer). That disconnect, I found it troubling then and I find it troubling now,” Piers said in an interview with the Chicago Reporter. Thomas Pleines, General Counsel to the FOP from 1993 to 2011, and legal advisor to the Union’s negotiating team for the current contract said, “The media and the politicians were blaming ‘the FOP contract’ as being www.chicagodefender.com
tion, Cong. Kelly is the Vice Chair of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force for the Democratic Caucus, as well as a member for the Congressional Black Caucus task force along with Michigan Rep. Brenda Lawrence. “This will show that mental health should not get the blame for every gun shooting. One thing that people don’t realize – suicide is really very prevalent. There are mental issues there, but we tend to blame mental health for everything, which is not true. It’s really access to guns and they are so free-flowing,” Kelly said. Mayor Rahm Emanuel issue a statement regarding his fight to put in place stronger
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“Interrogators may not say anything that “threatens” an officer (e.g., transfer, dismissal, or other disciplinary action) or offer a reward for providing information. A copy of all officer statements must be given to the officer within 72 hours. If he/she is interrogated again during that period, the officer must first be given a copy of his previous statements.” Loevy noted that many of those same protections are not respected by the police when interrogating non-police officers.
health history will be submitted to the background check system and remove barriers that prevent states from reporting relevant information. There will be a $500 million investment to expand access to more treatment around the country and to provide assistance to people who are at higher risk for inflicting harm on themselves and others. Congresswoman Robin Kelly (IL) was pleased with today’s announcement. “The thing that is great about this is that we tend to blame mental health for everything and we want money for more research and more health,” Kelly said. An advocate for gun violence preven-
gun control mandates. “The President’s actions in the face of Congressional inaction send a forceful signal that this challenge is too important to ignore,” Emanuel said. “While we have taken important steps in the City of Chicago to keep guns out of the wrong hands, we are not an island. Our gun safety laws will only be as effective as our federal laws and the laws of our neighboring states. “So while I strongly support the President’s actions, I continue to urge Congress to put politics aside and adopt common-sense gun safety measures that will save lives and make our communities safer and stronger.” As President Obama faces his final year in office, this is one of many gestures that will force executive actions on his part before the White House. As he recognized the young victims whose lives were taken too soon – from college students in Blacksburg and Santa Barbara, to the high schoolers at Columbine, to the first graders in Newton – he paused, wiping tears away. He said, “Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad. And by the way, it happens on the streets of Chicago every day.” Chicagoans noticed the Obama’s reference to the loss of lives due to gun violence in his hometown. Kelly said, “I was very pleased that he mentioned the ‘every day’ part, because often times we always talk about national things, but don’t talk about the every day murders that occur. “There’s more that has to be done, like straw purchases and gun trafficking, but as much as we can keep guns out of dangerous hands or away from people with mental problems – that will help. It won’t stop everything, but we have to do everything we can.”
responsible for these perceived problems. “Specifically, the procedural protections of the contract (primarily Articles 6 & 8) were touted as tying the hands of the City in its efforts to prevent excessive force incidents, as well as questionable police shootings. “The City negotiators proposed various changes to the contract to address the concerns of the (City) Council and the Reverends. The Union put forth various proposals desired by its membership.” The Chicago Defender reached out to the City of Chicago’s chief negotiator at that time, Attorney Darka Papushkewych, to gain insight into the process and to ask the questions: Who represented the interest of the People? And how did the city end up with a contract that some consider skewed in favor of the Union? Attorney Papushkewych has retired from the city and now is the General Counsel at Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority. As of the Defender’s press time, she had not yet responded with answers to our questions.
IPRA Is A Problem
Official documents the Chicago Defender received through the FOIA, in short, state that to initiate an investigation of an excessive force complaint or police-involved shooting, a CPD Supervisor or Commander prepares a report
containing the allegations and refers it to IPRA. Created in 2007 as an independent agency of the City of Chicago, separate from the CPD, IPRA’s mission is to “conduct fair, thorough and timely investigations into allegations of excessive force, domestic violence, weapons discharges, etc.” Once IPRA receives a complaint, it creates a CR (Complaint Register) number; it then collects and reviews evidence, interviews witnesses and even has the power to subpoena. In general, IPRA can take up to six months to conclude its investigation and submit its findings and recommendations back to the Police Superintendent, who can then agree or disagree, triggering another process which can add 90 more days to the investigation. According to Attorney Loevy, “One of the most serious problems with the system for disciplining police misconduct is that the process is far too protracted. The IPRA investigations take too long, and reject all but a tiny percentage of the allegations. Even in the rare case where IPRA does recommend discipline, there are a number of opportunities to appeal, which not only takes years, but there are too many opportunities for police officials (such as the Supervisors or the Chief of Police) to overturn the recommendations.”
On page 106 of the contract is a letter from the FOP’s General Counsel, dated November 17, 2000, addressing the possibility of a DOJ investigation into “Pattern and Practice” litigation. In the letter addressed to Darka Papushkewych, the Lodge shares its concerns that DOJ investigations in other cities has led to consent decrees being entered that impact the “collective bargaining agreement in effect.” FOP’s Attorney Pleines said that at the time, “the city was dealing with some high profile and controversial events. In 1998 Officer James Comito and Matthew Thiel had an encounter with Jeremiah Mearday, which resulted in Mearday sustaining serious injury and allegations of excessive force after the officers beat him. Additionally, in 1999, there were two police shooting incidents involving LaTonya Haggerty being shot and killed by Officer Serena Daniels and a motorist named William Russ who was also shot and killed. There was a lot of media coverage of these three incidents and the community and the City Council were very vocal with their concerns about a lack of discipline and transparency.” The conclusion of the matter is that no DOJ investigation ever occurred.
ity Council Bought C Bill Of Goods
same junction, but now with an actual DOJ investigation currently underway. Dean Angelo, the FOP’s current president, stated in an interview taken from the Chicago Reporter with Adeshina Emmanuel, that he wondered why aldermen were complaining about an FOP contract that they themselves approved. Angelo asserts that the City Council had the opportunity to review the contract and stated, “I didn’t hear a word from any of them. I don’t know if those people read what they voted on. But if they didn’t read this contract before they voted on it and now are blaming us, shame on them.” Attorney Loevy, when asked if he had hope that the current contract would be changed said “I have been asked that question for more than 10 years, and my answer has always been the same: Things will change only when the politicians decide it is worth spending the political capital to enact a more effective and efficient system for weeding out problem police officers. “The result is a disciplinary system that doesn’t work, which means that misconduct occurs more than it should. (But) people have finally had enough, and are literally in the streets. The Mayor says he’s ready to make changes. I hope he means it.”
(The public can download the contracts at http://directives.chicagopolice. However, 15 years later, we’re at the org/lt2015/data.)
THE CHICAGO DEFENDER • January 06 - 12, 2016 07