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Chicago FOP Open Letter to Superintendent: Resign

At these same Town Hall meetings you stated that Merit Promotions would be drastically changed. Officers would no longer need the recommendation of a member of Exempt Rank to be considered. The old boy system was out the door. Each member would submit a resume directly to you and be judged on his or her individual merits. Shortly after your last Town Hall meeting a new order was released outlining the procedures to apply for meritorious promotions. Members still needed the recommendation of a member of Exempt Rank. This order, which kept the status quo, was signed by you.

The FOP is in constant discussions with the Department regarding implementation of many policies and programs in an attempt to work with the Department. The Office of the Superintendent and those bureaus under your command constantly release orders while in the midst of discussions with FOP. The two most recent were orders regarding criteria for a Police Tech Test and the Summer Anti-Violence Initiative.

While I was reading the Police Tech Test draft order proposal that the Department had submitted to our office, the actual order was released. While I was addressing a midnight roll call in the 020th District, the Watch Commander read the order issued by the Department regarding the Summer Anti-Violence Initiative even though the FOP was still in discussion with the Department about the order. How could this possibly be misconstrued as a failure of the FOP to work with the Department?

To suggest that “Perhaps the union leadership is out of touch with their membership, as demonstrated by the lack of representation among minorities or women within their top ranks.” is one of the most ridiculous statements that I have seen attributed to you. The Board of Directors that represents the members of the FOP could not be more representative of the membership as each person serving on the Board is elected by the membership that he or she serves. It is truly a sad state of affairs when the appointed leader of the Chicago Police Department attempts to somehow turn this into a racial or gender issue in order to try to divert attention from the facts.

Superintendent Weis, in my humble opinion, you have either been intentionally untruthful in your comments to me and the FOP membership or you have naively made promises that you could not live up to. Either way, this is not leadership in any way, shape, or form that our membership deserves or expects. Please take a cue from our Mayor. Resign.

Richard L. Aguilar
Financial Secretary
Fraternal Order of Police Chicago Lodge #7