Interesting Take

This certainly hints at something federal going on over on Washington Street:

• It’s important to take a long look at the scandals now emerging at one of the county’s largest police unions, the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 7.

  Right now, the most pro–law enforcement president in the modern history of the nation is in office, proving time and again his willingness to back the police. At the same time, Chicago is ground zero for the radical Democrats seeking to expand their power throughout the country. The key strategy of this Democratic faction is a war on the criminal justice system.

  One would think that an alliance of the Trump administration, particularly the Department of Justice, and the Chicago FOP would be a match made in heaven. Imagine the things they could get done. One would think that public appearances between Trump and the leader of the FOP, John Catanzara, would be frequent and friendly.

But as Marty Preib points out, there is a distinct lack of any sort of contact with the national administration and the current FOP leadership. In fact, "the FOP president was reportedly turned away at the capital for a conference of big city police union leaders."

That's a big hint that someone somewhere doesn't want any photographs floating around of someone under investigation to appear with the sitting President....you know, the way the media subtly neglects to show Porkulous consorting with murderers and drug dealers.

Go read it all. 

Interesting Curriculum Vitae

For those who don't know the Latin, C.V. is a fancy term for an extensive résumé:

• In English, a curriculum vitae, commonly known as CV, is a short written summary of a person's career, qualifications, and education. This is the most common usage in British English. In North America, the term résumé is used, referring to a short career summary, whereas CVs are much longer than resumes. The term curriculum vitae and its abbreviation, CV, are also used especially in academia to refer to extensive or even complete summaries of a person's career, qualifications, and education, including publications and other information

For the truly curious, here's a quick summary of the lawyer that the FOP is paying $450 an hour to, right from his publicly accessible website:

• Terry Campbell focuses his practice on white-collar criminal defense, regulatory enforcement, complex commercial litigation, and criminal and civil appeals.  He has more than 20 years of trial experience, and has tried numerous cases in federal and state courts, both in Chicago and around the country.  Mr. Campbell provides a combination of impeccable judgement, strategic vision, and dedication to his clients and their cases.  His exceptional abilities have earned Terry his reputation as one of the top white-collar defense lawyers in the community, and he has been consistently recognized in publications such as Chambers & Partners and Illinois Super Lawyers based on peer reviews of his professional skills.

  Mr. Campbell has represented individuals in any number of high-profile cases during the past 20 years, including investigations and prosecutions relating to alleged fraud against the City of Chicago’s MBE/WBE program; the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill; the prosecution of former executives at Sacred Heart Hospital for violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute; the collapse of Sentinel Management Group (which was described by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago as the largest financial fraud case ever prosecuted in this district); securities and accounting fraud cases against a former member of the Board and Audit Committee of Safety-Kleen Corp.; a securities and bank fraud case against a former officer of First Merchants Acceptance Corp.; and many others.

That is quite the impressive history....

....but not whom we'd expect to be representing someone who has been insisting that there's nothing untoward about the books, accounts and credit card receipts that he's been hiding from membership inspection for how many years now?

Curious and curiouser to say the least, especially after admitting at the last meeting that there were "policy issue[s]" regarding the FOP expenditures

Time to Demand Answers

And the only place to get answers is at an FOP Meeting:

• Members need to show up and demand answers about the “personal expenses” charged to the FOP credit card:

• What personal expenses did our dues pay for?
• How many personal purchases were made?
• Who made them?
• How much was spent?
• Where are the credit card statements and financial records documenting every personal charge?

• For years, John denied that there were any personal expenses on the FOP credit card. Now that attorney Terence Campbell—whose $450-an-hour bill is paid with our dues—has acknowledged that personal charges were made, John now wants members to believe those purchases were somehow acceptable simply because he claims he repaid the money.

The next General Meeting is at noon on 16 September and there really needs to be a decent amount of people showing up, if not to ask questions, then to see how the questions are being avoided at the very least behind a smokescreen of procedural BS.

This is YOUR money. You pay dues every single check, not so the Board can enjoy steak dinners and buy $10K paintings, but so that the Lodge can provide legal assistance when needed, address safety issues when the City tries to get around spending money properly, and negotiating a Contract that protects your legal rights from being trampled on when something goes sideways. 

It's time to show up boys and girls. Mark your calendars. 

This is a Problem

A rather LARGE and obvious problem:

• Tonight's FOP meeting produced an admission every Lodge 7 member should be paying attention to.
  
  
  President John Catanzara brought out the attorney — the same attorney our dues are paying $450 an hour — to discuss the forensic audit. Members were told that, so far, they “don't believe” misappropriation of funds has occurred.
  
  
  Then a member asked a simple question: Were personal purchases made on the FOP credit card?
  
