125 AUGUST 2010

IN SUPPORT OF:

LIEUTENANT JOHN ANDREWS

by:
JAMES A. MAURER, CHIEF OF PATROL (retired)

The other day I read the paper published by Lieutenant John

Andrews. I was wondering how long it would take the Top
Command of the Chicago Police Department and the Mayor, to be
offended enough to find some reason to take formal disciplinary
action. It apparently didn’t take long. Yesterday on CBS 2 and
NBC 5, the story of this Lieutenant Andrews’ extremely accurate
words and the reaction of those in power.

I found it ironic that the Department has decided that the

Lieutenant should be charged with “Bringing Discredit Upon The
Department.” To some this might seem to be a weak charge.
However, be careful, l would not dismiss that charge as weak.
After all, as Lieutenant Andrews’ words certainly and most
accurately demonstrate, no one has ever demonstrated more
skill and a growing experience at “bringing discredit” upon an
organization, than the Mayor, this Superintendent, and their
minions.

Every time I leave my home and wherever I go in Chicago I run

into Officers. I have never seen this Department in a more
depressed state. They are completely demoralized and are
concerned for the well being of their families and this City. I
couldn’t agree more. Chicago is heading for Detroit and will get
there faster than it took Detroit to become Detroit.
John Andrews has been given two things that are of the greatest
value. First he became a member of the finest group of men and
women ever to walk upon the face of this earth - The Chicago
Police Department. John was also given something much more
significant .... The honor and privilege to Command.

Nothing holds more weight, has more obligation attached, or put

the recipient in a more critical situation that the honor and
privilege of Command. John Andrews’ most fundamental duty is
the well being of the people who have been entrusted to him.
The people directly under his command are his most important
and sacred responsibility. Those above him are always
secondary. Protecting his people always supercedes the image
of the organization. When you are promoted, you do not swear
an oath to the Mayor or Jody Weis, and until they change that,
keeping the citizens of this City safe and protecting those are
charged with that task is a Boss’s primary responsibility.

John, you could not have lived up to that with greater honor. I
am proud to have worn the same uniform as you and will be at
your service, especially during this critical time for you.

Your words could not have been more accurate. People forget
that in the years prior to the appointment of Jody Weis, this was
the safest big City in the Country. In the year that followed Weis
brought this city to the Homicide capital of the U.S.

We now hear that crime is down in comparison to the last two

years. Of course it’s down. After his first year it might have been
difficult for even Weis to continue the downward trend. However,
the violence may be numerically trending down but the brazen
defiance in the attitude of the thugs that have turned more and
more neighborhoods in this City into a third world country, is
more than frightening.
Weis has presided over the most drastic decrease in manpower
in the history of Chicago. He has no idea how to prioritize his
responsibilities, his administration is clueless and he [is] simply
out of touch with reality. He responds to problems with more and
more programs that have not worked. He has dismissed
everything - including advice from those who know how to do the
job - that was successful in the past. He has promoted a number
of the most incompetent people to have ever been employed by
this City, while at the same time demoting anyone who would
disagree with him or exhibit the slightest bit of skill, knowledge
or ability. (Sound like anyone else we all know?)

Weis has absolutely no sense of Chicago Police Department

history and instead it would seem he has nothing but disdain for
the men and women he has been charged to lead. This is not
surprising. The organization he comes from has always looked
down their nose at “the Locals.”

What’s wrong with this guy? Why don’t he get it ... or, does he??

For reasons still debated, the Mayor decided to ignore the

recommendations of the Police Board for a successor to Phil
Cline - all three of whom were superior and accomplished Police
officers and leaders, he picked a former FBI agent to take over
the Chicago Police Department.

I have worked with many Special Agents of the FBI. I attended

the FBI National Academy in 1977. I have the greatest respect for
some of those people. Ken Lang, Joe Lewis, Gary Kissenger,
Chuck Sekarek, Chuck Miller are just a few of the very best
Special Agents of the FBI. That said however, it is very important
to understand that the law enforcement mission of the Bureau is
entirely investigative. In the vast majority of cases the FBI is not
under any time constraints. They have vastly superior funding
and they are never a first responder.
The FBI is however, the first to arrive at a press conference.
Even with crimes such as bank robbery, which is covered by
federal statutes, when they arrive on the scene, the Police are
already there. If they decide to take the case, they can take all
the time they need to solve it. Regardless of who eventually
solves the case they will take the credit. The majority of Agents
have never placed handcuffs on a suspect unless that person
surrendered in their offices.

They train and train for things they will rarely encounter. They
love to play “guns” and “SWAT,” but it is hard for anyone to
name someone the FBI has actually had to shoot - John Dillinger
and the pregnant women at Ruby Ridge come to mind.

It is also no secret that they have a reputation for never sharing

information with any other law enforcement entity - even other
federal agencies. It is also no secret that they have disdain for
local law enforcement and the feeling is quite mutual. They
would rather put a politician, an eighty year old Italian or COP in
jail than any gang banger. They are indeed the Internal Affairs
Division for all federal agencies.

When they can’t get one of their favorite targets for the actual
crime, they have the luxury of charging people with “Lying to the
FBI” regardless of the subject’s guilt in the initial case. They
also get to determine who has lied and what the lie is.

