Article: Chicago Police mood appears to hit a low amid fallout from Laquan McDonald video...
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-chicago-cops-mood-frustration-met-20160225-story.html
Police mood appears to hit a low amid fallout from Laquan McDonald video
Standing at the back of a car he had just pulled over during a routine traffic stop, the veteran cop had to calm himself. Ten, he counted as he took a deep breath. Nine. Eight. And down to one.
The stop was like hundreds he'd made before except this time the driver inched the window down and swore at the officer as he handed over his license.
"I don't have to talk to you, (expletive) you," the gang officer recalled the man telling him as the smell of marijuana wafted from the car.
The release of disturbing video of a white officer fatally shooting Laquan McDonald, a black teenager, exposed decades of simmering anger over police mistreatment and abuse of Chicago citizens in some of the poorest, most disadvantaged areas. The officer was charged with murder, the police superintendent was fired and a federal investigation was launched.
As the city has buckled under the weight of the scandal and Mayor Rahm Emanuel has struggled to restore public confidence, the department's 12,000 officers were left to return to work amid the chaos and an increasingly hostile climate.
The result has been a precipitous drop in morale among rank-and-file officers, according to Tribune interviews with numerous officers of all ranks. The cops described confusion over how they are supposed to do even basic police work, frustration over mixed messages coming from bosses and concern that they will be the next headline.
"Those of us who really care and are trying to do something for the city, we're walking the tightrope," said the gang officer, who ordinarily would have patted down the driver who cursed him out but decided not to risk a complaint of harassment. "Everything we do is perceived as rogue right now."
At the same time, as of Jan. 1 the Police Department began to require that cops fill out detailed reports every time they make a street stop as part of a landmark agreement worked out with the American Civil Liberties Union. The change — the result of concerns over racial profiling — has not only kept officers busy with paperwork longer than before, officers said, but also increased their anxiety about being second-guessed on whom they've stopped.
As a result of both factors, officers say, they have taken a far more cautious approach to their work. Department statistics would appear to back that up as street stops have plummeted in the first month of 2016.
Under a microscope
To be sure, a cop's job has always been challenging, particularly for those assigned to Chicago's violent, gang-plagued neighborhoods on the South and West sides. Perhaps because of the gritty nature of the work, cops have long complained about low morale. Over the years the reasons can vary — incompetent bosses, faulty squad car equipment, losing out on promotions to less qualified but clout-heavy colleagues, doing more work with fewer officers.
But officers — who all spoke on condition of anonymity because of department rules barring them from talking to the news media — told the Tribune they don't remember the overall mood of the department plunging before to such low levels.
The crisis of confidence comes at a time when the department is seemingly under assault on multiple fronts for a variety of shortcomings. The U.S. Justice Department has launched a sweeping civil rights investigation of the Police Department and officers' use of force. A recent Tribune poll found a deep-seated public distrust of the department across racial and ethnic lines.
The firestorm of criticism appears to have hardened many officers' "us-against-them" attitudes.
But critics say Chicago police have, to some extent, brought this crisis upon themselves, by too often violating citizens' constitutional rights, protecting even bad cops from punishment and lying to cover up wrongdoing. Improving how cops interact with the community, including questioning whether their stopping of citizens is justified, is needed to help improve those fractured relationships and possibly reduce crime, critics said.
"If we have even the slightest chance of being effective and solving violent crime, getting cooperation and help and partnership from people in the community, there's got to be trust," said Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago law professor and expert who has long studied police misconduct. "Police accountability and public scrutiny is exactly what good cops need to earn (that) trust … and become the effective officers that they ought to be."
A few cops who talked with the Tribune expressed hope that the heightened attention will force the Police Department to make positive changes.
But most of the officers said the anti-police climate has hurt their enthusiasm for their work. All felt the local and national news media have fanned the flames with an avalanche of negative stories about police.
Some fear being put under a microscope more than ever for actions they take on the street. They worry about getting into trouble even for treating people appropriately.
As a result, unless they're responding to 911 calls, they're less likely to make street stops on their own, even if their gut tells them someone is up to no good, they said.
"The days of the hunch are over," said a sergeant with 20 years' experience who works on the South Side. "You have to have something more than intuition."