  
  The attorney acknowledged that there were a number of personal expenses charged to the FOP credit card, but characterized it as more of a  “policy issue.”

Um....that's NOT a "policy issue," no matter what language a paid liar lawyer dresses it up as.

That is corruption, that is misappropriation, that is Theft by a strict interpretation of the ILCS. 

You don't get to use Union Funds for personal purchases. Period.

But hey, what do we know? We were only cops for nearly thirty years.

Tell you what - release the credit card statements that the membership has been demanding for years now and let's put all this scandal-talk to rest once and for all.

UPDATE: bunch of comments claiming "it was paid back, all is good!"

The FOP dues money and credit cards are NOT bridge loans or cash advance services. You don't get to use the money while you're waiting for Payday to arrive because (A) it ain't your money and (B) how the Hell do you get an interest-free loan from membership dues that no one else can get?

What the actual fuck? 

FOP Follies

Yet another rumor, this time that the First VP had charges filed against him for misappropriation.

Revenge for filing the charges against the president months ago?

Sure is a lot of drama over there. 

Unbelievable Hypocrisy

This call for transparency is pretty amazing, considering who it's coming from (click for larger version):

 

So what would you call the Financial Records of the entire Lodge 7 FOP that are paid with members' dues? Wouldn't those belong to the membership who might want to inspect them all?

For those unaware, John is the First VP of the State Lodge and the State Lodge has allegedly been undergoing a bit of their own upheaval lately involving possible outside investigations....

::cough cough federal cough cough::

....and certain State Lodge officers are suspected of cooperating with the outside agency....

::cough cough fbi cough cough::

....and certain other Officers are desperate to find out who and what the extent of the cooperation was or continues to be. 

Get the popcorn. 

We Guess the Truth Hurts?

Reports from the State FOP Conference:

• Illinois State FOP Vice President and Chicago Lodge 7 President John Catanzara addressed the delegates from across the state. Instead of focusing on issues affecting law enforcement, he spent part of his remarks complaining about a website that has, "been critical of his leadership," and "made fun," of him  Although he never mentioned it by name, it was obvious what he was referring to. He became visibly emotional, saying he couldn't believe people would question his character and integrity. His voice shook, he appeared to fight back tears, and the room full of law enforcement officers from across Illinois seemed noticeably uncomfortable. Nobody in that room wanted to watch John cry cause his feelings were hurt. 

Well, golly....

• if you'd just answer legit questions from the members you claim to represent, 
• open the books as required by the By-Laws instead of imposing improper restrictions (as you yourself complained about when running for office)be getting emails on a daily basis about 
• and stop with the backroom politics, strange hiring practices, questionable investigations and tossing out elected representatives for real or imagined offenses regarding your behavior

...then maybe we wouldn't be getting daily emails from people whose voices and concerns have been dismissed out of hand, along with continuous rumors of outside investigations by both the State Lodge and the feds?

Just saying..... 

Misplaced Priorities

We know many law firms have a wide range of specialties and employ lawyers who are versed in the services for their target clientele. You don't want someone who does corporate stuff trying a personal injury case, or a personal injury attorney doing tax law.

So why is an FOP labor attorney doing auto liens?

• We have John buying his girlfriend [...] a $7,200 shitbox. Said shitbox winds up with a lien on the title, so off to court they go to get it removed. And who shows up to represent her?

  Our labor attorney.

  Carson Fallo—the same Carson Fallo who has appeared on behalf of Lodge 7 in federal court and filed papers for the Lodge before the U.S. Supreme Court—is the attorney representing John's girlfriend in her petition to remove the lien and obtain clean title.

  Meanwhile, there are dues-paying Lodge 7 members who have been denied legal defense or told they're on their own.The real insult isn't the $7,200 shitbox. It's that dues-paying members have been denied legal defense while the President's non-member girlfriend is represented by the same attorney retained to represent Lodge 7. Whose interests are our dues are actually paying to protect.

  Members who pay nearly $1,000 a year in dues have been denied representation for follow up interviews at IAD, while the President's girlfriend—who is a civilian—has unlimited access to our attorneys.

Maybe this guy did auto liens before he got assigned the FOP account with Baum Sigman Auerbach and Neuman? But we're imagining that the FOP pays far more that people contesting auto liens against the Secretary of State. Maybe a junior associate could have handled this, especially if there's a question about legal representation to FOP members.

The case is #2026CH06005 being heard in Room 2405 of the Daley Center.

Another PPP Loan?

We're told this person has the same name as an FOP employee:

 

We're told she has the same name as someone dating an FOP executive, too.

