An interesting question posed by a reader in response to our contention that we are in for a boatload of new training and videos about this supposed "code of silence" we're all a part of now:
- So, if training or whatever is not the answer, then let me ask you in all sincerity: What do you suggest to keep people like him from getting away with such behavior? How shall people like me, who support the good cops and can't afford the monetary consequences of abuse and corruption, be served and protected from bad apples?
--Law Abiding Citizen
We'll open this one up to the floor - how do we, as a Department, address the conception that there is some "code of silence" conspiracy?
Are there crooked cops? Unfortunately, yes, but there are crooked people in all walks of life.
Do cops extend courtesy to other cops (and city workers) in terms of parking or moving violations? It happens, but everyone has stories about the guy who writes everything, regardless of who it is. And don't even get us start about those assholes in Revenue.
But none of that has anything to do with a "code of silence."
Look at our fearless leader - an inter-agency brouhaha following a traffic altercation in his previous job, shooting out streetlights, liberal use of a particularly offensive racial pejorative and guess what? The media ignores it and let's Rahm hire this guy to drive the Department into the ground. This is a "code of silence?"
We're pretty sure we are going to see training videos - remember Hillard and Mrs. Hillard starring in that training video? Racial profiling or something? We just don't think videos that everyone knows are simply a knee-jerk reaction to the scandal of the moment are going to change anything institutionally.
Opinions?