Oh Shit - Mette Update

From Mike's people:

• BULLETIN
  May 17; Iowa City, IA
  
  On Friday, May 9th, Mike went to the prison infirmary at North Central Correctional Facility complaining of sickness and a pain in his lower right abdomen. The nurse merely gave Mike a laxative and told him that nothing was wrong with him.
  
  On May 13th, Mike's appendix burst and another prison nurse had him transported to the local hospital. He was subsequently transferred to the University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City. Antibiotics failed to cure the infection.
  
  Today, the Mette Family was notified that Mike will undergo an appendectomy. The surgical procedure may include a partial removal of his COLON due to infection.
  
  MMDF:jn

Prayers and well wishes for Mike only. And referrals for a good Personal Injury lawyer. After Mike gets better, he should end up owning fucking Iowa.

Reap What You Sow

Goodbye Olympic dreams?

• Homicides in Chicago rose by almost 9 percent, while violent crime was up more than 6 percent in the first four months of 2008, compared with the same period last year, Police Supt. Jody Weis said Friday.
  
  Weis blamed the uptick in violence on "unique" sets of multiple homicides, including two triple murders and a quintuple homicide, all in April. In April, there were 47 murders, compared with 34 the year before. A total of 134 homicides were tallied over the first four months of the year, compared with 123 in 2007.

Now you know EXACTLY why J-Fed and his one trick pony show are coming to theaters near you. "Unique" set of circumstances our asses. Apathy is taking hold and the City is about to reap the whirlwind. This was the coolest April in eleven years, the coldest winter in almost as long and killings are up 9%.

TRU lost 90 officers - we're sure they'll all feel like working extra hard, especially those guys who live north and suddenly find themselves in Area 1 and 2, far from home, looking at increased gas costs to get to work with no contract for a year and no contract on the horizon. Yup, they'll be all over that homicide rate. Five-to-one odds that much of the next transfer order is ex-TRU guys bidding out of those Areas.

And the 40 guys trained on M-4s? Too bad the City hasn't even ordered those rifles yet and they're training on M-16s that will never leave the station. Get a load of Monique's quote:

• Over the next three years, the goal is to have a carbine weapon in every patrol vehicle and officers trained to use them, said spokeswoman Monique Bond.

But what about that POWER test? Is that out the window? Is Monique backtracking all over that "grasping for breath" makes the barrel move up and down? Hmmm? We'll see a camera in every patrol car before we see a carbine.

Schools are out in three weeks, gangs aren't feeling the pressure and Daley is praying that global warming is a myth. Remember Rule #1 - every officer goes home safe. Every goddamned one of us.

Big Time!

Front page of the Sun Times website:

• Only fit cops will get big gun

Cops who want to shoot an M4 assault weapon will have to flex more than a trigger finger. The Chicago Police Department recently launched physical fitness tests for cops who have applied to carry the semiautomatic rifle. Members of gang, gun and tactical teams are the first ones being asked if they want to take the state-approved exam for officers, called the P.O.W.E.R. test.

And right below that?

• Spring violence coverage
  
  What others are saying: Second City Cop

Amazing. Front page coverage. And we couldn't do one damn bit of it without you, the readers and contributors. For that, we thank you and salute you. You humble us and we will continue to strive to keep you informed, entertained and even a bit irritated on occasion.

J-Fed Admits Smoke and Mirrors?

It's amazing. You can't even see the strings or wires or however Daley is controlling his mouth:

• One answer to curbing Chicago's gun violence, according to police, is putting officers on the streets dressed in full battle gear and traveling in vehicles normally used in hostage and barricade situations.
  
  "I think it acts as deterrent," Chicago Police Dept. Supt. Jody Weis said. "The first thought is that it's SWAT and they've backed off. I think the deterrent factor is important."

Excuse us for a moment - bwahahahahahaha! They think it's SWAT? But doesn't SWAT wear green now? And what's the deterrent factor if you're telling Channel 2 and they're broadcasting it as the lead story?

Pardon our sarcasm, but isn't this just like a fed? Or a J-Fed? Put on a big show and everyone is amazed at the bells and whistles, but behind the facade, an empty suit.

And J-Fed has got to be wondering how the hell Pat Hill is getting all this coverage. First, she's all over his ass at the Channel 2 "Violence Summit" that we didn't cover because it was just a bunch of media heads and racist preachers ripping the police and demanding more of our tax money. Now she's on the Channel 2 News claiming the following:

• Pat Hill, a former police officer and the president of the African American Police League, questions the message police are sending to the black and Hispanic communities where the battle-ready officers are expected to be deployed.
  
  "This is the stuff you use in war," Hill said. "This is what you use in Iraq and Afghanistan. So are they telling the community now that they've declared us as the enemy?"

No mention by professional grievance-monger Hill (who by the way is about the biggest racist piece of shit we've ever had the misfortune of running across) that it's the police who've been on the losing side of those weapons for years now. But she actually gets J-Fed to respond to her wild accusations!

• "We're not viewing black and brown communities as war zone," Weis said.

A nice failure to mention why Hill is an ex police officer. Point to Pat Hill for getting the Superintendent of Police to actually treat her like she means anything. J-Fed is in so far over his head, it's almost sad. Almost.

Drew Moves On

Animal magnetism. That's the only way to explain it:

• The 22-year-old woman whom Drew Peterson was seeking to help when he got stopped for speeding by police has been questioned extensively by investigators probing the disappearance of his fourth wife.

