from the please-don't-make-me-side-with-this-asshole dept
Disgraced-officer-turned-police-union-president John Catanzara is the one making the most noise about the city's mandate and is weaponizing the PD's lack of self-care against the mayor and the city itself. . .
The city apparently takes this threat seriously. It has asked a Cook County (IL) court for an injunction to block the FOP from speaking out against the vaccine mandate, which covers all city workers. The FOP has sued right back, seeking an injunction blocking the city from enforcing the mandate. In the meantime, the PD itself has cancelled all vacation and time off requests to ensure staffing once the mandate goes into effect.
The resistance against the mandate is inexplicable, given the alarming number of law enforcement deaths the virus has caused. Law enforcement agencies demand tougher laws and increased funding every time there's a spike in officer deaths at the hands of suspected criminals. But when it's a preventable disease doing the killing, cops would rather go jobless than be inoculated.
This resistance is being led by a man who's mostly known for violating rights and running his mouth. If Catanzara truly speaks for the Chicago PD rank-and-file, perhaps a 50% layoff isn't a bad idea, especially if the city can restock with new officers who aren't already accustomed/resigned to the PD's long history of brutality, violence, rights violations, and nonexistent oversight. Then again, you'd think the rank-and-file would want to continue trying to get a handle on increasing gun violence in the city, given the oft-stated concerns about public safety.
But none of that makes this an acceptable interim outcome. The litigation crossfire has resulted in an additional violation of rights.
A judge late Friday issued a temporary restraining order against the Chicago police union president, prohibiting him from making public statements that encourage members not to report their COVID-19 vaccine status to the city.
Cook County Circuit Judge Cecilia Horan ruled there was potential irreparable harm if local Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara persisted in making such statements. City attorneys argued they were tantamount to him advocating “sedition” and “anarchy” because he was directing members to disobey an order from their superiors.
Catanzara's agitating may be aggravating and annoying but it is not "sedition" or "anarchy." His statements may run contrary to the city's wishes but he should be free to make them. He has not actually called for strike (which is forbidden by the PD's contract) but rather suggested officers' should refuse requests for vaccination status and memorialize these interactions via body cam if possible. Catanzara has also speculated that more than half the police force will no longer be employed if a COVID vaccination is a job requirement. This court order appears to be prior restraint -- something impermissible even with the city's obvious interest in ensuring the safety of its employees.
That being said, maybe Chicago police officers should do the thing they're always telling citizens to do: comply, comply, comply. If it appears rights are being violated, members of the public are expected to take their lumps first and sue about it later. That's what the PD should do here: supply the PD with their vaccination status and get aggrieved later -- that's if they care at all about being the thin blue line standing between the innocent public and violent criminals."
UPDATE:
Chicago police union takes fight against vaccine mandate to court as some hold-out cops sent home without pay
About 2,000 police officers have not complied.
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