We saw the Department Order the other day. Interesting to say the least:
- School Officers will start at 0600 hours instead of 0800; on post at 0630;
- Three officers will be assigned to any open high school; one officer per open grade school;
- Day Tact teams will be on mandatory 12 hour days;
There's some HQ deployment numbers, too. We also got this letter:
- Dear SCC,
You might think that we would get to use our own school people in the districts to temporarily alleviate manpower shortages, right? Wrong! In (XXX) District, we're sending nearly a third of our officers to nearby districts to sit on their schools. Is this some sort of contract violation if they are bid officers?
We'd encourage anyone being sent out of their District of Assignment to contact the FOP as soon as you find out where you're headed. If the city is playing fast and loose with the contract again, they need to be called out.
This is probably what's causing the 12-hour-days:
- The Chicago police superintendent says he’ll be ready if police have to deal with the sudden exodus of students from the classroom to the street – in case there’s a strike.
The Chicago Public Schools will have some schools open for half a day, if there’s a strike.
And that in itself is an issue for Police Supt. Garry McCarthy.
“We do have concerns and we’re working with CPS to ensure that rival gang members are not put into the same places,” McCarthy said.
We imagine the bangers aren't going to be in the alternative locations - they're going to be on the streets recruiting and settling old scores. But that's just a guess.