All Sorts of Issues

So it seems that the City is garnishing a portion of the FOP president's paycheck for that most recent judgement. For a guy making over $200K annually, that's an issue. 

Now it turns out that his current romantic interest is employed by the FOP in some capacity....that's another issue.

And the romantic interest is attempting to get the Secretary of State to remove a lien against her vehicle (which has been parked behind the FOP Lodge building for a year or so)....using an attorney with the same name as the Lodge's Labor Attorney....which is odd to say the least. 

And we all know about the unusual restrictions placed upon any sort of inquiry into viewing the Lodge's finances, which may or may not be an issue for an outside investigation along with the State Lodge issue.

So many issues and so few explanations. 

$5,000 Judgement

If you're making somewhere between $200K and $250K a year, paying off a mere $5k debt would seem to be pretty simple.

So why is a mortgage company calling the FOP offices looking for JCat?

Especially after this (click for larger view):

 

 

Anyone still wondering why the current office holders are refusing an audit of Lodge financial records? Or why the State Lodge is in such disarray after computer hard drives and e-mail accounts were removed, erased or illegally accessed? Why rumors of federal subpoenas just will not go away?

This slow motion train wreck isn't going away....and isn't going to end well. 

Dear FOP Board

Can anyone tell us what all of these numbers have in common?

• Case #19961167130
• Case #20001121906
• Case #20023000899
• Case #2006ch20263
• Case #20071125946
• Case #2007ch27863
• Case #2008ch31317
• Case #2009ch32354
• Case #2010ch45843
• Case #20111181449
• Case #20111704988
• Case #20131708608
• Case #20111728862 
• Case #20151702154
• Case #20151724589
• Case #20161714730
• Case #2016ch03734
• Case #20181131186
• Case #2018ch00084
• Case #20181129855
• Case #20211116941
• Case #20101214195 

Correct - they're all court cases in Cook County. Chancery and Civil divisions.

What else do they have in common? 

• they all involve a single individual owing money to assorted entities - banks, credit unions, credit card companies, a university, etc

So, someone with:

• twenty-two separate cases 
• in a single county court system regarding financial issues

....wouldn't really be someone that should be allowed to have unfettered and unsupervised use of a credit card belonging to a labor organization with tens of millions of dollars in membership dues, right? 

Oversight should be a requirement and an obligation to ensure nothing shady is going on, right? This would be the job of the Board of Directors, correct?

Or is there going to be a twenty-third case being filed in Cook County one day soon? 

New FOP Scandal Erupts

Fun times at the General Meeting:

• President John Catanzara informed members that he is finally doing something about the hostile takeover of Forensics by the private company Ron Smith & Associates. The room seemed cautiously optimistic — or at least as optimistic as you can be when you’ve heard a version of that sentence before.

  To his credit, acknowledging the issue out loud is a step in the right direction. Whether that step leads anywhere beyond the microphone is, of course, the part everyone is waiting to see.

  Then things got… interesting.

  After wrapping up what can only be described as a highlight reel of his own accomplishments, EJ stepped up to the mic. She started by thanking him for his “hard work” — which, given what followed, may go down as one of the more polite setups in recent meeting history.

  She then asked a simple question: whether he had charged his trips to Jamaica on the FOP credit card. The reaction said more than the answer.

  John looked like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He immediately denied it — flat out. EJ followed up by suggesting that if that were true, there should be no issue opening the financials back up to the membership.

  That’s when the story started changing.

  John claimed the financials were never open to members — which raised a few eyebrows, considering he himself reviewed them when Kevin was President. When that was pointed out, he pivoted again, saying members can’t see the credit card statements because, before they were locked down, someone saw a $5,000 steak dinner charge and “blew it out of proportion.”

  EJ’s response was simple: “But you still spent $5,000 on a steak dinner.” John tried to reframe it as a dinner for retirees. EJ didn’t budge: “It’s still a $5,000 steak dinner.”

  At that point, the wheels came off.

  Unable to win that argument, John pivoted hard — this time to attacking EJ personally, bringing up CR numbers related to her social media activity. There are growing concerns that complaints have been encouraged in response to her speaking out. He then suggested the Lodge has spent too much money providing her legal defense for IAD statements. EJ fired back with the obvious question: how much has the Lodge spent defending him over his own posts? Posts that forced him tor retire before he was fired. When she asked if it was in the neighborhood of a million dollars, John said he “didn’t know.”

  Which, at this point, seems to be the most consistent answer of the day.

So once again:

• the FOP credit card seems to be being used improperly;
• legal fees in regard to the president might be approaching a million dollars;
• access to union financials are still being denied to members despite the current president using them to beat the past-president 

The usual sycophants are defending these actions, because if they don't, they'll lose their Field Rep spots like the First VP lost his. 

