Category Archive: cops

March 8th, 2009

post by tamalechica | | 7

Weis and the List of Officers Accused of Misconduct

There has been a lot in the media lately about “the list” that Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis recently handed over. It is reported to contain a list of officers who have repeatedly been accused of misconduct. According to the Chicago Tribune, “Weis said he still plans to appear Monday before U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman, who ordered him to explain why for weeks he defied a court order to release the list to attorneys. Weis said he still disagrees with the judge’s decision because releasing the list would harm officer morale and could lead to misconceptions about officer conduct. But, Weis added, he must comply.”

I found this interesting because in the past, when these lists have been demanded, they have always been refused, but then again, in the past, the Police Superintendents have always been Chicago Police Officers, and in being one, even as “management” they would have to uphold and honor any binding agreements not to release these lists. Mr. Weis obviously did not want to go to jail over this yet reporters have often ended up in jail because they refused to give up a source.

On some levels, having a non CPD Officer at the helm allows a certain magnitude of organizational dynamics to occur when one is not constrained to mental paradigms that can occur when there are too many perceptual clogs entrenched in how changes can be employed. Outside perspective is usually a good thing. However, we are also looking at a complex organization that serves the citizens of Chicago and involves men and women who see and witness some of the most unspeakable acts that humans can do to one another on a frequent basis.

Back to the complaint lists. Why is releasing these lists a bad thing? Releasing those lists are a bad thing because the lists as they stand are extraordinarily misleading. The complaint list is just that, a list of people who complained about an officer. This is completely different from a Sustained Complaint, which has more merit.

What is the difference? Imagine you are an Officer and you’ve just written a parking ticket. John Doe comes running over after you’ve already gotten back into your squad car. John Doe is angry that he got caught parking in front of a fire hydrant, so he calls in a complaint. Now you have a complaint against you. It’s a bad day — you see someone trying to drag a woman into an alley and you try to stop the guy. He attacks you so you need to use force to subdue him. Someone else walks by just when you are doing this and calls a complaint in. Now you have two of them. Later that week you arrest a 3 drug dealers and 7 of their customers are enraged that you are making it harder for them to buy drugs. They both call in complaints against you. Now you have ten complaints. Does this seem incredulous? Hardly. That complaint list is just that, a list of complaints against any officer.

There is another type of complaint, the ones most people probably think is what that list should be but it is not. For a complaint to be investigated, the complainant must sign an affidavit that this is true, and this of course means that if you are lying you can be subject to criminal charges. The State of Illinois put this in force a few years ago to cut down on the amount of potentially unfounded complaints (ie: the list that Superintendent Weis gave up). Once the affidavit is signed, then an investigation into the complaint can begin and then it can be determined whether it is with merit or not. For example, if you complain that a short, heavy, male African American officer tried to get you to pay him to let you out of a ticket but then the camera shows that you were the one trying to bribe the officer who is a tall, white female, one can safely figure this is unfounded.

So what does anyone get from the release of that list of “complaints against officers?” They get mostly misinformation. It also makes one wonder why, of all lists, why is the list that can be so misleading the one that is being asked for instead of a different one? It smells of an attempt at sensationalizing how “bad” officers are. The truth of the matter is that Aldermen and anyone else wanting a list that is misleading for whatever purposes should also be held accountable for their poor judgement.

chicago police department, complaints against officers, cops, cpd, jody weis

December 13th, 2008

post by tamalechica | | 2

So you want to date a cop?

When I first met Mr. Novio, a few women I knew asked if he had any friends that he could recommend. This has happened from time to time. Mrs T, whose husband is a Chicago Police Officer, and I, once kidded around that maybe we should just start a dating service fixing up women with police officers. You would think that in a profession that is largely male, this would be a great idea, but not necessarily so. Let’s look at the obvious issues:

Availabilty
This concept is not without it’s obvious potential problems. For one thing, you’d want to only fix up people you knew with people your own guy could vouch for on a personal level. Once I was looking on behalf of a friend of mine, and my guy said that everyone he knew was either:

1) married
2) single but just wanting to have fun
3) you would never want to introduce this group to any of your friends.

