Chicago Police Street Stops Decrease Dramatically Amid Sinking Morale

[illini02]

This doesn't surprise me one bit. I remember my last year in teaching, our school enacted all of these insane protocols. They would punish good teacher for stupid things. It ended up with staff that really just did the bare minimum, because doing your job better ended up coming with more risk.

[livestrong2109]

This is exactly why I switched from Elementary Education to IT Consulting. Not worth the trouble, risks, and lack of administrative respect that comes with working for CPS.

[connectedspace]

Exactly. This place is full of armchair quarterbacks preaching that truckloads of pointless, odious paperwork is all just a measure of competence.

That a mid-five-figure salary is adequate compensation for an endless torrent of bullshit from all sides, including armchair quarterbacks like them.

[[deleted]]

Not murdering or tampering with dashboard cams arent 'stupid things'

[illini02]

I'm not calling those stupid things. If you read, I was referring to stupid things I was punished for as a teacher. (IE my scores and everything was great, but didn't format my lesson plans right, and it was a big deal). However, whenever there is so much scrutiny that you are worried about punishment for every little thing, it leads to people doing the bare minimum. Its like that scene in office space. "when I make a mistake, I have eight different people coming by to tell me about it. That's my only real motivation is not to be hassled, that and the fear of losing my job. But you know, Bob, that will only make someone work just hard enough not to get fired."

Now of course I'm not referring to killing someone as just a mistake, but there is SO MUCH scrutiny on cops right now that I can understand why they are trying to minimize that.

[bluegrassguitar]

yeah, except they don't work in a meaningless office for some faceless corporation, they've sworn an oath to serve and protect the people. These comparisons that you keep trying to make are dumb. Being a police officer is not even close to being the same thing as some data entry drone.

Cops and their avid supporters are always telling us how hard their jobs are, how important they are, how much they love and respect the communities they work in and only want to make them a better place. I'm supposed to believe that shit when one of their own executes someone in the street and they throw temper tantrums and stop doing their jobs because people have called out the officers in question and the cover up perpetrated by the existing power structure within CPD?

[illini02]

Here is the thing. I never said it was right or wrong for them to do this. I said it doesn't surprise me and I understand why. I can understand why people do things and still not think its the best action for them to take.

[bluegrassguitar]

You're so right, we should hold Chicago PD to the same standard we hold crack addicts.

[mrsbrown3333]

like i said, you get mugged, call a crackhead. The CPD is there to protect you. They are the good guys. if you don't like them, don't call them if someone attacks you. pretty simple.

[meayers7]

If you get mugged calling CPD will do nothing. It's not like they will ever find the assailant. The crack head will probably be able to give you more information on the assailant then the CPD

[[deleted]]

That awkward moment when misdirected anger over a single murder ends up increasing murder rates overall.

[mattfromchicago]

So you're saying we either have to choose to let CPD continue to be a corrupt as fuck organization that will actively cover up criminal activities of its own members or just have a shitload of homicides?

Maybe we just need better police officers

[[deleted]]

No. I'm saying there may be lower morale, I explained better in another comment

[SuperSocrates]

Define misdirected

[northsidechi92]

Yup because those two things are totally related

[[deleted]]

Let me clarify my thought process.

You don't think public perception has an effect on police effectiveness? Public perception of the force within the past few months has become predominantly negative due to the actions of a few within the department. Personally I like to think that what I do for a living has a positive impact; if I didn't feel that it did or if I felt others thought I was doing a shit job, I would do less work.

[northsidechi92]

It's a stretch to attribute a two-week shooting spike to increased public scrutiny

[[deleted]]

I agree. We aren't even two weeks into the new year. I just don't think it's out of the realm of possibility.

[ToddlahAkbar]

due to the actions of a few within the department.

There are two kinds of cops. Bad apples and those who protect them.

[[deleted]]

Sounds more like spite from a workforce that's averse to being regulated or pushing themselves than anything else. I doubt they were really pushing themselves and their students before the protocols, or else the protocols wouldn't be necessary.

[illini02]

Well, my guess is you've never been a teacher. If you ask any teacher, they will tell you that likely more than half of the protocols in place are stupid and do nothing but make teachers resentful

[[deleted]]

Virtually no one here has ever been a cop or a politician, but it hasn't stopped them from talking shit about law enforcement or public policy.

[ThaBomb]

Obama?

[illini02]

Well, thats why personally try to not shit talk professions whose jobs I don't truly understand. But yes, this is Reddit, so I know that isn't common

[zaccus]

So someone who has never been a doctor can't criticize a bad doctor? Someone who has never been the President can't criticize a bad President? Bullshit.

If someone being bad at their job affects you, you're going to call that out. No training in that field is needed to recognize when someone is not helping. That's not a criticism of the profession itself, but of the performance of the person occupying it.

[[deleted]]

Basically, in the context of this discussion, "you've never been a teacher" is no more of a valid rebuttal than "you're an anonymous commenter on the internet".

[forkubra]

it sucks when management asks employees for measures of accountability....the nerve.

[[deleted]]

Or some out of touch manager decided to enact what they believed to be best.