We Need to Know: Would You Turn Your Own Family In For Breaking the Law? 

In last week’s “O’Leary’s Cow,” we see Superintendent Teresa Colvin struggle with how to handle her brother-in-law after he compromises her job and her integrity. At first, she just thinks she’s doing him a favor by looking into some parking lot scam but later she discovers he took a payoff and promised her office could take care of the problem. With how hard Colvin has been working to take Alderman Gibbons down and fight all the other corruption in her ward, this looks really bad. In fact, she tells her brother-in-law if he doesn’t turn himself into the FBI she’ll do it for him. I thought this was a stellar episode and it had me asking some tough questions. If I was in a position of power and was compromised by a family member, would I turn them in? I think I would.

Now, it’s one thing to think you’ll do something and another to actually do it. I don’t know what her brother-in-law’s history is. Does he have a record? Is this the first time he’s gotten into any trouble? Is it ever ok to do something because you think everyone else is doing it? The naive part of me doesn’t want to believe there is this much corruption anywhere in the world, much less Chicago, but the practical part of me says “Blagojevich.” With shows like The Chicago Code, you can’t just sit back and disengage your brain. It makes you think, it makes you question, it makes you open your eyes. I like that.

For me, I have a few family members who don’t end up on the right side of the law all the time. And I have a very healthy and strong respect for authority. I don’t cut in line – EVER – and I don’t allow my friends to do it if I’m with them. So you can imagine how I feel about actual laws and doing the right thing. Even though I’m fiercely loyal to my friends and family I don’t think it’s ever ok to even try to get away with something illegal. I mean, I had expired tags on my car for 10 days and I was panicking. I had renewed my registration but I was waiting for the updated sticker. Yeah, I’m a total nerd but now you’ve got some insight into me. So having said that, I think I’d be very “letter of the law” if I ever decided to become a cop (never gonna happen).

But it makes you think. What are you willing to overlook because the person doing something wrong is your family? Will you let them compromise your values and morals? Is it ever ok to look the other way? All interesting questions. They made me question where my loyalties are. I don’t think Superintendent Colvin was betraying herself or her family by threatening to turn her brother-in-law in. I think she was being true to exactly who she is. She has vowed to get rid of the corruption and back-alley deals that have plagued Chicago since she was a child. And she’s doing it by any means necessary – within the legal limits of the law. Her actions have consequences though. She’s banned from spending time with her niece and nephew. I’d be devastated if that happened to me but I can’t fault her logic. I’m with her. I want to see her make her city great again.