  Speaking publicly for the first time, the Darien woman said Thursday that State Police investigators questioned her for two hours earlier this week about Peterson and her involvement with him.

• She met him at the suburban tanning salon where she works, has spent time with him, even stayed overnight at his Bolingbrook house, but insisted the two aren't romantically involved.

He met Stacy when she was what...17? And he was 49? Now he's 54 and a bit lonely, so he's picking up 22 year olds.

Word on the streets is he learned all his moves from Seiser.

Sergeants List Out

Post it if you got it.

UPDATE: Big thanks to the greatest readers in the world.

Merit Selections
Unit Name

189 Banuelos, Ulysses A.
211 Bielecki, Lee C.
606 Cepeda Jr., Thomas
640 Christoforakis, Jenny C.
008 Dineen, Michael E.
141 Gibbs. Ronald W.
177 Grant, David C.
189 Hallihan. Joseph F.
193 Hawkins, Brian R.
021 Hunter, Michael A.
006 Jackson, Eric
189 Kimble, Ronald N.
606 Lewis, John A.
019 Mendoza, David T.
216 Papaioannou, Chris
196 Parker, Michael K.
606 Pellegrini, John F.
141 Rhein, Charles W.
193 Roberts, John E.
014 Roman Jr., Wilfredo
141 Tiado, Jose M.
189 Walker, Traci L.

Rank Order Selections

610 Alderden, Jacob M.
023 Bartz, Michael E.
620 Beltran, Eduardo L.
022 Bird, Joseph J.
006 Clark, Llowyn R.
022 Cooney, Michael P.
008 Costello, Michael N.
650 Delafont. James K.
019 Dombrowski, Anthony M.
610 Dougherty, Phillip J.
019 Fitzgerald, Michael A.
012 Flisk, Margaret J.
141 Gade Jr., Lawrence R.
640 Garcia, Jose J.
015 Gilfillan, Gregory D,
013 Gopez. Frederich G.
196 Guerra, Cindy I.
650 Hajdu,.Karoly R.
016 Hernandez, Julio A.
620 Hindman, David J.
022 Hoover, Terry
606 Inzerra, Maurizio P.
640 Isakson, Roy A.
640 Kane III, Robert E.
650 Keane, Thomas P.
025 Kearns, Mark -E.
650 Lamperis, Dimitrios J.
253 Losik. Richard F.
141 Magno, Michael S.
610 Mahaffey Jr., Louis D.
011 Mc Kee. Luke J.
023 McHugh, Shane F.
620 Mishler, Elizabeth C.
004 Mitchum, Patrina L.
620 Piechocki, John M.
384 Pierri, Frank
189 Polan. Melinda M.
192 Ouinn, Patrick T.
010 Ramaglia, Frank V.
008 Ryan, Thomas W.
017 Salgado, Agustin
017 Schniar, Brian T.
011 Silich, Steven A.
016 Stadnik, Richard
196 Stevens, Jill M.
017 Tirado. Marco A.
141 Torres, Arturo
640 Tsoukalas, Christ
124 Washington, Monique J.
377 Wieczorek, Laura A.
610 Winstrom, Eric W.
193 Wolf, Timothy A.
141 Wurm, Gabriella N.

Look, Rifles!

And here's the strings attached:

• Cops who want to shoot an M4 assault weapon will have to flex more than a trigger finger.

  The Chicago Police Department recently launched physical fitness tests for cops who have applied to carry the semiautomatic rifle.

• Mark Donahue, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, questioned why cops need to pass a fitness test to carry M4s.

  "I don't believe it's likely that situations would arise where you'd be running great distances with this weapon," Donahue said. "As long as you're proficient, you should be able to carry it."

  Police spokeswoman Monique Bond disagreed.

  "If you are grasping for breath, the weapon could waver up and down," she said.

We'll save everyone the trouble of commenting on "gasping for breath" making things "waver up and down." Unless it's really really funny, let's stick to issue at hand. Donahue's right - proficiency is the issue. We don't think a criminal is going to wait for some Greek Adonis to come in shirtless with a rifle to stop his killing spree...well, unless it's a certain head of a metropolitan mass transit agency...but we digress.

No anyone else will really care how the rifle gets there. And as a lieutenant point out in the article, a shotgun would be a better option 9 times out of 10.

Evaluating the Meeting

Well, it's been a day since the meeting. We've been reading the comments very closely to get a feel for what people thought, what people liked (and disliked), and what needed to be addressed. We're going to comment on some of the issues we saw come up.

States Attorneys: they seems to have decided not to play ball with the Police Department anymore. They're operating under a lame duck and no one is going to stick their necks out for anything and jeopardize support from the "reverends" and the Machine prior to a new regime. All they care about is their conviction rate so they can run for mayor on it in three years. This doesn't strike us as something J-Fed can control.

"Merit" promotions: Hooray if they're going to release the "merit" picks - it's a step in the right direction. We know the FOP has a list so they can make sure the City is following rank order, we just never believed in their bullshit excuse that they couldn't reveal the "merit" because the City wouldn't let them see the list ever again if they did. That's so much horse shit. A government agency giving a test with taxpayer money and they won't release the list? We're sure an FOIA request and a couple of Federal lawsuits would open up that list pretty quick. We understand New York publishes the list in every precinct by rank order so everyone can keep an eye on it. What would really make the difference is seeing what constitutes "merit" and who the person is who recommended the individual.

