A legal stand-off between members of the Chicago police department’s SWAT team and the city has ended with Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration demanding the officers who sued the city hand over cash.
“It’s 100% vindictive,” Chicago police detective Bob Bartlett told WGN.
Bartlett spent 15 years on the department’s SWAT team and grew frustrated by constantly being on-call without compensation. Bartlett, along with nearly 100 other current and former team members, filed a federal lawsuit claiming the city was violating federal labor standards and Illinois wage laws by not paying them for time they spent working but were unpaid.
He said he and other SWAT officers are now appealing to alderpersons to stop the mayor’s move and even considering raising the money owed via a GoFundMe page.
“We were fighting for our labor rights in a city that’s a labor city and you guys are punishing us,” Bartlett said.
