Special Service Award Denied

The criteria for different awards can be located in Department Special Order S 01-01-01. The so-called "Special Services Award" is earned in the following manner:

• - is granted to any Department sworn or civilian member whose service contributed to any event that has a significant impact upon the historical direction and operations of the Department.

That's it. Pretty straightforward. So what's the problem with this submission?

• Captain Lemmer was assigned to the 11th district in the early part of 2014. Through his domineering personality he was able to drive out all the Lieutenants assigned to the district and the institutional knowledge they possessed. He was also able to replace approximately a third of the remaining supervisory staff and their knowledge. This institutional knowledge, in some cases had been developed over cumulative decades of being assigned to the district. These efforts were not limited to the supervisory ranks his effort additionally purged the experienced patrolman ranks.
  
  The Captain was then able to bring in all new personnel who were not only brand new to their ranks and the billets they held, but also had not been soiled by assignment to the 11th district in previous billets. This fresh supervisory staff, coupled with implementation of the tactics from previously failed programs, the Captain's pugnacious sense of entitlement, and firm belief in his own infallibility allowed the Captain to obtain the greatest single year increase in homicides this century. The homicide numbers had such an increase that the year end totals were the second highest year over year increase since the founding of the Harrison District, and also the second highest increase since the Chicago Police Department began keeping records by district.
  
  This apex certainly qualifies for the criteria of special service award as the wording for this award is: "a member whose service contributed to any event that has a significant impact upon the historical direction and operations of the Department." The significant increase he was able to obtain completely changed the historical downward trend of homicides the 11th district has been experiencing for several years, and the amount of manpower poured into this district during the performance of this increase did also directly and significantly impact the operations of the Chicago Police Department. Meeting both criteria for the Special Service Award, Capt Lemmer is hereby nominated for this honor.

The comments have been alive with bitching from 011 for the past few months, mostly since the assignment of the psycho ex-commander who (allegedly) stuck a gun in someone's mouth and a Taser in another guy's nutsack. Most people wrote it off as an exaggeration of sorts, until you look at the 2014 transfer orders and see four lieutenants, nearly ten sergeants and upwards of 40 veteran officers leaving, then you have to wonder if there isn't a grain of truth in it all. 011 certainly had more than their share of shootings and killing in 2014, winning the homicide race decisively for the first time in years.

In any event, a negative impact is still a "significant impact upon the historical direction and operations of the Department" isn't it? Word from the street is the nominating individual has already taken a three-day-suspension in regard (retaliation) for his efforts. It seems a sense of humor is definitely lacking in the upper echelons. A tip of the hat for the "silliness" and a shake of the head for the three days.