His apparent unwillingness to share his ready access to knowing so many single men is also because he wants to keep his private life private. There have been numerous times when we’d bump into someone he worked with during duty time if we met for lunch, and if they were in his district, I must say that those guys had such incredible rubber necks when they tried to check me out that undoubtedly they could look around a corner without moving their bodies. While I am familiar with only select few of his buddies, they are, like Mr. N, more prone to keeping their private lives tucked away and hidden so as to not be used as fodder.

If your guy is more open about his private life, or your life can no longer be kept private, you may find your street is very well patrolled if your guy is in patrol and if you live in his district or in one where his buddies are working. Mrs T told me that when they got engaged, there was a constant stream of patrol cars that frequently rolled down the street in front of where she lived with her parents.

From my martial arts days, when there was a disportionate ratio of men to women in my classes, there was never a problem meeting single men. Since law enforcement also tends to have this type of ratio, one would think that surely, out of this population of men, there are some single officers are looking for a serious relationship with the fairer sex, or so I thought. When I had this discussion with Mrs “T,” who is married to a cop, she summed it up the same way that Mr. Novio did: “Hmmmm,” as she made a funny face.

So as it stands, right now I have too many single women friends and zero potential Police Officer guys to match them up with. It looks like my matchmaking abilities won’t be useful to you all, at least not for now. If you’re still set on meeting Mr. Right and he HAS to be a police officer, I suppose you could meet them the good old fashioned way: 1) become a victim of crime, 2) be a perpetrator of crime, or 3) try the stalky thing. Personally I don’t recommend any of these, especially since #2 and #3 will really get you some unwanted type of attention and #1 is just not safe.

Why do you NEED to date a cop?
One must also assess why they specifically want to date a cop. Blogger Goddess from Hott Cops and I had this off blog discussion about women who have a ‘thing’ for guys in uniform. The type of women who love guys in uniform probably also account for some of the women who flirt and give their phone numbers to bus drivers that I’ve seen during my many bus rides.

The uniform issue may also account for the hots that many women have for their UPS drivers. I have to admit that a good proportion of my UPS drivers have been muy guapo, but that is probably due more to their friendly nature and the apparent physical fitness and not their uniforms. I would think that it would be tough to be a flabby UPS driver for more than a few months due to the constant lifting and stair climbing.

While none of my friends fit this mode, I have heard of women who want to date cops because they have no identity of their own and thus, they derive a sense of who they are or their self importance vicariously through someone else. My advice to any one who meets this type? Run for the hills!!

For me, I wasn’t even looking to meet anyone during the time I met Mr. Novio by happenstance. I wasn’t all that enamored with him when we first met but by the time we finished lunch, we both knew there was that magic between us and I don’t mean a level 3 vest.

The Downside
And for those of you who are figuring that cops have a high divorce rate and you’re determined to catch one post divorce or two, there are also many downsides to dating a cop, especially one with an ex, or in some cases more than one ex. Anyone who has an ex and a family brings to the relationship many complicated connections and obligations. If your guy has more than one ex, life will be interesting and often, depending on just how important salvaging his family relationships are, you may just not be the primary person in his life.

Of course if your guy wants nothing to do with his kids from either family, then you’ll be numero uno, but you then might ask yourself if your special someone can dispose of their children, is that necessarily a good thing? Only circumstances can shed more light on that one, and you’ll have to be in the middle of it to understand it. While multiple family dysfunctional relationships is not specific to divorced law enforcement guys, it can be a part of anyone in this situation. Related to this is the part time job scene. Mr. N works two, sometimes three part time jobs and has, in his own words, become a “work whore” in order to maintain his high standard of living.

Another issue
They never seem to be off duty, even when they are not working. I think it’s for this reason that we just end up burrowed away at my place when Mr. N is over. In that way, he can be completely relaxed. To prove it, he’s fallen asleep here a few times. Oh wait, that could also be exhaustion from working too many part time jobs. Surely it’s not my perky company!

Their stuff
There is also the problem of when they leave things, or think they have, at your place. Once my guy stopped over to visit in between his regular job and one of his part time jobs. To save time, he brought his gear bag that included a change of clothes for job #2. We lost track of the time and when he realized he was running late, he rushed down to his car. Imagine my surprise when he came back upstairs, and we had to look for something he had to have for job #2. I was sure that I never saw them when he dumped his gear out on the couch, but we looked anyway.