Callback POW's: Settle these cases and get the people involved either fired or back on the street, plain and simple. Criminal defendants get a trial in 180 days or less unless continued by agreement - coppers deserve the same thing. If the Department has a case, make it. Otherwise, get off the pot. If the City wants to have some provision to reinstate charges later, negotiate it into the process.

Rule 15 violations: J-Fed says he isn't looking for drinkers unless they break the law. We interpret this to mean if you get caught, your ass is grass and J-Fed is the lawnmower. Everyone is over 21 here so everyone knows what's what. We still wonder why J-Fed is taking input on Rule 15 enforcement from his staff when a certain member was pretty much in charge of making sure over half the Command Staff from years ago never had an empty glass.

Miscellaneous:

• work schedule - subject of negotiation;
• hiring to fix shortages - City Hall, not J-Fed;
• testing locations - J-Fed had nothing to do with where the City schedules exams;
• demanding J-Fed's phone number for a ride - silly to the point of inanity.

These questions were a waste of time.

And what was the bit about J-Fed having to get home to his family since he was up since 0530? You think there weren't guys and gals who gave up time with their families to be there? After midnight shifts, court, side jobs? And J-Fed has to go home to his cats? Does the FBI even have a night shift or are they pretty much a 9-to-5 operation?

So it was the dog and pony show everyone though it would be except for one thing. We address that in the post below.

Why Morale is Down

A bunch of people decided to go off on the FOP reps who showed up. Fine, this is still America, and although there is no Right to Free Speech on this blog, we let all those comments go because we figured we'd address them later.

First of all, Donahue, Bella and J-Fed aren't going to negotiate the contract in a room with 200-plus coppers standing around. It just isn't going to happen. And although the City has been dragging their feet for a year now and claiming they couldn't discuss a contract until a new Superintendent was in place because he was their "lead negotiator," the fact of the matter is J-Fed has never operated under a contract, doesn't know what a contract entails, and has no power to bargain for anything. That's why the City has lawyers and a mayor to tell them what the Police will be granted.

Donahue being silent seems to be some sort of misguided allegiance to a promise not to negotiate in the media. We don't know if the President missed it, but the City has been "negotiating" in the media ever since J-Fed got here - fitness standards, work schedules, new equipment, etc. Each of these is a pretty blatant attempt by the City to sway voters, aldercreatures and anyone else with a dog in the fight. And FOP is looking like a little poodle.

Bella concentrated on the Cozzi incident for a reason, and the reason is that J-Fed circumvented the system. By doing an end around, he has potentially set a precedent that negates the entire disciplinary system. Cozzi admitted wrong doing, was found guilty and liable for his behavior, was punished severely, apologized in open court, served his punishment and went through the process of rehabilitation. Then suddenly it doesn't mean anything anymore? Is rehabilitation only for the rapists, child molesters and murderers now? Cops can't make mistakes? Lose their cool? Be rehabilitated?

Here's the thing - J-Fed admits he called the FBI Civil Rights people or US Attorney or whoever on Cozzi. He brought in outsiders to circumvent and bypass an established disciplinary process and an agreed upon penalty levied against Cozzi. J-Fed betrayed the Rank and File of the Chicago Police Department to such an extent that he can never be trusted. Ever. Trust is a two way street and unfortunately, we cannot trust J-Fed to have our backs in the face of an established procedure.

As collateral damage, he calls into question the loyalty of each and every member of his staff. Most of those people (the non-feds) came from somewhere. Most of them made deals, asked for (or granted) favors, got a hand up. And now all those rules went out the window. We're supposed to trust these people when we pull over a car load of gang bangers? When we disperse a corner? When we have to put hands on a subject and wrestle them? When "reverends" and their ilk can allege all sorts of malfeasance takes place as a matter of policy?

It's easier to pretend no one saw a thing.

Ah Yes, the "Planted" Gun

No wonder the fleet we have sucks so bad - coppers carrying around all those drop guns, drop dope and no doubt, a few drop bodies for those really sticky situations really screws with the vehicle suspensions:

• Relatives, witnesses and friends of a 19-year-old man shot and wounded by police on Mother's Day allege that a gun was planted on him after he was shot, according to a Channel 5 news report.

  But prosecutors said Javara Gardner, charged with assaulting a police officer, was shot after he dropped a gun and tried to pick it up.

• Witness Diana Banks said a policewoman took a gun she found in a nearby yard and "put it by the boy's head."

  An unidentified friend claimed the gun was his and that he hid it in the yard when he saw police approaching.

Aha! A new twist on the old story - a "witness" who placed the gun in a yard and another witness who claims police put it right by the offender they had just shot. It makes sense. Put a gun right by a guy you just shot so he can have another go at it and you can really let him have a few at even closer range.

Does anyone in the media even bother to read these fantasy pieces they write up? And if it's even remotely true, shouldn't the jackass who claims to have hidden the gun in the yard be under arrest and charged as an accessory?

More Corruption

Thank goodness the feebs added those extra corruption task forces here:

• Federal authorities are asking questions about a controversial contract awarded last year to manage harbors for the Chicago Park District, one of the losing bidders and the state attorney general's office disclosed Wednesday.
  
  The questions involve the Park District's deal with California-based Westrec Marina Inc., which has operated the harbors for more than a decade after the district privatized management. After Westrec won a new five-year contract in December, one of the firms vying for the contract wrote a letter to the U.S. attorney in Chicago and the Illinois attorney general contending the contract process was skewed in favor of Westrec.

