Union boss: Cops don't want to be disciplined for hot mic moments
The head of the union representing thousands of Chicago's rank-and-file police officers on Thursday said he was caught off guard this week by the announcement that every patrol officer in the city will be equipped with body cameras by the end of 2017 — a year ahead of schedule.
Dean Angelo Sr., president of the Fraternal Order of Police's Lodge 7, said his office had only a single meeting with police brass in the past year to discuss implementation of the recording devices, despite a prior written agreement stating both sides would meet to discuss how the body cameras would be rolled out.
On Wednesday, police officials, along with Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office, announced a plan to equip several thousand patrol officers with body cameras in every police district by late 2017, something that could offer a closer look at interactions between cops and citizens.
The AXON 2 body cams were not slated to reach all 22 police districts until late 2018.
“I was made aware of it through an email that one of my (FOP) board members sent me. I didn't get a call (from the department), didn't get a heads-up,” Angelo said.
Angelo said FOP members did not oppose using body cameras — devices that police departments across the country are starting to use.
But he said officers wanted to make sure they had time to get acclimated to the new recording devices without the threat of discipline from the department for any rude or inappropriate private conversations by officers caught on a hot mic.
“We wanted to be part of this (planning) process so that nonduty-related conversations between you and I about someone walking down the street, or what was said at roll call, or about who our boss and what their experience — or lack thereof — may be (isn't) ... something that we wind up getting considered for discipline on,” Angelo said.
“Those are conversations between you and I, and it's our opinion,” he said.
During a police demonstration of the body cameras just after Wednesday's announcement, Town Hall District Cmdr. Marc Buslik told reporters that the department would not seek to punish officers who are recorded using “colorful language.”
“It's not unusual for language to get colorful in encounters, and officers were concerned about being held accountable,” said Buslik, who helped implement body cameras as a pilot program at the Police Department's Shakespeare District.
Chicago police did not immediately respond to Angelo's comments.
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