Former Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis had lunch Monday with the Elgin Rotary Club where he talked about the challenges of being placed at the helm of the city’s police department as an outsider from Florida and former agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.“Those three letters (FBI) are very hard for police officers to understand,” he said. “FBI puts bad cops in jail.”
It was a challenging time, he told about 25 Rotary members in attendance at the Hickory Stick Restaurant in The Highlands of Elgin Golf Course.
Weis served Chicago from 2008 through 2011, but said he wished he had at least two more years to work on what he had started.
His focus, he said, was to establish relationships within the community, because it is those residents, especially church members, who know who the criminals are and where police are most needed.
He made changes in the department to encourage community policing, professionalism, responsibility and excellence.
His message was simple he said: “Don’t brutalize the public, don’t engage in corrupt activity, don’t lie, cheat or steal.”
Weis, now deputy director of the Chicago Crime Commission, said he also noticed the department lacked in training. So, he had over 36,000 police officers undergo a series of training sessions, he focused on tactical training, and collecting data to be more focused in fighting crimes. He also developed a policy for issuing search warrants that required photographs to be shot and video to be taped with each search.
He worked to change the officers’ mindset from thinking about how many arrests they would make in their shift to how many crimes they could prevent, he said.
“Prevention is the most important thing,” he said. “It is not about arrests. It is about prevention and a reduction in crimes.”
In his time as superintendent, new strategies and dedicated police officers, resulted in homicides reaching a 45-year low, he said.
He said he wishes Chicago Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy and Mayor Rahm Emanuel “the best of luck.”
Weis said in fatal shootings like that of 5-year-old Eric Galarza, Jr., who was shot on Oct. 7 in his family’s car, “total cooperation is needed.” Elgin Police have said the shooting was gang related.
He said people are afraid to speak out and provide police with information, but it is as easy as dropping an anonymous note in the collection box at church or sending messages via cell phone applications.
“The community knows who the criminal is,” he said. “At the end of the day when we still have kids killing kids…we can’t have 13-year-olds holding the community hostage.”
Elgin Police Chief Jeff Swaboda, who attended the luncheon, said he often talks to Weis about policing issues in Elgin. He said he is a great sounding board.
“It is great to learn from other people’s mistakes and successes,” he said. “He’s seen everything. “
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DETECTIVE SHAVEDLONGCOCK:
Hey Jody Weis: It wasn't that you were a former FBI agent that the men and women of of the Chicago police department hated you.... It was YOU! You were the reason why you weren't liked and why you were fired from the Chicago police department...Yes, when you are not offered a new contract... YOU'RE FIRED!
