Wayne A. Strnad fights for the community and people’s rights.

 

I.                    Introduction 

Since the beginning of 2003 it seems apparent that specific members of the Chicago Police Department have targeted members of the Citizens for Community Action, Inc. because of the activities the organization and its members have undertaken.  It is not only unprofessional but a potential violation of the Whistle Blowers Act as found in the Illinois Compiled Statues, as well as numerous City of Chicago Personnel Rules.  The aforementioned activities include, but are not limited to, the following:

·        Publishing a newsletter that is distributed to city employees and most recently in front of a CAPS meeting center in the 25^th District,

·        Picketing at the railroad crossing on the south end of the Bricktown Mall on Grand Avenue,

·        Research and compile data and then revealing the result,

·        Circulating of a petition and collecting more than 2,100 signatures to have the commander of the 25^th District demoted in rank,

·        Exposing the discriminatory practice in the application of the law as revealed through the issuance of tickets to one of our members and Director, Wayne A. Strnad, former aldermanic candidate of the 29^th Ward of Chicago 

As stated, the above is only a partial listing.  Much of what you will read in this document can be found on the internet at the following URL:  http://www.CitizensForCommunityAction.org

Also contained in that website are numerous exposures involving the mistreatment of people who are city employees.

II.                 Background 

The Citizens for Community Action, Inc. is a group of concerned individuals whose interest is driven by the needs of the community.  Many people who contact us simply do not know how or what to do about a specific problem.  For decades people have been mislead by being told to contact their alderman.  This was the general approach back in the 1980’s or so when one would call (312) 744-5000.  That was the Mayor’s Office “Help Line” back then.  It was later migrated to 311.

Although aldermen would change by the election process or the remapping of ward boundaries or serving time in jail after indictments and due process, the one sustained constant was the same problem the individual had to start with and was told to talk to the alderman.  It became a vicious circle for community residents who essentially had to start at step 1 in the process – again.

Since this document is to address the issues involved with the 25^th District and the acts of intimidation and harassment, we shall only make available information pertaining to that.  We do, however, encourage the reader to visit the website and browse other topics that may be of interest.

III.               The Police Department Structure

Unknown to the community-at-large and even those that work for the Chicago Police Department is the structure of the department.  For the last 14 years the Superintendent of Police has pretty much been a figurehead and point person in times of crisis.  For other times that are not as critical, there is a barrage of Public Relations people ready to provide misinformation.  Realistically, the Superintendent has very little to do with the day-to-day operations of the department; that is the job of James Maurer. 

The Citizens for Community Action, Inc. haphazardly fell into the role of discovery because of an incident involving one of the community residents who has lived in the area for more than fifty (50) years.  This lady, named Stella Nicpon, has consistently attended a local CAPS meeting in District 25, beat 2515 as well as other CAPS meetings held in other districts.  When Stella asked to see a copy of the “Rules for CAPS” she was first brushed off, paramount to ignored, and then later intimidated by Sgt. Schultz.  In the later case of intimidation, Schultz had violated several City of Chicago Personnel Rules in his non-exempt position with the Chicago Police Department.

1.  The Community is Left in the Dark

Although one can easily find promotional signs about CAPS programs, the War on Drugs and so forth, one cannot readily find information about the “Rules for CAPS.”

In February of 2003 a community resident asked to see a copy of the Rules for CAPS at a public meeting for CAPS, not run by a beat facilitator as in other CAPS programs, but Sgt. Schultz of the Chicago Police Department.  This is public information and should be readily available to anyone who requests to see it.  Also, by the Freedom of Information Act, a request can be either presented in person or reduced to writing.  Information supporting this can be found at http://www.ag.state.il.us/foia/foia.htm#summary.

Also at this same meeting, a motion was put on the floor to elect a new beat facilitator.  The same Sgt. Schultz mentioned above then burst out at this resident, exclaiming, “I run this meeting, and I have the right to ban the both of you from this meeting.”

On March 10, 2003 a formal letter was written to Superintendent Hillard regarding that event.  Contained within that letter was a request for information regarding the “Rules for CAPS.”  The content of that letter can be found in the appendix.

