Whispers and Rumors
So, since the Sox won it in four games and the players insisted on having the parade as soon as possible so they can all jet off to their winter homes and play some golf, will the city reschedule the canceled Sergeant's class? Don't bet money on it. We hear the hold up WASN'T the Sox at all. Word around 35th Street is that some political heavyweights were unhappy that certain people weren't on the list and they decided to hold up the whole thing while downtown re-did the "merit" list.
Now we realize that these stories pop up every single time there's a hold put on a list, but it's amusing all the same. Besides, it makes for good rumors. Any guesses on "Whom is Making Who" for this list?
Now we realize that these stories pop up every single time there's a hold put on a list, but it's amusing all the same. Besides, it makes for good rumors. Any guesses on "Whom is Making Who" for this list?
posted by SCC at 10:36 PM
48 Comments:
SCC
With all due respect to the police officers who are truly worthy of promotion, would you PLEASE use quotations marks whenever you refer to the City of Chicago's definition of "MERIT".
To do otherwise is an INSULT to EXCELLENCE.
We already use small letters to demean it. Now we have to remember to use quotes? Sigh.
SCC:
Read your own introduction to this thread. Aside from the beginning of sentences and the word "wasn't", you use lower case letters.
Do NOT perpetuate the City's abomination. "Merit", my ass!
Again, please use quotation marks whenever you use "merit" (or "meritorious"). Sigh.
Thank you.
No surprise about that....maybe it would be more appropriate to refer to the merit, or non-list/test component of any promotional list as the "clout" or the "political" component... Why allow the City to twist the word "merit" into something it's not? Where are those who really know, to expose the truth and the facts?
Word from an officer in Personnel is that the list was indeed delayed because of Cline's preoccupation with the Sox celebration, that the "merit" list was "still be worked on." The list was scheduled to be released this Friday, but the class is now expected to start either the 7th, or as late as the 14th of November.
"merit" ????. meaning clout, connected, recommented, etc....at the very least the city could do is change the name.....
I was wondering if the Chicago White Sox organization is willing to pay back all the tax dollars spent on US Cellular field now that they won the world series and are going to be making money hand over foot selling merchandise and other misc items.
SCC:
Thank you. The very first step in fighting political corruption in the "promotional process" in the City of Chicago is to acknowledge the enormity of the problem. You have now done this by using quotation marks with "merit".
I, for one, KNOW that the most appropriate adjective would be "the CLOUT (patronage) list."
While deeply-entrenched nepotism and cronyism runs rampant in the policies and practices of the CPD, there are SOME exceptions.
Just because Lt. John Farrell's father was a CPD lieutenant and retired Sgt. John Northern's father was a CPD captain in no way diminishes the worthiness of these men.
When reisdorf sold the parks naming rights I was waiting for my 34 cent check in the mail. He made 300 mill. off the sale and we built the park.
TO: 8:13:38 AM
While I am complimented by your comment and proud of my career, I am now (happily) RETIRED. I am NOT in the league of John Farrell.
My late father did indeed retire as a captain. I NEVER sought out CLOUT. I was foolish enough to believe that outstanding police work was enough for advancement. Trust me, it's NOT!
Notwithstanding, I thank you for your kind words.
8:13 You make a valid point, but and a big but it is, neither does the fact that Cline has a son on the job. I don't know him, but I would give him the benefit of the doubt, and base my opinion on his actions. The same goes for young Wiberg, I supervised him and found him to be very competetent. Yet if all you read and believed were the posts on this blog you would think the opposite. Copnversely, I'm not a fan of Northern, but I would never interject his father into the equation. My point, be your own person and make your own decisions.
Young Cline, and young Wiberg are quite competent. But so are thousands of others who will never get ahead because they have no clout. That's the rub.
We can stomach/deal with a competent individual, it's when the person lacks the ability to perform and is still slotted for a promotion that adds insult to injury. When it comes to the dept. that is the norm .
and a few other young so and so's arent competent Neither are the corresponding older ones of the same bloodline
And they are promoted too thus exacerbating the "rub"
12:08, Are you so disgruntled, that you think 100% of all people making rank off a test are merit or clout. If you honestly believe that then you should leave, for your own sake. I'm not trying to bait you, but if there is no hope then the smart thing is to leave. I do know many officers that have made rank via testing and they knew no one. Some made their own clout by the people they worked for and the attitude they displayed. Cronyism , family ties, patronage do exist on this job, but don't paint all with the same brush.
