What About Accountability?

As some commentators have pointed out, this is a single scandal - one team out of Area Central with a number of coppers previously connected to 010. They were often, but not exclusively, working in the Ogden District. There are also a bunch of comments about how some of this is "failure to inventory" contraband....you know, like the Commander of 025 did with those pistol(s) IAD found in his locker. And the usual political actors are all over the news saying how this justifies further civilian oversight of the Department. COPA isn't enough.

Here's a bright idea - how about some fucking oversight of the so-called "merit" process that has managed to give us countless scandals? When are the pickers going to be held accountable for their horseshit decisions that cost normal cops credibility and taxpayers millions of dollars? In fact, if we troll through our archives and our readers' collective memories, we can come up with a few dozen instances of "merit" promotees operating outside the law and phone call babies doing the same thing. And how many times has a "merit" exempt been held accountable for this misbehavior of his/her "merit" pick? Somewhere close to...never?

We had a few comments yesterday wondering why we posted the picture of the Sleeping Sergeant. Some used naughty language and said we were in the wrong for blowing his cover (we didn't see him using a cover to nap - he looked plenty warm and his facial features were helpfully blocked out by the e-mailer). Your opinion, you're entitled to it.

• We have hit a breaking point. We show up every day, we do our jobs, though caring less than we did a few decades ago. We accepted the less-than-deserving getting ahead, the connected doing what they do because it didn't affect us. We didn't give a shit about who was banging who, related to who, doing someone's dirty work. We still had a decent shot at promotion, options, chances to do something different plenty of times. We did some, turned down others. It wasn't always fair, but it was 80% fair or so.

Today, it isn't anywhere near 80%. It isn't even 50% legit anymore. Access to testing materials is the culmination of the utter corruption of the advancement process. If you take an exam, you aren't competing for 80% of the D-spots or 70% of the Sgt/Lt spots. You're trying for 30% or 35% at the most. The wives, girlfriends, boy-toys and connected have the test or a S.M.E. in their bed. They study the test or answers without knowing the basics of the job they're getting.

You want to know the other reason we posted the picture? Go back and read the text accompanying the picture. A guy got more in overtime than every single blue shirt made in base salary, and he did it sleeping in a car, missing radio calls and Blackberry calls. He didn't "nod off" as a few excuse-makers allege - he was out of contact, something that would get us red-lined, maybe suspended.. His own team had to find him, wake him and then attempted to bring this to the attention of the chain of command. Guess what the bosses did?

• Ignored it and covered it up and left him on the short list for "merit" promotion to lieutenant. 

He might STILL be made, that's how little accountability there is right now in the Department. And what kind of lieutenant would he be? Who would he be pushing in the next round of "merit" promotions? What fresh scandal would he shepherd into existence in a year or two? Those making excuses for his behavior are as much to blame as any politician and we are fucking sick of it. We didn't dope his sugary beverage - he came to work unprepared to do a full tour and instead of taking himself out of service, he made $60+ an hour to sleep.

Pretty much 100% of the command staff has a "merit" bump in their past - meaning they were unable to demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the spot they ended up in to actually DO the job they were in. You want to know one of the reasons Rahm is bringing in civilians to run sensitive portions of the "reform efforts" currently underway? Because the entire command staff is filled with morons who should be walking foot posts. Rahm can't trust them to run the Department and, quite frankly, he's right. But he's the guy signing off on the "merit" lists.