Town Hall meeting next week.
For all those who've pestered us about a new post - here.
What concerns do you want to address at the meeting? Are you going to speak up? Please do, don't be like so many coworkers who bitch and moan among coworkers, but become deathly mute as soon as bosses are within earshot.
Labels: Open post
posted by CPDDispatch @ 12:05 PM
29 Comments:
When & where is the meeting being held?
10Sep07, from 1200-1500 hours, according to the most recent newsletter.
Be very careful what you say in that meeting. They like to hold things against people and they will remember who said what. I don't even know why they are bothering because they don't really care what we have to say and what our concerns are. Especially if B.O is there. He could give a rat's ass what we want/need/care about/or have a problem with. Any issue that is genuinely important will most likely be something that has to be negotiated in our contract which is exactly what they will say.
What the fuck,zone 6? The other night the Detectives had to get on the air 3 or 4 times before you acknowledged them while they put a stop on a car that had possible armed subjects in it (72-Sacramento). When we got there, the whole neighborhood had emptied out on those guys, it looked like Custer's Last Stand. We heard them, how come the zone didn't?
And the call on that car was just read off with the backlogs and not simulcast as it should have been.
Anonymous said...
What the fuck,zone 6? The other night the Detectives had to get on the air 3 or 4 times before you acknowledged them while they put a stop on a car that had possible armed subjects in it (72-Sacramento). When we got there, the whole neighborhood had emptied out on those guys, it looked like Custer's Last Stand. We heard them, how come the zone didn't?
And the call on that car was just read off with the backlogs and not simulcast as it should have been.
Yes it was an Area 1 H-G-S and they had their assist enroute. Is this the same Area 1 car coming up on Zone 6 without a radio ID with the commentary as of late ? Hmm..we can't decide if it's 5165 or 5137 with the comments but your radio has a little different sound to it, so you better be careful..trained ears can figure you out. Use a depeartment issued radio and maybe we can hear you better..10-4 ???
We hear that a certain "supposedly" seasoned dispatcher is claiming to have worked all the zone and has paid her dues. Hmmmm seems that this crybaby has worked a couple of busy zones but not without bitching and moaning and groaning and crying. Said dispatcher has also been kicked out of the training division for being a annoyance. This same dispatcher begged and pleaded to be on a "slower" zone and also cries about every little thing. I'm sure the town crier will be at the town hall meeting crying.Boo hoo hoo, they are picking on me. If I were her i'd sit down and promptly "shut the fuck up" so maybe your co workers would forget all about you which actually isn't all that hard to do. I'm sure those on the ops floor know who she is.
I just saw your boss, Tony Ruiz on Channel 7. Is he really that stupid or does he just shrivel up when he's in front of a camera?
While surfing your blog, I noticed that there's a post about an incident that myself and my partner were involved in last week at 72nd St. and Sacramento. We happened to have noticed a van at a gas station at 71st and Cal., then heard a gun call read off on that van along with the disturbances, etc. and no, it was not simulcast. We stopped them, along with a second car that was following the van from the gas station. Both subjects in the van separated and my partner and I stopped them about 100 feet apart.Because of the actions of one of these subjects, we had reason to believe he had a gun. I did get on the zone about 3 times and all I kept hearing back was "What unit is this?" not a broadcast for an assist. Don't know if the zone couldn't hear us, or what (at least 3 cars that did respond said they heard us nemerous time on the radio), but let us know that you did and rebroadcast so we know you heard us. It's tough covering a guy, gun in one hand, radio in another, keeping an eye on your partner, and then to have a screaming tribe rolling down the sidewalk at us, greeting us with "Kill you own fuckin' people,""Fuck you white motherfuckers,"and 'Hold me back, I'm gonna kill these honky motherfuckers,"all the while hearing "What unit is this?" on the radio.
We are one of the Detective units that will roll in on an in-progress call if we're close,will also tell you if there's nothing going on at a job you gave out before the beat car gets there,so you can code it, and always back a car that's on a stop when they have numerous subjects to control.
We don't give "commentaries" on the radio, and I don't have the money to buy my own radio (why should I, when the city provides them). The radios we have in Area 1 are from about 1996, so don't know what the "trained ear" is picking up from our radio.
I usually don't have a beef with the dispatchers (went to the funraiser at Casto's for the ones that got jammed on the D.P incident).
Det. John Zalatoris, Area One Violent Crimes, Beat 5137, 3rd watch
To Bt 5137....It is not uncommon for an outside unit to come over the zone air (as you did), asking for assist while the dispatcher gets your location , but not your bt #, he/she will repeat your location , will get you help immediately and use the desk # as unit , until such time the air clears to get the 'real' beat number that has that hot job. We will then assign the correct beat # to the event that was generated so the paper trail & all transmissions (connect the dots so to speak) will be available if & when needed! Most of us do that, I'm just sorry to hear that you obviously had one of our newbies or dummy w/attitude.
