Protest vote against $2M settlement for whistleblowing cops

A former Chicago Police officer-turned firefighter whose ward is home to scores of cops cast a lonely protest vote Tuesday against a $2 million settlement for a pair of police officers who claim they were blackballed by their colleagues for blowing the whistle on police corruption.

The settlement with police partners Shannon Spalding and Daniel Echeverria averted the need for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to comply with a federal judge’s order to testify about the code of silence that the mayor has acknowledged exists in the Chicago Police Department.

But, that’s not what bothered Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41st). He said he’s talked to police officers who claim there is “more to” the case “than just two officers who feel like they’ve been blackballed.”

“What I’m told is that it’s two people working a case and, when they came off the case, they were sent out of the unit and they were angry about it and asked to go back and they said no. That triggered a lawsuit,” Napolitano said of the federal investigation that culminated in the conviction of Sgt.Ronald Watts for shaking down drug dealers.

“They felt like they were mistreated.That’s understandable. But every day, you’re saying that police officers are supposed to have thick skin. They’re supposed to let everybody say whatever they want to them on the street and they’re supposed to be okay with that. So, what happened to the thick skin we’re all supposed to have?”

After spending two years detailed to the FBI and building the case against Watts, Spalding and Echeverria say they returned to their jobs, only to be blackballed in retaliation that sounds like a scene from the Al Pacino movie, “Serpico.”

The partners alleged they were assigned to night shifts and spending entire shifts in a windowless room. Fellow officers told them police commanders had warned them not to respond if Spalding or Echeverria called for backup.

Napolitano has his doubts.

“What I’m hearing from officers on the street seems to be a lot different than what I’m being told in here,” the alderman said.

Pressed to explain the differences, Napolitano said, “That’s for me and them. That’s our conversation together. But, what I don’t like is what I was told. Why don’t we have a hearing on it? Why don’t we have the officers come and testify what actually happened instead of just settling a $2 million case.”

During an extraordinary speech to the City Council last December, Emanuel apologized for the “systematic breakdown” that culminated in the “totally avoidable” police shooting of Laquan McDonald and acknowledged the “code of silence” in the Chicago Police Department he once tried to keep out of a court record.

Emanuel is the first mayor in Chicago history to acknowledge the “code of silence” that has some police officers covering up the wrongdoing of colleagues or, at the very least, turning a blind eye to it.

If the city hadn’t settled with Spalding and Echeverria, averting the need for a trial in their whistleblower case, Emanuel would have been forced to testify under oath about that code of silence.

Three years ago, former Mayor Richard M. Daley was kept off the hot seat in federal court when the City Council authorized $12.3 million in settlements to compensate two exonerated inmates who claim they were tortured into false confessions by convicted former Area 2 Cmdr. Jon Burge.

It marked the third time that cases settled by Emanuel had spared Daley from answering questions under oath about allegations that – as state’s attorney and as mayor – he failed to investigate police torture allegations against Burge and participated in a conspiracy to cover it up.

On Tuesday, the City Council did the same for Emanuel.

On the day the settlement was reached, Emanuel categorically denied that Chicago taxpayers were being asked to cough up big bucks just to keep their mayor off the stand.

“It wasn’t about me. It was about this case. It was not about my position on the code of silence because I couldn’t have been clearer. . . . When I spoke to the City Council, I spoke for the first time as any mayor and gave voice to what people were saying in hushed tones. Nobody could miss what I said to the City Council,” Emanuel said then.

The mayor said he had no regrets about becoming the first mayor in history to acknowledge that a code of silence exists in the Chicago Police Department.

“I wanted to be clear about the issue of the code of silence because, if you’re not upfront about it, you can’t actually fix what needs to be fixed so there is no room, no zone that can be comforted,” he said.

“Which is why in the next couple of weeks, the City Council will begin to work on the complete re-do of our oversight and accountability to make sure there is no quarter for any improper activities or any area where officers feel it’s OK or permissible to basically cover up,” Emanuel said.

On Tuesday, Napolitano was asked whether he believes there is a code of silence in the Chicago Police Department.

“What about the street code of silence when someone gets shot right in front of you and you go out there and interview and no one has seen anything,” he said.

“Do I believe the code of silence exists? Yeah. It exists everywhere Do I think the police did it here? I can’t speak for that.”