Rumor - Confirmed?

Someone actually witnessed an exempt member telling people the following, and then we got another e-mail with the same story:

• ABC news crews working for 20/20 are currently in the city, following police cars and filming street stops.
• Since they can't be everywhere, they have provided or made available cameras for use by neighborhood "activists" to film police activity in the neighborhoods.
• They are looking for anything they can use to show a "Department out of control" type of atmosphere.

Don't be that officer. The old days are dead, gone and buried - don't let them bury you, too.

Let the Sunshine In

As the media reports that at least twelve officers are cooperating with the SOS investigation, two sergeants have retained lawyers and the "ringleader" attempts to save his own skin by doing what certain people have cursed other officers for doing, we pose the following question:

• How much did clout have to do with this entire scandal going on for as long and as badly as it did?

Obviously, some very high people assisted in moving people around. Certain officers are denied spots on teams or units citywide for having a number of CR's on their records, an arbitrary number of TRR's with their names on them, or being named as the defendant in bullshit court cases that too often are settled by Corp Counsel without the merest hint of a fight. Others seem to skate through unscathed by past history.

But when all the names are brought to light for various petty and felonious accusations, how many connected persons and how many "merit" promotions will be listed among them? Among the Lieutenants and above, how many "double merit" promotions are there? That is a question that really ought to be answered. You have a phone call unit, led by phone call supervisors who had all sorts of phone calls up the chain of command to make red flags disappear.

If the "merit" lists were published and the sponsors of the "merit" picks identified, we might be able to actually see who in the Department AND political realms is most to blame for the endemic corruption throughout. FOIA anyone? Test results for a governmental agency paid for with tax dollars really ought to be public knowledge. The entire Department suffers and so does the public.

Rumor Mill in Full Swing

One of many:

• Huge rumor coming out of HQ this evening. Da Mayor is going to make the announcement on Monday after the AIBA boxing tournament leaves town. The new Superintendent and 1st Deputy will be introduced. The latest rumor from a pretty good source has Grau as big boss and Dugan as 1st. This is a pretty good combo if you asked me.

And that isn't the only one. We have tips of an outsider taking over (Fong as the front runner from San Francisco). We have Maher as the insider winning the spot. The regular Keating as First rumors are everywhere.

We're sure some of it is agitators muddying up the waters. And someone pointed out a connection between a former Chicago exempt and the PERF people that, if true, really ought to raise a boatload of red flags for anyone expecting a fair and open process.

Remember, it's all BS until you see it on paper.

Finnigan Names Names

In light of reports that everyone and their brother is talking to the feds in a desperate attempt to cut deals to avoid prison, it seems the big name himself is talking.

Channel 5 is reporting a plea deal with Finnigan and he's naming BIG names.

What has he got to offer? Probably who moved him around to different units in an effort to quash investigations. Maybe who got money? Retired names along with active bosses? Links to follow when available.

UPDATE: Sun Times story

UPDATE and BUMP: Originally published 29 Oct 07 @ 2200 hours. Bumped to the top of Tuesday's posting to stay current and visible for the morning rush.

Read What We Write - Please!

Blah blah blah - a tiny brain speaks:

• Golly Gee, SCC, why the criticism for a disclaimer or two? Aren't you the same outfit that published the super silly "Blockbuster SOS News?" about how the entire Federal case against Jerry Finnegan was bullshit and was moments away from being dismissed? Did you not later call that same story a "rumor?" Are you now prepared to admit that it was complete bullshit? Has your source apologized? No retraction? Given these events, why are you criticizing an author for trying to relay as much data to the reader as possible? You are weird and angry.

Yes, we did publish the "Blockbuster SOS News" post. If you actually read it, a named individual stated that the Federal "murder for hire" portion of the case against Finnigan is falling apart because it was entrapment. The well respected retired cop who signed his name to the comment told us we could use it in the posting. We never ever said it was "moments away from being dismissed" - the feds never work in "moments." They operate at the speed of a glacier. That's also the reason they seldom lose in court.

At the moment, the retired sergeant is standing by his information and we're comfortable standing with him at this point. He has offered to come on here, apologize, and retract his information should it prove to be false. We are merely following his lead. The Finnigan cooperation means nothing at the moment. Channel 5 reported that the Feds are handling this as a "Civil Rights" case (like the Rodney King case) which only bolsters the credibility of the rumor that the conspiracy to commit murder charge will be dropped in the near future.

And the reason we're taking the Sun Times report, reporter and headline editors to task is that the media always spouts on about how unbiased they are and how they merely report the facts. Well that article was nothing but BS, based on nothing but BS, and had an obviously slanted agenda to it. We aren't the media - we can have agendas. We've even stated and embraced agendas. The media is saying one thing and doing another, as usual.

Bar Closing

Channel 7 gets it done:

• A popular Chicago nightclub, the scene of repeated violence captured on videotape, had its liquor license revoked and will soon be out of business.
• Two months after the killing and two weeks after the I-Team first broadcast disturbing images of street violence, Chromium's owner and Chicago licensing officials reached a shutdown agreement.

What is a "shutdown agreement"? If it was an illegitimate license (and it was because the holder of said license admitted as much), yank the damn thing. But no, some political strings must exist somewhere, which Channel 7 most unhelpfully doesn't address:

• As part of the agreement, Chromium will be allowed to stay open until December 3 to honor some promotion and entertainment contracts.

The City Law Department better hope no one gets shot or killed during these special events lest the taxpayers be on the hook for another few million.

Someone left a comment in another thread congratulating us on scooping the media for this one. They are mistaken as we only linked to Channel 7's original report and threw in a few unasked questions about connections and ownership - questions still not addressed for some reason, proving once again that the media does a half assed job with everything it touches regarding clout and the mayor.

Crap Reporting - Again

The headline reads "Wrongly Accused"

The subtitle says "Think Illegals are More Likely to be Involved in Crime? Think Again"

The opening paragraphs:

• Some say undocumented immigrants -- illegal aliens, as they're often called -- spread crime when they come to the U.S. Others say that is a myth.

  Reliable statistics on crime by undocumented immigrants are hard to come by. But the Chicago Sun-Times has learned that less than 4 percent of the adults in Illinois prisons have been identified as illegal immigrants. And as of mid-July, less than 3 percent of the inmates in Cook County Jail were illegals.

  Those incarceration figures nearly mirror the undocumented immigrant population.

Damn. We guess we've been wrong about illegals committing crime. We better open up the borders first thing tomorrow, disband the border patrol, and strew the paths into this country with rose petals to welcome in our new law abiding neighbors.

Then we read the rest of the article:

• Those numbers are, as of now, the best snapshot available.

  But they could be incomplete.

  That's because the figures are based on "detainer warrants" -- and not every illegal immigrant in jail or prison has one. What's more, immigrants tend to under-report crime in their communities out of fear of the police, Weitzer said.

  The Cook County Jail figures also could be misleading, since not everyone in custody can be considered a criminal -- some have been charged with crimes but not convicted.

So the writer is admitting that his entire premise for writing the article could be bullshit? Why have that title and subtitle up top then hinting at how wrong all of the conservative racist xenophobes have been in demanding a secure border before we allow legal and documented immigrants to enter the country?

One would think the media had an agenda.

