Detectives List

Coming over the fax machines as we speak.

Over 50. Not quite 100.

Who's got a copy?

Lieutenants before midnight?

Superintendent's First Jobs

Before he left, Dana Starks had all the exempts (and from what we hear and read) Captains and Lieutenants, submit resumes and/or job histories. Although probably impossible, we'd hope the new boss reads every single one of them.

Then the fun can really begin:

• Cross reference every one with who recommended them for promotion. Expose the network of political connections that have driven the CPD to it's current state.
• Every boss should also submit a family tree, complete on both mother, father aunt and uncle's sides going back 3 generations, along with rank held by each ancestor. It's amazing how much supervisory qualification and political know-how flows in the bloodstreams of many bosses, especially the exempts. Perhaps the new Superintendent could begin a breeding program to distill this "leadership essence."
• Find out who contributes to whom. The comment sections are ablaze with speculation of certain aldercreatures selling promotional spots. We all have stories - let's find out the facts of the matter.

As an ex-feeb, we're sure this guy has access to all sorts of other feeb bean counters. How about a general accounting of all the damage political and "meri-clout-orious" persons have done to this Department?

Big Traffic

Gee, for some reason our visits really took off for Thursday. Something big must have happened.

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

A few points of order:

• We've heard of a few resignations so far, Starks and Williams rumored to be the big two. Expect significant additional numbers within 90 days as people are eased out, told they are not needed or positions are eliminated.
  
• As he's an outsider, expect the First to run day-to-day operations again - just like in the past. We're hearing that Grau is going to be the compromise candidate since too many pale faces might irk the reverends and Beavers.

We're willing to give this a shot. We aren't big proponents of outsiders coming in and trying to "reform" the CPD. The institutional inflexibility is going to be a very large obstacle to surmount. We'll have to see what the first changes made are before we start to render judgments.

The initial message we're getting is that no one in the entire Department was qualified to run the organization, and looking at the current crop of exempts, we're afraid that that assumption is mostly true. Given the fact that the political masters have been putting in 30% unqualified individuals in supervisory positions for well over two decades and then giving them exempt spots based on their previous ill-gotten promotions has doomed the CPD to mediocrity for years to come.

A hired gun coming in for $300K? We're having doubts already. In the meantime, suggestions for the new guy can be left in the comments section as many have already been doing in other spots. We're sure someone will forward them.

Burge Returning to Chicago

At least that's something we've heard.

In a number of comments, people are claiming that convicted cop killer Andrew Wilson, one of the "torture victims" of Commander Jon Burge has died. We're attempting to find an obituary for verification to assist Burge in finding a location he can empty his bladder when he arrives in town.

Line forms to the right.

Comedy Gold

We assume everyone has heard about the British schoolteacher in Sudan who had her class vote on a nickname for the class teddy bear? The kids picked the name "mohammed" and the teacher was initially sentenced to 40 lashes, reduced to 15 days in an overcrowded and disease-ridden prison followed by deportation.

We wish we could write like Steve does at HogOnIce:

• I notice that Muslim nuts in Sudan have arrested a British schoolteacher for naming a teddy bear Mohammed. And they may tie this lady up and tear her skin off with 40 lashes.

  In a gesture of solidarity, I have decided to name all of my farts Mohammed.

  Oops, there goes Mohammed now. Mohammed the First. I have a feeling he will be the beginning of a long and illustrious dynasty.

Genius.

UPDATE: post corrected for teddy bear

Dumb Habits are Hard to Break

Despite what many liberals and police haters would have you believe, cops don't go to work looking to frame people, shoot altar boys or violate anyone's civil rights. Same goes for those who think that we run around all day with spare dope and a few guns (that we got from the weapon turn-in at the local church), looking for some poor oppressed minority honor roll student to create a felony record on. It just isn't done, mainly because the consequences far outweigh any supposed benefit police may receive. Penalties will be double, triple and worse because we are the police.

