Culture of the Chicago Police Dept

[SubZeroo]

I’ve always been curious on the culture of the CPD. Like what personalities are a good fit for the dept? Like I can’t imagine someone on the timid side interacting with alpha male macho bangers..

[DanielHK]

Depends on the the area you're in i guess. Not every precinct is full of gang bangers.

[ChiTownDet]

There are no precincts in Chicago.

[southpaw1]

^I was waiting for that. Hahaha. I was gonna say something but I was like aaaaaaaah forget it. Lol

[KrayJack]

^I was waiting for that. Hahaha. I was gonna say something but I was like aaaaaaaah forget it. Lol

Likewise

[DanielHK]

Potato tomato

[southpaw1]

Just giving you a hard time man!

[SubZeroo]

potato potato new York Chicago

[southpaw1]

^It's ALL (Executive Producer) Dick Wolf's fault...Trust me. Lol. A New York guy producing Chicago shows confusing people...Chicago PD, Fire, MED, Justice (I think that one got cut?). NBC let em have a field day hahah. These are the things that keep ChiTownDet up at night.

[ChiTownDet]

Want to be the TV police, be an actor. You're a fool if you learned our jargon by watching TV, instead of from other Chicago Police Officers.

[southpaw1]

ChiTownDet That was a joke. I hope you didn't take that seriously Sir. I guess I forgot to say just kidding. I've actually only seen ever maybe 5 min of one episode of Chicago PD EVER! Never watched any of the other shows either.

[scotty_appleton814]

Total Chicago PD and Fire junkie here. I drink from the cup of D. Wolf and it tastes sooooooo gooooooodddd.......

[southpaw1]

scotty_appleton814 Lol.

[ChiTownDet]

I use to correct young guys on the job when they would say "perp," "precinct " or "badge." I'd tell them act like a Chicago Police Officer, not some TV wannabe.

I'll bet you'd be hard pressed to find a NYC copper refer to his precinct as a district, or call a bad guy an offender. I'd tell them how stupid they sounded. And call your star a "badge," and I'd talk to your partner, as evidently you think you're a fireman.

[southpaw1]

I would never make that mistake. I was actually in the Chicago Police Explorers program as a kid lol. I didn't want to have to say that publicly but you made me. So all the stuff I learned was from a veteran copper that headed up the program in my Beat.

[southpaw1]

Oh yeah also the current and or retired CPD members teaching CJ classes. Naturally you pick up on that and some made all of what you're saying pretty clear about not confusing a Star with a Badge etc. Actually a few awesome professors that were CPD would spend half the class time telling stories of their days.

[ChiTownDet]

It wasn't aimed at you. Just venting when the original poster call districts "precincts "
I used to get mad when new guys would use NYPD terminology. We're not Butte, Montana or some hick town, we ARE the big dogs on the set. People should be copying our terminology, not the other way around. I posted, some years ago, a bunch of CPD specific phrases. Most of them would not be known by most people with under 20 years on the job, but were used, a lot, when I came on and for years after.

Just like when I see younger guys with all the ribbons on , I look for a specific one that I know anyone with less than a certain number of years on couldn't possibly have.

[southpaw1]

No I completely understand that Sir. That stuff is a part of the "culture" or tradition of CPD. If you find it re-post it here!

[LeoBravo]

Compile an updated version of those CPD phrases

[ChiTownDet]

combo = Italian beef and sausage sandwich
2 flat or 3 flat = 2 or 3 apartment building
2 or 4 slams = 2 or 4 door car
steamer = hot car
buzzard = stripped car
sidewalk inspector = man down on the street
button = Police star (badge)
wagon or truck = Police squadrol
gangway = area between 2 houses
hit, skip and zip = H&R accident no arrests
heads = number of people in a car or # of arrests
"job" = Police call
"CR#"= complaint against the Police or "beef" stands for Complaint Register
"L" = elevated train or "tubes" = subway
confinement case = pregnant woman about to give birth "send a wagon"
zone = CPD radio frequency
beat car = CPD squad car
"beat tag" = Dark blue w/ white numbers on roof of beat car with cars beat #
"The Area" = one of 5 Detective Area Headquarters
"Dics" = Detectives
"District" = a geographical Police area of the City
Squad = what the dispatchers were know as (goes back to the 50'-70's when they were called "Squad Operators"
Boss = what a supervisor is called that is respected as a good boss (the younger guys call them all "Boss." (If the Suprvisor is a jag or so-so he's referred to by his actual rank)

[SubZeroo]

Suburbs near me I notice copies Los Angeles’ squad car and uniform color but Chicago’s star.

[scotty_appleton814]

Now the old school black and white police car is making a comeback, not just in your area. And I really don't know if it originated in LAPD either.

[ChiTownDet]

You can go back to the 50's and LAPD had black and whites. They were the original ones. In the Chicago area, back in the 70's-80's, every burb had different color and individual paint schemes on their cars. Not so much anymore, although I see the black cars are making a comeback.

[WindyCityCold]

I’ve always been curious on the culture of the CPD. Like what personalities are a good fit for the dept? Like I can’t imagine someone on the timid side interacting with alpha male macho bangers..

You will see any and each type of personality in an organization with over 10K sworn officers. Although many tend to be outgoing there are definitely what you call "timid" officers on the job.

[Wonder Be]

We have every type of person here, everyone finds their own "nitch". Its literally like high school.