Another Rumor!

We started this site over twenty years ago to (A) inform readers, (B) amuse readers, and (C) keep readers abreast of rumors and gossip (see Item B). The fun thing about rumors is they trigger all sorts of other rumors....like this:

• There are rumors going around that the city is not going to fund the OT budget at all. No OT for the police. No special, no targeted enforcement of any kind. They can project increases all they want for next year, but they don't have to fund it. Furthermore, they are looking into putting house mice on a firm salary for inside work. They will have to agree to this condition or get launched into patrol. Even when they work mandatory OT they will not get compensated monetarily and will get C/U hours. This may also be a big ask for the next contract. Get all current CPD officers on a firm salary.
  Paying officers to appear in court is going to be interesting. Can they dip into the regular police budget?

The trouble with this one is, it sounds all too possible, especially when you see the financial cliff Conehead is driving the city toward and the financial iceberg Fata$$ is steering the entire Ship-of-Illinois into.

Part of this rumor is something many have advocated for decades - gut the inside spots and deny house-mice the Duty Availability checks that street coppers actually earn, perhaps even institute a real Shift Differential for First and Third Watches.

Another part of this rumor is pure fantasy, seeing as how there are actual legal decisions and such regarding paying Officers for off-duty appearances in Court. Like the "mandatory CU" instead of pay - FLSA would gut that in a heartbeat.

But every good rumor has a ring of truth in it somewhere.