From 12:08; The majority get promotions legitimately and worked hard to get there. The "merits" that I know are all idiots. As for clout was young Cline such a great P.O. that he deserved a spot on the A4 Agg Batt Team as a brand new Detective? How about the young Ms. Burne on the Terrorism Task-Force? That's the rub Boss.
to 0341
The Testing procedure at best leaves a greeat deal to be desired,In fact there are rumors out that some are given the answers beforehand and that race and gender enter into promotions But thats for another time and place
There are many people who pass the "test" and get promoted.
We habve to live with that
The problem sir is when people are handed promotions because of who they know
For example The last ( I think it was the last LT exam, EVERYBODY passed the first portion
The person with the lowest score missed better than 4 out of 5
Obviously at least hopefuly it wasnt the test writers gola to have everyone pass. BUT the lowest score person had clout amd was in line to make it so that person had to have a passing score and thus everyone passed
That is the part we have trouble digesting
You are correct that if we allow this corrupt bullshit systen to eat at us it will destroy us so we may indeed be better off quitting.
Youre lucky that you got promoted and are able to use the rose colored glasss that come along with your new star and tassled baton
Us blue shirts still are forced to see things as they are.
5:41 & 5:48, All that you have said is true, I believe that any profession you choose will have it's faults. If I sound as though everything is right with the promotions process I apologise. I know there are wrongs that need righted, but you should not give up hope, if you miss a test, chalk it up to experience, (easier said than done) but don't give up. The Department will give up on you, but you shouldn't.
No sgts today?
Why is it that everyone bashes the "merit" promotees, when there are obviously MANY Sergeants and Detectives (and higher) who actually got made because of their test scores, but still don't know a damn thing about police work? A good test taker does not always make a good boss. I'm not trying to discredit ANYONE, but my point is simple : some people deserve the job, some don't. Until they come up with a better system, we'll NEVER get the best people for the job in the correct position. And before it starts... no, I am not a merit promotee...just a peon P.O. like most of us.
7:32
sounds like your juice daddy didn't come through again. He'll get ya next time. In the mean time just suck on this . . .
Why does everyone bash the "merit" Sgts and Dets. BECAUSE THE MERIT SYSTEM IS 100% CORRUPT, AND THOSE MERIT PROMOTIONS ARE PROMOTIONS THAT WILL NEVER GO TO SOMEONE WHO STUDIED HARD FOR THEIR SCORE. Get it? Those who are legit get screwed by political hacks.
I made Detective off the list, in the top 300. I made Sergeant off the list with a test "rank" of 192.
I've never had any family on the job and have zero political connections. Can someone explain how I am where I'm at if no one gets a break without "clout"?
True, I'm stuck in patrol, probably for ever unless one of my friends gets some gold, but I did get promoted twice on my own. Maybe it was luck, I don't know, but it sure wasn't a phone call.
Too bad my chances of going back to the D-unit are slim to none, but I'm not complaining. As much as there is to hate about this job, try working in Corporate America for awhile and see which is more fun!
9:55 again
amen. want a merit promotion ? Forget working the street. Try neighborhood relations. I'll lay ya money your chances are better. Try the commanders staff, better yet. "Merit' is a fucking joke. Very few merits deserve it. And all those that say get another job, fuck you too. Why should I ? It's a great job. I'm the POLICE !!! I lock up the bad guy. I'm the sheepdog, in a field of sheep. Don't get that ? Then, my little sheep, you need to go back to the flock and leave the dog work to the K-9's.
Did they start giving testosterone injections at roll call or something? Reading through some of these threads and the tough guy bullshit is quite amusing!
The reason we bash the merit system is because it lessens the opputunity for qualified promotions
True that good test takers arent always good supervisors and vice versa
The same could be said for surgeons and airline pilots.
But we have no other criteria to use except tests.
The tests are based in part on the command of the English langauge
Id say being able to read and write is important these days? I say yes. First of all learning the law and orders require reading comprehension skills. Secondly writing reports and approving them does too. So does court testimony
Could we be coppers in China?