Not finding it, he said he’d deal with it later and took off. I was just about to call my downstairs neighbors to ask if they found them, when fortunately I called Mr. N first. It turned out they fell out of his bag and he found them in his car. It was good that I could avoid that awkward situation of asking my downstairs neighbors if they’ve found a pair of handcuffs.

chicago police, cops, Dating, single men, single women

November 17th, 2008

post by tamalechica | | 1

Who called da Pol-eece???

Saturday morning Mr. N drove up to pick up during his lunch break to get his goodie bag of snacks. He had the company car, which looked like the one in this video except that it was obviously a LOT bigger (size does matter!). Usually when we get together, he is out of uniform, and we stay indoors like hermits, so I forgot about the looks you get when you are talking with a cop in uniform.

When he pulled up he commented to me, ‘great, you’ve got a nosy neighbor across the street.’ Well, yes, and this neighbor has a family member who is known to everyone on the street as the gossip hound and ‘radio,’ who will broadcast all news, real or not, to everyone who wants to hear it. However, the other family member pretty much minds his own business so I wasn’t all that interested.

One of the things I love about my street is that most of us all know each other or at least recognize who lives sort of where. And yes, even the nosy one across the street is a good and dependable neighbor, someone you can call when you need help. Usually it isn’t until the annual block party that I actually get to talk to a lot of my neighbors all at once, because we’re all busy folks. So Saturday morning I found it really humorous when the couple who live in the unit below mine came out to walk their dog, saw the squad SUV, and stared. My sense is that they, like most people, think that if you are talking to a cop then either 1) you were a victim of a crime or 2) you are in trouble, unless you are privy to the concept of “badge bunnies,” (thank you, One Time!!)

They stood there, transfixed, for awhile, until I burst out laughing from a story Mr. N shared with me about his current detail. He had many funny parts to this story, so I was laughing pretty hard. I think once my neighbors realized there was no problem and I didn’t need their help, they continued their walk.

Some weirdo then drove by and gawked at me oddly. That creeped me out and because Mr. N was facing me and not out, he didn’t see it. I did comment about it, he looked and I figured el creepo wouldn’t be back. Still chatting away, yet a third neighbor appeared with his little girl, and called out to me. At that point I think I was doubled over from the funny stories Mr. N was telling me.

Having a cop in uniform for a friend can be really interesting. I remember going to one of the restaurants in my neighborhood. One weekend we went there for an early breakfast, and the waiter was very attentive to me. The next time we went in, he had just come back from work, had changed clothes when he got to my place and we went out to eat. He had his gun tucked in the back of his pants. We had the same waiter who now found me invisible and paid lavish attention to Mr. N. I guess he likes his men with a piece.

Once we were in Starbucks while he was on break, and Mr. N was being his normal adorable self but extremely annoying, and I threw a wadded paper napkin at him. GASP was the reaction at the next table. I guess they thought I was guilty of Police Brutality, but not the kind that hits the paper. Actually their reponse was to stare at my friend for a reaction. I guess they thought he’d Tazer me in between our obviously friendly conversation.

Other times it’s the weird reaction that I get for being with a cop. Once while I was waiting for him, this guy at Starbucks asked if I would switch seats with him because he needed to plug in his laptop. I usually choose a seat with good vantage since that’s where he needs to sit. The switched seat was still okay so I agreed. This guy was very chatty until Mr. N showed up. Then I got “the look.” It’s the same “look” I’ve gotten from people who I’ll be chatting with and they’re acting friendly until they realize I’m with “one of them.” Another time one of the guys I saw normally at a different Starbucks leaned over to me and said, “He’s got to be one of the ‘okay ones’ if you’re friends with him.” Okeedokey!

chicago police, cops, cops as friends, curiosity, police

October 6th, 2008

post by tamalechica | | 1

Badge Bunnies

These cupcake bunnies are from Nati’s Cooking Adventures.

Badge Bunnies? They aren’t human sized rabbits that wear badges, but apparently they do exist.

Pepper Spray Me wrote a post called “The Myth of the Badge Bunny,” which made me wonder about the whole idea that women will flock to a man with a badge, and throw themselves (well, hopefully not literally) at them because they wear a uniform. I did a little looking (on the Internet, not personally with cops) and there are some interesting web pages out there.