Yet another round of the "Chicago Way." But don't worry - Parks Board president Gery Chico says everything is above reproach and just because he's a Daley appointee has nothing to do with his stand. What we wouldn't give for a few of Daley's hand picked henchmen to be waterboarded for a day or so. The tales they could tell.

Meeting Updates

Anyone who is there, knows someone there or gets home after being there and can get to a computer, type it up and fire it over here. We'll update as possible.

THIS THREAD IS FOR THE MEETING ONLY.

ALL OTHER SUBMISSIONS WILL BE DELETED.

The are over 100 other threads for whatever else you might want to comment on. Use those please. Thanks for your cooperation.

UPDATE: At 12:05 AM or so, this post will be moved up from its current location (1900 hours Wednesday) to stay at the top of the page for Thursday.

So far, the biggest news is J-Fed saying 75 Sergeants and all "merit" picks will be identified? That's a big change - it'd be bigger if they'd release how these people achieved "merit" status. Perhaps a family tree for some of the less obvious picks?

UPDATE: Rue St. Michel covers the whole thing on his blog. Go Visit - NOW!

Clisham Benefit

An Officer's family needs a hand:

• In 2003 Paul was diagnosed with colon cancer and aggressive measures were taken to fight this cancer. Paul went on and off of the medical as he went through chemotherapy and other treatments. While this was going on, Paul and his wife Catherine were learning that their young daughter Tori had AUTISM. Paul believed that he was going to beat cancer, but on September 16th, Paul lost his battle.
  
• Paul was an exceptional husband, police officer, father, and friend. As friends of his, and fellow police officers, we believed we needed to do something to help his family. The Tori Clisham Foundation has been established so that we can provide some financial security for Catherine and Tori.
  
• A benefit party will also be held at Bourbon Street on June 1st, 2008. Information about the benefit and the Tori Clisham Foundation can be found at paulclisham.com. Donations of any kind for the silent auction are being accepted and tickets are now being sold for the benefit as well as raffles.

Detective Joseph Bowes is one of the go-to guys for the benefit and can be reached at Area 2. Click the link at paulclisham.com for specifics.

Is This a Done Deal?

The Tribune is certainly making it sound like a "Letter of Agreement" has been reached. But as we all know, that could be propaganda:

• Chicago police officers could be teamed up with their very own personal trainers and given tailored diets if they fail mandatory fitness tests proposed Tuesday by the city in contract negotiations with the department's union.
  
  Officers would have up to 90 days to buff up before retaking the test. If they fail a second time, they would be referred to the department's medical services section for "further evaluation regarding the officer's fitness for duty."
  
  The proposal doesn't say what would happen to officers after that, and neither side is commenting.
  
  The yearly tests would be mandatory for new or promoted officers starting in 2009 and voluntary for everyone else.
  
  Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis, a fitness enthusiast who took office earlier this year, previously talked about changing the department's policies on physical fitness tests. They have been strictly voluntary, and officers received financial incentives for passing.

The language in the letter (click here for the FOP Update) seems to imply that anyone seeking a promotion will be required to pass the tests? No grandfathering in old timers with pre-existing conditions like injuries and such? And there's nothing in the Appendix outlining financial incentives - are they gone?

If we recall the last of the Nolan days correctly, the arbitrator allowed all the so-called "Letters of Agreement" to stand. Months later, every single Nolan Team member lost their jobs. As were headed to arbitration anyway, are we seeing history repeat?

More Blame on the Way

Can someone tell us what purpose this serves?

• Lawyers in the R. Kelly case added five more jurors Tuesday to the panel that will decide whether the singer is guilty or innocent of child pornography charges.

• The jurors selected Tuesday include a 20-something white woman studying criminal justice who aspires to be a police officer.

  Asked her views of the justice system, she said, "I like it and think it is a fair system when done properly.

And the headline in the Sun Times read, "Aspiring Cop on Kelly's Jury." Is this some twisted media attempt to blame the "aspiring" police in case R. Kelly ends up getting the chair for child porn? What if she never ever makes it to a police academy and ends up a defense lawyer or something?

Man, we can't wait for the Sun Times to go under.

Finally!

Foie Gras is back!

• With Mayor Daley's blessing, Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) helped spearhead a move to repeal the ban, and Wednesday he rounded up enough votes. Tunney does not serve foie gras at his Ann Sather restaurants, and did not before the ordinance passed.

Now let's get some serious work done, like our 48% funded pension.

Morons.

City Hijinks

Is it just us or is the Chicago City Council just about the most useless legislative body in existence? Observe the following:

• Not only did they waste god knows how many hours and dollars banning foie gras, now there is a movement afoot to repeal the ban:
• Aldermen opposed to Chicago's controversial restaurant ban on foie gras said they will try to force a vote Wednesday to repeal the measure, which gained the City Council widespread notoriety since its approval two years ago.
• Not content to drive jobs out of the City with anti-big-box ordinances, the City Council was about to drive hundreds of small venue music shows out of town, voiding out millions in entertainment taxes, liquor sales and assorted jobs:
• The ordinance was drafted in response to an independent panel's recommendations after the E2 tragedy of 2003, where 21 people died after a stampede in an overcrowded nightclub. The proposal would require event promoters to apply every two years for a license that could cost up to $2,000. Promoters also would be required to obtain at least $300,000 in liability insurance.
• And to top it all off, whose fault is it that substandard road material was used to construct thousands of miles of road in the city that can't stand up to a regular winter? The State's fault even though the State supplied the City with the block grants to spend as they saw fit...spend crookedly evidently:
• Chicago is fighting a losing battle against potholes because arterial street re-surfacing has been put on hold for the last two years, aldermen were told Monday.