No but not because were stupid but because we dont have command of the langauge
By the way there has always been a "merit"system It was called CLOUT in the old days
Even Ray Charles could see this
TO: 3:41, 5:41, 6:52, 10:02, 10:08 and others.
If you check an earlier thread, it has been estimated from documented extrapolation that ONLY a quarter to a third of the promotees from a earlier lieutenants' promotional "process" were legit. The overwhelming MAJORITY of the ("merit")promotees
were BOGUS.
there actually was a class on how to take promotion exams with as little effort as possible. the tests are bogus in that they can be beat. if you know how the test is graded. you would know how to beat it like a video game. i hear all this crying over the "merit" system, well you will always have that in our world whether you call it "clout" or "merit". so deal with it. use your head and figure out how to beat the system as it is. i scored in the top 10% on all promotion exams i took. i studied for a total of 1 hour for both exams. i spent a week on developing "cheat codes"/buzz words, writing styles etc. to score well. so instead of complaining about all them "merit" people, put the effort into improving yourself so that you can beat the system. "any game can be beat", the tests are games also.
Assume that I am an outstanding police officer. What do I do if I have an aversion to sucking cock?
10:11:24 AM said "...use your head..."
We know the merit promotees are bogus--it's not meritorious, it's clout-a-torious. There are few that slip in and are truly meritorious (i.e., shot in the line of duty, made themselves valuable through diligence at work) but by and large, meritorious equals political appointment. I don't like it, but I don't know what I can personally do to get rid of it, so I'm resigned to it. It's the other 25 percent that get the answers that burn my ass, because they pretend to be legit, when in fact, they're nothing but cheaters.
That said, I think the only way to reduce the chicanery that occurs in every level of city government is to reduce the size of the city government itself. If you look across the country, the only city council as big as Chicago's is New York's. And they have five boroughs and three times as many people. All of the rest of the cities have a council with seven to 15 members (St. Louis is an exception--30+ council persons). Los Angeles has nine. There is just too much mediocrity in a City Council as big as ours. Too many people beholden to Daley because he appointed them. A ten to fifteen member council would be much more effective, both in cost and importance.Each council member would be speaking for a larger bloc of people in the city. That would make each of them more powerful and autonomous of the mayor.
The mayor should not be able to name replacement council members. Special elections should be held to replace them. This has a great deal to do with why our current council is for the most part a rubber stamp. Daley has appointed a great deal of them prior to subsequent elections. It is hard to vote out an incumbent after they have become entrenched.
There should be an independent, ELECTED Police Board. They would run the department. Would there be political shenanigans then. Of course there would. But if things got too bad you could vote a board member out.
As long as Daley has his fat little hands on the council and the police board and the department, things will not change. But like I've heard others say, "the voters get the department they deserve." As long as this city's voters are OK with "da mare," we can unfortunately expect more of the same. The system has to be reformed before we can expect positive change.
"It's the other 25 percent that get the answers..." - 2:01 pm
Aside from above, your comments have "merit". Try 67-75 percent of promotions are BOGUS.
Try 67-75 percent of promotions are BOGUS.
10/29/2005 02:25:57 PM
That's just not true. It's always someone eles's fault when YOU don't get promoted, right? So you guys are saying that 67-75% of the people on this Department that have been promoted were given the answers, or otherwise cheated and NO ONE HAS ANY CONCRETE EVIDENCE OF THIS!?!?!?!?!?!? You are delusional!
I'm so glad you asked, 6:06:19 PM.
I have documented evidence of this FACT. Based on extrapolation and documentation, only one quarter to one third of those promoted to lieutenant pursuant to EXAMSCAM can actually claim they earned the silver bar. If you want documentation, I have cardboard boxes and videotape full of it for you to peruse.
You will also learn that:
(1) CLOUT is equal opportunity. MOST of the DESERVING white, black, Hispanic and Asian-American men and women were displaced by BOGUS promotees.
(2) The City of Chicago will use "diversity" or "affirmative action" as a PRETEXT to promote their favorites. After all components were administered, the City claimed that it would be necessary to weight the so-called "oral boards" at EIGHTY PERCENT to accomodate "race norming". We have incontrovertible documentation that a 34% weight would have elicted the sought after numbers, albeit the "Oral Boards" were an absolute FRAUD.