About 15 days latter, on March 25, 2003, the Citizens for Community Action, Inc. filed a Freedom of Information Act request, reduced to writing, seeking a copy of the “Rules for CAPS.”  According to the Legal Affairs Division of the CPD, the rules were being rewritten.  In a letter from Wayne A. Strnad, Director of the Citizens for Community Action, Inc., we then asked for the current version of the rules referenced by Sgt. Schultz and the new version when it is released.  Nearly five (5) weeks later it was discovered that the 25^th District has no such rules, or bylaws as they then referred to them.

Since the 25^th District has no such rules, the FOIA request was expanded to include every District in the CPD.  This was done to see which districts really have rules.

 

2.  The Truth comes Out

After several months of waiting we finally received the copies of the “Rules for CAPS”  for 23 of the 25 Districts of the Chicago Police Department.

There are some important highlights regarding this information.  First, they are not called the “Rules for CAPS” as expressed by Sgt. Schultz.  They go by one of two other names:  The District Advisory Council, locally referred to as DAC, or The District Steering Committee.

Second, there are grave inconsistencies in structure from one district to another.

A full analysis of this structure is currently being worked on and will be available at a later date.  Wayne A. Strnad will call a press conference to announce the findings.

3.  Two Districts do not Comply

As mentioned in section III paragraph 2, two of the twenty-five Districts denied our Freedom of Information Act request.  Those districts were the 13^th District and the 25^th District.

It was later learned that the Commander of the 13^th District was affiliated with the 25^th District before he became commander of District 13.

4.  Getting Money Information

It is written in various District Advisory Council (DAC) documentation that funds are available to the DAC.  Many of the districts even have people responsible for accounting purposes.

On June 11, 2003 we filed another Freedom of Information Act request pertaining to the money that’s involved with the 13^th and 25^th District.

More than three months later as of the writing of the document, we still have not received the information requested. 

5. Appeal Letter Sent to Mayor Daley and Superintendent Hillard

As the standard procedure, when one files a FOIA request and it gets denied or the time limit runs out, one must appeal to the person in charge of the “body.”  In this case Superintendent Hillard is in charge of the Chicago Police Department so he received an appeal letter to release the information as stated in paragraph 4 above.  Since Mayor Daley is the high-ranking person of the local government, he also received an appeal letter.

The Corporate Council for the City of Chicago sent us a fax on August 15, 2003 telling us they were sending the matter to Legal Affairs of the Chicago Police Department.

IV.              Liable, Slander and Derogatory Remarks

In the May 22, 2003 edition of the Lerner Times, it is stated in a sub headline, Police claim group xenophobic.

Several calls were placed to the newspaper that published this story and we finally talked with the general manager, Ed Bannon.  During the course of the conversation it was revealed that the person who made that statement was the Commander of the 25^th District, Michael McCotter.

On July 11, 2003 a formal letter was sent to Internal Affairs and a complaint registered against 25^th District Commander McCotter.

The letter served a multi-fold purpose:  first, it was a complaint against McCotter,  second it was a Freedom of Information Act request asking for McCotter to produce paperwork that justifies his statement made to the press and finally, it quoted the mission statement of the Chicago Police Department as previously stated on their website.

It is perhaps interesting to note that one can no longer find the mission statement for the Police Department on their website.  If it does exist, it is deeply buried somewhere that does not have a prominent link.

A reply was received and apparently McCotter had no paperwork to provide.

V.  Acts of Intimidation, Targeting and Harassment

1.      Intimidation 

Below are two definitions of intimidation.

To make timid; inspire with fear.

To force into or deter from some action by inducing fear.

There are other definitions pertaining to intimidation but perhaps the most fundamental strand that pervades all is fear.

Any such act of intimidation is totally unacceptable from our point of view, especially since it involves a city employee who is in violation of the City of Chicago Personnel Rules.  Contrary to popular belief, the officers and sergeant’s are not exempt from these rules although other higher-ranking positions are exempt. 

2.      Targeting

We know of no better word to explain the actions of certain members of the Chicago Police Department other than targeting. 