Dennis Rosenbaum, a professor of criminal justice and psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago who has done research with the Police Department, said morale for police around the country began to nosedive after the 2014 shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., became a huge national story. A series of other questionable incidents from Baltimore to Cleveland followed, keeping police use of force in the headlines for months.
Chicago's moment in the spotlight came in November with the release of the video showing McDonald shot 16 times as he walked away from police with a knife in his hand. Yet six officers filed police reports saying the teen had moved or turned threateningly toward them.
Compounding the challenges for Chicago cops is the city's continuing struggle with violence, adding to the stress of a job facing already intense pressures, Rosenbaum noted.
"People need to imagine what it's like being in the position of a police officer today," he said. "They're kind of damned if they do and damned if they don't."
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Low point
During a recent traffic stop, the gang officer said, he pulled over a young woman for running stop signs. When he approached her car, she opened her driver's-side window and pointed her cellphone in his direction, close enough for him to see his own face on her screen.
"I'm recording this encounter," he recalled her telling him as he took her driver's license.
A rank-and-file officer who patrols the South Side worries even routine interactions with residents could blow up into controversies that draw unwanted attention.
"I feel like I can't talk to anybody because someone might accuse me of violating their civil rights," she told the Tribune.
The job has always been a thankless one, she said, but now it's worse. Before the McDonald video, cops knew that the department most likely had their backs, unless their actions were truly indefensible. But now every little thing is being challenged, she said.
It has gotten so bad, this officer doesn't want to be a cop anymore, but she can't leave. She's a single mother with a young child, she said.
The Police Department's crackdown on officers to make sure the dashboard cameras on their squad cars are working properly has also made some cops uneasy. The move by interim Superintendent John Escalante came after the squad cars that responded to the McDonald shooting picked up no discernible audio, raising concerns of a police cover-up.
With his police radio crackling in the background, one police supervisor who was contacted by the Tribune while he was on patrol in a squad car declined to talk then out of fear the conversation might be recorded on the audio equipment. While off-duty the next day, he told the reporter of his feelings of despair.
A cop with more than 10 years' experience, he called the past few months a "low point" in his career in spite of his recent promotion to sergeant.
His frustrations started after police took heat over the Ferguson police shooting even though the officer was ultimately cleared of wrongdoing by authorities there. The Justice Department, however, found officers routinely violated the civil rights of its citizens and has demanded change. Overall, the negativity has caused the Chicago sergeant to question his career in law enforcement and whether police brass in Chicago will back up frontline cops.
"I'm looking at retiring at 20 years," he said, noting at what point he'd qualify for a pension. "But before I thought I'd be doing this 30 years."
Caution and concern
Adding to the difficulties, officers say, has been the department's transition this year from using contact cards, which were brief records on every person officers stopped in a shift, to filling out a detailed questionnaire for every street stop that occurs.
Officers say the cumbersome process has not only slowed down their efforts by taking them off the street for longer stretches to handle the paperwork but also led to more caution on their part to lower the chances of getting into trouble.
So far this year, street stops are down drastically. Through January, police had filled out reports on 9,044 investigatory stops, a fraction of the 61,330 contact cards written in January last year, the most recent department data shows.
The department agreed to better document street stops last year after a study by the ACLU of Illinois found that Chicago police made more than a quarter-million stops from May through August 2014, four times more than New York cops did at the height of that city's controversial stop-and-frisk practices. The ACLU called those numbers "shocking."
But perhaps even more disturbing, the study exposed what the ACLU called troubling signs of racial profiling for a police department that flatly denied such a systemic problem. African-Americans were stopped at a disproportionately higher rate than Hispanics and whites, especially in predominantly white neighborhoods, the study found.
The two-page questionnaire takes far longer to fill out than the contact cards, tying up officers with paperwork for longer periods of their shift, officers say. It contains about 70 questions, including detailed background information on those stopped as well as an explanation for their "reasonable articulable suspicion" for the stop and pat-down. One officer said it takes about 20 minutes to fill out, compared with a few minutes for contact cards.