Let’s assume that Jody Weis was the greatest FBI Special Agent
who ever lived .... that he is the undisputed most superior
employee ever to have worked in the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. Just because you win the Indianapolis 500, don’t
mean you can be an Ice Road Trucker. Jody Weis ain’t no Ice
Road Trucker.

[In spite] of a $310,000.00 salary and contract, he has taken

Chicago from the safest big city in the country to the murder
capital of the United States in his first year. He has destroyed
any appearance of morale. He immediately replaced the most
experienced command personnel and added a cadre of former
FBI agents to top positions in the Department. Although he said
he would never wear the Uniform of a Chicago Police Officer, he
puts it on thereby insulting every single officer who has ever
served. Even O. W. Wilson, who was appointed by Richard J.
Daley, never once put the uniform on, even though he had
actually been a police officer in two cities.

He speaks of analytical programs that will have police ready to

respond to any crime. Response will not prevent crime. Weis’
clearance rates are around 36%. That is especially telling since
Weis comes from the FBI and the FBI invented Uniform Crime
Reporting, one might think he could find a way to improve this.
Perhaps he has and the situation is far worse than anyone
knows. With his homicide clearance rate so low he blames the
public for not coming forward to identify perpetrators. Does he
really believe that people in gang ridden neighborhoods flocked
to the police in the past. Nothing has changed, and, his lack of
action has emboldened Chicago’s thugs and gang members.

He has no sense of Chicago Police Department history and

seems to discount anything that worked in the past - especially
in the Cline and Hillard Administrations. His men and women
believe fervently, that he will sacrifice each and every one of
them if a complaint of any kind is made against them. He is
universally despised by virtually every Police Officer.

He has pledged to replace the current vehicle fleet with SUVs,

even though such vehicles are not suited for urban policing and
are much more expensive.

(The FBI really loves their SUVs.) However in the meantime,

much of the fleet is wearing out and is not being replaced. He
has watched other equipment fall into disrepair. He did authorize
officers to carry heavy weapons once they qualify. But, I’m told
that in most cases those weapons are in the trunks of the
vehicles. (Isn’t that where the gang bangers keep theirs), and
may I quote a current Exempt Command member, ...”in any case
God forbid we actually have to use any weapon “. He has come
up with brilliant ideas such as putting stickers on police vehicles
with the words, “How’s My Driving?” Fortunately that one never
materialized.

Weis has explained his reasons for, and response to, Murders in
a speech to the City Club, when he said, “... the reason we have
Murders in Chicago is because of violence...” Brilliant. Only a
Mensa member could have arrived at [that]. He went on to say
“....we are going after violence. If you’re a drug dealer and you’re
not shooting people, you’re not on our radar.” Amazing !!!

Weis has dutifully endorsed the Mayor’s gun phobia even after
the head of the Chicago Office of the FBI said that such local
laws are meaningless in preventing violence.

Along with any other Mayoral malapropism, Weis continues to

march with the community wearing his muscle shirt, show up at
crime scenes - as long as there is no threat to him personally,
and pretend to applaud the men and women of the C. P. D. He
once said that “if he lost the confidence and trust of the men and
women of the Police Department, he would leave on his own.” I
guess no one has ever been more out of touch with the
personnel under his command.

Whatever Weis’ accomplishments as an FBI Special Agent is

generally not spoken about. However, we were told that he
“worked on the Una-bomber case.” Well that says volumes. It
only took the Bureau twenty years to solve that one and only
after the bomber’s brother turned him in. We also know that he
went after “Whistle Blowers.” found within the FBI. (Sound
familiar Lieutenant Andrews?)

Weis may have been an outstanding agent. He simply has no

idea what police officers do every single day. The Mayor picked
someone who comes from one of the greatest investigative
organizations in the history of law enforcement. It is also the
world’s most prolific public relations firm, and an organization
that believes it’s own headlines.

Where his greatest failure lies, is not being personally aware of

the job at hand. He is simply out of his league. After all the FBI
is a law enforcement organization, not a Police agency. Maybe
he never saw any distinction. That, I believe to be his greatest
failure - he does not recognize the difference. He has gone the
path of many FBI employees by never going beyond what is
required to get ahead. Simply surround yourself with other chair-
bourne rangers, like yourself. Which is what he did

The saddest commentary and Weis’ most egregious sin however,

is that he was in a position to do great things. He is the only
Superintendent to have a Contract. He is paid $310,000.00
annually - more than the Mayor. He could have stood up to the
Mayor.

He could have prevented the Department from being gutted,

undermanned and demoralized. He could have used his Federal
connections to truly impact upon the gangs that are over-running
this city. He could have stood up for his people. He has done
none of those things and he is the only Superintendent to have
been put in a position to truly keep politics at bay and
accomplish great things. He is a total failure and he and [the]
Mayor are presiding over an even more drastic decline.

I am so saddened at the conditions in the City but especially the

organization I spent 41 years with. I have seen much and been
through very bad times over that period. I have never seen it
worse. I have never heard so many officers at all levels of
supervision and command - never from Exempt Members -
openly condemn their leadership or the condition of the
Department. And, I guess I have never seen such conditions or
circumstances ignored with greater vigor or success.

Thank You John Andrews. God Bless You.

Jim Maurer