In July of 2003 Wayne A. Strnad received two tickets:  one for parking on the parkway and the other for no front license plate.  Both of these tickets are being contested and you can see a portion of the letter that was sent to the Director of the Department of Revenue regarding the same.  It is a 60-page letter that was faxed and mailed certified – return receipt.

It is important to note the activities that transpired up to and including the day of the ticket issuance.

On June 23, 2003 we started an informational picket on the south end of the Bricktown Mall.  You can turn your browser to http://www.CitizensForCommunityAction.org to see a photograph of the informational picket sign that we displayed to the general public.  On July 2, 2003 an appeal letter for information as per our Freedom of Information Act request was written to both Mayor Daley and Superintendent Hillard.  July 2, 2003 is also the same day Wayne A. Strnad received the two tickets.  Of course one can contend that all this is merely coincidence and the tickets should have been issued.  We’ll address that in a moment.

At approximately 10:00 PM on the night of the ticket issuance, Wayne A. Strnad called 911 to report approximately 20 other cars that should have been given tickets for parking violations.  The rationale being that finally, the 25^th District is going to do their job in issuing tickets.  The interesting thing is that not a single ticket was issued that evening by Star/Badge number 13217, other than the two given to Wayne A. Strnad.  See Section V paragraph 4 for details.

As a side note, back in 2000 we had to call in the Revenue Department to issue tickets because the 25^th District seemed to have suffered from writer’s cramp; actually, it’s a prolonged disease that has lasted more than 20 years in that District.  In two days time the Revenue Department wrote more than 300 tickets for various violations.  Question becomes why didn’t the 25^th District see these same violations?

As mentioned above, it all could be coincidence but if you look over the letter to the Director of the Revenue Department you’ll notice a multitude of pictures that perfectly illustrate other vehicles parked in the same exact location but not receiving tickets despite the fact that calls were made to 911.  The cream-de-la crème of these photographs was exposed in a “special release” flyer by the Citizens for Community Action, Inc. in which license plate CHGO FOP parked in the same exact spot as Wayne A. Strnad.  A call to 911 was again placed to send out a police car and ticket the illegally parked vehicle.  Yet, no ticket was issued.  You can view this special release in the appendix.

The car with license plate CHGO FOP is owned by Greg Bella, 1^st Vice President Chicago FOP, Lodge #7.

3.      Harassment

Due to the above evidence in photographs illustrating the targeting of a person as well as the numerous pages of other documentation, the next logical question that needs answering is as follows:  At what point is it viable to say that harassment has now occurred?

On July 19, 2003 we started circulating a petition asking for the demotion of Commander McCotter.

On July 23, 2003 Wayne A. Strnad sat in front of the 25^th District Police Station.  He counted 217 cars that were in violation of the same thing he received a ticket for – no front license plate.  The number did not include the cars that went into the restricted area behind the station, presumably police department personnel.  The third ticket issued to Wayne A. Strnad occurred later that evening.  Another coincident?

Mr. Strnad’s car was parked on private property, approximately 20 feet away from the location where he received two other tickets.  Note that it was on private property.  A picture is provided in the letter to the Director of the Revenue Department.

In Section 5, paragraph 5 you will see a list of all the tickets issued by this officer.  It must be noted that all the tickets this officer wrote were in a region of the 25^th District far away from the Golden Nugget – 3001 N. Central.  This person had to have been told to go there to write the ticket because he or she did not come into the Golden Nugget to eat.  Only two officers dined at the Nugget that night.

The morning edition of the Chicago Tribune, dated August 13, 2003, had an article in the Metro Section that briefly talked about the petition we circulated and then presented to Superintendent Hillard.  Later that evening Sgt. Schultz drives in the alley behind Wayne’s house and announces on the loudspeaker “We’re patrolling your neighborhood.”  Is this coincidence?  Not at all because Schultz simply does not drive down the alley nor does he even patrol that neighborhood.