The officers said the forms can be filled out in the squad car on their portable data terminals, but those in-car computers often don't work properly, forcing them to go into the police stations to complete the paperwork. When that happens, officers can be taken off the street for lengthy periods of time while emergency calls over the police radio pile up, they said.
Last week the Police Department announced plans to simplify the forms effective Tuesday. It was unclear how much time that would save officers.
With the ACLU given access to drafts of the investigatory stop reports, officers expressed concern that any corrections they make to final reports might lead to accusations of a cover-up.
But Karen Sheley, an ACLU staff attorney who led the study released last year, said the ACLU isn't concerned about the conduct of individual officers as much as whether the department's overall practices are constitutional. With a federal judge reviewing the results, Sheley said, she hopes it results in fewer stops by police of innocent individuals and more positive officer interaction with the community.
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Fewer street stops
Still, most of the officers who talked to the Tribune said they're making far fewer street stops so far this year because of fear that the slightest incidents during these encounters might draw unfair attention from the media, civil rights attorneys or even criminal prosecutors.
"I talk to a lot less people," said the female rank-and-file officer who patrols the South Side. "I don't know what is correct and what isn't anymore."
Officers said the anti-police climate combined with the unpopular investigatory street stops have resulted in cops pulling back on their duties. Some police supervisors have said that officers who work for them have lost their zeal for the street.
A lieutenant said the drop-off has law-abiding citizens in crime-plagued neighborhoods upset at officers for not rousting troublemakers off known gang or drug corners as they once regularly did.
"Hesitation on their part bolsters the bad guys," he said. "It's OK to have a decent amount of concern, but it shouldn't paralyze you from doing your job."
Some officers cite the so-called "Ferguson effect" — cops slowing down on the job because of all the criticism — for the department's continuing struggle to contain the violence. Through Feb. 21, homicides have doubled to 88, up from 44, while shooting incidents have soared by even more, to 362 from 163.
But criminologists say there's no empirical link between the drop-off in street stops and the rise in violence. The ACLU echoed the same sentiment about the new investigatory street stop policy.
Dean Angelo, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents Chicago's rank-and-file officers, decried public perception that police are out of control.
"Where would everybody be without (the police)?" he asked. "They're still out there in spite of all the rhetoric and finger-pointing."
Angelo also acknowledged the low morale among Chicago's force, but said many people outside of law enforcement who have strong opinions about what officers should be doing know nothing about police work.
"It's like me telling someone how to throw a curveball in the major leagues," he said.
Chicago's cops aren't alone when it comes to feeling like federal oversight has put them under a microscope.
In New Orleans, which has a federal monitor overseeing reforms to its police force, officers have slowed down on the job and response times to emergency calls have worsened, according to Mike Glasser, president of the Police Association of New Orleans, one of the city's police unions.
"Morale is terrible," said Glasser, who is also a police captain. "Every citizen contact is scrutinized."
Officers aren't making stops on their own, he said, "for fear of getting a complaint or discipline."
Los Angeles police officers went through a similar difficult time when the Justice Department oversaw reforms there for more than a decade, according to Lt. Craig Lally, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the LAPD's largest union.
"It was an audit nightmare because they would find stuff out that they would confront us with, which we'd give a rational explanation for it, but sometimes they didn't believe that explanation," said Lally, a 36-year LAPD veteran. "It got to a point where why even arrest anybody?"
Still, in Chicago, some officers feel federal intervention could ultimately help the Police Department.
A South Side patrolman recalled how officers in past years could be moved to an undesirable shift or denied time off if they didn't make enough street stops, citations or arrests. Officers risked making unconstitutional stops just to meet what amounted to a quota, he said.
"It did more harm than good," the rank-and-file officer said. "For the first time, we're not being bullied into doing stuff."
"They won't allow us to beat,shoot & ? n!ggers anymore and get away with it.. This job isn't fun anymore".. Pig Logic... -
stringer bell wrote: »Fewer street stops
Still, most of the officers who talked to the Tribune said they're making far fewer street stops so far this year because of fear that the slightest incidents during these encounters might draw unfair attention from the media, civil rights attorneys or even criminal prosecutors.
