FliesWay2Much

I realize this is simply a "CYA" but I wonder if the TSA is listening and gets it... OK, I doubt it.

Kippie, you're still a blithering idiot...

yandosan

Oh, cool...it was just a wardrobe malfunction.
Many people had assumed it was more serious than that.

chollie

I thought there were laws against impersonating an officer, let alone physically assaulting people under the authority of a fake badge.

I wonder who is responsible for ordering these improperly marked uniforms - and why apparently not a single person questioned it.

MSPeconomist

This issue arose in the discussion of the Dr Dao UA beating and dragging incident. The airport security employees were wearing "uniforms" that said police despite being ordered not to do so months earlier.

petaluma1

How did you get the quote from the Times? I can't copy and paste anything from that newspaper.

The good doctor settled quickly with United. Hopefully, he will go after these faux police also.

Section 107

Well, to be fair it is not entirely correct to call ASOs “faux cops” or even wannabe cops (even if that is what was happening).

Heretofore, to be an ASO one must meet minimum qualifications (MQs) which are equal to those of being a Chicago PD (CPD) officer and which are actually higher than the mqs of the state to be a LEO. Also, to be an ASO one must be an Illinois Certified Law Enforcement Officer. The City sends ASO recruits to the exact same academy it sends its “regular” CPD recruits – often in the same classes. Upon graduation from the academy ASOs receive the same Illinois Law Enforcement Officer certification as do the regular officers. Not only do these employees seem to clearly fall within the definitions for a police officer in the Illinois Police Training Act but the state Training and Standards Board considered the Dept of Aviation a Law Enforcement Agency and all the ASOs as certified law enforcement officers. To top it all off, once on the job, ASOs were authorized to issue citations and detain and even make arrests without warrant. Note that this authorization was severely limited (by the employer, not the state).

So, given all of the above, it is understandable why/how ASOs and their union reps believe they should be considered LEOs and allowed to use on their uniforms and vehicles the indicia of “Police Officer.”

BUT, and it’s a big but, that’s about as far as it goes. ASOs were clearly never employees of the Police Superintendent. Therefore, they would have to be “special police” – LEOs with authority in limited places or situations. However, Chicago municipal law says that state certification as a LEO is not enough. To be a special police officer within the Chicago jurisdiction one must also be approved by the Superintendent (this it is akin to being licensed as a paramedic but not having been released to independent practice by an agency’s medical director). And the City never had ASOs approved by Superintendent. So, they weren’t SPOs either, even though they were authorized by their employer to issue citations and detain and even arrest.
Add on top of that a history of policy and practices calling them “police” and it is no doubt a confusing environment.

To the ASOs’ consternation, the Chicago Dept of Aviation (DCA)has done them a solid (not!) by arguing to the Police Training Standards Board that they are not police officers. The Board willingly obliged and stripped CDA of its recognition as a law enforcement agency and stripped all ASOs of their recognition as LEOs (which also denies them the ability to credit any service as a ASO toward qualifying for any other LEO job and towards the revered perk of retired officer concealed carry privileges).

I can certainly see why the union is highly upset with their employer….

nachtnebel

seems a rather severe punishment for just beating up some doctor.

Boggie Dog

These non-police had already been directed to remove Police from their clothing. Not all complied. At least now there is no question of their status. If they want to be police then apply elsewhere. There is a large shortage of cops in Dallas.

yandosan

Hell, they could always signup as Brownshirts.

Boggie Dog

I hear the Brownshirts have a high turnover rate. Should be easy enough to get hired on. Then we can have events like Dr. Dao's everyday.

FliesWay2Much

I guess I have a free on-line subscription through work. I've also found that you can Google the article name and the same article will come up for free.

petaluma1

Thanks. The secret must be the subscription because I'd tried the Google way and still couldn't copy. However, I know there is a cumbersome way to copy and paste if I really want to do so. Seems to me the NYT is shooting themselves in the foot.

RandomNobody

NoScript, or other extensions like "right to click" to remove the prohibition on copy-paste.

Often1

The ASO's meet the qualifications for LEO under Illinois law, it is simply that their employer does not want them serving as LEO's.

For all the frothing at the mouth here on FT, the impact is that ASO's won't have to meet Illinois or CPD standards and the job will be less desireable because the time with ASO can't be counted as LE and their retirement is worth less.

At a time when LE agencies are having real trouble recruiting, this kicks ASOs one rung further down.

chollie

If someone isn't capable of following a simple direction like 'remove the word police from your uniform', I certainly don't think they can be trusted with bigger tasks, like removing pax from planes.