Here's another liberal fantasy destroyed - police don't have that many run-ins with decent people. Decent people of any color don't need to call the police for every problem. Decent people raise their kids right, solve their own problems, properly license their vehicles, drive correctly and don't attract attention to their own decency. They live by example. If you're seeing the police or interacting with the police, more often than not something has gone wrong or, to put it quite simply, you've fucked up. Are there exceptions to the rule? Does crap occur and are there bad apples among us? Sure. But they are few and far between (despite media coverage to the contrary). That is why you have civil courts - to right the wrongs.

Why do we bring all this up?

• Rodney King, whose 1991 beating by Los Angeles police led to deadly rioting the next year, was shot on a street corner but his wounds were not believed to be life-threatening, police said Thursday.

• King sued the city over the beating and obtained a $3.8 million settlement.

  However, he continued to have run-ins with the law. In 2004, he was ordered to spend 120 days in jail and ordered into treatment after pleading guilty to driving under the influence of the drug PCP after he lost control of his SUV in 2003 and slammed into a power pole in Rialto.

A court evidently thought Rodney was wronged back in 1991 and he got $3.8 million - more than enough to live a life of ease and comfort and never have to see a police officer again. Yet Rodney keeps getting into trouble, bringing him into contact with the police over and over and over. Is anyone ever going to say "It's Rodney's fault" or "Rodney is making bad life choices"? Probably not. Why be responsible?

SNEED WAS RIGHT!

Holy shit, read the below post.

Meet the New Boss?

Sneed droppings:

• Sneed hears Mayor Daley is reportedly poised to name a new Chicago Police superintendent — and it may be a shocker.

  The guy is not a cop and he’s not African American.

  Word is J.P. “Jody” Weis, the special agent in charge of the FBI field office in Philadelphia, may be Chicago’s next top cop.

  The Chicago Police Board recommended three names to Daley on Wednesday after months of screening since the retirement of Police Superintendent Phil Cline.

  None of the men selected was from within the ranks of the Chicago Police Department, which has been beset with racial tension and corruption in the CPD’s Special Operations Unit.

Daley must like these Fed guys for some reason. Does he know they're around all the time? Listening? Doing surveillance on all your friends?

Or maybe they're just easy to put in positions of power and then push around like this Hoffman guy who got emasculated by Daley's hand-picked review board over the Annunzio firing.

Nice Letter

From the comments (regarding the 011 District armed robbery suspect in the school):

• This arrest was the direct result of outstanding Police work!
  
  The 11th district along with A/4 Detectives were working a robbery pattern. A subject was observed (most likely about to employ his trade)and was apparently spooked. The offender drove off. Officers attempted to stop the Offender who fled. After a vehicle pursuit the offender fled on foot and ran into Tilton school. Within two minutes there were in excess of 60 officers on the scene, each playing a vital roll. The response included Area Four Gun / mission team, S.W.A.T. officers, K-9, Detectives, 10th and 11th district officers. Within minutes the school was secured and the offender was taken into custody. 11th district officers were able to locate and recover the offenders handgun.
  
  The response and coordination shown by all who were on the scene showed the highest level of professionalism. Due to the dedication of all of the officers who played a part in this incident be it large or small ensured the safety of each other, the students and teachers of Tilton school and the arrest of a violent offender. I attempted to personally thank all of the officers who responded but I am sure many were missed. You have my Gratitude and respect. Thanks for a job well done.
  
  Lieutenant Dominic Rizzi A/4 RBT

We certainly need to hear more compliments like this from the white shirts and the brass.

