Oprah-geddon: Winfrey To Quit Show In 2011
Daley Blames - Who Else? - The Media For Oprah-geddon
Chicago Gets Googled
Friday Flashback - Old School Oprah
Today's Transgender Day of Remembrance Honors the Dead
Only a day after ABC’s 20/20’s “Are Cops Above the Law?” exposé, where Chicago police were highlighted for their recent rash of drunken cop beaters, another cop is on the beat, so to speak. Gerald Callahan, an off-duty Chicago cop, was arrested for allegedly attacking two patrons at Chambers Seafood Grill & Chop in Niles. Niles police were called to the lounge about 1:50 a.m. Saturday morning, but Callahan had fled. At 2:30 a.m., he was found a few blocks away, passed out in bushes. He was arrested and charged with two counts of battery.
The Chicago Police Department was notified, and they announced Saturday that Callahan had been relieved of his duties pending an investigation. According to the Sun-Times, Callahan has a history:
Callahan has a history of alleged erratic behavior -- keeping his job only after the Police Board rejected former Police Supt. Phil Cline's move to dismiss him in 2006 for threatening his fellow officers.
Callahan was released on bond, and will appear in court on June 17. [Trib, S-T]
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
I wonder if alcoholism is playing a role in many of these beatings.
Cops need better mental health facilities and it would be a start to get them out of the bar and on to the shrink's couch.
Get rid of this guy. Jerks like this make things worse for the public's safety by eroding trust in all officers.
That part about the bushes is as disturbing as the fight. Is he some kind of midnight gardener?
Forgive me if I seem ignorant, but why is it that the guy who stashed a bunch of traffic tickets was canned immediately, and the drunken, fist-swinging cops take longer to get rid of than beg bugs?
"UTV: Forgive me if I seem ignorant, but why is it that the guy who stashed a bunch of traffic tickets was canned immediately, and the drunken, fist-swinging cops take longer to get rid of than beg bugs?"
I think the answer to that question is because in our world, money always trumps human life.
i.e. you can steal or embezzle a huge sum of money and get 20 years, but yet a murderer can get only a 2 year sentence.
matty: if they're drunks, it would be better to get them to an AA meeting or treatment than a shrink, imo. however, if they're not ready to quit, then firing them is the first and best step. consequences are often the first step in getting someone to see they have a problem. and even then, they may never do so.
That's true, smussy, but it would be better to get them mental help before drinking becomes a viable coping option.
It's obvious there are huge problems within the department, but for the good guys who just want to do a good job, it's incredibly, inconceivably stressful. There is an employee assistance program, but it's not widely used. Of course, that's partly due to dept-wide stigma against mental help, and I certainly have no idea how to fix that.
Julia,
Maybe, and I am not sure about this, but maybe it would help destigmatize it if officers started seeing career hits (or terminations) for behavior that can be modified or avoided by the employee assistance program. In other words, the stigma is less than the stigma of having your career sidetracked.
That job has got to be incredibly stressful, which is why they do mental health screening to get in. Do they keep doing mental health screening once you are in?
UTV: Most likely b/c drunken cops activities were off-duty and did not occur within one of the CPD offices. . .while ticket cop was in direct violation of his duties while on the clock (He didn't give the tickets while on duty, so an on the job violation).
It would be the same at your workplace. If you didn't do your job correctly, they can fire you for it immediately. But, if you were arrested for assault and battery while defaming your companies name. . they would have to investigate and find illicit proof of the violations.
In this case, I presume he'll have to be found guilty before they can terminate him.