On August 15, 2003 Sgt. Schultz parked in an alley waiting for one of our members (Ed) to come home.  After the member arrived and parked his vehicle, Sgt. Schultz pulled up and then told Ed about a sticker he had on the back of his vehicle.  It was from the FOP.  Ed is not a member of the FOP but one of his relatives is.  Schultz then told Ed that he could arrest him and have him fingerprinted. 

In the evening of August 25, 2003, Wayne A. Strnad was told by Officer Jim Curry to “Leave Schultz alone.”  This was said in Golden Nugget – 3001 N. Central Avenue.

The afternoon of September 2, 2003 brought about an interesting event.  Wayne A. Strnad was pacing in front of the 25^th District Police Station, in the same location he passed out information to the officers coming into and leaving the district, when all of a sudden Sgt. Schultz started coming toward Grand Avenue.  Wayne A. Strnad was talking to another officer who had called him to his car.  He was off the sidewalk and standing on the apron to the restricted area.  He stood in the “arrest zone” as described by Schultz to another city employee who helped Wayne distribute information on July 16, 2003.

As the other officer pulled away Wayne went back on the sidewalk.  Sgt. Schultz stopped the other officer and talked briefly.  He then exited to Grand Avenue, westbound.  When he got to the main entrance he pulled in and then turned around.  He proceeded eastbound on Grand Avenue and then parked right behind Wayne’s car. 

After 25 minutes Wayne went into the 25^th District and asked to talk to Schultz’s boss.  He mentioned that he understands that the 25^th District has a lot of crime.  Why is it that there is a sergeant just sitting in front of this station, doing nothing?  The boss said he was not aware of that and did not know which sergeant he was talking about.  He was told it was Sgt. Schultz.  He said he would look into it.

Wayne left the station after shaking this gentleman’s hand and proceeded to his car.  When he reached Grand Avenue Sgt. Schultz pulled away, only to be replaced by another police car with driver Jim Curry and another officer.

Note that Wayne A. Strnad was the only person passing out information in front of the police station.  Also, when Sgt. Schultz decided to park behind Wayne’s car, Wayne stopped distribution and even put the flyers in the trunk of his car.  Sgt. Schultz did not leave until he was “told” to leave by his boss.

Wayne feels that the intent of Schultz and Curry was to allow him to get in his car and then drive off.  After he would drive off, they would stop him for some traffic violation.  He was not about to give them that satisfaction.  So, he stayed.

After another 25 minutes of Curry and the other officer just sitting there, Wayne thought it was going to be a long time before he would be able to move his car, so he walked over to a grocery store a couple of blocks away to get a soda.  He returned about 20 minutes later.  The “Wayne Watch Patrol” had gone.

Jokingly he told the regulars at Golden Nugget, “Not even Daley gets that kind of protection.” 

4.      Miscellaneous Incidents

Suppose you’re standing rather peacefully talking to another person and then all of a sudden you turn your head and see a car speeding toward you.  The second or two that you have to do something due to the proximity of the vehicle, really allows little to no time to make a quick decision and move out of the path of that vehicle.  The first reaction of anyone is that of shock. 

On July 16, 2003 that is exactly what happened.  The driver was none other than Sgt. Schultz.  The potential victim who might have sustained serious injuries if he accidentally moved in the wrong direction was Mr. Bruce Randazzo.  Sgt. Schultz applied his breaks missing Mr. Randazzo by only a few inches. 

Bruce is also a member of the Citizens for Community Action, Inc.  He is a city employee who has served for more than 13 years.  He now works for the Water Management Department.  He is a teamster of Local 726 and a recent candidate for Secretary-Treasurer of that union.

One of the first questions that one should ask is where was Mr. Randazzo standing?  He was standing at the edge of the carved out concrete, where bicycles go to cross over to the other side.

