The SCC and Reader's Solution

Offered free of charge to anyone with the balls to implement it. You can even credit it to SCC and our readers if you have the nads to admit you read this site. If not, well, someone will remember where they saw it first. By the way, we realize this post is going to irritate a shitload of people - but the Department is bleeding and this is a tourniquet. Post your own opinions if you like, BUT KEEP IT CIVIL. Attacks on us aren't going to solve anything:

• Dump all these stupid Area gun teams and saturation teams and crap. Create one single Area wide Team like the old mission teams and draft them from the existing Tact/Gang teams. 4 officers from each district in the Area for a quick reaction force and "hot spot" mission team. 16 to 20 coppers is 8 or 10 cars - that'll be good enough to cover an Area's hot spots. (Gain quite a few cops)
  
• Disband SOS or TRU. Sorry, SOS is a political liability now. TRU is a revenue and number generator, nothing more. Pick one or the other. Let's start manning the Beat cars again, then the Rapids. (Gain upwards of 100 cops)
  
• Knock off the seatbelt missions and outdoor roll calls. The Superintendent himself said he didn't want the Districts doing the seatbelt missions if the only purpose was to generate tickets. Yet we still have districts running a seatbelt mission EVERY watch of EVERY day tying up how many man hours and resources? Use this "new" traffic unit for seatbelt missions and flood hotspots if you must. Outdoor roll calls are just stupid and tie up cars that should be answering calls. (Gain hundreds of man hours)
  
• Gut Headquarters. Last time they had a 10 or 20% reduction in manpower, the only change was in the number of parking spaces available. The paperwork didn't stop flowing, operations didn't grind to a halt. If anything, the volume of paper INCREASED as people attempted to justify their existence via memo writing. HQ is running three shifts nowadays and that's insane. Cancel the details and let's see where everyone is REALLY hidden. (Gain 200 minimum - maybe 250)
  
• Gut the front offices - 10 officers in a front office? C'mon now. And no more 2 and 3 years wonders behind the desks. No one likes you? Here's your traffic car. (Gain 3 or 4 cops per district)
  
• Shitcan the CAPS program - it's done. The Federal money ran out for that years ago. Now it's just a drag on the Department, a hiding place for too many do-nothings, and a drain on resources. Spend the money on the front line guys. (Gain 5+ cops per district plus a bunch from downtown)
  
• Hire retired guys to dispatch AND make it subject to Department discipline. Some of the best dispatchers we ever knew worked the streets we were on. They listened to the coppers and sergeants and adapted to changing conditions. Today, dispatch is run by civilians and manned by civilians who are tied to unrealistic expectations of getting the jobs out regardless of officer safety or manpower realities. THIS IS NOT A SLAM ON DISPATCHERS who are as undermanned and undertrained as we are. But put some grizzled vets in there and show the civilians how it ought to be done. (Gain countless years of police experience)
  
• Remap the Districts. This is a political hot potato, but it's been posted here and elsewhere that we don't need 25 districts anymore. 008 is too big, so is 016. 002 is two square miles of nothing, 013 and 021 are easily absorbed into the surrounding districts and 023 was slated to be closed back when 019 opened. Close three to five districts and you have between 700 to 1,200 coppers to alleviate manpower shortages elsewhere. And the bosses could conceivably keep some of their little detail units.

Have at it. Tell us what we missed or where we went wrong - politely.

Why why why?

Unbelievable. Can't anyone do anything correctly any more? Why the hell is George Ryan out there breathing air like the rest of us?

Tribune, Sun Times, Channel 2, Channel 5, Channel 7 coverage of this sad event.

At least he lost his pension.

Arm Everyone

Here's a great idea. If only we lived over in Cherry Tree, PA.

• Citing that homeland defense begins in the home, Cherry Tree borough council member Henry Statkowski recommended every home in the borough have a gun, stock ammunition, and undergo firearm safety training. Statkowski said his ordinance is only a statement. If passed, it would only be on the books. Owning a gun would not be mandatory, and the ordinance would only serve "to warn criminals."

Makes sense to us.

More Media Bullshit

Note: HUGE POST. We are going to reference a number of Tribune articles in this post. The Tribune is a registered user site. If you want to get in to see all the articles, we've located a free-use password so you can log in and not get all sorts of Tribune e-mail spam.

• user name: garbagegoeshere@gmail.com
• password:123456
  

What is this? Pick on the police day? From the Tribune:

• Chicago police officials have deliberately ignored corruption within the ranks, giving bad cops a sense of security to commit crimes on the job without being caught, according to a national expert on internal affairs hired by plaintiffs suing the city.
  
  The damning report by Lou Reiter, a former deputy chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, contends that police officials, including Supt. Philip Cline, have continued a "practice of indifference" toward corruption that "makes officers who engage in misconduct feel protected."

Really? Imagine that. Could it POSSIBLY have anything to do with half a dozen other problems, all symptoms of a Department in a morale tailspin?

• "Merit" promotions by means of a completely secret and unpublished set of guidelines yet obviously politically biased in nature?
• two (or maybe three) different tiers of discipline. One for blue shirts, one for white shirts, one for politically connected people.
• a Department thoroughly infiltrated by organized crime, and if you don't believe us, look at who the FBI won't cooperate with.

But the Department isn't wholly to blame. The Department is merely the public face of a political structure so rotten to the core, one only has to look at Tribune's recent headlines to get a feel for it:

• A city panel has ruled a fired worker should get his job back after improperly helping to get truck-driving licenses in 2002 for three men with ties to a member of Mayor Richard Daley's Cabinet.
• Outgoing Cook County Board President Bobbie Steele on Tuesday resigned the county commissioner seat she was re-elected to earlier this month, a move that will let her double her annual pension.
• And on Tuesday, Mayor Richard Daley on Tuesday defended Robert Sorich, his former patronage chief, and three other former city officials, calling them men of good character despite their roles in a City Hall hiring fraud.

Anyone see a pattern here? A license for bribes figure gets his job back, a double dipping pension (triple if you count her school teacher pension), and a bunch of "good" guys going to jail? We do. And our readers do. Why don't the reporters? Are they scared? Or are they complicit in the charade?

There are crooked aldercreatures. And contractors. And governors. And probably mayors, too. But why is it cops getting all the negative press? Because they're mostly unconnected and political lightweights who take the fall and the big prison time because people expect better from the front line of government. And let's face it, we are the most visible arm of the government by far. How often does anyone actually see the mayor or aldercreature driving around if it isn't an election year?

And cops aren't much different than any other member of a large bureaucracy - if certain people feel the leash is a bit loose, they'll try to take advantage. And when they get caught, no one in power knows their name. Because knowing their name would disrupt the REAL corruption that goes on behind the scenes every single hour of every single day.

Dispatcher's Opinion

Over at Chicago Dispatchers, they cover the below story from their perspective. Happily, it matches with ours. Comments closed here - keep using the original post.

RAP's and Police Coverage

From NBC 5:

• But a Unit 5 investigation found that, according to a 911 operator, those who live in some predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhoods "can count on a delay in dispatch,"
• "There is not enough police cars available for assignments in the black police districts or the black and Hispanic police districts on the South Side," the 911 operator said.
• "This situation is not accidental," the operator said. "Someone who does the planning knows that in white areas there is better police service and more car coverage."