County Board Follies

This is almost as good as the "Council Wars" under Harold Washington:

• Cook County Board President Todd Stroger can't get his budget passed "because he's black," his floor leader angrily charged Tuesday.
• Beavers railed on that one of Stroger's top critics, Commissioner Tony Peraica, "hates everybody who's black ... all black elected officials," going on to say Peraica used to beat up black people growing up in the Bridgeport neighborhood.
• Yet, prompted by a reporter's question, Beavers yelled not to forget that he's "the hog with the big nuts and I'm gonna tell you what it is."
• When commissioners voted to make cuts to county Recorder Gene Moore's office, cuts Moore said he supports, Beavers implied Moore wasn't smart enough to understand the cuts and Republican commissioners must have used racial intimidation to get him to agree.
• Name-calling continued as Commissioner Liz Gorman, county Republican Party chairman, ripped into fellow Republican Peraica unprovoked, reading from a list of insults, calling him a "loser," "pathetic, pathological liar," an "abusive weasel" who is "no man," and an "ineffective leader" who has "no substance."
• But then, even Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno called Peraica "a jerk."

This is our government at work.

Can someone tell us when we can disband Cook County government?

Gridlock Continues in Springfield

One of these days, hopefully, the entire CTA will go under.

• A plan to divert state tax money to the ailing Chicago-area mass transit systems failed Wednesday night in the Illinois House amid accusations of political gamesmanship.
  
  Public transportation would have gotten a $440 million boost under the plan. Officials warn that train and bus service in the Chicago area will be cut sharply if aid isn't approved by early January. The state aid would have come from revenue on gasoline sales taxes, essentially creating a $440 million hole in the budget. The plan's backers offered no proposals for filling that hole.

We really hope that the downstate democrats and various republicans realize that they've got Blago, Daley and a whole bunch of Machine democrats over a barrel and can really break them if they put a bit of effort into it.

It's a faint hope, seeing as how any politician would sell out their own mother for a bunch of pork barrel spending for their districts, but it's still a hope we hold onto.

Reality Check

Great job by all the coppers and detectives who worked to catch the murderer of U of C doctoral candidate Amadou Cisse.

Now let's join fantasy land, currently in progress:

• Students who live near the crime scene had been on edge until hearing about the arrest.
  
  "Relief. It's scary to think you're in danger, so are your fellow classmates," student Kendra Grimmett said.
• Students are pleased at the security changes, but some say security can't replace the importance of building relationships with people off campus, too.
  
  "It's not us versus the community," said Ben Esparza, chair of the U. of C. College Council. "It's us trying to reach out and also be a part of the community, and there's things that go along with that."
• "We continue to be enormously saddened by Amadou Cisse's death," Webber said. [...] This is also a moment, however, of a second tragedy, and that's that a 16-year-old old is being charged with this crime, and that too is a tragedy for our city."

So evidently, the U of C campus has been moved some place far away from the lovely neighborhoods of Hyde Park, Woodlawn, Kenwood, Washington Park, and a 5 minute bus ride from Grand Crossing and Englewood if people feel safe after the arrest of one murderer.

The comment by the chair of the U of C College Council is just stupid liberal claptrap run amok.

And this U of C VP of Community and Government Affairs Henry Webber really ought to be horsewhipped, comparing the murder of an unarmed student to the "tragedy" of a 16 year old predator being charged with murder. What an ass.

Mail Call!

Priceless:

• An apparent personal delivery at work led to an arrest and a court date for a clerk at the Cook County public defender's office. Lamour Holloway, 40, was arrested Tuesday after she allegedly accepted a large package of marijuana and then half an hour later put the package into a vehicle outside the government building at 69 W. Washington, according to Andy Conklin, spokesperson for the Cook County state's attorney.

Anyone else want to guess how often this occurs?

Channel 7 also covers

Very Interesting

The guy who helped Drew Peterson move a blue plastic barrel the day Stacey Peterson "disappeared" evidently just tried to kill himself:

• One of Drew Peterson's relatives overdosed on pills after helping the former Bolingbrook police sergeant load a large barrel into Peterson's SUV the day Stacy Peterson vanished, a police source said Tuesday.
  
  Thomas Morphey, a step-brother, was hospitalized but survived what the source described as a suicide attempt.
  
  Morphey's wife called police, saying her husband heard of the disappearance, became distraught and feared he might have unwittingly helped dispose of Drew Peterson's wife's body, the source said.
  