  First Deputy Transportation Commissioner Tom Powers blamed a shortage of state funding, apparently tied to the Illinois General Assembly's failure to approve a capital plan.

We've seen this proposal a few times before and perhaps it's time for some enterprising reporters and politicos to try it out - cut the number of aldercreatures by half. The savings in property taxes alone would be enough to balance out a few of those outstanding pension obligations at the very least.

Real Police?

Anyone mouthing off about suburban guys and gals (or the state) not being the real police, read this:

• One man is hospitalized with a gunshot wound and another is in police custody after police interrupted a home invasion in west suburban Franklin Park on Tuesday morning.
• As the two suspects fled, they fired shots at two responding officers, who returned fire, striking one of the suspects in the head, according to police. The other suspect was captured. Neither officer was injured.

Glad to see no cops got hurt. Too bad the shithead lived, but you can't have everything. But this really ought to put to rest any BS about who is and isn't "real" police. Good job officers.

BEST Conspiracy So Far

Priceless police humor:

• This is a scare tactic to make more people buy bottled water so the city could collect the tax.
  

We have the funniest readers ever.

From the Comments

Truth or Fiction?

• While on a street stop the other night I got into a political discussion with a high ranking member of the GD's while I ran his name. it goes like this:
  Dirtbag: hey office you boys ain't running like you used to huh?
  
  Me: What the hell does that mean?
  
  Dirtbag: ever since your new boss came to town, police dont come at us hard no more.
  
  Me: yeah
  
  Dirtbag: I think it's funny, it's like the bossman is on our side.
  
  Me: well he does like the revrends
  
  Dirtbag: ha ha come on man not all of them get cuts from us.
  
  Me: I'm sure there is one or two who have the community in mind
  
  Dirtbag: i sees on the news all the time about him taking your badges cause of any made up story. thats funny too, cause you know when we gets caught dirty- we call our lawyer then OPS or IAD to make up some bullshit story to help us outta the jam, and them dumb motherfuckers believe anything you tell em.
  
  Me: oh trust me i know that, I've heard some good ones, we should start sueing you motherfuckers ha ha.
  
  Dirtbag: what you gonna take? My Buick? Nothings in my name office.
  
  Me: No get out of here are you serious? Is you license valid too (we both laugh at that one)
  
  Dirtbag: where are all these rifles at you supposed to be rolling with?
  
  Me: don't know some guys don't get one cause of a power test.
  
  Dirtbag: you mean the fat mother fuckers?
  
  Me: some but not all, knee, ankle, injuries whatever doesnt help.
  
  Dirtbag: well all the running us bangers gotta do is to the house to get our choppers..thats kinda kinda bad for you mother fu*kers.
  
  Me: everyone agrees with you there.
  
  Me: get outta here call it a night
  
  Dirtbag: be careful office, summer gonna be bad, since they don't let the poliece be the poliece, we running the shit now "G". Tell your big man thanks (with a smile)
  
  Me: see ya numbnuts make sure you duck and cover, get outta here before i find something to lock you up for.
  
  TRUE STORY THIS IS WHAT BANGERS THINK...YOUR DOING AWESOME JODY KEEP IT UP.

  5/12/2008 05:21:00 PM

Anyone care to opine? Verify? Call it BS or a vision of the future?

The AP Article

Via a few letter writers and some more in the comments, Officer.com has the complete AP article we referenced a few days ago covering J-Fed's first 100 days. Get a load of this:

• Everyone expected Jody Weis to make changes in the Chicago Police Department when he left the FBI to become the first outsider in decades to head the city force.
• J-Fed, as the former head of the FBI's Philadelphia office is called by more than a few street cops, brought in his own command staff, including another former FBI agent hired specifically to make officers more accountable for their actions.
  

The INTERNATIONAL MEDIA is calling Weis "J-Fed" now! Is that hilarious or what?

Anyway, the writer from AP, Don Babwin wrote to us looking for insight into J-Fed's first 100 days. And as we stated, he used exactly none of our replies. We guess it didn't fit in with AP's bias about bringing an "out-of-control police department" to heel. The letter and our reply is a bit lengthy for a single post, but this is the response we were really hoping made the report:

• Babwin: you touched on this in one article, but i would like to know if the federal charges in the wheel chair case sent a message to the force that Weis would not hesitate to charge officers with abusing their powers.
• SCC: It showed that Weis is a petty, vindictive individual. The officer was the subject of an internal investigation, found guilty and given a two year suspension. He also pled guilty in a State Court, was sentenced to two years probation and ordered to undergo mandatory classes, including anger management. The Police Board, a group of civilians appointed by the mayor, reinstated this officer following his appeal. Then-Superintendent Cline appealed the Police Board finding of reinstatement to the Courts in a further attempt to fire this officer, but lost. The officer served his two years, completed all the required classes and had no further incidents while off the job.
  