Every district has between 9 and 15 beat cars. Then we have the rapids - and here's where the problems start. We've seen districts operate with ZERO rapids on days and under 4 rapids on nights. According to the sheets, there are cars for about 8 rapids on days and 12 on nights, but they are NEVER up to full strength.

Let's repeat that - NEVER. We haven't seen a full Rapid Response roll call for over 5 years. Then there's the coverage gaps, namely the Tact/Gang teams that are supposed to be dispatched calls when everyone else is down. There's a 3 hour gap in between the day and night teams most days and god help you if it's a reverse sting day and they aren't allowed to answer the radio at all.

Then let's talk about the fact that entire teams from the "low crime" parts of town aren't even in the Districts they're assigned to on weekends and we can start to wonder about the motives of this goof of a dispatcher. Maybe the coverage is better in the certain parts of town because people aren't out there breaking into houses, selling dope on the corners and shooting at each other.

Screw this dispatcher and their half assed racial motivations and fuck Channel 5 for running with this bullshit story. WE HAVE NO MANPOWER IN THE DISTRICTS. Write your goddamn story about the unmanned rapid response cars and the 30% down beat cars every single midnight in most districts. Put the blame where it belongs - 5th Floor, City Hall.

Once Again, Stupid Shit

Someone posted this entire article in the comments section. As we've stated before, post a link please. Entire articles eat up too much space and it is frowned upon by lawyers. And everyone knows that lawyers are like nuclear weapons - everyone has to have one and hope you don't need one, because when you set it off, it fucks up everything for about a million years.

Anyway, the article deals with the one of the not so recent DUI's attached to a member of the CPD.

• [named officer] had bloodshot, watery eyes, and his breath reeked of alcohol, police said. After he crashed into another car on Jan. 16, killing a man, he told police he was confused about the direction he had been driving.

  [named officer], a three-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department, was charged Monday with causing the death of a Griffith man.

  According to court documents, [named officer] had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit. The driver of the other car, Kristina Hiltunen-Hamilton of Gary, tested positive for alcohol and drugs, police said.

Great. How many times are we going to have to go through this? Once again, GO SLEEP IT OFF SOMEWHERE.

Unintentionally Hilarious Title?

From the Channel 7 website, this headline:

• Costs to stage Olympics in London Soaring

But the truly hilarious part is the subtitle:

• Will Chicago stay be able to stay on budget?

Bwahahahahaha. Oh man. Hold on - Bwahahaha. Let's just run down a short list from the tops of our heads (this is no where near accurate - point out our errors in the comment section):

• 911 Center - budgeted something like $150 million. Final tally - $300 million and it still doesn't work right
• Millennium Park - budgeted around $150 million or so? Final tally - $475 million and a parking garage that couldn't pay off it's own bond issue.
• O'Hare modernization project - budgeted at $6.6 BILLION with $2.8 BILLION slated for phase 1. Final tally - we're still in phase one and it's already $400 million OVER budget.

Someone with more time on their hands that we have can pull up the numbers for Navy Pier, McCormick Place, Meigs Field, any of the new police stations, Headquarters with its collapsible floor, City colleges, the list goes on and on. And to repeat ourselves, Olympics LOSE money. Huge amounts of money. Regularly. Only Los Angles in 1984 made a dime.

So the answer to Channel 7's question would be "No."

Quick Hits

After a long hiatus, because we needed the break:

• Like this is a surprise? Women talk three times as much as men. Wow. Next we'll find out that the Irish drink 3 times as much as the Italians and they'll both fight anyone who thinks they drink less than the Germans. We need scientists for this?
• Surprise! A bribe taking aldercreature and convicted felon wants his job back. Channel 2 and Channel 5 cover Medrano's comeback attempt.
• Isn't this a bad idea? We thought the idea of a thong was that is was barely there? So why would anyone unveil the "World's Largest Thong" at a lingerie show in Chicago? Someone really ought to talk to these marketing people.
• Once again, in an effort to defy conventional wisdom, Illinois lawmakers are preparing to raise the minimum wage, thereby chasing more jobs out of Illinois, contribute to the underground economy fed by illegals willing to work for less than the minimum and driving yet another nail into the coffin of high paid union jobs. Way to go!

Bad to Worse

The Atlanta PD shooting, where an 88 year old woman (previously identified as 92 years old) wounded 3 officers before being killed by return fire has just gone from a bad situation to a very bad situation:

• The confidential informant on whose word Atlanta police raided the house of an 88-year-old woman is now saying he never purchased drugs from her house and was told by police to lie and say he did.

  Chief Richard Pennington, in a press conference Monday evening, said his department learned two days ago that the informant --— who has been used reliably in the past by the narcotics unit -- denied providing information to officers about a drug deal at 933 Neal Street in northwest Atlanta.

  "The informant said he had no knowledge of going into that house and purchasing drugs," Pennington said. "We don't know if he's telling the truth."

This is going to get very bad very quickly and will have national implications no matter which way it goes. On one hand, you have a CI trustworthy enough to draft a warrant and get it to a judge. Now the CI's recanting and the police either have to back him for his initial info or deny he was ever trustworthy in the first place.

God help the Atlanta PD if any lies were told during or after the warrant was put together and executed. We can't see the entry team being held liable as they were acting in good faith and believed they were taking fire from a dope house. But if the officers who drafted the warrant aren't 100% legit, what you have here could be charitably called Manslaughter. If the Feds prosecute, throw in some civil rights charges and someone is facing 30 years easy.

Politically Correct Stupidity

This is just dumb. But indicative of so many more problems with the "politically correct" crowd:

• City officials sent a message to a movie studio that hoped to help sponsor a Christmas festival with advertising for its film about the night Mary and Joseph couldn't find a room at the inn: There's no room for you.
• Worried that ads for "The Nativity Story" would offend non-Christians browsing in the traditional German Christkindlmarket in the heart of downtown, the city asked the German American Chamber of Commerce to reconsider New Line Cinema, which made the film, as a sponsor. The group then told the studio it would not be part of the bazaar that began Thursday.
  

It's a CHRISTMAS market! And there's a CHRISTMAS tree in the middle of Daley Plaza where they run this event. And there's even a NATIVITY DISPLAY in the plaza (along with other holiday displays put up by other religious groups).

And Chicago, that "enlightened" outpost of humanity between the east and west coasts, is the only city in the nation that objected to this advertising display. What a joke.

Utility Blackmail and More

"If you don't give us rate increases, there might be rolling blackouts!"

Such is the message ComEd and other utility boards are threatening consumers with. Such is what happens when you get government meddling in what ought to be free markets. ComEd only controls power transmission lines and seems to be out of the power generating business.

We're a bit rusty on our history lessons, but didn't Rockefeller create the Standard Oil monopoly by controlling all the refineries? His company didn't produce much in the way of actual oil, but if you didn't go through his refineries, you didn't sell squat. That monopoly was broken up as it kind of cramped free trade.

ComEd owning most (if not all) of the power lines in a certain vicinity and charging rates that could be viewed as out of line with comparable rates nationwide ought to be raising red flags. Can anyone enlighten us?

And how about those County tax increases? Property taxes up 36%? Keep voting democratic people - the Toddler hasn't even been inaugurated yet and his party is already going to try to tax their way out of a budget hundreds of millions of dollars in the hole. Shouldn't we be looking at disbanding County government? It's an anachronism that's costing us billions and only employs political hacks who couldn't get jobs on the up and up.

Breaking News

On Fox 32, no links yet.

