During the recent teen melee in Chicago’s Loop, one especially troubling report emerged.
According to a report by WGN News, a woman said she tried to flag down Chicago police officers in a squad car to stop an assault in progress, but the officers chose to drive away.
The woman, Lenora Dennis, then reportedly drove the couple, the victims of the alleged assault, to a police station where they all talked to a desk sergeant. Apparently this sergeant said, “This is happening because Brandon Johnson got elected.”
This anecdote hardly is airtight evidence of police officers deliberately failing to attend to persons in need.
The officers may have had a needier emergency to get to, and there are a lot of sergeants in the city who mouth off about a lot of things when under stress. Cops blow off steam just like the rest of us, and they’re entitled to their opinions in a free country.
But even with those caveats, this was still a very disturbing piece of informal testimony, and not from a police union official but from an ordinary citizen.
It’s enough of a concern to reiterate something obvious here: A police officer’s sworn duty to serve and protect does not end with the election of a mayor who was not the first choice of many in uniform.
Even edge down such a road and the potential consequences for this city are dire.
This would still apply if that mayor were to deliver an anti-police speech, or undermine budgets, or (unlike his predecessor) stand in unwavering rhetorical support of a prosecutor who put criminals back on the streets. Cops would still have their sworn duty to perform.
They have the right to leave their job, as do any of us, and we’ve certainly seen some exercise that option. We may see more. But that’s different from what is sometimes colloquially known as “quiet quitting,” or just doing the minimum after something happens in the workplace that causes you to feel passed over or devalued or asked to work in near-impossible circumstances. Some can get away with that and still feel good about themselves. Not first responders.
For police officers, there remains only two options: do the job to the very best of your ability.
Or leave.
We have too much respect for Chicago police officers and other first responders to believe there is an epidemic of quiet quitting. But it’s now clear that the new police superintendent will need to pay close attention to this issue. Job one, in fact, along with the crucial re-engaging with the consent decree.
What many Chicagoans don’t realize, though, is that the new permanent police superintendent is a long way from taking office.
Consider the timeline, at least as we understand the new process.
The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) is charged with leading the search and nominating three candidates for Johnson to consider. Applications, which are open, are being accepted through May 7.
Right now, we’re in the middle of a process of town hall-style community meetings where city residents get to sound off on what they want to see in a top cop. Two forums remain, including a virtual forum slated for Tuesday at 6 p.m.
So far so good. But the CCSPA then can take its sweet time. The deadline for sending the top three candidates to the incoming mayor is July 14. That’s nearly three months from now. After receiving those names, the mayor has yet another month to make an appointment by Aug. 13. Alternatively, he could reject all three finalists. And if that happens, the commission must then essentially start over.
In other words, even if all goes smoothly, which is hardly a given in any job search at this level, there still will be no permanent police superintendent before kids are back in the school. Remember, anyone being offered the job could be currently working at another city police department and will need to give notice. It could well be far into the fall before the new top cop is on the job.
Meanwhile, CPD already has had to cope with the March resignation of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s beleaguered police superintendent, David Brown. And in recent days, interim Superintendent Eric Carter has confirmed he plans to retire May 15 after 30 years with the department. It’s never ideal when a person in an interim position says he will retire so long before the permanent replacement arrives.
So if you add all of that up in the light of coming warm weather, at least four observations are worth making.
* The CCSPA should get a move on and make sure the new mayor is on the same page before those names get sent.
* Johnson and his administration should move even faster.
* Johnson had better pay close attention to the quality of Carter’s summer replacement.
* And, Chicagoans will have to rely for their protection this summer on the honor and ethics of police officers of all ranks. That’s always true, but it’s especially acute given all the leadership turmoil, for which, frankly, those police officers deserve the city’s apology.
Whether or not they get one, we know the vast majority of Chicagoans appreciate the dangers of their jobs, just as they count on those officers to give their all to keep our city safe.
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