Tax Hike = Less Services

This is amusing:

• Chicago homeowners will have to fend for themselves when it comes to getting rid of the opossums, raccoons, bats and feral cats invading their backyards and rummaging through their garbage.
• With 146 animal traps and 13,000 annual requests to set them, there was simply no way to respond in a timely fashion. Not with 30 animal control officers who also respond to more serious requests, including dangerous dogs, bites and mistreatment of animals.

Responding in a timely fashion is pretty much a fantasy with Animal Control. Waits extend into entire shifts and then the people who show up are incompetent political hacks who can't do the job they were hired to do.

We have a suggestion that would at one fell swoop, eliminate the need for Animal Control and rid the city of tens of thousands of wild raccoons, geese, skunks, deer, coyotes, pigeons and all manner of stray dogs and cats - everyone gets a shotgun.

Illinois Trooper Killed

Downstate:

• State police said a 24-year-old trooper was killed during a three-vehicle crash near Illiopolis early Sunday morning.
• Trooper Brian McMillen was responding to a local police agency when the accident northeast of Springfield happened shortly before 3 a.m.
• Police said the drivers of two other vehicles now face charges for aggravated driving under the influence and improper lane usage.

Prayers and remembrances only for this thread.

D'oh!

Darwin strikes again:

• A 20-year-old man suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head while he was apparently playing with the gun at a South Side home Saturday night.

  About 9:30 p.m., police responded to reports of a man shot in the head at the 11300 block of South Yale Avenue, police News Affairs Officer Amina Greer said.

  According to a report from the police First Deputy Superintendent's office, the man was playing with a handgun when he accidentally shot himself. The man's girlfriend told police she left the man to go to the bathroom and while she was in there she heard a gunshot, the deputy's report said.

Call us cynical, but we hope someone thought to do a GSR on the corpse and the girlfriend. Stupid is as stupid does, but make sure, just in case.

Payback?

Can the Bears use the pasting they got at the hands of Detroit mere weeks ago as inspiration to claw their way back to .500?

UPDATE: Da Bears suck.

They Aren't Saying Nothin'

How about the tiniest little bit of accountability?

• As the world boxing championships enter its first weekend here, local officials are refusing to detail what city services are being used to stage the event.

  Pressed on the matter Friday, Chicago 2016 Olympic bid chairman Pat Ryan said that "no public funds are being used" but acknowledged that the city Police and Fire departments are providing manpower.

• But supervisors in the city's detective areas and specialized police units said they have been understaffed because their employees have been placed on security duty for the boxing event, being held at the UIC Pavilion.

  One boss said most of his staff was monitoring hotels where boxers, fight officials and foreign media have been staying. Much of the unit's work was on hold, he said.

As reported here, Fugitive Apprehension, Financial Crimes and Asset Forfeiture are completely shut down - one of the units even had a phone message that said they'd be out of the office for the next few weeks. Monique wouldn't discuss manpower issues (even though it's a legit question) and says we aren't taking officers off of patrol duties - but we sure are finding plenty of inside spots that must not be that important. It sure is funny the mayor has been charging all the sports teams, parades and festivals for police coverage in recent years, but this is getting dozens of detectives (at D-2A pay no less!) all for free.

And remember, even though this event is probably less than 1/100th the size of a Bears game, it's a dry run for the entire Olympics experience. Hahahaha - we just snorted coffee all over the computer.

Pay to Play

So you want to know who contributes to whom in the Illinois political system?

Open Book

An interesting little program provided by the Illinois State Comptroller. Of course, it's a political site by an elected official in the State of Illinois. But mildly interesting at the moment. How long it'll stay up is another question.

Mette to Jail Monday

A complete miscarriage of justice:

• On Sunday, Bob Mette and his son, Mike, 30, will go to the game at Soldier Field to watch the Bears play the Lions.
  
  On Monday, Bob will drive Mike to Iowa, to prison. Mike Mette, until recently a Chicago police officer, is scheduled to begin serving a 5-year prison sentence.
  
  His crime? According to the judge's ruling, Mike threw one punch at an angry drunk who chased Mike down the street and attacked him verbally, physically, repeatedly.

Barring a miracle, this will go down as one of the saddest occurrences in American jurisprudence.

Names for Superintendent

To be released Wednesday?

• Six current or former big-city police chiefs are vying to become Chicago's next police superintendent, and five to 10 more outsiders are expected to join the competition by the Halloween deadline.
• Carney said he has asked the Police Executive Research Forum to conceal the names until Wednesday's deadline. "I don't want to know who they are."

We'd like to know. Someone knows. Let's see the names.

Rename OPS

SCC Contest!

And someone has already provided the first entry:

• The mayor has decided to rename the Office of Professional Standards (OPS). His short list includes:
  
  (1) Office of Political Standards
  
  (2) Summerdale
  
  (3) Personnel Inquisition for Mandatory Persecution & Sadism (PIMPS)
  
  (4) Federation for Unified Clout & Kangaroos (FUCK)

We thought "SOS" would be a catchy abbreviation - and by coincidence, it happens to be available for some reason right now.

Ryan to Prison - Almost

This day can't come too soon:

• Former Gov. George Ryan was ordered Friday to start serving a 6 1/2-year prison sentence in less than two weeks but his lawyers held out hope they could keep him out of prison pending a U.S. Supreme Court appeal.
• George Ryan's legal team will be asking the U.S. Supreme Court, which turns down 99 of every 100 requests to consider a case, to put this one on the docket because the legal issues are so important.

This scumbag and bottom feeder had the audacity to claim that because he has 17 grandchildren, he ought to be allowed a bail extension and not go to prison.

If his office wasn't taking bribes, putting unlicensed truckers on the road and then splitting the money with his political campaigns, how many grandchildren would Mr. and Mrs. Willis have today if 6 of their children hadn't burned to death 13 years ago and instead lived to marry and raise their own families? Fuck you George Ryan - rot in hell you pandering asshole.

War Protests

Hope for rain:

• Chicago police expect up to 10,000 people to participate in a march against the Iraq war on Saturday, while the protest's organizers say "tens of thousands" of protesters could attend.
  
  The protest will begin with a rally at 1:30 p.m. in Union Park at Ashland Avenue and Lake Street, said organizers. At 2:30, the protesters will march south on Ashland and then east on Jackson Boulevard to Federal Plaza at Dearborn and Adams Streets, where they will hold another rally about 3:45.

We're betting that it isn't nearly as big as anyone says it's going to be. Reports from the scene are appreciated.

The Connected Make Out

But we still need that tax hike:

• The city's decision to purchase for $1.2 million a riverfront parcel in Bridgeport that a connected developer bought six years earlier for $50,000 was "not a sweetheart deal," Mayor Daley said Thursday.

• The Chicago Tribune reported this week that Bridgeport developer Thomas DiPiazza and a partner bought the 1.8-acre parcel for $50,000 in 1998, only to sell it to the city for $1.2 million six years later.

  DiPiazza is a lifelong friend and business partner of Tim Degnan, the mayor's former political enforcer.

And the corruption continues apace:

• On Thursday, the mayor also sloughed off the controversy surrounding the latest city land deal involving his nephew, Robert Vanecko.