A protest involving upwards of 100 people is getting out of hand and at least a dozen people have been hauled off and arrested from the area of 63rd and Langley. Seems the neighborhood is unhappy that CPD killed a former altar boy and pillar of the community who attempted to disarm an officer.

UPDATE: Channel 7 has the early story

Midway Getting Safer

They're finally putting in the crushable concrete airplane "catchers" at the end of the runways.

• The runway at Midway Airport where a plane overshot its landing last December and slid into traffic, killing a 6-year-old boy, now has a safety buffer of crushable concrete designed to slow or stop a plane under similar circumstances, federal officials said.

  The installation of the first concrete arrestor bed at Midway comes nearly a year after a Southwest Airlines jet skidded off Runway 31-C and through an airport blast fence Dec. 8, slamming into a vehicle carrying 6-year-old Joshua Woods and his family. Joshua, of Leroy, Ind., suffocated while pinned inside the car.

Additional stories at Channel 2 and Channel 7. Lest we forget, this simple safety feature could have prevented additional tragedies, like this one:

UPDATE: We can't believe there are people in the comments section who haven't heard the tales of the above photo. We thought everyone in the world read about this. For some background, checkout the archives on Dec 23 and Dec 24 for how it all began, and then follow the adventures of the erstwhile sergeant-to-be on Dec 25, Dec 26, Dec 28, Dec 31, Jan 09, Jan 22, Jan 30, Feb 01, Feb 04, Feb 05, Feb 20, Feb 27, Mar 05, Mar 12, Mar 15, Mar 29, Apr 14, Apr 16 and Jun 26 (damn, that's a lot of photos).

It's like your very own "Where's Waldo" adventure. By the way, we still accept bad photoshopping submissions for future publication.

Cronin to Retire

From the Sun Times:

• Cronin has devoted nearly all of his 36 years as a Chicago cop to understanding street gangs and locking up gang leaders, with a determination, fairness and work ethnic that some of the city's top law enforcement officers say is beyond exceptional.

  He retires as deputy chief of the Narcotics and Gang Investigation Section at the end of November, a week or so short of turning 63, the mandatory retirement age. He takes with him a head full of history on gang warfare and territory.
  

A whole lot of big exempt openings all of the sudden. This might be one of the larger ones. Expect a lot of brass movement around in the next 60 days or so. We've heard it might be the Supe's last hurrah before slipping off into retirement around the time of the mayor's next coronation ceremony.

Turkey House Fire

Hey, it wouldn't be a Thanksgiving holiday weekend without someone doing some major structural damage to their house with one of those turkey deep fryers. This time, Illinois gets the credit:

• A turkey deep-fryer was being blamed for a Thanksgiving Day fire that severely damaged a two-story house in northern Illinois. When firefighters arrived at the Ingleside home Thursday afternoon, they found the blaze had spread along a deck that extended up the back of the house and into the building's attic.
  

Ah, memories.

Bears v Patriots

This will truly be a test. The oddsmakers have the Patriots as 3 point favorites. As you always get 3 points for home field advantage, even they think this one is a toss up. The Patriots have the better team on paper, but the Bears have found numerous ways to win anyway, all year long. We won't even venture an opinion on this one.

UPDATE: Who says the oddsmakers don't have half a dozen super computers working out the odds every single day? The line was wavering between 3 and 3.5 all weekend and the Patriots win by 4. Grossman is NOT the guy to get the Bears through the playoffs. Is it Griese?

No More Word Verification

Making some updates and such to the site this weekend.

Since we screen all comments anyway and since more than a few people have complained about the difficulty of typing the "word verification" security feature while intoxicated, we've removed it for the time being. We are also checking into the new version of blogger that would give us a bit more freedom for real-time comments. The only problem is that it might require registration.

Which means we'd have a list of all users.

We hate lists, even though it would allow us to finally determine who is and isn't the police along with who is and isn't a knucklehead. Lists are subject to subpoena, not that we'd care much as we have been granted immunity by the California Supreme Court. We just don't like the idea of cops snitching on cops. We'll see.

UPDATE: Better link embedded for the Court Decision.

LIVE! From the Windy City!

An e-mail from a reader up north:

• Here is some of what was heard around the 016th District yesterday.
  
  PO to guy from Information Services " How do I get the keyboard up on the screen?"
  Answer: You just have to play with it.
  
  I/S guy " You really need a four hour class on this system but you only get 5 minutes"
  
  Note: The chosen system is NOT one of the 14 we field tested, and completed mandatory surveys on.
  
  The District misplaced the microphone cases for the entire day. So when you used your camera for traffic stops, you had no where to put the microphone. If you work 99 you have to lean over the passenger seat to shut of that mic, every time you turn the blue lights on. They were supposed to fix it so if you log on with 2 officers both mics activate but let's see how long it actually takes them to do this.
  
  You have to label each video after you shut the camera off. Like if you are going to an in progress call and you use your lights. After you shut camera off you have to pick an option for video. DUI, Stolen Car, Traffic Violator, etc. One option is default. We were told if you select that too many times, you are going to have to leave paper. LOL. Why didn't they put an option, assist car or in progress job.
  
  We were also told if we write tickets and they look for the video and there isn't one, you will get gigged. So let me see, tickets are optional but videotaping your stop isn't? You also have to fill out a green card for every stop in which you don't issue a ticket. We were assured that they will be counting and checking all of this. Hope they don't look for my video when my Traffic Accident tickets show up in the box. It's where I get most of my movers.
  
  So we get under 5 minutes of training for something that we are supposed to know how to use, even though the guy in charge of the program doesn't know himself, and we are supposed to use it 20 times a day, and figure it out ourselves, AND leave paper when we fuck it up? I don't mind the cameras, but I think it should be optional to record the stop or not.
  
  Please put the word out to our fellow officers that IF YOU GET STOPPED YOU ARE ON FILM. We were told we still had discretion but we MUST fill out a green card anyway. They will be matching green cards to stops. I tried it out with just the wigwags yesterday which is our old way of getting past the camera and the fucker still went on. No way to beat the system. Oh yeah, and the cameras went live at 0600 by 0900 there were at least 4 cars who had problems with the system. One software, one couldn't log on, etc.

Great. In a Department whose answer to EVERYTHING is "more training," we now have NO training for a system that is supposed to "protect" us and citizens from all sorts of false accusations and misconduct and who knows what else.

New Captains

From the Comments Section:

• CAPTAINS LIST
  
  Nagode 001;Roberts 006; O'Donnell 006;Raymond 006
  Parra 007; Denk 013; Forlenza 126; O'Neill 126
  Bay 141; Elmer 170; Angarone 189; Graeber 189
  Schmitz 214; Pilipuf 253; Thompson 384; Trahanas 543
  Gibson 601; Batrich 65

PILIPUF, Cindy; SCHMIDT, Leo; ANGRONE, Ken; BAY, Roger; ELMER, Rick are slated to be promoted immediately and the rest as openings occur.

At least according to the comments sections.

Bad Ending?

Actually, one could make the argument that this was actually a GOOD (not great) ending to the hostage incident in 003 last night and this morning:

• the situation was contained
• the casualty count was kept to a minimum plus one
• no coppers injured

We don't have any experience in hostage incidents, therefore we aren't going to pass judgment on what was or wasn't done at the scene. We know there is a protocol in place to give out ZERO information to the press and public. We've heard that aside from a threat to life situation, SWAT is under orders to talk and negotiate until hell freezes over (only NYPD talks longer than CPD - LAPD has no patience for talk). You aren't going to stop a crazy person from getting in the first hit or shot or move or whatever. Police work is REACTIONARY and CPD is more reactionary than most Departments (which is, in our opinion, attributable to the political environment we work in). Yes, a hostage being lost is a tragedy - but the tragedy is limited.

