In an effort to reduce Chicago police officer suicide, a City Council ordinance is being proposed that would allow cops to turn down excessive hours.
CHICAGO -- With the police department facing a mental health crisis, Ald. Anthony Napolitano is pushing an ordinance that would give Chicago cops advance notice of their schedules, empower them to decline excessive overtime and offer a pay bump to those who accept.
"We have 20 suicides in four years," three of which happened this month, he said."This isn't a cry for help. This is a blatant alarm going off." Under his proposal, an officer could decline"any previously unscheduled hours," including proposed canceled days off and extended shifts of more than two hours. If an officer has more than two hours added to a scheduled shift or has to work in a new location, they would be paid double time for each shift on top of regular overtime.
If the department needs to fill extra shifts, they would first be offered to cops who are"qualified to do the additional work," according to the ordinance. The distribution of additional hours couldn't be discriminatory and should be doled out based on"qualifications, rank, seniority" and any collective bargaining agreements subject to payment at double time.
What does Napolitano expect a Chicago Police Department with nearly 2,000 vacancies to do if they don't have enough officers to protect the city? The ordinance is part of a larger public safety package, which includes six ordinances and a resolution, addressing mental health challenges being faced by officers, expediting benefits to family members that lost their loved ones and more.