  Prosecutors have not called Morphey to testify before a grand jury examining the 23-year-old woman's disappearance because he has "memory lapses" about loading the barrel into Peterson's GMC Yukon Denali, the source said.

And the truly disturbing portion?

• Drew Peterson visited Morphey in the hospital, the source said.

Anyone want to guess what Drew told him?

More Good News

Gee, anyone else think the media feels bad for piling on the police lately? We didn't think so. So what's with the outpouring of good police stories over the past few days? Suddenly the clouds are opening up and the sun is shining. In 011 on Tuesday:

• No students were injured when Harrison Area detectives caught an armed robbery suspect who fled into a West Side elementary school Tuesday.

  Detectives were in pursuit of the male suspect in the 200 block of North Keeler Avenue just before noon, according to police News Affairs Officer Marcel Bright.

  The suspect fled into Tilton Elementary School, 223 N. Keeler Ave., but detectives were right behind and caught him immediately, Bright said.

Preliminary reports are that this guy was wanted for a large number of stick ups. A gun was recovered, no one hurt too badly, students safe and more good publicity for the CPD.

Keep up the good work people. We're trying to keep some positive stuff at the top of everyone's minds.

Captain Chomiak E-Mail

The captain has graciously offered his e-mail address to anyone wishing for more detailed questions answered and clarification on given information.

• pachomiak@gmail.com

He has also offered to answer questions in the comments section. This might be a bit inconvenient as with a blog set up, as we post, the older posts get driven downwards until the disappear after 10 days into the archives. Every few weeks or so we shut down the comment archives to save ourselves work. We'll leave this one up for the time being, but mention that e-mail would probably work better for everyone.

Be polite - this guy is doing everyone here a favor and he's way smarter than most of us will ever manage to be.

Butterfingers!

This guy had it all in his greasy little hands:

• An armed man in his 20s who dropped more than $1 million as he ran from a security guard who fired a shot at him after robbing a South Side bank Nov. 15 remains at large Tuesday. The Seaway National Bank branch at 645 E. 87th St. was robbed Nov. 15 about 6:10 p.m., according to FBI reports, which indicated the bank was closed when it was robbed.

  The robber got away with just over $1 million dollars, but dropped the money as he was running. Chicago Police had to manually count the money, which totaled more than $1 million, Gresham District police said. FBI spokeswoman Cynthia Yates could not confirm the dollar amount.

And he dropped it all.

We don't know why CPD counted the money manually as we're pretty sure the order states the money will be sealed in a property bag, signed by a sergeant under observation by a lieutenant, sealed by the captain and transported by armored car while guarded by God Himself to E&RPS for disbursement along with all the drop guns and narcotics to be planted on people.

What a Christmas it would have been.

Amazingly Bad Timing

Anyone else think that former aldercreature and current County Board Commissioner Bill Beavers is following a little too closely to Congress-asshat's Danny Davis' playbook?

• "If this was a white man in power right now, they wouldn't be fighting (Stroger) like this," Beavers said, raising his racial conspiracy theory at a seemingly pointless county finance committee meeting where commissioners grew testy and interrupted each other.
  
  Beavers claimed that Tony Peraica hates all black people, saying, "All black elected officials he hates -- he don't like 'em." Peraica said he was appalled by those comments.

That's quite a claim to be making about any politician. It's quite a claim to be making about any human being actually - hating an entire race of people. But we're sure Beavers has lots of proof and isn't just throwing out the "race card" again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again.

People might say he's getting predictable.

Cops Rescue Family

Couple of guys from 025 see smoke over in 011 and do what just about every cop on the job would do:

• Police officers rescued a woman and her two children from a fire in the Near Northwest Side Humboldt Park neighborhood Monday morning.
  
  Firefighters were notified of a fire in the 1100 block of North Ridgeway Avenue at 11:15 a.m., according to Fire Media Affairs spokesman Rich Rosado. A still-and-box alarm was called for the fire, which was extinguished about 11:35 a.m., he said. The building is a one-and-a-half story brick home. [...] the tactical police officers left their district when they saw the smoke.
  