Coverage at Channel 2, Channel 5, Channel 7, Sun Times, Tribune.

Our only aside in this whole incident is where was the robot and could it have made a difference?

New Link (and a Return Link)

We've linked a couple of Dispatcher blogs.

Welcome back to Chicago Dispatchers. Our current policy is if a blog isn't updated after 30 days, we de-link it. Why direct people to somewhere nothing is happening? But they're back with a vengeance, so we've re-linked them.

And welcome to Lets Talk ChiTown 911, another dispatcher blog. They've been up for over a month now and we've seen visits coming from their site.

Both sites provide a bit of insight to the trials and tribulations at the other end of our radio tethers. Give them a visit, post a comment or two, point out the error of their ways - hahahaha.

Nepotism and Outright Thievery

It certainly is amazing how Cook County politicians seem to have some sort of genetic makeup that not only renders them immune to sarcasm, irony and shame, but they also seem to be able to pass on their governing genes to their offspring with amazing regularity. The latest:

• The family of interim Cook County Board President Bobbie Steele has a lot to be thankful for on Thanksgiving. She is about to step down as a county commissioner and a deal is in the works to appoint her son as her replacement.

And why would she be doing this now?

• Bobbie Steele's decision to give up her $85,000-a-year commissioner's seat, also means her pension will be based on a salary of $175,000 a year for the last four months. So she'll be collecting an additional $65,000 immediately. If she lives to be 85, the difference between the two pensions will be about a million dollars.

Channel 7 and the Sun Times have coverage. Does anyone really wonder why pension systems are in such dire straits?

Hostage Incident Continues?

At latest report, this thing is pushing near to 20 hours. Sun Times, Tribune, Channel 2, Channel 5 and Channel 7 cover it.

Anyone who was on or near the scene have any insight?

Happy Thanksgiving

Things we are thankful for:

• Family - all currently healthy
• Friends - we have some of the best friends in the world
• Co-Workers - we're out there with you, day in and day out
• Our Readers - without you, we're screaming into the void

Be careful out there. Some of us are working today, away from friends and family. Some of us are lucky enough to be home watching football. Regardless, be thankful for what you have, little though it may be.

92 Year Old Woman Wounds 3 Cops

In Atlanta, officers serving what has been described as a duly signed search warrant on a home, were met by gunfire, sending three to the hospital with non life threatening injuries. The woman within was killed by return fire. The elderly woman's relatives (she had no children) say she owned the handgun and held a permit for the weapon. Police may have recovered some suspect contraband that is being tested. Relatives insist the lady had nothing to do with trafficking (allegedly) taking place on her front porch.

Officers having gone through the investigative process and properly obtained a search warrant signed by a judge have a right to be in a home. Such is the law of the land.

Citizens have a right to be secure in their homes and possessions and in many states, often have firearms within to assist in that security (let's face it, most citizens live far outside the area of immediate police response). Many even have the weapons registered in accordance with the laws of their state.

So what to do when these two fundamental ideas come into direct conflict with one another? The police attempting to enforce various narcotics laws via the means at their disposal. The woman (allegedly) defending her home from "unknown" invaders. And everyone pointing fingers.

We predict more training.

ISP Shooting

Follow the links to Channel 2, Channel 7 and the Sun Times. Good job by CPD responding to the scene and the trooper looks like he's going to recover.

So is the bad guy, but you can't have everything.

No Outrage?

Can you imagine if the Chicago Police Department managed to kill 53 people over 7 years through sheer incompetence? We're not talking justified shootings. We're talking about 53 people dying through lock-up negligence, running them over with cars, willful neglect, not following the rules, etc.

There would be outrage. There would be marches in the streets. There would be Federal oversight so tight on this Department that they would be sticking GPS up everyone's ass to keep track of you 24/7 and each officer would have their very own Federal Monitor to oversee all decisions.

So where is the outrage, especially in the minority communities, about the 53 dead kids over the past 7 years that are directly attributable to DCFS negligence, incompetence and rule breaking?

• More than four dozen Illinois children, including 17 from Chicago, died over a seven-year span after child-welfare workers made mistakes or ignored their own rules, according to Downstate newspaper's investigation.

  The deaths of 53 children from September 1998 to January 2005 involved errors by state caseworkers, investigators, supervisors or contracted private workers -- and the failure of those players to properly gauge danger to the children, the Belleville News-Democrat reported Sunday.

  The newspaper said the deaths involved children being beaten, burned, smothered, shaken and starved.

The entire Sun Times article covers 7 paragraphs TOTAL. For 53 dead kids. How many paragraphs have been written so far about the California girl who flew all the way to Chicago for a job in the sex industry and ended up taking a flight out of a 7th story window? She's still alive and may end up costing the City MILLIONS in a settlement. But no one is outraged about 53 dead kids? WTF?

Same Old, Same Old

Not that Peraica turned out to be anything like a gracious loser (more like just a loser) but this is amusing, even by Cook County standards:

• Cook County Board President-elect Todd Stroger now says he will not fire the county's controversial patronage chief right away, but will keep Gerald Nichols on the payroll into January despite a federal investigation into allegations that Nichols fixed jobs
• During the campaign, Stroger said he would fire Nichols after taking office and some expected that to happen on his first day, as a show of commitment to reform. Nichols is suspended from his $114,000-a-year job in the wake of the federal probe.
• Now Stroger says he will lift the suspension so Nichols can advise him during Stroger's first month in office, providing insights no one else can.

So much for being the "reform" candidate. Keep voting democratic people. Watch for those property tax increases coming to a mailbox near you. You heard it here.

UPDATE 23 November: Now Stroger is retreating from "suspending" his election vow to fire his old man's patronage chief currently under Federal investigation for alleged illegal hiring practices.

• Facing accusations that he was reneging on a campaign promise, incoming Cook County Board President Todd Stroger hastily called a news conference today and announced that a controversial county official will be leaving the job after all.

Yup. Todd the Human Windsock. Old Man Stroger must be spinning in his grave seeing how completely useless the Toddster is going to be. Oh, wait...

Coverage at the Sun Times, Channel 2 and Channel 7.

Review of Blue Light Cameras

Channel 2 News does a piece on the impact cameras may or may not be having on crime.

• As CBS 2's Rob Johnson reports, the unmistakable blue flashing light signals to those living or walking through a specific neighborhood that someone is watching. But three years after being introduced in Chicago, just how effective are they?
• Critics of these cameras contend that they are creating a big brother state, but authorities say there's no expectation of privacy on a public street corner.

Go read the whole thing. They interview a couple of "upstanding" citizens who don't like them and a couple of yuppies who do. Privacy issues are raised along with the fact that another $1 million is going to be spent on these things next year alone.

Pretty much your typical news fluff piece.

Look at This Headline

Is there anything the democrats can't do? From Yahoo News:

• A Brisk Rise in American Wages

• American paychecks are rising again at a pace not seen since the 1990s.

• The pay increase amounts to 4 percent on average over the past 12 months, and it comes at a very helpful time for millions of households.