  The Sun-Times reported this week that City Hall has agreed to give as much as $5 million to a business that lists Vanecko as one of its principals. The company plans to build a $22.6 million residential tower on the Near North Side for low-income senior citizens.

  Referring to his nephew, Daley said, "He has nothing to do with [that project.] He's a consultant. That's all. You know that. [It's] just a little jammeroo" by the Sun-Times designed to needle Daley.

Amazing how all this happens by shear coincidence.

Quick Hits

So much to cover, but we don't feel like burying the readers in a dozen posts:

• U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow on Thursday handed off to a federal appeals court the hot potato over whether to release the names of Chicago Police officers most often accused of excessive force.

Nice to see the aldercreatures who are attempting to circumvent the legal process and protections for their own political gains getting slapped down and told to behave according to the law of the land. More coverage at Channel 2 and Channel 5.
----------

• An Office of Professional Standards perceived as too cozy with the Chicago Police Department and too protective of rogue officers will change its name to make a clean break with the past, a top mayoral aide said Thursday.
• And she’s trying to decide how to proceed in cases where there is no signed affidavit.

  “Whether or not someone signs an affidavit it not a good indication of the validity” of that complaint, Rosenzweig said.

Wow. A name change will make everything all better. It worked for SOG once. And unfortunately, our bullshit detector pegged out at 100% for that last comment regarding "validity." State law dictates that a complaint without an affidavit is a non starter - therefore, it's a perfect indicator of validity. FOP better fight this one tooth and nail.
----------

• The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 6 to 3 not to let the full court rehear the appeal that Ryan lost earlier this year.

Let's have someone set a date and have Ryan start rotting in prison already. Channel 2 and Channel 5 also cover this long overdue justice.
----------

• The CBS 2 Investigators have uncovered another serious emergency response failure at this year's Chicago Marathon. More questions are being raised about what happened to 35-year-old runner Chad Schieber after he collapsed. Did calls to 911 go unanswered?
  
  [...] Schieber was still alive and had a pulse but critical time passed as he lay dying in the street. For days Chicago officials claimed nobody called 911 for him. So the 2 Investigators went digging and found that simply is not true.

This Marathon disaster of an emergency response just won't go away. And now, OEMC is getting caught in lies and backtracking from stories they've been telling about the calls, the response and the aftermath. Got to get those Olympic sized construction contracts rolling - can't let poor planning and poor emergency responses get in the way of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of business!

Obama - Taking Candy from Babies

Or at least taking boat loads of money:

• Elrick Williams's toddler niece Carlyn may be one of the youngest contributors to this year's presidential campaign. The 2-year-old gave $2,300 to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

  So did her sister and brother, Imara, 13, and Ishmael, 9, and her cousins Chan and Alexis, both 13. Altogether, according to newly released campaign finance reports, the extended family of Williams, a wealthy Chicago financier, handed over nearly a dozen checks in March for the maximum allowed under federal law to Obama.

  Such campaign donations from young children would almost certainly run afoul of campaign finance regulations, several campaign lawyers said. But as bundlers seek to raise higher and higher sums for presidential contenders this year, the number who are turning to checks from underage givers appears to be on the rise.

  "It's not difficult for a banker or a trial lawyer or a hedge fund manager to come up with $2,300, and they're often left wanting to do more," said Massie Ritsch, a spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics. "That's when they look across the dinner table at their children and see an opportunity."

How come the Washington Post is the only paper covering this? Local media under the thumb of the Chicago Machine?

Children giving money to democrats? It qualifies as Child Abuse at the very least.

Hat tip to Captain's Quarters.

"Merit" Picks for Detective?

Can anyone confirm that they sent out a letter today? Probably another class of 50?

Swipe In, Swipe Out?

Someone starting rumors again. Any basis in reality? Who knows, but it gives us some fodder to work with.

The rumor says that starting in January 2008, not only will you swipe into work, you will be required to swipe out. This should prove entertaining on a number of levels. No more calling in late? No more late lunch? No more early duck on reverse sting days?

Which units will be swiping (Districts) and which ones won't (NAGIS, Gang Intel, Vice, etc.)? Which officers will be punished (beat guys and gals) and which won't (CAPS, house mice, etc.) when they fail to swipe in and out?

This has disaster written all over it and will only further fracture morale as certain clout positions, officers and units get a pass from what everyone else is going to get hammered for.

Stop Enforcing the Law

Could someone ask Tunney if this is another one of those laws that the City Council passes that we really don't need to enforce anymore?

• Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), the city's first openly gay alderman, said police are wasting time by trying to combat an activity "that has been going on a hundred years."
  
  Several of his constituents in the heavily gay ward have complained about entrapment during police stings, he said. He called those people "victims."
  
  Police "are playing a game," said Tunney, whose ward includes the Town Hall police district. "Is this really a priority when we've got violent crime on the street?"

Wasn't this his argument when he hung a police commander out to twist in the wind? Why, yes it was!

• Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) said today he called a police commander after getting pulled over last week for using his cell phone while driving to question why officers in an “understaffed police district” with serious unsolved crimes are “assigned to pull people over solely for cell phone violations.”

So all you guys and gals in 023 - no more cell phone violations, no more public indecency arrests. Offenders are now "victims" of police entrapment. Just like the "reverends" accuse all the police of being racists and Gestapo for daring to stop gang bangers from shooting up neighborhoods, Tunney has decided police are "homophobes" for daring to enforce a law duly passed by the elected legislative body of the City of Chicago.

NOTE: And note this well - this is not a post for tiny brains to spout their anti gay rhetoric. We give a rat's ass whether you're gay, straight, other, etc., as long as you come running when we call on the radio. Same as we don't give a shit if you're black, white, brown, yellow, green or purple. Yes, we've all had fun with the "luberman" comments. He's out of the closet along with a bunch of other people in this Department and in this city and he's going to make more money than we'll see in five lifetimes because of political connections. Big deal. This post is about Tunney using his position to influence the policy and procedure of the Chicago Police Department outside of the legislative process - that and that only.

Psychic Again?

Back on 17 October, we posted the following:

• But by asking for $293 million, Daley and the aldercreatures can "compromise" at the $190 million mark and pass themselves off as heroes to the voters who are about to get hammered by the State and County governments by claiming to have "saved" everyone a cool hundred million.
  
  Why does it take an amateur cop blog to do the media's job? We guess that the "public watchdog" is more the "mayor's lapdog" when it comes to actually doing right by the people.

Enter the mayor's lapdog - Fran Spielman:

• Mayor Daley will “substantially reduce” his proposed $108 million property tax increase, but rebellious aldermen will have to wait to find out how and by how much, City Hall sources said Wednesday.

  [...]

  The precise mix won’t be known until Daley signs off on the plan. But, one thing is certain: Aldermen who squawked like never before about a Daley budget will have something to show their constituents.

Wow. It's almost like we have a copy of their play book.

Blogs Hammer Mainstream Media

The bloggers over at The Chicagoist did the unthinkable:

• Chicagoist just got off the phone with Gregory P. Longhini, assistant secretary of the Chicago Transit Board, who wanted to give us the CTA's version of the rumor about CTA board member Rev. Charles E. Robinson's visit to Miranda Smith, the CTA employee accused of identity theft.

