So much for the détente between Mayor Brandon Johnson and the police union that has bolstered morale among rank-and-file Chicago Police Department officers.
It could be back to the constant bickering and legal wrangling between the city and the Fraternal Order of Police that dominated Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s single term.
A deeply divided City Council on Wednesday laid the groundwork for a return to those tumultuous days by rejecting an arbitrator’s ruling that would have allowed officers recommended for firings or suspensions over one year to bypass the Police Board in favor of an arbitrator who might be more sympathetic and would hold proceedings behind closed doors.
It happened during a stormy meeting that forced Johnson to call for a recess after public observers gathered in the third floor gallery overlooking the Council chambers banged on the glass and shouted from their seats.
“Sergeant-at-arms, please remove those who are being disruptive,” Johnson said. “Those who are banging on the windows, please remove them. Those who are shouting, please remove them.”
Three-fifths of the Council — 30 members — needed to support rejecting that ruling by arbitrator Edwin Benn, and the final vote was 33 to 16. It followed a 42-to-7 vote to ratify Johnson’s decision to double the pay raises Lightfoot negotiated, and extend the police contract for two additional years.
“Those who are banging on the windows, please remove them. Those who are shouting, please remove them,” the mayor said.
The split decision allowed Johnson and his progressive allies to have it both ways.
They delivered a symbolic message underscoring their commitment to police reform and accountability while also throwing a bone to rank-and-file officers.
Wednesday’s thumbs-down vote sends the ruling back to Benn, who has made it clear that he is not about to change his mind.
If he again affirms his original ruling, the Council would vote again, followed by an FOP lawsuit that the union’s president, John Catanzara, has no doubt would succeed.
“It’s absolutely labor war at that point. … There will be a price to pay for putting his thumb on the scale to shoot this down,” Catanzara said of Johnson.
“They’re anti-union. And the Democrats are the ones with the convention coming up in eight months. They can wear this as a badge of honor until then,” Catanzara said. “If this is a fight they want, no problem. We proved we’re more than willing to do that with Lightfoot. If that’s the path he wants, then so be it.”
Catanzara refused to say whether his thinly veiled threat means police picketing during the convention, a blue flu-style slowdown, or both. State law prohibits police officers from striking.
Johnson’s progressive Council allies were willing to risk political fallout. That’s how determined they were to avoid depriving the Police Board of its most important disciplinary power and undermining public trust by allowing police officers to, as they put it, “hide behind the closed doors” of arbitration.
“We need to hold bad police officers accountable. ... What good is the Police Board if you could do something so egregious, you have to hide?” said Ald. Maria Hadden (49th).
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) added: “How do we build trust without accountability? How do we build a better system when we are trying to take decisions away from the public? ... This [ruling] to put these kinds of decisions out of due process are not going to build trust. It’s going to erode the very little trust that is left.”
“It is disgusting to sit in this body and approve millions of dollars every month” for settlements tied to allegations of excessive force and other police wrongdoing, Sigcho-Lopez said.
Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) acknowledged Wednesday’s vote is likely to be reversed — first by the arbitrator, then in court. But he was willing to roll the dice, if only to deliver a symbolic message.
“This is not in the public interest. In this moment, this is just not right. ... We have to be for what the public is calling for. This is not right or just for the constituents we serve,” Ervin said.
Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd), one of the police union’s staunchest Council supporters, warned colleagues the FOP has an “open-and-shut case” that could potentially cost Chicago taxpayers “hundreds of millions of dollars.”
“None of us wants public dollars to be awarded in court to bad cops as opposed to mental health clinics or homeless services,” Tabares said.
Tabares noted state law “guarantees Chicago Police officers the right to arbitration in exchange for the right to strike.”
“State law already gives Chicago Police officers the right to arbitration. Regardless, the city has been doing it wrong,” she said.
Declaring himself a “proud Chicago police officer,” Ald. Peter Chico (10th) added, “We can’t go on strike. We can’t form a picket line and say, ‘Enough is enough.’”
Higher pay raises negotiated by Johnson are expected to add $27.7 million in costs to his $16.77 billion 2024 budget.
The contract calls for doubling the annual raise rank-and-file police officers were scheduled to receive in 2024 and 2025 — from 2.5% to 5%. During the two-year extension ending June 30, 2027, police officers will receive annual raises in the 3%-to-5% range, depending on the cost of living.
Instead of giving officers with 20 years of seniority the annual $2,000 retention bonus awarded by an independent arbitrator, the agreement gives a one-time $2,500 retention bonus to all officers, regardless of seniority. There is also a cash incentive to help fill the crucial, but historically-difficult-to-fill role of field training officer.
For Johnson and his newly appointed CPD Supt. Larry Snelling, there is a key operational change that could help boost Chicago’s dismal homicide clearance rates.
The police department won the right to create Los Angeles-style rotating teams of homicide investigators working 10-hour days. Each team would get all of the murders in a given area during a one-week period, then spend the next five weeks trying to solve those homicides without being assigned more cases.
Catanzara spent the last four years battling Lightfoot over myriad law enforcement issues.
Johnson has tried to forge a more collaborative path, despite Catanzara’s warning of an “exodus like we’ve never seen before,” with as many as 1,000 veteran officers choosing not to work for a mayor who had a history of supporting the concept of defunding the police.
At the time the contract extension was hammered out, Catanzara said he was wrong about Chicago’s new mayor.
“We certainly didn’t endorse Mayor Johnson. But I give him kudos for really giving marching orders that labor contracts need to be figured out,” the fiery FOP president said that day.
“From where we were dealing with her,” he added, not mentioning Lightfoot by name, “as opposed to dealing with him, is night and day.”