  For three years, pay increases haven't kept pace with the rising cost of living. Then came this year's housing slowdown, which has further squeezed family finances.

  Those setbacks, however, are now being offset by rising income. Four percent may not sound like much, but you have to look back to 1997 to find a calendar year with a gain that big.

  Equally significant, tamer energy prices mean that the "real" wage gains, after inflation, are above 3 percent for the past 12 months. That, too, hasn't happened since the 1990s, even though the economy has been expanding over the past five years.
  

Wages always lag behind. We were in a recession. But the democrats manage to downplay economic realities into Congressional wins and suddenly, everything is rosy? They haven't even been sworn into power yet and the media lapdogs can't find a bad thing to say about the economy that they've been bad mouthing for two years. Shame on the republicans for not pushing the economic good news this election cycle. This economy is expanding at a rate that is eclipsing Clinton's and it's REAL expansion, not an internet bubble. But we're only hearing about it now? Pay no attention to the media behind the curtain!

OJ Special Cancelled; Book Recalled

Amazing.

• NEW YORK - O.J. Simpson's book and TV special were canceled Monday, an astonishing end to an imaginary confession that had sickened the public as the very worst kind of tabloid sensation.
• "I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project," said Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp. owns both Fox Broadcasting and publisher HarperCollins. "We are sorry for any pain that this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson
• HarperCollins spokeswoman Erin Crum said some copies had already been shipped to stores but would be recalled, and all copies would be destroyed.

Of course, we'd be surprised if all the books made it back to the publisher. They're out there and a few boxes of them are going to disappear and show up on E-bay. And Murdoch was facing rebellion within his own company as people like O'Reilly were urging boycotts of their own network advertisers if they bought commercial time for this show.

It's good that a large enough segment of the American public can still be sickened enough to bring crap like this to an end. It's almost heartening.

Once Again, Bears Win

And the Blackhawks lose.Grossman continues to be an adequate quarterback. We still wonder if he's the guy for the job, but he's getting it done when it needs to be. The running game is picking up for the home stretch, so that shortens the odds on a decent playoff run. And you can't say enough about this defense.

Can they do it?

Here We Go Again

Once again, the altar boy photos and honor student stories are rolling out in full force, aided and abetted this time by Channel 7 news.

• There are questions about a weekend shooting involving a Chicago police officer on the city's South Side. Investigators say Michael Smith was shot and killed after he allegedly lunged for an officer's gun. But some witnesses and relatives say that's not what happened. They want the officer who fired the shot charged with murder.
• Police say a preliminary investigation indicates the officer involved was justified in his actions. Michael Smith's family disagrees. They say because they questioned the actions of the officers, they've been harassed by police. Something the department denies.
• "When he approached, he didn't say freeze, he didn't say police, he didn't say nothing. He grabbed him, pulled him towards the gun and he popped him," Poney said.

Yeah, this rings true. Because the first thing you want when you are approaching robbery suspects is the possible offender who won't show you his hands right up close and personal in case you have to shoot him in the belly. What the fuck? Does anyone over at Channel 7 even read this crap before the put it over the air?

And of course, they have to throw in the "harassed by police" canard that always pops up when the family's story diverges from the "official line." If there is one policy it seems is always enforced, it is that the investigating brass and detectives DON'T talk to anyone who wasn't at the scene. Because they have nothing to add. You don't have to harass people who weren't there and anyone who was there is probably already at the Area giving statements. It isn't harassment if it's part of an investigation.

Rot in Hell George Ryan

Just rot there and die you scumbag. From the Sun Times:

• Making his last scheduled public appearance before he reports to federal prison in January, former Gov. George Ryan on Friday night urged 500 DePaul University students to fight for the abolition of the death penalty.

This lying sack of shit commuted the sentences of how many cop killers in a last ditch effort to spare himself prison time? How many other families will not see justice because of this ass? We have seldom seen anyone as narcissistic as this self serving jagoff.

We seldom wish direct and horrible evil on another human being, even certain democrats and leftists. But we make exceptions for George Ryan.

Bears v Jets

Two weeks in a row at the Meadowlands. What did the Bears do to deserve that? We wouldn't spend two weekends in Jersey on a bet. Hopefully though, it's two weekends of winning. We are cautiously optimistic.

Police Shootings

Another attempted disarming - and another happy ending (from the Tribune):

• Two [CPD] officers responded and asked the men to remove their hands from their pockets, Camden said.
  
  Two of the men complied, but the third instead walked toward the officers. After ignoring two more warnings, Camden said, the man tried to grab one officer's gun.
  
  "The officer was about to lose control of his gun," Camden said. "He fired one shot that struck the man" in the abdomen.
  

Channel 7 also has a blurb.

And out in Robbins, a copper shot and killed a man who was embroiled in a lawsuit against that very same officer for shooting him two years ago. The cops was also wounded by a bullet, but no one seems to know where that one came from.

Like Daughter, Like Mother?

From the Sun Times:

• The mother of a Chicago Police officer charged with forgery and attempted theft by deception for passing bad checks was ordered held on $70,000 bail Friday. Zenobia Brown, 57, of the 900 block of East 83rd, allegedly tried to cash four bogus checks at a South Side bank Aug. 31. She allegedly told the clerks at the Illinois Federal Savings & Loan, at 4619 South King Drive, that the checks from Chase Bank -- one for $2 million made out to her and three for $85,000 made out to her grandchildren -- were for a settlement for an injury suffered at Six Flags theme parks. Prosecutors said Brown, who worked for the Chicago Board of Education, tried to pull off the scam the same day her daughter, [name removed], a Chicago Police officer since 1999, tried to deposit a bogus $1 million check allegedly received from Six Flags theme parks as part of a lawsuit settlement. [Name removed], 34, was put on paid leave after allegedly trying to deposit the check at the Chicago Patrolman's Federal Credit Union in the 1300 block of West Washington.

Five bogus checks at one time. Further scientific proof that stupidity is genetic.

From the Comments Section

It is sometimes amazing how much we discover surfing the net. And sometimes more so what we discover surfing our own comment sections:

• Anonymous said... I was scrolling through the news sites (2,5,7,9,fox32) as I always do getting caught up on the news. I was watching a video clip of a newsbroadcast about the stolen suv that plowed into the house in 015 last week killing the young girl. In the UPDATED report, the reporter stated that the subject driving it had died of his injuries. (Good..I thought!)
  
  Then was stunned by what I heard next. The reporter reiterated that witnesses say the crash was the result of a police chase and that THE OFFICERS INVOLVED COULD BE CHARGED CRIMINALLY IF IDENTIFIED! What-the-fuck?!
  
  The news video than goes to Cline who stated that they have looked at all the radio tapes and have spoken to officers working that night and still believe that no chase occured, BUT WE ARE STILL LOOKING INTO IT! I went back to the news sites and now can't find the video segment, I can't remember which channel it was broadcast on.
  
  Did anyone else see it?

We searched in vain for a while trying to find this video clip. Perhaps someone at one of the media stations realized how biased against the police that little clip was and hid it. Or maybe we just missed it. The fact remains that the media ran with all sorts of reports from alleged "witnesses" claiming police chases and unreported collisions and who knows what else and we have yet to see one single iota of evidence to back up the stories.

Could it exist? Sure. But in the Sun Times Saturday:

• Some witnesses reported that Abele appeared to lose control on an alley speed bump, missed the turn onto Waller, crashed through a chain-link fence and slammed into the home.
• [Monique] Bond said the toxicology report was inconclusive and witness statements were conflicting, so no theory about why Abele crashed the SUV could be determined.