  "He went over [to the police station] at the request of her grandmother," Longhini says, adding that Robinson is Smith's grandmother's pastor. "It is common for a minister to be asked to help someone in jail. Is it common for someone to flash a CTA [board] ID? No. But he goes to the station all the time in his role as a minister." Longhini says that Robinson had "no idea" that Smith's arrest had anything to do with her employment at the CTA, and that when Robinson found out, he left the station. Longhini says he thinks Robinson "referred" Smith to the CTA to help her get a job, but that she went through the same hiring process as anyone else.

They picked up a damn phone and actually called someone who had answers to the rumors posted here almost a week ago! So that kind of blows Trib reporter Angela Rozas' reputation as a "crime reporter" out of the water as she couldn't be bothered make a few phone calls like the Chicagoist did and verify this story.

And as a side note, guess who Longhini decides to blame?

• The story started picking up steam on Second City Cop, and Longhini says he read the post over there after someone mentioned it to him. "I found that racist blog. It's horrible .... That blog is disgusting — seeing who they linked to — I turned the damn thing off." He added that anyone who wants to tell a scandalous story should "come out and say their name."

The readers of The Chicagoist (a left leaning site) come to SCC's defense in their comments section against these unfounded accusations of racism and efforts to divert attention away from the "reverend's" politically motivated big-footing around the entire episode. Nice to see that people on both sides of the political spectrum are seeing this episodes as part and parcel of the corrupt Machine politics ruining Chicago.

Now, how about that other phone call? The one from the "golden boy?"

Aldercreature Sweating?

We hope so:

• New federal charges were announced late Tuesday against three brothers allegedly responsible for supervising an international counterfeit identification business on the Southwest Side.
  
• The brothers are among a total of 23 defendants facing charges in Chicago related to the counterfeit identification operation, which operated out of the Little Village Discount Mall at 26th and Albany.
  

This operation didn't just operate out of some store front. It operated out of "Photo Estudio Munoz" - as the media so helpfully left out of this report. Munoz as in the mother of aldercreature Ricardo Munoz. We seem to remember his father was among those under investigation. We also seem to remember a Tribune article 10 years ago that pointed out the "mica" sellers were paying protection money to the latin king street gang to the tune of $35,000 per month. And that aldercreature Munoz had a juvenile UUW conviction as a member of the latin kings. And that the other "Photo Estudio Munoz" at 26th and St. Louis burned to the ground under mysterious circumstances 3 years ago.

Golly, these coincidences just keep piling up. And speaking of coincidences, guess who's one of the leading aldercreatures trying to get the names of police released who have 10 or more complaints against them, even if they haven't been found guilty of anything? Give yourself a shiny new dime if you said Munoz.

Lieutenant Results In

Post em if you want. Or if you know anyone who did well. Or if you suspect someone is going to get promoted due to "merit."

Obviously, Starks is gong to try to get some people in under the impending choosing of a new Superintendent - that much was clear when they issued and retracted the "meri-clou-torious" letter two weeks ago.

What?

We caught this somewhere and we just couldn't believe it. So we went over to the Cook County Clerk's website and found this on the main page:

• Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office on Monday released the 2006 property tax rates for more than 1,200 taxing agencies in Chicago and suburban Cook County.

  This completes a process that started last December when each local taxing district, as required by law, filed its levy with the Clerk’s office. Each levy represents the amount of revenue an individual taxing body has requested to collect from the property tax.

Twelve hundred taxing bodies? What the hell is going on? Twelve-freaking-hundred? No wonder Toddler is missing meetings, lying through his teeth and sticking taxpayers with the biggest increases in years.

Are we misunderstanding this or are there really twelve hundred different bureaucracies with their fingers in our wallets?

Aldercreatures v Starks

And Starks comes off looking OK. First, the Channel 7 spin:

• Twenty-eight aldermen asked a federal judge Monday to release to them confidential information concerning hundreds of Chicago police officers who have been repeatedly accused of abusing civilians.
  
  Their action escalated a controversy over police misconduct, including charges that seven members of the elite special operations division beat and shook down civilians and one member plotted to kill a fellow officer.
  

And then the Tribune coverage:

• Nearly half the cases this year against Chicago police officers involving allegations of excessive force and other wrongdoing have been closed because complainants have failed to cooperate with investigators, Interim Police Supt. Dana Starks said Monday.
  
  Some of the people who lodged complaints have been charged with crimes themselves and have tried to discredit officers or sought to "enhance their case in court" in a process that "unfairly stigmatizes" the police, Starks told aldermen at a City Council hearing on the city's proposed 2008 budget.

Nice to see someone pointing out that a large portion of the complaints are BS to begin with. We've wondered aloud how many of these false complaints, many of which had to have sworn affidavits attached, were prosecuted for perjury by the Cook County State's Attorneys office (answer - ZERO; comment from State's Attorney - "Hahahahaha, you're kidding, right?)

And Starks further points out that many of these complaints are from procedural rule breaking, that is to say, Summary Punishments and such that have gone over the limit and are now handled via CR investigations (multiple court deviations, multiple accidents, multiple minor infractions, combinations thereof).

But everyone is welcome to pile on - even a legislative body that has a conviction rate of something like 50% over the past 20 years and a number of convicted felons in its not so distant past.

Ready for the Olympics?

All the fawning coverage of the boxing extravaganza aside, this is what matters:

• The Chicago Marathon turned into a disaster course two weeks ago. Water wasn't the only thing that ran out; ambulances were also in short supply.
• There was an ambulance shortage, dispatchers didn't have maps and in the case of fallen runner Chad Schieber, paramedics actually got lost.
  
  Some are calling it an emergency meltdown. At the height of the heat and humidity, runners became dehydrated, collapsed and ambulances raced to help.
  
  What you haven't heard about or seen is the chaos that erupted surrounding the emergency response.

Anyone can throw a parade. Chicago has about 200 of them a year. What really ought to be judged is the performance in disaster conditions, and the City failed miserably.

And this was without a bomb going off or a toxin in the air or a building falling down. This was a peaceful crowd, orderly for the most part, and an overly warm fall day threw a giant wrench into something that had been running smoothly for 30 years.

Go read the Channel 2 article. Then wonder about Chicago's ability to run an Olympic event.

The Search is Over?

So declares Sneed:

• Cop top 10 Police blotter . . .
  
  October 23, 2007
  
  BY MICHAEL SNEED Sun-Times Columnist
  
  Listen up! Sneed hears by the time Mayor Daley's top cop search is over, 10 applicants will be screened -- most of whom are outside Chicago.

"Most" from outside Chicago. So is Daley about to make the same mistake his father made before him by selecting an outsider? Or is he going to earn the continuing cynicism of the rank and file by choosing yet another insider who will preside over the slow agonizing death of this Department via "accountability," even though no boss is ever held accountable for bad choices?

Feel Safe Yet? (take two)

Building on the story of airport screeners missing bomb equipment 60% of the time and more, the Sun Times beings us this story:

• A private security company's unarmed guards have been yanked out of the city's two water filtration plants amid concerns about safeguarding Chicago's drinking water.
• "They were sleeping. They weren't where they were supposed to be. The change really was necessary to protect the integrity of the plants. It's not like guarding salt piles. This is one of the highest terrorist targets in the country," said a source familiar with the review.
• The firm was hired to provide security for several city departments, even though Water Management officials ranked it "dead last" among a handful of finalists.