  "It was kind of a desperate feeling out there," said Chicago Police Officer Joshua Diaz. "You know there is a child in there, you know there is a mom in there."

The officers caught the child dropped by the mother and then caught her as she jumped out the window. An excellent job all around. They really ought to frame this quote from the local aldercreature:

• "This is something that I thank God that those police officers happened to be in the area at that time," said Ald. Walter Burnett.

Channel 2 also covers the story.

No truth to the rumor that Danny Davis insisted the victims were racially profiled, but Mope-rah is investigating claims that all of the rescuers were either white or hispanic and they really ought to have waited for a black officer to come by and pitch in.

2007 a "Bad Year" for Cops

Across the board, not just here in Chicago:

• The year 2007 is turning out to be an especially deadly year for police.

  To date, 170 law enforcement officers have died in the line of duty -- that's nearly a third more than at the same point last year. It's also 17 percent higher than in all of 2006, and there is more than a month remaining in the year.

The site has links to the video report by ABC National News. According to their source, numbers haven't been this bad nationally since 1978. Spare yourself some angst and heartburn and skip the comment section from the site - too many whack jobs making fun of our dead, though it appears ABC has been censoring out a few of the more atrocious ones.

Part two of the report airs tomorrow at 1730 on Channel 7.

Things Could Be Worse

We could be in France:

• Violence is spreading from Villiers le Bel to a dozen neighboring communities. At least twenty policemen have been injured so far tonight (forty injured last night according to the latest figures), some of them critically. The insurgents are using firebombs, iron rods, baseball bats, and firing buckshot. Journalists are attacked, their cameras are stolen. The mayor of Villiers le Bel is running a crisis center from an undisclosed location. Interior Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie is strangely absent, silent, or ineffectual. This is not the way it is supposed to be happening in the Sarkozy government. Don’t be surprised if Alliot-Marie is replaced early next year.

  Cars, dumpsters, and buildings have been torched. A school gym has gone up in flames. Shop windows that weren’t smashed last night are targets tonight.

  Police investigators and several eyewitnesses corroborate the patrolmen’s version of the accident. The police car was going at a normal speed, no sirens, no hot pursuit. The mini-motorcycle came down a side street at high speed and made a left turn, crashing directly into the police car. The police remained on the scene for approximately twenty to thirty minutes until the fire department ambulance arrived.

This occurred in one of the many "no-go zones" prevalent throughout France. We pointed out something like 270 of these "sensitive urban zones" exist, most populated by minority muslims intent on not assimilating, living on government handouts, existing in subsidized housing and generally considering themselves above such things as the rule of law.

And the police, for the most part, don't respond there and are acknowledged to have no power there to maintain order. Sixty cops hospitalized over two days of rioting. We're just saying.

Cops Hurt

Hopefully, minor injuries:

• A Chicago police officer was taken to the hospital after he rushed into a burning building on the West Side Saturday.

  The fire happened about 12:30 p.m. in the 2700 block of West Warren Avenue. The officer rushed in to see if anyone was inside.

Smoke inhalation only.

• An officer was injured near Soldier Field after falling from his horse Sunday evening during the Bears game. About 6 p.m., an officer with CPD’s Mounted Unit doing crowd control at the Bears game was injured when his horse lifted its head and struck him in the face, causing him to fall

  A Central District captain said the horse was separated from the officer somehow, but no further information on the animal was available as of 8 p.m.

Officer has a busted nose and cuts. The story makes it sound like the horse is still out there loose and patrolling on his own. Any reports?

Chomiak Pension Letter

We are not accountants, nor will we pretend to be. We don't know if retired Captain Phillip Chomiak is an accountant either, but he has consulted with accountants and drafted a pretty convincing argument that our pension is horribly screwed up. He asked up if it would be possible to post his letter and we said yes. We know there are remote servers and such where we could post this as a .pdf file but we haven't had time to look into it. It's only a four page letter, so we scanned it and are uploading it here for you to read.