Conflicting - as in the media ran with a certain angle and it hasn't panned out so far. And it might never pan out. The Sun Times doesn't even touch on the chase angle any more.

The Criminal Mind

Everyone has had one of those "Eureka!" type moments when you see something or hear something and connections that were not seen before suddenly make a lot of sense.

Charles Williams noted in one of the news reports the other day that the gangbangers on the way to carry out a hit on a rival gang members was scheduled to coincide with the high school dismissals in the area so as to maximize chaos and police response times. It's probably not out of the realm of possibility to speculate that a number of staged fights may have been perpetrated at certain high schools with the intention of drawing in more police officers to facilitate the shooter's escape plans.

Criminals planning their activities around known police shift changes isn't unheard of - ladies of negotiable affection routinely plan on doing a lot of tricks during those hours. But it's been quite a number of years since we had heard this from an old-timer who has always thought this way. We were taught this way of thinking by our Patrol Specialist, but we'll admit it hasn't been in the forefront of our mind for a while. Bad habit on our part.

Friday, according to the reports at Channel 7, an armored car stickup on the west side went off almost exactly at 1500 hours, and the first thing that sprang to mind was, "Aha! School dismissal and shift change." Which is exactly what should have sprung into our minds half a dozen times before, but didn't because of habits we fall into. Watch yourselves, early AND late in your shift - because THEY are counting on your guard being down.

Outfit? Or Other?

Anyone have any info on this shotgun slaying in Park Ridge? Any shades of Organized Crime involved? Because it just doesn't seem like anyone would hang around dressed in black and wearing a ski mask with a shotgun at hand unless they wanted to send a very clear message to some other people involved in some nefarious activity.

We're just wondering becasue we thought the Outfit had been eliminated within the immediate vicinity of Cook County.

Who's Dirty, Who Isn't?

You'd hate to think that anyone would involve their spouse in shady business dealings. After all, if one party got caught, at least someone would be out of jail to raise the kids while the other party spent some time in prison. At least, that's what normal people would think.

• Within months after first lady earned nearly $50,000 in a real estate deal with an indicted political fundraiser, several of his associates were appointed to state boards and hired by state agencies, according to a published report.
  
  Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office acknowledged last year that Patti Blagojevich has had a business relationship with developer and fundraiser for at least eight years. Records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times for Friday's editions reveals for the first time that a deal between her and Rezko and the state's hiring of Rezko's associates occurred around the same time.
  
  The governor's office denies that the real estate transaction and the appointments and hirings are related.

Of course they deny that anything is related. Then you might recall that Patti Blagojevich is the daughter of Aldercreature Dick Mell, and Dick Mell is nothing if not a player in the great political game that is Chicago. Dick Mell MADE Rod Blagojevich and Rod has been nipping at the hand that made him for a while now. And of course, Patti may have learned quite a bit from her father's years of political gamesmanship and business dealings.

And the game continues.

Channel 2, Channel 5 and Sun Times coverage at the links.

This Thing Gets a Shotgun?

Where's ours?

• Channel 2: Chicago now has its own RoboCops just like in the movies. City officials are touting the arrival of three new robots the city will use to diffuse bombs.
• Channel 7: The Chicago device is armed with a water cannon but on the web page the manufacturer says it may also be armed with a shotgun.

Now we know where some of the money "saved" via understaffing is going - four robots at $135,000 a piece. Which mayor's cousin is the vendor for these things? Or lobbyist for the firm? Or connected party - because someone is making money off this. It's the Chicago way!

UPDATE: Technical problems at the roll out.

Bounties Pay Off

Remember when it was all the rage to do Sound Impounds? It was a great way to mess with the gangbangers, the citizens loved having their neighborhoods quieter, and coppers who got into it made a decent buck attending court for hours at a time. Then the city screwed it up by combining multiple impounds into a single hearing date and coppers stopped doing it. It just goes to show the shortsighted thinking in the city that they couldn't share a measly 10% of the money with the coppers getting them $700 per car.

Boston appears to be going the other way:

• State police brass are pressuring troopers to dole out speeding tickets instead of warnings in a cash-grabbing mandate cops say is the closest the department has ever come to setting quotas.
• The pilot program, designed to monitor troopers' daily activities, lays out a new system that rewards troopers if they give out a ticket as opposed to a verbal or written warning.
• Under the program, troopers get no extra pay but are credited with 1.5 hours on their daily time sheet for writing a ticket, one hour for a written warning and just a half-hour for a verbal warning.

Things that make you go, "Hmmm."

Political Correctness

Over at Rue St. Michel, he has run across a pathetic example of Political Correctness run amok:

• The rank and file patrol officers who work in the 25th district were abuzz yesterday when they started to notice that the Christmas tree in the lobby was gone. In its place was a hand-written placard pleading for the return of the "holiday tree".
  
  The Christmas tree was placed in the lobby to support a children's charity. Paper stars on the tree could be picked up by officers or court personnel and a donation in the child's name could be made. There was never any mention of "Christmas" in or around the tree.
  
  Why is this tree being selected for removal? Who knows. Every year an inflatable Santa is erected in the lobby, complete with Christmas lights and decorations. None of that was ever contested, nor removed.

Great. A children's charity. A tree without the word "Christmas" anywhere about. An inflatable Santa. And the best part of it was when they'd deflate the Santa after Christmas and put Crime Scene tape all around the "body" with a case report nearby. THAT was humor.

Let's get this straight. Christmas is a FEDERAL HOLIDAY. Look it up. All people offended by the word "Christmas" ought to get the stick out of their ass and lighten up. Cities across the nation are fleeing the "Holiday Tree" idea and re-embracing Christmas Trees. We don't remember if the tree in Daley Plaza is a Christmas Tree of not, but we remember they erect a Menorah for the Jews, some display for the muslims, and even a big stretch of blank wall with cardboard boxes for the Atheists - or maybe that's just some homeless guy we saw.

The point is, it's Christmas. Freedom of Religion doesn't mean Freedom FROM Religion. Why the war on Christians? Hell, we should be thankful that Christians got us this great holiday for which we can earn time-and-a-half.

UPDATE: We're getting info from a couple of the principals involved in this. Seems that there are allegations that this is a running gag between two individuals (at least one of which has left comments here and at Rue's site) and the petition was full of bogus names like "Baby Jesus" and Matt Rodriguez. If it's a gag, well played boys. If it's not a gag, then people need to lighten up about the word "Christmas." Our rant against political correctness stands however. The example used might be faulty (025), but this isn't anything that doesn't appear in the headlines every single Christmas season anyway - which would lead us to lend credence to the incident actually taking place.

Isn't This Goof Dead Yet?

From the Tribune:

• Fox plans to broadcast a two-part interview with O.J. Simpson in which the former football star discusses the slayings of his former wife and her friend, for which he was acquitted.
  
  The interview, titled "If I Did It, Here's How It Happened," will air Nov. 27 and Nov. 29, according to the network's Web site.

Kind of makes you wish "double jeopardy" could be waived in certain instances, eh?

Zekman Fallout

Channel 2 has a follow up report. Now a "watchdog group" wants Federal oversight and we all know where that leads:

• A police watchdog group is calling Tuesday on the FBI to review whether the Chicago Police Department is hiding crimes to lower the murder rate and make the city seem safer.
• The Cook County Medical Examiner declined to be interviewed on camera. But he said it is sad that the police department is giving out inaccurate information about the city's homicides.