Ranked dead last? But the firm was still hired? Shouldn't THAT be the bigger part of the story. It's not like anybody wasn't warned:

• Water Management's $117,720-a-year security chief Janet Pestka, a retired Chicago Police assistant deputy superintendent, was outspoken about what she viewed as Honor Guard's inability to handle such a sensitive assignment. After writing a letter of protest, she was reassigned to the job of director of internal audits. Two months later, she resigned.

  Pestka could not be reached for comment.

Couldn't reach the former head of security? She was moved (dumped) for speaking out. One would think that she'd be eager to be quoted, eager to contest the job action against her for being correct. Unless there was something shady at work... something that might have occurred that could have "influenced" her to keep her mouth shut... some quid pro quo?

Nah, not in Chicago. This town is the epitome of honest and open government.

Dead Tree Media Speaks

Yeah, they're reading. And picking up stories. From the comments:

• I am not a PO but I have 2 in my family. I luv this site. I took the liberty of sending an e-mail on your collective behalf's to the Trib this morning.
  
  Here is the response
  
  Sir/Madam,
  We are following this story. It takes time, sometimes, to build a story, especially when we don't know who the alleged perp is.
  
  I am making calls to the CTA and to Chicago Police (who, by the way, are referring our calls back to the CTA, so you can see it's not easy to get info), but so far, they haven't told us who was arrested.
  
  As an aside, while I do read the blog, it is frustrating sometimes the fact that people think just because it's on there, it should be posted everywhere.
  
  But as a professional reporter, it's my job to get the facts, not print rumors.
  To that end, if you have any direct information you'd like to share with me, I'd love to hear it. I can only do my job if people talk to me.
  
  Thanks for your note.
  Angela Rozas
  Crime reporter

And in the online Tribune:

• A Chicago Transit Authority employee was charged with felony identity theft after she allegedly misused at least five credit card numbers of customers, the CTA said today.

Monday's online Sun Times:

• A CTA customer service representative allegedly stole credit card information from transit customers, and the agency is moving to fire her.

Channel 7 Monday night:

• A Chicago Transit Authority employee has been charged with identity theft.

Now, will anyone in the media "investigate" the allegation that a "reverend" CTA Board member was at Area 4 attempting to influence the investigation? Or the phone calls were allegedly made from the Golden Boy to handle this one "quietly"?

We guess the blog is good enough to use as a source when it's just some 22 year old moron using her job to rip off CTA customers. But when the heavy lifting of investigative work comes along that might embarrass the mayor or his people, we're just a rumor mill.

Want To Be A Reverend?

Now you can be self righteous, holier-than-though and demand all sorts of favors from the mayor and aldercreatures! And the best part is, they have to kow-tow to you if they want your congregation to keep voting for them:

• The Universal Life Church On-line

Right there on the front page, not one, two or three, but FOUR LINKS for free on-line ordination.

Just click, apply and they'll send you a .pdf Certificate of Ordination suitable for framing. All that's left for you to do is build a following and extort the City for a few contracts, maybe some $1 vacant lots in an up-and-coming neighborhood, and a few jobs over at the CTA.

It's at least as legit as "reverend" Al Sharpton's "Divinity" qualifications.

Is This a Dream?

Rocky and Peter are in charge now:

• The Chicago Blackhawks say they've met with Comcast SportsNet executives to discuss the possibility of television some home games.
• The team says no definite agreement has been reached. But officials say televising games this season would be a good step to re-energize team fans.

Re-energize fans? How about restoring trust? How about reminding everyone that hockey once existed in this town?

Bill must be spinning in his grave - actually building a fan base? What are his boys thinking?!?

(logo via Rue St. Michel - background color matches better, don't ya think?)

Manpower Shortage - Again

We're going to pick this comment apart, because we just don't remember it this way:

• Sorry but crime is down, and I hate to inform you but there is no creative writing going on, Sgts. aren't telling beat officers to kill crime in their reports.
  

There's lots of creative writing going on. Burglaries are downgraded to criminal trespasses. Aggravated Batteries are written down to Simples. We understand that you can't hide dead bodies, but you can sure hide a lot of property crime if you try. They are actually talking about starting up the old Burglary mission team again - and that wouldn't be happening unless someone saw a spike in Burglaries.

• Gentrification has had alot to do with it, knocking down the projects sent most to the south side(ares2) into areas once considered nice middle class black areas, and next thing you know there is dope dealing, shooting, fighting over turf. 012, 013, 021, all once busy districts have gentrifyed, sending all their crap into neighboring areas, 009, 008, 014, 025, 017 016, it has gotten busier in all those places now.

Gentrification has also contributed to the rising property crime in that the "pioneers" are becoming victims more often. It takes a number of years for rising property taxes to force the original inhabitants of a neighborhood out. Sometimes a decade or more. We'll say you called this one close.

• Modern medicine has alot to do with it too.

A bit, yeah.

• We have never had 13,500 officers, that is the total amount of sworn personnel of all ranks. Stop with the conspriracies and creating writing etc. it's not happening. The men and women who go out and do the job every day deserve a great deal of credit, under extremely difficult conditions.

Here's where we have problems with your argument. We remember a time when we were number 12,300 in the city. Back then, we were told that with dicks, sergeants, lieutenants, captains and exempts, we totaled 16,000. We also remember sitting roll call with two wagon crews, all the beat cars up, and this was on midnights. Afternoons ran a dozen rapids and occasionally, three wagons.

We think this 13,500 number is a recent invention and we really have to question the people who keep tossing it out there. A few posts back, we had someone telling us about the District Sergeant office with the sheets posted from a decade ago - there are less cops on the street and they can't ALL be hidden at HQ and in the Units. We figure we're down at least 1,000, maybe 1,500.

Debate welcome.

How About This Statistic?

From the Sun Times:

• City crime down for first 9 months of year
  
  October 21, 2007
  Chicago Police on Saturday said all crimes, aside from arson, decreased in the last nine months. Compared with the period in 2006, violent crime decreased 3 percent, police said. Homicides and criminal sexual assaults dropped 3.9 percent, robbery 4 percent and aggravated assault 5 percent. Police cite continued efforts to reduce gang activity and the use of technology and partnerships to shut down open-air drug markets. Property crimes decreased 5.7 percent, motor vehicle theft dropped 18 percent, general theft 4.2 percent and burglary, 0.2 percent. Arson, however, rose by 3.6 percent

From our comment's section:

• So stop your bitching, burglary is down .02 percent!!!

From SCC:

• How much is Criminal Trespass up? To auto, to land, to building?
  

Because we could name a hundred addresses right now where a forcible entry was made to commit a theft therein - to wit, copper pipe. Somehow, it seems to fit the Burglary statute, but all too often, all we see is a Criminal Trespass charge.

Lies, damn lies and statistics - killing crime via paper.

CTA Scandal?

From the comments - shouldn't this be front page news?