I at least hope that after reading your post , this will 'enlighten' those that cannot understand or accept what they cannot see (the officer's involvement on the street). It really gets me crazy when I have to work with a 'dispatcher with the ATTITUDE' that will not make call backs, not order tows, look up info, etc.This is all part of our job....we (dispatchers) are here to assist the police officer.
Stay safe!
Wow detective, that is a classy way to pose this (I'm serious).
I have no idea what happened, and was not there, but I can say with relative certainty that if others in the field heard it than the dispatcher at the very least had the sense to keep their foot off the petal while you were calling in. When the dispatcher is keying in (foot on the petal) to speak, the mobile relay is cut off and nobody else in the field would have heard you.
No doubt about it, a dispatcher asking "which unit is this" rather than getting a freakin assist to a unit calling for one is about an 8 or 8.5 out of 10 on an OEMC screwup.
The only saying grace I can give for the dispatcher here is that they did not keep their foot on the petal, and therefore did not prevent others in the field from hearing you.
Glad you came out of it, and please understand that the vast majority up there would not do anything intentionally to place you in danger. Zone 6 is the bitch of the bunch, and like 15:16 said, thats either a complete newbie making a mistake or somebody with a really, really bad attitude.
For everybody's sake, I hope somebody up there addresses this incident briefly in roll calls.
can someone mention the lack of headsets (push to talk ) for the ops floor -- not like we dont use them or anything but would be nice if yours broke they actaully had a replacement
To 5137
Please, please accept my apologies as a dispatcher for your unfortunate incident w an apparently poor dispatcher. Understand that MOST of us couldnt care less what beat you are when you call for help all we care about is isolating you and your partner in a correct location and getting you help asap--anything else can be corrected later. These are training issues and supervisory issues, neither of which OEMC is interested in correcting or putting resources to and its so sad when one thinks of the potential repurcussions for the field units. Thank you for all you do out there and in helping dispatchers--remember ultimately we are all stuck in this crap pile together
the incident that happened on sacramento is not due to lack of correct training. i am from the 1st set of classes which came out about a year and a half ago and i remember them talking about this in training. they stress that when someone comes on the air with an emergency the main issue is to get where they are and get them help........what unit they are is of no importance at all! those are the exact words from the training staff. some people just get hung up on who is this? and what are you chasing for? and frankly i don't know why.
23:23
My push-to-talk button broke on my headset about 4 years ago, at least....... and I still havent gotten a new one. What a joke!!
To 0907
I disagree w you that this is not a training issue. Your instructors may very well have instructed you to clear the air during an emergency--they would be idiots if they didnt--but the true test of whether or not someone has been properly trained is during the types of situations described by beat 5137. Apparently he did not say "emergency" via radio--if he had ANY dispatcher wouldve cleared the air (i fervently hope) but he was clearly in need of an assist. It might have been his tone of voice, his situation ("i am behind a hot car, 4 heads" or "my partner is attempting to stop someone"), or a reaction/response to another hot job previously broadcast. THAT is the training issue involved--the dispatcher must be able to discern when units may need some help even if they do not say EMERGENCY over the air and be cognizant of ALL the stuff going on on the zone. The job of the dispatcher, despite what OEMC management publicly states, is not merely to get the pending jobs out but is to maintain OFFICER SAFETY. That concept has been lost during the past few administrations at OEMC. For the field units, anything can happen at anytime anywhere When dispatchers forget that basic tenet its put the field units at great risk. And that is a training issue and a supervisory issue both of which are routinely ignored.
0032
i guess we will have to just agree to disagree. when i was in training officer safety was stressed and pending jobs came AFTER. they also stressed that we as dispatchers are the po's life line out there. they depend on us to get them assistance, to send them with the correct back up and to even know where they are when they aren't sure. i agree that the training needs to be tweaked and some of the stuff is really outdated. but looking at some of the newer classes that came out we have had some really great dispatchers hitting the floor...not many, but there are some good ones....even the seasoned dispatchers have given them compliments. and then we have gotten some not so great ones....and i believe that some people are just good at the job and some are not...some take the training as an aid to become a good dispatcher and some use it as the only means to learn. and that is the difference. OJT helps alot, but getting out there and doing it with no one behind you is the real way to learn and hopefully you have a partner that knows that you may need help. i have been with a lot of people and their attitude toward someone new is "well you were in training you should know" instead of helping them out. we should be answering questions and helping each other because it will really suck if you needed that person in a jam and they couldn't help you cuz you never took the time to help them.
sorry off topic;
CHICAGO POLICE OFFICERS WIN the FLSA Compensatory Federal Lawsuit !!!