Click on the individual pictures to bring up each frame. Use the "View" button in your browser to increase/decrease the text size if necessary. If Captain Chomiak consents, we'll publish his e-mail address in the comments or updates so that people can contact him with questions. Otherwise, use our comment section for the time being.

Notice that the unions who actually have the power to strike manage to maintain a higher funding ratio of their pensions while public safety employees, the ones who arguably are the most necessary (but cannot strike), are the ones with the crappiest funding. Go figure that one out.

Bears Win

All the headlines today will probably be "Hester, Hester, Hester." And all well and good. The guy is electrifying. Every time he touches the ball, the potential for something spectacular is in the air. He broke Gayle Sayers' team record yesterday. He kept the Bears in it.

But if you watch the highlights of the game, there is only one reason the Bears won this game

• Berrian

The end zone camera in the corner caught his last minute catch perfectly. Grossman threw the ball at least a yard-and-a-half behind Berrian. Berrian changed directions on a wet field that had been giving runners and receivers alike problems all day long and got a perfect grip on the ball while getting his knee down inbounds. Even the slightest mishandling, juggle or bump and that ball is ruled "not in control" and the Bears lose their seventh of the year. Hester kept them in it. Berrian put them in a position to win and somehow made Rex look good.

1 Point Favorites?

Geez. If the Bears can't even get the home field "courtesy 3" from the bookies...

Davis Followup

A couple of outside blogs have started picking up on Congress-asshat Davis's bullshit "racial profiling" story.

• GlockTalk - a bulletin board dealing with (what else) Glock guns, equipment and training
  
• SOCNET - another bulletin board

A reader over at GlockTalk noted that to voice your displeasure with Danny Davis, you have to actually have a address in Davis's congressional district. Otherwise, your e-mail is rejected because Danny doesn't want to hear from you. An ingenious way around this restriction?

• 1060 W Addison St, Chicago, IL 60614-4264
  (773) 404-2827

Yup - Wrigley Field falls within the congressional district boundaries. So if you're eager to let the poverty pimp and race baiting Davis know exactly what you think about his feeble attempts to smear the CPD, hop over to this link and be sure to write in the Wrigley Field zip code. Otherwise, he might never get your words of wisdom.

UPDATE: Conflicting info on the zip codes that work, but not to worry! We have the smartest readers on the internet and there are half a dozen other zip codes they've found so you can get through to Davis. Let's see if we can't fill his mailbox this weekend.

Did We Miss Something?

From Peoria:

• One central Illinois city could spend nearly $100,000 to install cameras on 250 Taser guns used by police in an effort to quell claims of misuse and to prevent abuse. The devices, called Taser Cams, are placed on the end of the guns which can jolt people with up to 50,000 volts of electricity. The cameras, developed in 2005 by Taser International Inc., start recording when the gun is turned on and stop recording when the Taser is shut off.

We noticed a TASER carried by a sergeant on TV the other day had a rather large extension where the battery pack ought to be. Could it be the TASER-cams have been slipped into service in Chicago and no one mentioned it? We didn't see anything mentioned in the papers. We haven't checked the recently issued General Orders. But seeing as how this Department and this city are nothing if not completely reactionary, it wouldn't surprise us that after using a TASER on an 82 year old assailant wielding a hammer, that someone at R&D rushed these things into service as soon as possible.

Anyone have any insight?

UPDATE: VERIFIED! TASER-cams are active and in service in at least the 011th District, possibly 010. Got e-mails from three different coppers. Active since last week and qualified carriers of TASERs had training sessions before carrying.

Pension Swindled?