• OFF TOPIC: On Thursday a CTA employee was in Area 4 under arrest for identity theft. She was charged Friday with felony identity theft for stealing the credit card numbers of riders paying for their monthly fare card with credit cards. Gave the numbers to her boyfriend and they then went and bought all kinds of nice things for themselves. While she was up in Area 4, we had a "reverend" arrive and demand to speak to her. The bosses told him no, so he then pulls out his CTA identification. He's a CTA board member, and he got her the job. The best part, Huberman himself called Area 4 and asked that this be handled quietly. Did not want any bad publicity since he's now asking for more money for the CTA from riders and taxpayers. After the holy man/CTA board member started making more waves about talking with his wayward subject phone calls were made to the CTA bigshots by Area 4 bosses. They told the CTA to get this guy out of Area 4 or this arrest was going on the 24 log and there would be a press conference. He walked out shortly after that and it was not put on the 24 log which is for 'newsworthy events". A CTA employee stealing from riders gets charged with a felony while the CTA is asking for more tax money and that's not newsworthy?

Hey media? We could use a break from our scandals. How about picking on CTA for a bit? Of course, if this is true, we'd have another scandal on our hands for not putting noteworthy news on the 24 hour report and covering for the west side reverend association.

Seems like the reverends are at the forefront of a number of scandals. Hmmmm.

What's Up With FOP?

Password required site?

It's not like they had an open comments board like we used to have where everything could get out of hand. And occasionally, they even had some helpful info that we linked to and gave people the heads-up on.

Granted, we did think it was a bit much, having our contract up there for everyone to see and the General Orders and such for test preparation being freely available to the public. Some of that stuff probably should have been behind a password protected area just to keep media, lawyers and reverends thinking that we have secrets.

Election time is coming and we'd like to be able to link to stuff. What gives?

UPDATE: Everything back normal. Any explanation Rich Aguilar?

Oh Jeez, Another Scandal?

Someone keeps asking about what happened in 025. An officer may have been stripped and sent to call back. Now we get word that at least one additional person from 016 has been sent to call back regarding a towing scandal that was hinted at here months ago. The rumor back then was that those involved were thinking they could handle traffic crashes and refer the towing business to companies that they either had a vested interest in or that would provide a little extra incentive for the referral. We remember this exact same scandal years ago with a number of wagon crews removing dead bodies to certain funeral homes who paid a commission.

Can we please get everyone to play by the rules for a few months? Just for a little while? A whole bunch of us would appreciate it. Thanks.

Bears Today

And the odds at kickoff are....?

Someone said that in 1977, the Bears started at 2 and 4 and still made a wild card spot. We think that if people are already talking about a wild card spot, then the Bears have way bigger problems than anything we can dream up. You don't shoot for a wild card spot - and certainly not 6 games in. You shoot for the whole thing or else you're just playing down to lowered expectations.

And that's when you really start losing.

UPDATE: Damn. Special teams are carrying these guys. And Griese doesn't look that bad. Or at least not as bad a Rex. 700 yards in two weeks?

Thanks, but No Thanks

Flattering suggestions:

• SCC SCC SCC SCC........... HELLO SCC? U HERE?
  
  We need YOU to organize a march. Just post a date, time and place for everyone on here and have your boys get some flyers out to the districts. Its time we play hard ball. I want to be the bat instead of the fucking ball for once. LETS HIT BACK!
• SCC You have the power to organize a march of angry, disgruntled police officers that are tired of the media talking shit all day every day. Us guys that type shit on here are just 1 man in a district with no way to get the word out. Im challenging YOU to come up with a plan. Lets plan a march on a weekday around city hall or around ch 2 5 and 7. We have enough coppers to send a few thousand to each media outlet.
  
• SCC, maybe you're the spark we need.
• LETS GET ORGANIZED ~~~~ SCC FOR FOP !

Thanks people. Seriously. But we had a bright idea already. You're reading it now. Everything suggested above would entail expanding contacts and chip away at what allows us and everyone who reads us to criticize and critique with impunity - anonymity.

Anyone looking to organize or expand upon one or more of these ideas is welcome to advertise here for supporters. Understand that by "advertise" we mean link to your own creations. We won't be publishing manifestos or thousand word essays on the injustice of this, that and the other thing. We still run this place by our own rules and you're welcome to use it within the bounds we set.

Response

We don't know about these readers:

• SCC,

Yes?

• First you falsely report that Det. "R" hung up on the Trib reporter - - - - NOT TRUE. The detective invited the reporter in and answered questions.

Gee, you caught us. We missed this month's FOP meeting. Boo hoo. If you read the post, at no time do we say we witnessed the exchange at the microphone. We were contacted via e-mail. Do we get misled by people? Sure. Do we get fed BS every so often? Yep. Do we have the resources to check out everything? Nope. We aren't the media. We are working coppers with families and side jobs and bills and all sorts of responsibilities. And we happen to have a blog read by 5,000 people a day. Most of the stuff on here is "sarcasm and silliness." More of it is rumor. If you're looking for facts and such, it's here sometimes, but you've got to wade through the crap to get there.

• Next you report the completely nonsensical crap titled "Blockbuster SOS news?" The entire post is also NOT TRUE. The Fed is no sooner going to drop the charges as JR is going to eat a dozen apples and crap a fruit salad.

We merely reported what retired Sergeant Dave Snethen related to us and posted in the comments section. Dave is a guy we respect. Dave has also related a bunch more info that we aren't posting at the moment. Dave has also said if the info turns out to be false or mistaken, he'll come on here and apologize. We REALLY respect that, too.

• So.........the Feds don't drop any charges (SURPRISE!)and now you say: "One has to wonder if this isn't some sort of ploy by involved parties to ensure it's impossible to get a fair trial in Cook County."

Just because the feds missed our arbitrary deadline of Friday after the close of business doesn't mean it won't happen. Sometimes these things don't surface for a few days or weeks.

• Please, SCC stop with the fairy tails and nonsense. You know better.

First up, they aren't our fairy tales. We don't know better than anyone else what tomorrow holds. We're just trying to keep everyone abreast and interested in stuff.

• You are hurting the police.

We categorically deny that. Media might be hurting the police with biased coverage. Police might be hurting police with getting caught doing stupid things. But we still think we're doing more good than not. You think Pat and John's blog is doing us any good?

• Your blog is very popular and does a nice job of revealing City/Department malfeasance on occasion. But lately, it's really making the police look bad.

Popular? Getting there. But making people look bad? Please. We're helping bring media BS to light and warning people what's out there. But thanks for visiting.

Results Arriving?

Stories from 35th Street have lieutenant exam results are arriving in the mail this week or next. Rumor has it a number of heavy sergeants at HQ are pulling their hair out awaiting their scores.

Are the "merit" nominations coming out Monday?

Will the Sergeants' Association file another lawsuit by Friday?

UPDATE: Next week for sure.

Fair Trial?

Conspiracy Theory!

From all the rumors, comments, gossip and such, it appears that there is quite a bit of deal making going on behind the scenes of the SOS scandal. Then there's the overly slanted media coverage of anything involved with Special Operations (bar video, lawsuits, CR investigations, name calling) and the media labeling Jerome Finnigan even more crooked than Miedzianowski. Now add in the possibility of entrapment for some charges.

One has to wonder if this isn't some sort of ploy by involved parties to ensure it's impossible to get a fair trial in Cook County. If the Feds back out and the State isn't prepared to go forward... after all, it was the State that offered up this whole mess to the Feds on more than one occasion.