The Friday update should be interesting. 

John Dineen Passes

We're told former National Lodge President and FOP Lodge 7 President John Dineen passed yesterday, but can find almost no coverage.

He was a consequential man during a time a massive change and led the Lodges through various trial and tribulations. He is the reason for many of the Contractual protections currently in force.

He had his critics, too, and we're sure they'll be telling their side. He wasn't perfect, but he was better than a lot of what followed over the years. 

What Changed?

Does no one remember history? 

This was April of 2019:

• A state lawmaker who represents the city’s West Side introduced legislation Monday that would require all police officers in Illinois to be schooled on the intersection of law, race and racism in the hopes of teaching officers “the culture and the lifestyles of different communities and people.”

  “If we want to change the behavior of police, we have to educate them,” state Rep. La Shawn Ford said.

  The West Side Democrat said requiring officers to be taught critical race theory is about “tackling racism” and “becoming aware of our very own shortcomings and ignorance about our peers.”

And who was FOP president back then?

• But the head of the Chicago union for rank-and-file police officers said the bill is “redundant and ridiculous.”

  “They’re going to get officers killed with this constant nonsense of ‘race, race, race,’’’ said John Catanzara Jr., the president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police. “You’re gonna have people so paranoid to do their job they’re going to be worried about race more than they’re worried about reacting to a threat.”

And six years later, FOP endorses him?

Why?

Odd Endorsements

The FOP came out with endorsements for the upcoming primary (click for larger view):

Wasn't LaShawn Ford indicted for 17 felony counts of bank fraud a few years ago? And didn't he plead to one of the counts to avoid an embarrassing trial?

And this Kwame fool - wasn't he instrumental in pushing the SAFE-T on Illinois, endangering citizens and cops alike?

Next thing you know, they'll be endorsing Conehead because he took great care of ILLEGAL ALIENS with money that could have funded the pension and services to actual citizens. 

Someone Had to Say It

Might as well be this guy:

• Calling the attorneys representing the family of slain Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera “lower than whale sh**,” the head of the city’s largest police union has unleashed a blistering attack on the relatives’ wrongful death lawsuit that suggests another cop may have intentionally killed the officer on duty and left her to die.

  “This is as low as it gets,” Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara said in a YouTube video, directing his anger at the law firm Romanucci & Blandin after it sued Rivera’s partner, Officer Carlos Baker, and the city over Rivera’s death on June 5.

Unless the City settles, this one is going to be an on-going embarrassment for years, painting the Department, hiring practices, personnel decisions and inconsistent disciplinary processes in the worst possible light.

It's About Time for This....

Anyone know where the FOP Books are?

That is all. 

FOP Meeting

While the investigation into misappropriation was "closed," all is not well at the Lodge. We got reports from a couple people this week regarding the Wednesday meeting:

• So at the union meeting last night, the crew was completely gas lighting the members . First [JC] stated that he will not discuss the subpoena on “advice of counsel." the $425 hour lawyer our dues are paying for . When  [...] asked him are we still having to pay for his lawyer he said in a smug tone "Yes." Next was word salad where he said the “union “ was under investigation and that’s why we are paying for his lawyer
• A simple question was asked is John named in the subpoena and he said he would not answer . We are paying for his lawyer and we can’t get a straight answer on what the subpoena is about ? He also stated the US attorney got a “complaint “ and this is why they are asking for records.

So the union is under investigation? Then the membership deserves answers.

Is the president under investigation? Then the membership ought not be footing the bills.

• [JC]’s so confident that it’s all meritless and based on some sort of personal vendetta, he mentioned retaliating against whoever brought such an unsubstantiated allegation to the Feds, saying the person responsible needed to face consequences.

Um, whistleblower protections first of all. If there's retaliation, the membership better not be paying damages. Besides, that would be a civil matter, paid for by the aggrieved party, who (allegedly) is in such dire financial straits, he couldn't begin to pay those hourly rates, even with the union credit card.

And what's with the Board member in attendance being so drunk he couldn't give his report without staggering on stage and slurring his words so badly the audience couldn't understand portions?

The other guy drinking hard liquor on the rocks right up on stage? 

And everyone else looking shell-shocked like they were coming to the realization that they're going to be held accountable at some point for the blatant misbehavior still going on - either electorally or something more serious?

No Meeting?

Our usual contacts for FOP info are radio silent.

One single comment claims:

• The meeting has been canceled! New time and date TBA

So....does this mean the decision didn't go the way someone wanted it to go? 

Did something else necessitate the delay, like half the Board came down with food poisoning and a quorum wasn't present?

Alien abductions? 

Or even worse....I.C.E. abductions?