Lightfoot, police union president hold ‘very productive’ first face-to-face meeting

Perhaps the most important thing about the private meeting is that it happened at all. Lightfoot had scheduled and cancelled six prior meetings with Graham, exacerbating tensions with the union.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Fraternal Order of Police President Kevin Graham broke the ice over the weekend at their first face-to-face meeting — and both sides came away hopeful.

“It was a very productive meeting and we covered a lot of ground,” the FOP’s Second Vice President Martin Preib said Monday.

Preib refused to elaborate on the progress made or the ground covered. The mayor’s office was equally upbeat.

Mayoral press secretary Anel Ruiz said Lightfoot and Graham discussed “their shared priorities for Chicago’s police officers, which includes ensuring the rank-and-file officers keeping our communities safe day in and day out are equipped with the resources and support needed to successfully and safely do their jobs.”

“The administration looks forward to, what it hopes will be a series of productive discussions with the union on ways to continue building stronger relationships between Chicago police and communities,” Ruiz wrote in an email.

Perhaps the most important thing about the meeting is that it happened at all.

Lightfoot had scheduled and canceled six prior meetings with Graham, exacerbating tensions with the union representing rank-and-file Chicago Police officers.

Last week, Graham extended an olive branch to the new mayor.

He told the Sun-Times he had “pulled his punches” with Lightfoot. He also said he hoped to have their first face-to-face meeting in an effort to “tone things down” and dispel “myths” and “animosities.” He also hoped it would help identify “new revenues” to add sorely needed foot patrols and bolster the police force to 14,400 officers.

The most undermining and demoralizing “myth” is the admittedly “unsubstantiated rumor” that Lightfoot claims to have heard from a “credible” source and chose to repeat on cable TV: that the FOP had told members to “lay back” and “do nothing” over Memorial Day weekend.

“On Memorial Day weekend, I was out backing up officers in the 3rd District, the 7th District and the 19th District. I was out there talking with officers at roll call. I also went on calls to back them up. Why would I say those things if I myself was out there?” Graham said.

Myth No. 2 is Lightfoot’s claim — reiterated to an FOP official on the floor of the City Council — that Graham is a “Dr. No” standing in the way of police reform.

“I have not said ‘no’ to everything. I wouldn’t have invited the monitor to come meet with us if I was always saying no,” Graham told the Sun-Times.

“My job is to represent the men and women of the Chicago Police Department and make sure their rights are protected. Some of the things being asked from us are ridiculous, and some of them they need to negotiate. I am not giving up my members’ rights so a social agenda can be achieved. That’s not going to happen.”

The city’s contract with rank-and-file police Chicago Police officers expired two years ago. Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel punted the high-stakes negotiations to Lightfoot, apparently unwilling to tackle the thorny issue of police discipline.

Lightfoot co-chaired the Task Force on Police Accountability that demanded changes to the police contract. Its scathing report pointed to a police contract that, the report said, continues to make it “easy for officers to lie” by giving them 24 hours before providing a statement after a shooting and includes “impediments to accountability” that prohibit anonymous complaints, allow officers to change statements after reviewing video and requires sworn affidavits.

Graham has slammed the door on all those changes as well as civilian police review. In fact, he wants to triple the waiting period before statements are given after a shooting; a 72-hours wait would mirror the policy for federal agents.

And he wants to negotiate exemptions — for SWAT team members conducting searches and officers involved in foot chases — to the requirement that cops file a report every time they point a gun at someone.

Graham also disclosed that the union planned to renew its longstanding request to lift the requirement that officers live in Chicago; he also opposes the city’s request for a “discipline matrix” tying specific penalties to certain allegations.

“The problem with that is, they have increased all the penalties without any explanation. If you’ve never done anything wrong in 25 years and you do one thing wrong, you could be suspended for five days. That’s unreasonable,” he said.

Given how far apart the city and the union are on disciplinary issues, Graham was asked why he doesn’t just skip negotiations and go straight to arbitration.

He acknowledged “some of my members are asking that question.” But, he argued, negotiations must come first.

“If we go straight to arbitration before we negotiate those things, the arbitrator can send it back and send it to a mediator, which we have never had luck with on either side because we both know where we’re going to be,” Graham said.