It does make one wonder.

CTA Notices Manpower Shortages

If the bus drivers are noticing...

• The CTA said a passenger attacked Jones on the bus, causing him to lose control of the vehicle and crash it into a fence at Roosevelt Road and Kolmar Avenue about 9 p.m. on Oct. 6.
• Darrell Jefferson, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241, said at least two other drivers have been assaulted by CTA riders in the past month.
  
  Some bus drivers have said they don't feel safe because there aren't enough police officers patrolling buses and there aren't any barriers separating drivers from passengers who may try to harm them.

So you have citizens noticing a lack of coverage in certain districts (008, 016, most of Area 1, numerous others), a large boxing event that is resulting in the operational shut down of a number of auxiliary Detective units, our readers sending us copies of various sheets showing cars down left and right in certain districts and now, CTA bus drivers saying there aren't enough cops around. That's not even mentioning the hundreds of comments regarding down rapids, only one wagon if you're lucky and unmanned beat cars city wide.

Blockbuster SOS News?

Normally, we wouldn't even comment on something like this if it appeared anonymously in the comments section.

But we've gotten it from a person who believed in it enough to sign his name and we've never heard a bad word about him in any case. He's also contacted us via e-mail to give us the scoop. The following is information from a retired Sergeant (the former Second Deputy).

• The Feds have dropped charges relating to the alleged "murder for hire" plot that Jerome Finnigan is currently jailed for stating that it was pretty much a straight up entrapment case. Information is coming to light that Herrera may have come up with the idea and sold it to the Feds in an effort to leverage some sort of bargain. Finnigan still will face a raft of state charges regarding the SOS scandal, but the Feds are backing out of this portion.

Take it however you like. We wouldn't be surprised either way. If true, we'd expect an announcement after business hours tomorrow.

Boxing Championship Tidbit

From someone in the know evidently:

• SCC, just heard this amazing bit of news. In order to cover the security for this worldwide event and Olympics preview, they shut down three units! Fugitive Apprehension, Financial Crimes and Asset Forfeiture have been closed down for two weeks and every single Detective is detailed to the event. Some of these units have even put up phone messages saying they'll be out of the office for two weeks.

If true, this is amusing on many levels. First up, we'd say we found three units that must be pretty useless if they can shut them down for 14 days and assume no one will notice their absence. Secondly, what special security skills do these Detectives have that can't be covered by PO's? Third, if this is a mandatory detail, shouldn't there have been seniority bidding for the OT opportunity? And lastly, aren't the Cubs, Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks and everyone else who has to PAY for additional police to be on the scene of events going to be more than a little ticked off that the World Boxing Championships get free service?

Anyone with actual information on the event is welcome to post and correct our assumptions.

Feel Safe Yet?

We sure don't:

• New statistics show a high number of luggage screeners fail to detect harmful materials when put to the test.
• The tests were performed last year when federal agents for TSA traveled through security with realistic but fake bombs in their luggage -- screeners in Los Angeles failed 75 percent of the time, and Chicago-O'Hare failed 60 percent of the time.

Once again, demonstrating why we only drive on vacation anymore.

How the City Works

Or doesn't.

If this was a video of, oh, lets just say a 250 pound police officer beating a 120 pound bartender. Or an Area gun team getting into a shoving match with a bunch of drunk businessmen. Or a group of coppers allegedly going into a tavern and rousting all the customers. If this video showed any of these things, you could expect that the City would move swiftly and without hesitation.

But if a video shows night after night, weekend after weekend of drunken fighting at a problem bar, would you expect the same quick action? Even if the tape showed events leading up to and culminating in a homicide?

Hell no:

• The near-West Side of Chicago looks like the Wild West most every Saturday and Sunday morning. On Lake Street just beyond the Loop, the two-lane roadway under the El tracks-turns into anarchy on the asphalt when the club crowd starts to head home. And recently, the video vigilante was taping when a murder went down.

• Chicago police, many times on scene because of past violence, have made dozens of arrests there the past two years. Most, they say, are of patrons and employees from the bar Chromium.

• For nearly two years, the city has been trying to close down Chromium under a new gang and drug house ordinance, citing dozens of violent, criminal incidents inside and outside the club as well as a long list of code violations.

• The woman who holds the license for Chromium, Jehad Shehade of west suburban Addison, is also listed in state records as the owner, although a city of Chicago lawsuit claims she is a stooge for her husband, Tony Perez, who is ineligible for a liquor license.

And why would Tony be ineligible for a liquor license? And what political connections are keeping Tony in the nightclub business for more than two years despite a laundry list of violations? These are the types of things that real investigative reporters ought to be looking into. Because this is where the corruption is thickest. This is the primordial ooze of clout and connections where the tentacles of government and the criminal element intertwine.

Places like this are where it begins.

Just a Few Thoughts

Looking at the Sun Times article about the $4 million give away:

• The head of the Police Department's Office of Professional Standards, which earlier had cleared the officers of any wrongdoing, said Tuesday she now will re-open the investigation, as required by the city's new ordinance governing her office.

Re-open the investigation? Great. Look for political payback to be the new word of the day. Corp Counsel is too incompetent to actually win a case, and now you're going to be subject to a "new" investigation.

• Coffie and his mother said the officers should be fired. Annette Coffie said it galled her during the trial to watch the officers testify that her son had drugs and that they never assaulted him: "... them sitting up there, saying that they did nothing," she said, her voice choking with emotion.

Um, mama? Your boy plead guilty to the charges. Why would the officers be fired for arresting your boy for doing something he admitted to doing?

We got nothing. We're completely disgusted. A sleazy dirt bag of a lawyer can twist all sorts of half truth and innuendo into $4 million dollars for a scumbag dope snorting jag. Little reality check for civilians and media alike:

• Dope dealers store the drugs in their asscracks. Buyers usually put the dope in their mouths immediately after buying it so they can swallow it if stopped by the police
• More than half the squad cars in the city have screwdrivers in them. Sometimes we have to dig through garbage cans looking for evidence or contraband. Sometimes we have to start hot cars to get them back to the station or open punched trunk locks. Sometimes we have to scrape some crap off the bottoms of our shoes from walking through entire neighborhoods covered in dog droppings and even :::gasp!::: human waste
• Squad cars are rolling bio-hazard labs. The amount of filth and disease transported around would make the CDC cringe. It's a wonder we aren't all on antibiotics just to function...maybe it's the alcohol.

Whatever folks. Someday, maybe the citizen-sheep will come around. We aren't holding our breath.

Oh, and they're coming to your house again:

• A relative of [...] answered the door at his North Side home Tuesday night. She said the officer wasn't home, but she offered a comment:

  "We think it is sad for someone to get money for something like this -- especially since it is not true," she said.

Evidently, nothing's off limits now.

UPDATE: Post amended for proper grammar

UPDATE: The DNA tests on the screwdriver DID NOT match the plantiff. In fact, the tests came back inconclusive for human or animal DNA, meaning that the screwdriver could have been used exactly as we said - to remove shit from someone's shoes.

Important Notice!