  Let's just review:
• guilty by the internal investigation - 2 years suspension
• guilty by the courts - 2 years probation
• won an appeal before the Police Board
• won an appeal before the courts

• And note that neither of his wins in any way reduced the amount of his suspension time or probation time or mandatory class time. He served it all. The Friday before the officer is to report back to duty, a single count of Civil Rights violations is handed up, not by a state court, but by a Federal Grand Jury. And we're being run by a former fed? Hmmm.
  
  Isn't the basis of the criminal justice system rehabilitation? Or is that only for the crack dealer and the rapist? The message wasn't one of "don't abuse your power." The message was "if I can't win in your courts, I'll take it to mine."

But none of this made it to the AP article. Perhaps we'll put up the entire exchange over the next weekend or so. We certainly are going to be eager to hear what happens at the "meeting" Wednesday.

Don't Drink the Water?

No, not some third world country with inadequate sanitation needs. Right here in Chicago!

• The City of Chicago is fine tuning a program designed to keep old prescription drugs from ending up in the area’s water supply.
  
  Officials say they’re harmless, but traces of pharmaceuticals have been found in Chicago’s drinking water. Alderman wants to see city residents to have a better way of disposing of their prescription drugs than flushing them down the toilet. So, the City’s getting a federal grant to create a safe disposal system.

And guess where they're going to have disposal pick up points? We'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count:

• Chicago Aldermen and City officials agree they don't want people flushing their expired prescription drugs down the toilet, and some—like North Side Alderman Marge Laurino—suggest setting up receiving boxes for old pharmaceuticals at police and fire stations.
  
  But, city Environment Commissioner Suzanne Malec-McKenna says the law requires police to be around whenever controlled substances are turned in, so Fire stations are out.

Fantastic! We're going to have all sorts of substances (controlled, toxic, expired, and who-knows-what) collected in what? Vaults? Flag disposal boxes? Who's liable if some junkie or homeless guy swipes a bunch of crap? Or someone dumps a leaky container inside the vault and creates some toxic brew?

Does OSHA want to weigh in on this one? Or the FOP Safety Committee? Before the City starts installing SHARPS containers and some low bid Chinese made cardboard "safe" in the lobby?

And before anyone says we're complaining and not contributing to the solution, here's a link to the Illinois EPA that lists collection points all over the State, County and City that collect not only hazardous waste, but unwanted medicines with a handy schedule. Just because some Daley relative needs another municipal contract supplying medical waste containers doesn't mean we have to use police stations as dumping grounds.

Record It!

The meeting is tomorrow night. They are checking ID's at the door.

No one has said if they're frisking officers upon entering and making you check in your gun like they do at court. We're pretty certain they aren't checking pockets. And pocket recording devices aren't all that expensive - right Al?

It sure would be nice to have a permanent record of J-Fed and Aunt Bea waltzing through a question/answer session like they waltzed in the Cinco de Mayo JibJab cartoon.

We're just saying.

Good Riddance

For four years or so:

• A Maywood man who won a $1.75 million settlement after being beaten by Chicago police officers in 1997 was sentenced Monday to 4 years in prison for violating his 2006 probation for selling crack cocaine.
  
  Jeremiah Mearday, 29, pleaded guilty in 2006 to selling crack to an undercover police officer in Glendale Heights. For that December 2005 offense, DuPage Judge George Bakalis sentenced him to 2 years of intensive probation and 180 days in the DuPage County Jail.
  
  Assistant State's Atty. Paul Marchese filed a notice of violation of probation earlier this year, contending that Mearday missed seven months of meetings with the probation department, failed a drug test that indicated the use of marijuana, refused to take another drug test and didn't have a job for a year, as stipulated by his probation requirements.

And he claims to be broke after getting $1.75 million. Even after getting a pile of money, moving out of the city away from the "bad influences" of gangs, and fleeing the "persecution" of out of control Chicago Police, he still manages to revert to selling dope. We wonder if he was going to be "turning his life around" any time soon? Maybe he can find his way in prison. See you in a few years dirtbag.

The Meeting

D-Day:

• May 14 @ 7pm in the 35 & Michigan multi-purpose room.

We've debated here over the past day and we've come to a sort of consensus on this event. It would be better to show up than to boycott. Because by not showing up, J-Fed can claim he made the effort to reach out and was rebuffed. If everyone shows up AND hammers him with questions, we can prove our theory that he's nothing but a puppet and it's business as usual with the Mayor pulling all the strings.

So, how to approach the upcoming meeting? We know the conspiracy buffs have been active in the comments, pointing out that everyone needs to present ID to attend, that only patrol officers can attend, that much of the FOP leadership will be unavailable in Washington DC for this meeting, and that the entire media room is wired for sound and pictures.

We feel that the FOP really ought to be taking some sort of lead in this, gathering questions and designating some person in authority to present these questions in a formal manner since it isn't really a big leap to say that the political powers will put a brick the size of Manhattan on anyone who questions them too aggressively. Any of the inside FOP guys would be good as they can't be moved. Bella would be ideal.

We hereby offer this comment section to post any question that might come to mind and then the FOP or some KMA member who doesn't really give a fuck because he's happy working midnights in Area 2 can ask it at the meeting. And more importantly, the questioner can demand a realistic answer. "I don't know" or "I'll get back to you" isn't a legit answer. Once J-Fed or Aunt Bea says those words, you know for a fact it's a bullshit meeting with only one purpose - smokescreen.

SCC's #1 question:

• Define "merit" and how mere mortals can strive to reach "career goals" so that we too, might one day be deserving of a promotion that doesn't involve bloodlines, birthright or brown envelopes of cash to aldercreatures.

