An Open Letter to Mark Brown

Mark Brown, Sun-Times columnist, has contacted us via e-mail. He had a question regarding contact cards being filled out on fishermen by the Marine Unit. We thought we'd respond via the blog and open it up to discussion.

Dear Mr. Brown,

Thank you for your letter of 16 November. Sorry about the delay in getting back to you, but family and work obligations limit the time we spend here. As a rule, we don't answer e-mail as there are too many ways to identify it's origins and we're too cynical to believe we'd get a fair shake from the powers that be. We do read EVERYTHING we get though. We'd like to respond to your letter in reverse order.

Firstly, as you pointed out, we are a wee bit rough on Ms. Speilman and Mr. Main, but we feel with good reason. Too often, their articles are blatantly pro-administration and anti-police. Seldom, if ever, do they seek out alternative info from non-administration sources. That's not reporting - that's cheerleading. As Republicans, we are believers in the "liberal bent" of the media and inherently distrustful of them as most police are. We are however, great admirers of Warmbir's and Novak's "Hired Truck" series, and have even linked to your colleagues when they write about the Department screwing up. Believe it or not, we don't consider you overtly liberal; you may have a liberal bent (your words) but we've never thought of it that way, so maybe you're more middle of the road than you believe. Frank and Fran are convenient foils for us.

As to your question regarding contact cards being merely "make work" for the Marine Unit in order to gin up numbers, we doubt it, but we'd need more info to make an educated guess. We mean, how many fishermen are on the lakefront? A few dozen? A hundred? Are they fishing near the Filtration plant? - terror alert patrols are intensified. Are they fishing during the posted hours or not? - revenue from fines cover the $100 million dollar gap in the budget. Are they warming themselves with open fires or perhaps a little "pick-me-up"? - alcohol and fire restrictions on Park District property are among the most ignored of all city laws. It could be that the Marine Unit was a little casual in the past and the new Commanding Officer is doing a little "shake out" cruise. Part of their duties are undoubtedly checking licenses and such, not just for boats, but fishermen. It's not just the Conservation Department nowadays.

If the Department wants generated numbers, it's so much easier to deploy the Targeted Response Unit or a few gang and tactical teams to "hot spots" to get cards. In fact, it has been bandied about on this site for a few months that regular beat cars from "low crime" areas are being deployed to "hot spots" in other districts far away from where they should be. The Department denies there is a manpower shortage, but this past weekend, they began hiring back officers at time and a half to work their days off. We'd appreciate your looking into that - contact the FOP via the link on the right hand toolbar. We'd recommend a phone call to President Donahue himself. If nothing else, citizens should know that they're being deceived as to the police coverage they are paying for. If you do, please mention that you are in contact with us and read our blog occasionally.

Hope to hear from (or read) you soon,
SCC

NOTE TO EVERYONE ELSE (and Mark Brown if he's still reading): We post the standard disclaimer that as an open public board, we can't prove that any poster is from Illinois, let alone a police officer. We've solicited readers to contact the media on behalf of certain issues and (obviously) you've complied. We again ask you to watch your choice of language and words - it reflects on all of us. Keep it clean.