To all readers:

We feel that this is by far one of the most important days of posting we've ever had on the blog. We are asking everyone who visits today to read every single post with today's date on it. We are touching on a number of subjects in the following six posts. We are also revealing one of the most outrageous attacks by the media on officers that we can recall - and we're talking YEARS worth of recall. We are talking to retired guys from the days of Old Man Daley and they can't believe the shit we are telling them.

Read it all. And then wonder what this Department has become. Unless there is a miracle very shortly, we are doomed as an organization. The only bright spot is that by reading SCC, you have a front row seat to the disaster. Plus, we'll be retired and gone when the whole thing explodes around 2020.

FOP Meeting Outrage

We confess to being amazed occasionally. We even throw out the word "outrageous" or "insanity" more regularly than we ought to when pointing out the stupidity of certain persons, be they police, politicians, public figures.

This is beyond all that. We don't even have words to describe it.

At the FOP meeting today (which we might have attended), members present were regaled with the following story from a Detective. The Detective was involved in an off duty shooting a number of years back. The shooting was determined to have been justified, but the inevitable lawsuit followed. As we understood it, the City settled for some amount, the Detective was convicted of no wrongdoing, the matter appeared to be done.

Recently, the Detective was contacted at his unlisted home number by reporters from the Chicago Tribune. The reporters further related that they were outside his home at that very moment and wished to ask him a number of questions regarding this shooting from almost a decade ago. The Detective hung up and didn't answer the door.

The usual howls of outrage accompanied this story and members were reminded that the media is most definitely not our friend in these trying times. All we can conclude is that the Tribune has a team of go-fers digging through all sorts of court records, looking for settlement offers approved by the City Council through the courts and they're data-mining for officer's personal info to find dirt or create dirt on closed files. Combined with the recent stories from numerous sources about the media stalking officers at bars, we can only conclude that it is open season on the police.

It's time to start striking back.

FOP Meeting Outrage - Part II

Also revealed at the meeting, the FOP has no access to the SOS dump list. They are interested in finding out if the people who were dumped for allegedly having nine or more CR numbers actually HAD nine or more numbers.

It is rumored that if the numbers were not sustained or unfounded, they shouldn't count against you. If they were sustained, you've already been punished for the transgression and shouldn't have been punished again for the same offense.

Oh, and the Interim Superintendent has declared that NO ONE will be removed from the Behavioral Intervention System for the foreseeable future. So all those people who were actually making the effort to hit all those benchmarks so they could get out of the BIS (anger management, street negotiations, professional counseling, etc.) and maybe move on with their careers? Sorry. And Starks is refusing to meet with the FOP to solve this dispute.

Compromise? Of What?

Always the political puppeteer. First, we have the taxpayers up in arms:

• After taking five days of heat from livid constituents, Chicago aldermen put Mayor Daley's budget team on notice Monday: They're not about to approve a $293 million tax package that includes the largest property tax increase in Chicago history.
• One alderman even dared to propose cuts to a Chicago Police Department budget he claimed was laden with "fat."

Gee whiz. What a novel concept. The people's representatives actually listening to the concerns of their constituencies. Of course, this is Chicago, so aldercreatures don't really listen to taxpayers unless they're selling them a driveway permit. And we're trying to find out which alder-asshole suggested the police budget was bloated. We're running short of pool cars with 150,000 miles, can't get computers and radios that work, burning through paper at a tremendous rate and can't hire enough people to keep up with retirements. You want to see bloated, check out 50 aldermanic offices for a city of under 3 million citizens. How is it New York and LA do so much more with less?

So what does Daley do? Offers a compromise:

• Mayor Richard Daley took a conciliatory tack Tuesday on his proposal to raise property taxes, saying he is optimistic about reaching a compromise with aldermen who oppose it.
  
  "This is very controversial," he said. "I understood that when I presented it. I could have ducked the other way, but I was willing to propose it and listen to the comments about it and find out how we can come out. "
  
  Daley's tone was in marked contrast to last week, when he upbraided aldermen who voiced misgivings about his tax-hike-centered budget plan.

Correct us if we're wrong - For most of this summer, Daley and his people have been warning of a budget shortfall. Just under $200 million if we recall. That's a pretty big gap and hints at quite a bit of uncontrolled spending and not a little wasteful spending. So Daley proposes a combination of tax hikes and service fees totaling how much? $293 million.

Again, correct us if we're wrong, but government is not supposed to be a profit making entity. You can stop laughing about the connected contractors and crooked land deals. Fitzgerald will get there eventually we hope.

But by asking for $293 million, Daley and the aldercreatures can "compromise" at the $190 million mark and pass themselves off as heroes to the voters who are about to get hammered by the State and County governments by claiming to have "saved" everyone a cool hundred million.

Why does it take an amateur cop blog to do the media's job? We guess that the "public watchdog" is more the "mayor's lapdog" when it comes to actually doing right by the people.

Aldercreature Follies

They are asses:

• Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) said today he called a police commander after getting pulled over last week for using his cell phone while driving to question why officers in an “understaffed police district” with serious unsolved crimes are “assigned to pull people over solely for cell phone violations.”

Well aldercreature Tunney, the reason we enforce the law is because YOU IDIOTS PASSED IT INTO LAW!

What the fuck is going on in this city? Nanny state gone wild! The typical liberal thinking that someone somewhere knows what's best for you and by golly, they're going to pass a law to make sure you don't hurt yourself:

• don't use the hair dryer in the tub
• warning labels on cigarettes and alcohol
• motorcycle/bicycle helmet laws
• "assault weapons" ban
  
• aldercreature Burke's drive to ban transfats
• Foie-fucking-Gras anyone?

Here's a damn clue - stop passing bullshit laws that do nothing except make busy bodies feel self righteous about forcing everyone else to live by their rules. Trust us, we know cigarettes and alcohol are bad for us, toxic even. If we CHOOSE to pollute our bodies, that's our business. Whatever hair we have left LIKES to blow around in the wind when we ride the bike. Passing laws against guns because the guns look scary (a bayonet lug, a flash suppressor, give us a fucking break) and telling us it's all for the children? Grow up - Junior is holding a gun for the gang and he isn't following your rules. The only people you are disarming are the law abiding. And as for the transfat ban, think of all the money you jagoffs are saving in pension payouts by us kicking off early - not that you've made any effort to fund the pension at even 50% of liabilities.

You want us to stop enforcing stupid laws, stop passing stupid laws. And to everyone who is claiming Tunney is a friend of the police:

• The favored treatment that Town Hall District Cmdr. Gary Yamashiroya then gave to his local alderman Friday is now the subject of an investigation by the Chicago Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division.

  Tunney insisted he never asked for the favor. But, the fact that Yamashiroya offered a service that is not available to everyday motorists could end up landing the district commander in hot water.

First up, we'll call bullshit on the "never asked for a favor." That's the FIRST thing Tunney asked for - if not in words, then by making the call. Why else would Yamashiroya send out an officer with the aldercreature's license? A favor.

Second, Tunney is hanging a Commander of Police out to dry. What's Yamashiroya going to do? Call the aldercreature a liar? Nope. He's going to eat shit, smile, probably ask for seconds if he wants to keep his spot. If that ticket hasn't been non-suited already, we'd be surprised. And if Tunney says he paid it, we'll bet no one from the media asks to see the canceled check or County receipt.

If it goes down any differently that that, we'll send the first 10 readers to point it out to us a shiny new dime.