"I talk to a lot less people," said the female rank-and-file officer who patrols the South Side. "I don't know what is correct and what isn't anymore."
Officers said the anti-police climate combined with the unpopular investigatory street stops have resulted in cops pulling back on their duties. Some police supervisors have said that officers who work for them have lost their zeal for the street.
A lieutenant said the drop-off has law-abiding citizens in crime-plagued neighborhoods upset at officers for not rousting troublemakers off known gang or drug corners as they once regularly did.
"Hesitation on their part bolsters the bad guys," he said. "It's OK to have a decent amount of concern, but it shouldn't paralyze you from doing your job."
Some officers cite the so-called "Ferguson effect" — cops slowing down on the job because of all the criticism — for the department's continuing struggle to contain the violence. Through Feb. 21, homicides have doubled to 88, up from 44, while shooting incidents have soared by even more, to 362 from 163.
But criminologists say there's no empirical link between the drop-off in street stops and the rise in violence. The ACLU echoed the same sentiment about the new investigatory street stop policy.
Dean Angelo, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents Chicago's rank-and-file officers, decried public perception that police are out of control.
"Where would everybody be without (the police)?" he asked. "They're still out there in spite of all the rhetoric and finger-pointing."
Angelo also acknowledged the low morale among Chicago's force, but said many people outside of law enforcement who have strong opinions about what officers should be doing know nothing about police work.
"It's like me telling someone how to throw a curveball in the major leagues," he said.
Chicago's cops aren't alone when it comes to feeling like federal oversight has put them under a microscope.
In New Orleans, which has a federal monitor overseeing reforms to its police force, officers have slowed down on the job and response times to emergency calls have worsened, according to Mike Glasser, president of the Police Association of New Orleans, one of the city's police unions.
"Morale is terrible," said Glasser, who is also a police captain. "Every citizen contact is scrutinized."
Officers aren't making stops on their own, he said, "for fear of getting a complaint or discipline."
Los Angeles police officers went through a similar difficult time when the Justice Department oversaw reforms there for more than a decade, according to Lt. Craig Lally, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the LAPD's largest union.
"It was an audit nightmare because they would find stuff out that they would confront us with, which we'd give a rational explanation for it, but sometimes they didn't believe that explanation," said Lally, a 36-year LAPD veteran. "It got to a point where why even arrest anybody?"
Still, in Chicago, some officers feel federal intervention could ultimately help the Police Department.
A South Side patrolman recalled how officers in past years could be moved to an undesirable shift or denied time off if they didn't make enough street stops, citations or arrests. Officers risked making unconstitutional stops just to meet what amounted to a quota, he said.
"It did more harm than good," the rank-and-file officer said. "For the first time, we're not being bullied into doing stuff."
"They won't allow to beat,shoot & ? n!ggers anymore and get away with it.. This job it's fun anymore".. Pig Logic...
basically....
? gets me mad...
rather than stop corruption they rather not do their job and cacs support it -
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again...
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Just read this ? an hour ago
They dont want to be scrutinized or be held to account..
How bout just do your ? job.. They should take up another line of work -
So they're upset because they have to do their jobs, which literally can affect the life of the person they're interacting with forever, more carefully? How has nobody told them how stupid that sounds
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They shot a kid 16 times after he hit the ground...
Let's discuss their feelings some more. -
So they're upset because they have to do their jobs, which literally can affect the life of the person they're interacting with forever, more carefully? How has nobody told them how stupid that sounds
it doesnt sound stupid to them...
to them we are animals that need to held accountable.. even if it means being a judge and jury on the spot when not threatened -
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again...
AND expecting different results -
This ? is ? insane.
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Man ? these muthafuckers. I feel no sympathy for them, no ? given about how you feel. If you feel like you can't do it anymore, then get the ? on then. I'm sick and tired of this ? .
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Aww man, their mood has hit a new low?!? Their mood? No, not the mood!!!!
Any advice on how to cheer up a piece of protected, self entitled, self-righteous ? ? -
The job has always been a thankless one, she said, but now it's worse. Before the McDonald video, cops knew that the department most likely had their backs, unless their actions were truly indefensible. But now every little thing is being challenged, she said.
These cacs are truly sutten.