Have at it.

007 Shooting

No cops hurt. Bad guy wounded. Gun recovered, but IPRA is still investigating.

And that's like the entire media coverage. No reverends, no community outcry, no family claiming he was just about to turn everything around and get that GED Brain Surgeon qualification that every family dreams of.

J-Fed has been a complete and utter bust, but this IPRA thing about not talking to the media is still working like a charm. We're constantly amazed.

UPDATE: Ok, the family is getting their bullshit on TV again. We were spending the weekend far from here and didn't get local news. Still, without the Department and IPRA going on TV with a standard canned speech, the whole thing dies out in a single news cycle. That still beats marches and replaying the same BS over and over and over and over. So far.

Free Dennis!

Even the retirees are fair game now:

• Dennis Farina has been arrested after a loaded gun was found in his luggage at the Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday.

  The veteran actor had told security personnel that he had forgotten he had the unregistered 22-calibre handgun in his hand luggage.

Remember though, we don't imprison our celebrities. They get fines and community service. Hopefully, LA doesn't hold the CPD thing against him

Want to be Mope-rah's Boss?

Seriously. How would you like to have Mope-rah and Steinberg and Sneed all answer to you? It's within reach, right now:

• Sun-Times Media Group Inc., hurt by declining ad revenues and eroding circulation, said its first-quarter loss deepened to $35.8 million from $4.8 million a year ago.
• Like other companies in the newspaper industry, Sun-Times Media has been hurt by an ongoing exodus by readers and advertisers to the Internet. "We expect the secular move from print to the Internet to continue probably forever," Freidheim said on a conference call.
• The results were announced after the close of regular stock market trading. During the session shares dove 24.6 percent, to 52 cents.

$0.52 a share? Fifty-two cents to become a stockholder? Mere pennies to be able to tell Jesse Jackson and Mariotti and even that guy Roeper that they work for you and you pay their salary.

For fifty-two bucks, you can get a hundred shares and Mope-rah probably has to come by and mow your lawn once a summer.

Mope-Rah Jumps the Rails - Again

Evidently, the columnist everyone loves to hate is off her meds again. She was actually making sense for a while, falling in line with Dr. Bill Cosby's assertions that police shouldn't be doing the job that parents ought to be doing, personal responsibility and pride of accomplishment. But politics seems to bring out the worst in Mary (no link for Mope-rah as per standing policy):

• One thing's for sure: Hammond has seen the last of me. You heard me.

  Instead of crossing Indianapolis Avenue for lower-priced gas, I'll save the gas and patronize the pumps in Illinois.

Mope-rah actually drove to Indiana for gas? From Maywood? Excuse us for wondering about that one. Unless she's running cigarettes at the same time, this would seem to be an odd trade off. And what has driven Mope-rah to the extreme of spending money in Blago's worker paradise?

• I'm not trying to start anything, but after watching Hammond's mayor, Thomas McDermott, on CNN after Indiana's primary, I'm keeping my money on this side of the border.

  Although Lake County is close enough to Chicago to be a suburb, McDermott boasted that eight mayors in the county worked tirelessly to win Indiana for Sen. Hillary Clinton.

  [...] But how do these Lake County mayors justify using their political muscle to help the candidacy of someone from a state more than 700 miles away and turning their backs on the candidate next door?

Mope-rah is basing her economic boycott of Indiana gas entirely on the fact that American citizens exercised their rights to support the candidate of their choice instead of the guy Mope-rah supports who happens to live "next door." We've heard some crazy ideas for boycotts in the past, but this one ranks right up there. If you don't vote for her guy, you ain't going to see her money.

And then she goes off into that democratic fantasy land that for people to prove they aren't racists, they have to vote for the black guy because Hillary is using "code words" like "blue collar" which every knows means "white working class." Otherwise Jim Crow is back, the cotton plantations reopen and blacks will leave the democratic party to vote for someone else - and in a two party system, that means they all vote republican.

Someone please adjust her dosage.

Meeting with J-Fed?

Someone in the comments claims there's a notice or fax out from downtown saying there will be a meeting with the Superintendent in the multi purpose room? No Supervisors, just PO's?

Can anyone verify? Is there an AdMin notice number on this or is it just the ramblings of the demented?

METRA Did What Now?

We're listening to WBBM 780 and METRA, the best run of all the mass transit organizations (which we guess is like being the tallest midget in the circus) is complaining about lack of money for "capital improvements." The money it seems is tied up in another Blago disaster in Springfield. So METRA does what a responsible company does and starts looking for deals.

So far so good. The search people find 5 used train cars in West Virginia. The trouble is that these are the same 5 train cars METRA sold a few years back as being too outdated to maintain and use on the local rails. And get this...

METRA sold them to the West Virginia people for one dollar a piece. The buy back price? $10,000 per car PLUS $100,000 to refurbish each. Un-freaking-believable. That entire $550,000 ought to come out of the METRA Board salaries. Minus the $5 METRA got a couple years back of course.

Why do we have the feeling that if someone did a little digging, they'd find some distant second cousin of some Illinois politician living in West Virginia who deals in used rail bars?

You Tube Gangsters

Hey Mitchell, Jackson, Sharpton, Pfleger, Meeks - watch this:



We often hesitate to put up clips like this. They exist everywhere on the internet and they bring out the worst in the comments section.