(3) The following persons played a critical role in the ensuing COVER-UP of EXAMSCAM:
then Supt. LeRoy Martin and his goons, the late Mayor Harold Washington, Acting Mayor Eugene Sawyer, Mayor Richard M. Daley, former Corp. Counsel Susan S. Sher, former Ch. 5 "investigative reporter" Peter Carl, the late James Gallagher, then an editor at the Chicago Tribune, former U.S. Atty. Anton Valukas, to name some.
(4) Aside from more than a dozen of the promotees (I refuse to divulge their names)
personally admitting to me that the "oral board" was rigged, we have an FBI 302 in which another promotee admits that he made cash "campaign contributions" to a South Side alderman to secure his promotion, quid pro quo. The bogus lieutenant's
statement was taken under penalty of perjury by an FBI agent.
(4) A statistical analysis by psychometricians disclosed that the odds were in excess of 13,800,000,000 to one that the "oral board ("merit?") was RIGGED. 13.8 TRILLION to 1.
(5) I am very proud of the fact that with the assistance of other victimized sergeants, over 607 of the 652 victims kicked in at least $100 to take the City to Court.
A breakdown of participation by race and gender follows:
Asian-Americans (100.0%), Hispanics (96.0%) blacks (93.1%), whites (92.7%), women (94.1%) and men (93.1%).
(6) I can further assure you that the media and the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals are aware of EXAMSCAM.
(7) Prior to EXAMSCAM, the Atlanta PD had the most infamous promotional scandal among major depts. in U.S. history. It occurred under Mayor Maynard Jackson, a close friend of the late Mayor Harold Washington. Atlanta got caught but Chicago managed to sweep it under the rug with Daley's hand-picked "blue-ribbon panel". Promising an investigation, Daley's panel of kangaroos came back two years later after the heat died down and merely stated that there was "no evidence of wrongdoing".
If "Anonymous" at 6:06:19 PM or anyone else would like to pursue this further, do contact me at:
cpdfop7@yahoo.com
Your identitities will be kept strictly CONFIDENTIAL.
Now what's this about "delusional"?
Northside, you are talking ancient history...my comments were aimed at those who were promoted in the last 10 years specifically. There aren't even Oral Boards given anymore. I have no doubt that under the Oral "testing", that there was a lot of BS going on, but I'm living proof that you can get promoted without clout.
Obvioulsy you aren't making anything above Lieutenant without clout, but to say that the thousands of people promoted to various positions in the last 10 years were all in on some huge conspiracy is wrong, and yes, delusional. I've heard so many coppers say that aren't going to take any tests because they don;t have a chance since they don;t know anyone...that's just plain sad! And you are only helping to perpetuate that feeling of hopelessness among so many of the patrolman today.
Congrats on getting promoted legitimately Lou. There are others like you and they're to be commended as well. But you are quite naive if you think no one is getting the answers. Until the testing process is completely transparent (grading on site, open postings of promotional lists, etc.)there'll be shenanigans taking place. Why won't the city give the Sgt's Association a copy of the Lt's promotional list? Answer that simple question. Why are there study groups that you cannot attend unless you're invited? We're fortunate there's still legit people to keep the department from imploding, but the system you exist in is corrupt and in need of reform. A person who tests so well should be able to recognize that.
And I'll add that those officers who choose not to participate in the promotional process are conceding the battle to the powers that be and they're only cheating themselves. Don't ever give in to corrupt politicians or the hacks that serve them. It's called having character. I don't agree with all of Northside's posts, but I wish there were more of us willing to fight the good fight against political hiring.
is everybody from 025 a tool? or is everyone in 025 naive enough to think that they are the best police in the city?
i know a young female officer who has roughly 7 months on the job. rumor is at the end of her cycles she'll be livin large workin vice because of who her momma is. must be nice.....
the simple question is why any PROMOTIONAL EXAM RESULTS
cannot be PUBLICLY POSTED
you would think the union would be on this issue but NOOOOOOOO
lets play footsie with the city..
I have a question. If these thousands of pages of orders, rules, directives and ILCS are straightforward laws and orders, than why does ANY member have to be involved in writing the test?
Why can't a lawyer in Honolulu go through these supposedly legitimate papers and pick and choose questions for tests?