1.Chronological Detail of Activities

 

February 19, 2003	Sgt. Schultz intimidates a lady who has resided in the community for more than 50 years when she makes a motion to elect a new beat facilitator, replacing Mr. Jim Urganis.
March 10, 2003	Complaint filed with Internal Affairs.	Nothing done to date.
March 10, 2003	Letter sent to Superintendent Hillard
March 25, 2003	Letter sent to Ed McGovern in Legal Affairs	See attached copy.
March 26, 2003	FOIA filed to get copy of the “Rules of CAPS” Schultz referred to.  Eventually this was expanded to all 25 districts
May 2, 2003	Letter Sent to Superintendent Hillard	See attached copy.
May 22, 2003	McCotter calls us xenophobic
May 28, 2003	FOIA answered.  – 2 Districts did not comply, 13th and 25th
May 29, 2003	Received copies of the “Rules for CAPS.”  Actually they are referred to as District Advisory Council (DAC) or District Steering Committee (DSC).	Two district did not comply – the 13th and 25th.
June 9, 2003	Analysis of Cost of Service in McCotter’s neighborhood vs a neighborhood in the 25th District.	See newsletter for details
June 11, 2003	FOIA submitted pertaining to the funds of the District Advisory Council (DAC) or District Steering Committee (DSC).
June 11, 2003	Letter to Internal Affairs presenting formal complaint against Commander McCotter
June 23, 2003	First Day of Picket at railroad crossing
July 2, 2003	Appeal letter for FOIA was written to Mayor Daley and Superintendent Hillard of the Chicago Police Department.
July 2, 2003	Wayne A. Strnad gets two tickets at Golden Nugget – 3001 N. Central
July 3, 2003	We give exemplary cop award to star/badge no 13217	See attached
July 11, 2003	Last Day of Picket
July 16, 2003	Passed out information in front of St. Stans – CAPS meeting	See Newsletter
July 17, 2003	Exposed Star/Badge No 13217 for missing more than 2500 cars without front license plates and more than 200 illegally parked cars.	See attached
July 19, 2003	Started to circulate petition	See example petition
July 23, 2003	Wayne A. Strnad sits in front of 25th District Police Station (Grand-Centeral) for 1 hour and counts 217 cars that passed the front door of the police station that did not have any front license plates.  The number does not count those that entered the restricted area that were in violation of law.
July 23, 2003	Wayne A. Strnad gets third ticket by Golden Nugget – on private property
July 31, 2003	Wayne A. Strnad mails and faxes 60 page reply to Department of Revenue regarding three tickets mentioned above.
August 7, 2003	Ended petition drive
August 7, 2003	Another letter sent to Department of Revenue regarding alleged parking violations.
August 10, 2003	Issued press release calling for Press Conference on 8/12/03
August 12, 2003	Press Conference in front of the Chicago Police Headquarters – 3510 W. Michigan
August 13, 2003	Sgt. Schultz drives in the alley behind Wayne’s house and announces on the loudspeaker “We’re patrolling your neighborhood.”
August 14, 2003	Hand delivered copy of petition to Mayor Daley’s Office.	Petition got lost in less than three hours.
August 19, 2003	Since Wayne A. Strnad had not received anything from the Department of Revenue, he wrote another letter to same.  Reiterated FOIA request.	See attached.
August 20, 2003	Passout out information in front of St. Stans – CAPS meeting	See Newsletter
August 25, 2003	Told by Officer Jim Curry to leave Schultz alone.
August 27, 2003	Went to Mayor Daley’s office to see what happened to the petition.  Met Mr. Tony Durns and was informed they have the document somewhere but he wasn’t sure exactly where it was.	Nothing received as of September 14, 2003
August 28, 2003	Issued press release	See attached
September 2, 2003	Passed out newsletter in front of 25th District	Same newsletter as August 20, 2003.  Schultz parked behind my car and just sat there.  After 25 minutes I walked into the 25th District to speak to his boss.  I started telling him that I understand crime is rather high in this district.  Can you please explain why a sgt is just sitting in front of the district doing nothing?  He said he would look into it.   About 2-3 minutes later Schultz pulled off, only to be replaced by car 2505, driven by Jimmy Curry.
September 7, 2003	As in the past I called 911 to report a vehicle illegally parked.  License plate CHGO FOP.  No ticket issued.	Exposed this.  See attached.
September 9, 2003	Passed out “Special Release” in front of 25th Distrrct.
September 12, 2003	Wayne A. Strnad gets threatening letter.	See attached.