That being said, this is reality. Or at least, reality eighteen months ago when it was filmed around 102nd and State and posted for everyone to see. Who knows how many of these assholes are dead or jailed now. But it's the reality coppers face every day.

In broad daylight, these jagoffs are firing at least two guns in the alleys. And CPD will respond to these calls and chase these fools and might catch them and could find the guns. They might also get shot at or injured in the process. And for all the talk and bluster in the comments about laying down on the job, a hot call like this is going to get a decent response. They haven't quite beaten that out of us yet.

The First 100 Days

Has it been that long already under the new regime?

• It's certainly been an eventful first 100 days for Chicago's new police superintendent.

  Since he took over on February 1st, Jody Weis has replaced 21 of the department's district commanders. He's revamped his command staff. And he's talked about everything from getting officers in better shape to giving them all assault rifles.

Kind of a liberal interpretation of his command changes. A few of the changes were just commanders trading districts and even more were simple lateral changes. And the last sentence pretty much covers everything else - "...he's talked about everything..."

Talk is cheap. We're still driving the same ancient Ford with a busted computer mount, the radio is chirping in our ear, we still don't have a contract and the improved weaponry seems to be yet another fantasy. The only thing not a fantasy is the lack of manpower, but try to get that number published in the media.

AP contacted us with a bunch of questions about J-Fed's first hundred days. We sent back lengthy replies and they used exactly none of it. We guess we were a little too frank in our answers.

CeaseFire Whines Some More

They were the only thing keeping the streets safe don't you know?

• An outside review of the Chicago-based anti-violence group CeaseFire found that the program—which lost its state funding—has led to "distinct and statistically significant declines" in violence in neighborhoods across the city.
  
  Shootings dropped between 17 percent and 24 percent in the areas studied, the report found.

No word on any other influences on the rate of violence falling - like massive redeployments and such that shortchange one neighborhood at the expense of others. And let's not lose sight of why CeaseFire was de-funded last year:

• CeaseFire was criticized last year in a report by the Illinois auditor's office for not effectively keeping track of millions of dollars.

$6 million in cash pretty much just turned over to "ex" gang bangers who claimed to be able to keep shootings down and retaliatory killings to a minimum. No accounting whatsoever. A typical government program in other words.

Are There No Prisons?

Are there no workhouses? Because we're pretty damn sure this goof has never held a job. Maybe it'd do him some good:

• Big corporations give him money. Presidential candidates seek his endorsement. He has influential friends in Congress and the governor's mansion.
  
  The Rev. Al Sharpton has emerged over the past decade as perhaps the nation's most prominent civil rights leader, a status that was demonstrated again this week when he led protests against police brutality that briefly shut down six of Manhattan's major bridges and tunnels.
  
  But he still carries baggage from his early days as a fire-breathing agitator: Government records obtained by The Associated Press indicate that Sharpton and his business entities owe nearly $1.5 million in overdue taxes and associated penalties.

Debtor's Prison. One idea we wish had never gone out of style. Scrooge had it right - before his miraculous transformation though. Not so much afterwards.

Best Blog - One of Many

Our plot to take over the world continues:


Ok, so it's a slow plot. We never said we were taking over tomorrow. Thanks to Dan Honigman for granting us the opportunity to expand our readership.

Any of This Sound Familiar?

Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

• The city of Vallejo is on the brink of becoming the first California city ever to declare bankruptcy, City Council members said Tuesday.
• [Council member] Gomes said the situation has been building for more than a decade.
• "This has been happening for quite a while. For 15 years the city council has been putting Band-Aids on the problem. (It has been) extending contracts and deferring payments for public safety to the next years as a way of balancing the current budget." Public safety contracts for police and fire services make up 80 percent of the city's general fund. "We've been spending more than we've been making for 20 years and it's time to pay the piper," Gomes said.

Deferring payments - where have we seen that before? Oh yeah - Chicago. How to alleviate the situation?

• Vallejo Finance Director Rob Stout projected that without deep cuts, including assumed agreements negotiated with police and fire departments by June 30, the City will be $6 million in debt and will have spent every last penny of its $4 million in reserves. Gomes said the city has a plan to cut $20 million out of the budget in the next year. That emergency spending plan could devastate city services. The police and fire unions must agree on the spending cuts before it can be considered.
• The plan calls for cutting city salaries to 5 percent lower than June 30, 2007 starting on March 28. Police and firefighter salaries under the existing labor agreements would be reduced 15 percent [...] A single fire engine company would be closed each day on a rotating basis and there would be a three-month temporary reduction in truck company staffing from four to three.

That could never happen here, right? Well if you hop over to this link here (the 2008 Public Safety Budget) and go to page 9, you'll see that the City has already cut $20 million from the Police Budget alone along with 102 salaried positions. Where those spots came from, we have no idea, but we suspect most came from where we work.

In any case, that $20 million (and the other tens of millions "saved" from other Departments) isn't going to our underfunded pensions or vehicles or radios or M-4s or training or anything like that. It's going to bloated construction contracts, over priced cameras, crooked truck scandals and payouts for all sorts of lawsuits. And we suspect Daley's end game (or the end game he leaves his successor) is eventual bankruptcy to gut the contracts and pensions of everyone when the cycle of tax hikes and deferred payments overtakes the financial realities of this house of cards.

Questions About Shooting

This could be ugly:

• Back in 2005, police fired forty-two shots at one man,