If all these guys on here saying the tests are legit are right, they'll be able to pass a test of questions, even if a monkey picks the questions out of a hat and no member of Chicago government sees the questions before the test is administered, and no member of Chicago government is involved in scoring the tests.
This is obviously delusional. The orders are contradictory, and there are two or more potentially right answers to 95% of the questions that can be asked. The orders are mostly there to hang you when the department is looking for someone to hang.
Somehow, people in some study groups manage to come up with the answers the department is looking for at the moment.
The whole system is a scam.
an objective test is very very easy to administer if your goal is to hire the best score as follows
every test taker gets a book containing all the answers to say 500 questions.
it is an open book test
those with the most correct answers in 2 hours are ranked accordingly
the principle is not who can memorize the most correct answers but who knows how to find the correct answers.
extremely easy if the goal is to promote a person with some basic intelligence.
4:17 am
Your "AMNESIA SCREEN" suggestion is preposterous.
Sleep it off.
EXCELLENCE is now meaningless. Unsatisfied with MEDIOCRITY, the "open book" 4 AM poster wants to lower the bar to the ground.
In the early 1970's, the "affirmative action" advocates said it was just a temporary solution. Now it's a BIRTHRIGHT.
The morale of the dept. is so screwed up. Nobody gives a fuck. Brass are subjects of riducule. Among the biggest victims are the minorities who can excel without any favoritism, preference and patronage.
Talk about a "brain drain". Any sharp copper wants out. It's the only job where all the best workers yearn for age 50.
What goes around, comes around.
Less than 2 years left and counting.
to 12:13: I agree totally; the question/issue concerns the recognition of excellence. Many criticize testing; some who do not "test well" would make excellent supervisors. So, how does any organization promote the best and the brightest? First, politics (i.e., racial, gender, friendship, local political, etc.) HAS to be eliminated. Second, a significant effort to develop, implement, and administer a fair (i.e., job related) and TOUGH promotional examination. Third, the exam scored without regard to the outcome (and results posted immediately), i.e., how many of what group scored well; this eliminates the political god of diversity, i.e., we have to have so many of this, that...the complete elimination of affirmative action, (which may go away anyway in the coming years). Fourth, the question of how to promote those who are qualified, who do not test well, and have no clout? That's the problem...who is making the decision as to who is qualified? (I mean, look at the exempts, would you trust them to decide who is worthy of promotion, given their politics, and maybe they never deserved to be there in the first place).. given the faults of any organization, maybe the best compromise is to: 1) test tough and fair, publish the results immediately; 2) eliminate all affirmative action (even if the City has to go to court to support that); 3)reduce the "merit" percentage to about 10%, and have that examined by the feds....; no system is perfect, everyone will have complaints; there are some who will say, who cares about tests, just promote some of everybody.....well, if that's the CPD that this City wants (hello, politicians?), then that's what you'll get....and about 35% (give or take) of the CPD will do the work, the rest will coast, the young non-city employed middle class families will head out (the right thing); the young professionals will stay in the city (until they marry/have kids, then they're out of here); younger/poorer minority citizens will live here, raising families, their kids attending schools in the city....it's an interesting pattern.....
yes yes yes but
because groups with an agenda have found an easy way to attack the system by simply stating the
the written exam was tainted because construction of the questions as being race slanted etc.
test the ability to find the answers to facts already stated in the text.
how quickly one can determine/find the correct answer is the process to rank test takers
the answers are there to find for those who know how to think.
granted the written test is but one part but it is the only part that is attacked by those who want an excuse for poor performance.
They gave a Sgt. & Lt. exam around '94. Completely conducted by outside people with no connection to city politics. Daley spent 5 million to come up with this process. The lists came out and, lo and behold, the numbers were not politically correct. A group of Lt.s was put in class and Daley said, "Hey, it was a fair test. Those that didn't pass need to study harder." He even mentioned that he had to take the bar three times. It was great...and lasted about a day. He immediately did an about face and cried about how unfair the results were and disregarded the 5 milion dollar process that had zero outside influence and the next day Rodriguez put 13 "merit" Lts. into the class. And, thus was born the merit system that persists to this day. (check out for yourselves who the merits were. you'll see that clout ruled from the start).
The only qualifictions for being promoted i n the Chicago Police Department is, be brain dead and connected or got lots of money to pay Ald Eddie Burke who pass's it on to Daley.
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