Political hot potato. Catch the fever!

Seven More Stars Retired

Channel 2 and Channel 7 cover the ceremony.

We're assuming that these were "Performance of Duty" deaths as opposed to "Line of Duty" deaths? Someone can correct us if we're mistaken.

More with Less ... Again

Is there truly a move afoot to reduce manpower on the Department? Firstly, you have this article in the Sun Times:

• An influential alderman on Monday dropped his quest to force Mayor Daley to hire 100 more Chicago Police officers after being assured that the police vacancy rate has been reduced.

  "I'm not backing off. My objective was to get a hundred police officers hired. This has us with [more than] 200 hired," said Transportation Committee Chairman Tom Allen (38th).

We don't know where the mayor or Allen get their numbers - but they are bullshit numbers. Can someone define these vacancies? We understand Allen's goal was to fully staff a Traffic Unit to enforce long neglected traffic law in the wake of the individual who got killed near the lakefront over the summer. But robbing Peter (the Districts) to pay Paul (the Traffic Unit) does nothing to solve "vacancies." It just kicks the can down the road. Will someone besides us start screaming about the fact that in almost half the Districts across the city, midnights is down almost 30% of it's cars every single night. It's unsafe.

And how about this article:

• Surveillance cameras on high-crime Chicago street corners may soon be equipped with new software that makes it easier to catch bad guys who drive or park nearby -- by scanning the license plates of up to 3,600 parked or moving vehicles an hour.

  The Chicago Police Department is exploring the idea of installing Big Brother software on 300 "blue light" cameras -- along with the possibility of adding the plate-reading function to video cameras now installed in 30 squad cars to record traffic stops.

So who needs cops anymore? If everything is going to be run by Traffic Aides and remote cameras, can a real manpower reduction be far down the road? After all, it's been 30 or 40 years since they redrew the Districts and Beats. Anyone hear any whispers?

Aren't There Any Honest Politicians?

Gee whiz. Now Luis is caught up in a scandal.

• Rep. Luis Gutierrez got a deal on a riverfront town house built by Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a developer and prominent political fund-raiser now under indictment for an alleged kickback scheme involving state pension funds.
• Gutierrez paid $434,900 three years ago for the town house along the Chicago River just north of Diversey. That's far less than his neighbors paid for any of the other riverfront town houses in the development, records show.
• Gutierrez no longer lives there. In March, he sold the town house for $610,000 -- a 40 percent profit.

We sure wish we were as business savvy as Luis. Imagine being able to purchase condos under market value and then make a quick 40% profit flipping it.

• The congressman's deal with Rezko is surfacing soon after the Chicago Tribune reported that Rezko had been involved in a real estate transaction that allowed Sen. Barack Obama to buy a South Side mansion for $300,000 below the asking price, while Rezko paid full price -- $625,000 -- for the adjoining vacant lot, later selling a strip of the land to Obama.

And Obama, too. And Blago's wife making a hundred thousand or so on a mere handful of real estate transactions that she "can't recall" the details of, even though principals of the deals ended up with State jobs. Of course, none of them can hold a candle to a certain Southern governor's wife turning a $1,000 investment into an almost overnight $100,000 at the Board of Trade a few years back. What we wouldn't give for someone to start flipping on all these deals.

UPDATE: Damn! Off by a factor of 10. We blew that one. Post is now corrected and someone helpfully pointed out that other politicians of both parties profit via inside info. We have got to get us some of that.

Hidden Homicides?

Channel 2's Pam Zekman tries to drop a bombshell on the mayor and the Department Monday night, leveling accusations of reclassifying homicides as "Death Investigations" in order to keep the count lower and make everything seem safer in the city. It seems most of the report was a dud. We don't believe that the Detective Division can arbitrarily downgrade homicides. Certain criteria have to be met before such actions can occur. That being said, Zekman raises a couple of interesting points:

• ...the medical examiner's office ruled Allen died of strangulation, which is a homicide. His brother was shocked when we told him.
  
  "Do you believe the medical examiner?" CBS 2's Pam Zekman asked him.
  
  "Of course I do," Allen said. "They go to school for this. The police are the police."
  
  CBS 2 has obtained copies of documents that show a detective assigned to the case justified closing it out as non-criminal by misstating the autopsy findings. The county's chief medical examiner refused to be interviewed on camera but stands by his pathologist's conclusions.

Political persons in the middle of a potentially embarrassing incident refusing to be interviewed on camera is always a red flag in our book. And accusations of misstating autopsy findings better be on the money or it may be actionable. Another interesting incident:

• Then there are the deaths of five women -- their partially dressed or naked bodies were found in abandoned buildings or vacant lots over the last five years. The pathologists in each case concluded the deaths were homicides caused by strangulation.

Without the reports in front of us and addresses to go with the incidents, we can't make any sort of judgment. But in light of the fact that there were something like 3 or 4 serial killers operating in Englewood and points south in the 90's, any dead prostitute with evidence of strangulation ought to be looked at very closely before classifying it as a "Death Investigation."

Deputy Chief Chasen comes off pretty well in the report, but there is this little blip on the radar:

• Chasen says he doesn't know how the women died, but police can not rely on the medical examiner's conclusions that it was strangulation. "There is no physical evidence whatsoever to indicate that," he said. Dr. Donoghue says the police are out of their area of expertise and defends the findings of his pathologists.

We're certain that a large number of defense attorneys are going to jump all over the statement that the police cannot rely on the medical examiner's conclusions. The medical examiner is, in most cases, a certified expert in their field. They go to school for years to do their job. This being said, Cook County Medical Examiners are political animals and in some cases, political hacks (see the ME's report on the alleged TASER death of an individual with something like 5 times the lethal dose of methamphetamine in his system for details). This might be an interesting debate.

Hey Look! Mary Mitchell Junior!

Anyone catch Dawn Turner Trice's column in Monday's Tribune? She accuses the police of responding too slowly to calls in the 007th District. Calls across the street from the station no less.

• When Joyce Muschamp's basement was burgled in the wee hours of Oct. 2, she was disappointed that her neighbor's presence across the street failed to discourage the offenders. Her neighbor's lights were on all night. To make matters worse, the neighbors didn't see or hear anything. And when she called them about the incident, they never even came over.
• Wonder why Muschamp has sore feelings? You should know that her neighbor is the Chicago Police Department's Englewood District station, located at 6120 S. Racine Ave. Since January, she has called the police for several incidents--ranging from the fairly mundane, such as neighbors blaring loud music, to the burglary--to little or no avail.
• You want to improve the neighborhood," Muschamp said. "But after a while, what sense does it make to call the police at all?" That's a good question, but a sad commentary, suggesting that if you live in a community such as the embattled Englewood neighborhood, and your emergency isn't a biggie, then police service is relegated to optional.

How about that? "Optional" police service. Way to slam the police.

Well Ms. Turner, maybe instead of accusing the police about "optional" service, you ought to direct the light of your curiosity toward the manpower shortages citywide. Ask why Englewood is running 30% or more down cars during the midnight hours? Ask why two police Areas comprising nine police Districts were running 4 and 5 officers deep to "Disturbance" calls over the past three days due to credible death threats on officer's lives. Ask why everyone who can is bidding out of Districts like 005, 007, and assorted other locations around the city.