Officer.com posts some advice for its men in blue: “They’ll meet them at the aforementioned bars, sporting events and even churches, and that basic compulsion to procreate (or at least to do something that looks a lot like it) will take over. Cops are people, and people are always going to find a place to hook up.”

The RealPolice.net forums has a hearty discussion here, which includes this answer to the question, “What is a badge bunny?”

I guy I know once told me he has the worst luck with women because he meets them out of uniform, and when they find out what he does for a living he said they usually have issues with it. Well, I guess that’s one reason to go for a badge bunny, or to meet someone when you are in uniform.

One of the funniest is on the Police Daily, where they write, “Anyone considering joining the force need not look further than this page. To compensate for the low starting salary the NYPD offers instant celebrity status and the chance to meet some of the hottest chicks in town.”

So is it all about the badge?

I met Mr. Novio when he was working, and after we had lunch one day, we discovered that we really hit it off and had a lot of things in common. Later we found out we had a friend in common, someone I’ve known since we were in high school! I’ve had cop friends before but more as friends and less in terms of really “clicking.” Oddly, I actually prefer it when we’re together and he’s not in uniform as we get less odd looks and stares when we are in public, and those would just be from the curious. The haters, ugh, you know who they are from the glares.

I have had women who didn’t know me very well if I was attracted to the badge. Uh, no, not really. In fact, when I first met him I just thought he was a nice guy that was interesting but that was it. I was actually kind of interested in someone else at the time, which ended up being a flop in terms of us having much of a connection.

One of my friends, and you know who you are but I won’t say your name, had me doubled over in laughter once. I had commented that my friend has a really big gun. I was specifically talking about his firearm; he’s an older cop and the older ones often have pieces that were grandfathered in versus the current 9mm’s that CPD officers usually carry. My friend’s mind went straight to the gutter. Okay, I’ve heard the rumors about big feet, but a big firearm?

badge bunnies, cops

July 4th, 2008

post by tamalechica | | Closed

Officer Down Mourning Band

My friend, “mi novio” (not to be confused with Mr. Big from SATC), and I had lunch today. How serendipitous, because when I got up this morning, I was thinking of him and thought, ‘wouldn’t it be interesting if he came up here for lunch!” Well, there I was, walking to the Post Office when I saw a squad pull up in my peripheral vision. When I heard a loud “pop” after the car ran over a bottle, I turned around. When I looked at the car number it wasn’t his, so I kept on walking. I don’t do well when I’m really tired, and the night before I only slept for 4, preceded by several days of only getting 5-6 hours of sleep, so I was in quite a fog and wasn’t at my best!!

I was getting ready to text him (“Hey, there’s a guy from your district in my neighborhood”) when I got a text from him. I responded that I was running errands, where are you?? I receive the response, “Outside the PO watching you.” Normally I would have bagged the post office wait but I had to send via Certified Mail an Amended ILX for a deceased family member for whom I am the executor, so I had to stay. And of course, there were a LOT of people in front of me.

Having a distraction of texting does, however, make the time go by faster. Having a cop parked outside also provided interesting entertainment, as everyone ran out to put money in the meters so they’d be parked legally. I also heard a couple people verbalize their assumptions as to why a police car was parked there. I certainly wasn’t going to pipe up that this was my lunch date!

FINALLY I get through the line, get outside and we went to lunch. He pointed out this black band across his badge. Since I’ve known him, about 1.5 years, this was the first time there was a “Line of Duty” death so I had never seen one of these. They look like the one in this photo taken from the Officer Down Memorial Page.
I didn’t have my camera on me so I couldn’t take a picture of his badge, which is just as well since I’m not about to put his name and badge number up on the Internet. One of the really nice things that I’ve noticed is that in most working class neighborhoods, it is common for people to treat cops and servicemen to lunch. Sadly I have yet to witness this when we’ve been together. In fact, when we went to lunch the waiter gave me the bill (which mi novio picked up), since I make our fabulous dinners all the time, and Roseann knows just how expensive these dinners have been!

chicago police department, cops, cpd, mourning band, officer down

Category Archive: cops

Weis and the List of Officers Accused of Misconduct

So you want to date a cop?

Who called da Pol-eece???

Badge Bunnies

Officer Down Mourning Band

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