The federal magistrate has finally made a decision on the FLSA lawsuit. The city has lost this one!! The FOP and PBPA should soon have some more information on it on their sites. In the new contracts it will state the department MUST grant you “time-due” as long as you put a slip in a reasonable amount of time, say 48 hours.
The city argued that they ARE VERY SHORT ON MANPOWER and can not grant time due so easily. HOWEVER - – Other bosses in the department bullshit that we have 13,500 sworn officers. SO . . What’s the REAL truth Mr. City Attorney???
Start bullshiting a federal judge and guess who he’s going to side with?
JUST SO YOU KNOW THE AREA DICK USE OLDER RADIOS SO NO YOU CANT TRACK THEM. IT IS A DEPARTMENT RADIO JUST OLD.
AREA 1 IS A HELL HOLE ANY WAY.
WITH LOVE AREA 4
Anyone seen BO lately?
Has he quit?
B.O. been layin' low.
I just made a rhyme.
Hi...any way you can put a post regarding the Pipes & Drums of the Emerald Society Chicago PD's 25th Anniversary concert? We've got 2 NY police pipe bands coming in on Thursday to help us celebrate the whole weekend. All info can be found at www.copsinkilts.com or you can email me at megan.aylward@chicagopolice.org. SCC should have a post in the next few days if you want to copy theirs
BO is a little under the weather lately and a little upset that he will soon have to actually start doing some work around here. By the way, did anyone out there know his official title for payroll is WATCH MANAGER?
Interesting
In 2004, nearly two-thousand Chicago Police officers joined together in a Federal lawsuit against the City of Chicago regarding the use of compensatory time. The officers want to be able to use their compensatory time on dates of their choosing. Lawyers from the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge # 7, handled the case and alleged that the City was consistently violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) whenever requests to use compensatory time were denied. The City typically uses “manpower” as an excuse for refusing to grant compensatory time off. This is all going to change.
Yesterday, the plaintiffs obtained a judgment in their favor and against the City. The City will no longer be able to use the “manpower” excuse for denying compensatory time requests. Rather, the City will be made to follow FLSA requirements and prove that granting a compensatory time off request would result in an “undue disruption” of service. In the future, a system will have to be constructed wherein officers can replace each other when compensatory time is used. Additionally, the Federal Judge ruled that the City’s policy of refusing to pay overtime to a replacement worker is flatly contrary to Department of Labor standards and cannot cause an “undue disruption.”
The Federal Court got it right when it stated that the FLSA does not authorize the City balancing its budgetary and public safety concerns on the backs of police personnel. The Judge has directed our lawyers to meet with the City’s lawyers before the end of the month in order to discuss changes that the City must make in order to bring it into compliance with the FLSA. The Lodge’s intent in this case was to provide its members with the right to use their compensatory time when they desire to use it. Yesterday’s decision should not only allow members to do this, it should result in additional overtime opportunities as well. We will keep you posted with all future developments.
If we're reading this correctly, if you have time on the books and want to use it, YOU CANNOT BE DENIED TIME OFF. Manpower is NOT an excuse. If the Department cannot field a car, they are either going to have to leave it unmanned, allow officers to trade days off with other officers, or pay time-and-a-half to people who are RDO (by seniority) to work the uncovered car. This is huge. The City has been told in no uncertain terms that they are subject to Federal Labor Law. DO U THINK WE WILL EVER GET TAKEN CARE OF LIKE THIS ????????????
Dearest 5137,
Sincerely am sorry you had to go through that! For the Grace of God you and your partner are ok. It's shameful and embarrassing that occurred.
Just another reminder that the dispatcher is not going to save your life, but your co workers in the field will. Watch out for each other, listen to the radio, hear where your buddies are going to.
Only you can protect you out there. Peace. Jo zone5
my suggested topic for the meeting: stop screwing around the hardworking dispatchers and do something about the lazy/unqualified dispatchers. I seriously feel like the better I do my job the more I get shit on.
5137
Stop bitching, you have no idea what it is to be in our shoes. If u need so much help ya should have called a 10-1. All you police do is harass poor black men. you made it out alive didnt you.
BO resigned last night. He's going to work for the State just like DZ. AVIII gave both of them a job.
19 sep 2007....4:14 am...."all you police do is harass is poor black men". i hate to tell this to. you but you do not know what it is like to be in our shoes either. lets start being in the middle of an after school riot when "these poor black men" are beating each other over the heads with bats,bricks,and other objects because they lack the normal social skills to control their behavior. or what about the ever famous block parties where "these poor black men." are fighting,drinking and the ever famous shots fired and we have another shooting victim. this is why a lot of officers are not doing aggressive work in the community. they want aggressive policing when it suits them but when we put thse "poor black men " as you call them on the car and go through them. we get complaints because we are racially profiling them.
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