And stop trying to be Mary Mitchell with her pretend concern for the poor and downtrodden and anti-police agenda. We have enough hacks in this town.

REPEATING - SAFETY ALERT

This bears repeating as we only heard about and published it on Saturday - one of our lowest average visitor days. It has already generated almost 140 comments and observations.

In Areas 4 and 5.

Until further notice, ALL JOBS dispatched will be handled by two 10-4 cars PLUS a Sergeant. This has extended to all watches. We're starting to hear that Sergeants are riding two or three deep with a regular Beat car. No one is riding 99 at all. The backlog has got to be in-freaking-credible by dinner time.

And we remind everyone that the Department published a out-and-out denial for the CO Book taking the media to task for releasing unsubstantiated rumors as fact.

Mary Mary, Quite Contrary

It isn't often that Mary Mitchell makes mistakes...

We'll actually, that isn't true. She makes errors constantly. We can only imagine that they're deliberate errors to promote an anti-police agenda, because it's worrying to think someone could be as ignorant as she is and still make a living writing for a rag like the Sun Times. It's much more comforting to think she's a tool of the left than think that she a completely babbling idiot...

OK, that isn't true either. It's WAY more comforting to imagine she's a babbling idiot. Get a load of her column today (we read it so YOU don't have to! All part of the service):

• I don't believe Jemelle Lloyd did it. And I don't think Chicago Police officers, who arrested him Oct. 27 for assault of a man in the Hyde Park community, had enough cause to charge him with attempted robbery and assault. Nonetheless, Lloyd, who turns 18 on Monday, could end up in the criminal justice system.

Um, Mary? You state in your column, your very own column, about 11 paragraphs down, that University of Chicago police detained and arrested him. University of Chicago police are not Chicago Police. In fact, there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 or more separate police agencies operating within City limits. Most of them have agreements to utilize CPD facilities for transport to Cook County Courts. But they aren't CPD. And CPD doesn't charge people with crimes - State's Attorneys do. On sworn complaints. And we'd be surprised if any CPD officer's signature appeared on any of the complaints. And the fact that Lloyd might end up in the criminal justice system before he's 18 shouldn't be a surprise - at 17 you go to County Jail as an adult in this state.

• On Oct. 27, Lloyd, 17, shouldn't have even been in Hyde Park.

So you're starting out of the box saying Lloyd shouldn't have been where he was? Like he was disobeying mom's rules? You're starting to bury this kid already Mary.

• A University of Chicago cop gave a Chicago Police officer a description of all six suspects and said they ran into a park at 5450 S. Kenwood, where they were detained and taken to the University of Chicago police station at 55th and Ellis.

Thank god you aren't an attorney Mary. Prosecuting, you'd lose this case on a motion. As the Defense, this kid would go to the chair - and you'd still claim it was everyone's fault but yours and his. Let's try to get your story straight next time before you go around the bend painting all police as evil, racist, railroading sons of bitches, eh?

How about we watch this case go up before a court? If it's as weak as Mary claims, Lloyd will get off shortly and be able to sue the U of C for false arrest and whatever else will stick. If Lloyd pleas out, we'll all know that he was guilty of something and took the easy route out. If he gets convicted, we can all remind Mary that everyone who gets caught in a criminal act, from the person putting hands on the victim to the lookout who yelled the police were on the way, is guilty of the entire crime. Remember, the state charges the passengers with murder just for being in the car during a drive-by.

And stop misidentifying University of Chicago Police as Chicago Police. You did it in your previous column and you do it again in this one. You are an agenda driven hack and it's showing. Again.

Well

Well.

Is anyone else surprised we don't see run backs like that "missed field goal turns into a touchdown" more often? Hell, plays like that remind us of the "dropped third strike becomes a runner on first" that the Sox pulled off during their playoff run last year.

Heads up play by the Bears. And the nail in the Giants coffin.

Lack of Updates

Sorry. Worked late. Weekend. Busy busy busy.

Go Bears. But we've got some serious doubts if they can keep up the pace they did for the first half of the season. The flaws everyone noted in the ground game are putting serious pressure on everything else. We believe it has been noted that a great defense can only get you so far - usually as far as the playoffs. How far you go after that is dependent on the offense.

OFFICER SAFETY ALERT

In Areas 4 and 5.

Until further notice, ALL JOBS dispatched will be handled by a 10-4 car OR two one-man cars PLUS a Sergeant.

Evidently, FOXNews was more on the ball than our own Department when they broadcast the report that the new breeds were seriously targeting a Chicago Police Officer or Officers.

This represents a complete 180 degree turn from what was read to us at roll calls for the past week.

Maybe someone can address the hideous manpower shortages now? We saw that last week on midnights, a couple of districts in our Area were averaging 4 cars DOWN for the ENTIRE TOUR. That's about a third of the District manpower for any civilians or media types reading the blog. We are stretched so thin, it isn't even funny now.

Be careful out there.

CORRECTION? ADDITION: We're being told by a couple of people that this is for the 1st and 3rd watches only, responding cars are TWO two-man cars PLUS a Sergeant (5 total). The Districts are assumed to be in immediate RAP beginning 3rd Watch. Conflicting reports have TRU and SOS deployed to Areas 4 and 5 and rumors abound of Tact and Gang teams in uniform.

What's This? A Win?

The Blackhawks defeat the hated Blues, snapping an 8 game losing streak - or at least 8 games without a win. They did manage a shootout loss and one point. But even with free admission for veterans and active service military personnel, there were still a lot of empty seats.

Oh Lord, Please No.

The Sun Times:

• Competition to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games could come down to Chicago vs. Los Angeles because the San Francisco 49ers apparently have pulled the rug out from their city's Olympic stadium plan.

  The 49ers decision to stop negotiating with San Francisco -- and possibly move the team to Santa Clara -- left that city's Olympic bid in disarray. It sent San Francisco's delegation home from a two-day seminar with the U.S. Olympic Committee in utter confusion.

  San Francisco's loss could be Chicago's gain. If San Francisco is forced to fold its Olympic tent, that would leave Chicago and Los Angeles as the only two cities vying for the right to be the USOC's choice.
  

San Fran dropping out, in our opinion, actually gives Chicago the inside track. LA hosted the games in 1984. The USOC may be loathe to have the same city hosting again. Of course, this is only to be the sole US representative in the bidding - Chicago could still lose out to a number of other international competitors, but the IOC likes to have the games on this side of the pond every 12 to 16 years, just because then they actually make money.

Veteran's Day

From all of us here to all Veterans, living, deceased and yet to serve, thank you.

Let the Games Begin

Give the dems and inch, and they grab their foot and stick it in their mouths. Case in point:

• Mona Charen on NRO: Nancy Pelosi just told Brit Hume that the war in Iraq is "not a war to be won but a situation to be solved."
• Rep John Murtha in the Tribune Democrat: As for Bush’s future actions in Iraq, Murtha was blunt: “He’s not going to go on with this war.”

Amazing. These people run around, screaming about an illegal war, losing the peace, comparing US troops to nazis, terrorist prisons to gulags and within hours, literally HOURS, they are already letting the mask slip from their far left moonbat ideology, laying the groundwork for an ignominious withdrawal from the central front in the War on Terror.

You thought it was bad after we left South Vietnam? Iraq will look 10 times worse overnight if we pull out without sufficient Iraqi security forces in place.

CORRECTION: spelling correction 0600 hours