From a regular contributor, we received an e-mail that notified us of an upcoming trial in Phoenix, Arizona regarding a swindle of the Chicago Police Pension Fund amounting to something over a million dollars by an organization that operates under the name "The Apollo Group." We'll quote a bit from the letter:

• I have received the following information regarding a court case that affects the Chicago Police Pension Fund. The Apollo Group apparently defrauded our pension fund of over A Million Dollars. This case will be heard starting this coming Tuesday at Federal Court in Downtown Phoenix, The Chicago Police Pension Fund would like representatives from our group to act as observers in our behalf at this trial. Please read the following information carefully, and try to attend this trial (or part of it) which is expected to last until January of 2008

Any of our retiree readers have info? Anyone been following this? Our pension is funded at less than 50% of outstanding liabilities, so any swindle, no matter the size, constitutes an emergency in our opinions.

Also, coming up Monday, we have a reader who sent us an evaluation of the problems facing the pension fund and we'll be publishing his letter in full.

This is something we need to get some action on.

Open Post

Holiday weekend, Friday shopping, getting stuff set up for the end game that is Christmas.

Open post while we sort things out around the home front.

Sell it All

In a desperate attempt to keep the city afloat after giving away millions in crooked land deals, rigged contracts, fake minority side asides:

• Might visitors to the Windy City someday ride the Lowe's Chicago El, shop on the Microsoft Magnificent Mile and tour Old Navy Pier? What's in a name for the future isn't clear, but the city has hired a marketing firm to explore the potential for naming rights and sponsorships as a way to bring in needed revenue, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday. The Daley administration has awarded a $285,000 contract to Octagon Inc. to examine what the city has to offer and, by next spring, produce a marketing plan that will attract corporate sponsors and advertisers.

Wow. $285,000 pissed away to Octagon Inc. Wonder whose cousin they hired recently.

We remember a few months ago there was speculation that the City would sell naming rights to El stations. We even recall joking that Carson Pierre Scott might hesitate in sponsoring a CTA station that smelled of bum urine (State Street - when you smell the State Street station - think Carson's!)

Let's make it simple for the mayor - if it's flat and you can stick a poster on it, we're sure you can sell naming rights to it. But don't pretend that any of this will spare the taxpayers future hikes to pay for your mismanagement of the City.

Smoking Ban Costing Taxes

But don't worry - they'll just raise taxes even more to cover the shortfalls:

• Casino-goers who take smoke breaks between blackjack hands or rolls of the dice could mean fewer tax dollars for the City of Aurora next year.
  
  Aurora city Finance Director Brian Caputo said he's reduced gaming tax revenue projections by $1.4 million in 2008 to account for the statewide smoking ban's debut on Jan. 1.

Once again, the state sticking it's nose into free market economics. If people don't want to go to some smoke filled bar, casino or whatever, then they won't go. If people want a smoke-free environment, they will seek it out and the market will self correct.

This massive statewide ban on smoking is going to turn around and bite Springfield in the ass the same way Stroger's tax on cigarettes has driven all sorts of county revenue to outlying counties and Indiana. People will shop for bargains where ever they can find them and are willing to travel to get them - witness the success of Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Costco, etc.

And don't forget - the statewide smoking ban is coming to Chicago bars, restaurants and other venues 01 January. We can hardly wait for aldercreature Tunney to ask if we don't have better things to do than enforce smoking bans.

Words Fail Us

Channel 2, Channel 5, Channel 7, Tribune, Sun Times

What's it going to take people? What will it take to wake everyone up?

Someone asked that we not cover this entire story. How can we not when it's plastered all over every single news site in town? We're just supposed to ignore it and pretend that it never happened? That's not really an option.

Others have asked that we stop the piling on and providing a forum for people to bash. This is a site for people to vent, to rip, to complain about everything that is wrong with this job and unfortunately, incidents like this one are part of the problem. Ninety-nine and nine-tenths of coppers do a decent job most days in that they don't kill anyone unjustifiably, they aren't offered money to overlook something, they answer their calls, the lock up routine offenders, they write their parkers, movers whatever and they get home safe in one piece. Are there dogasses out there? Sure, everywhere. But even the dogs do a small favor to the rest of us by not ending up in a headline for something that is 100% preventable. This incident? This depresses us.

We take no joy in this crap boys and girls. What we wouldn't give that the entire site was rainbows and pretty flowers and pink ponies and everyone got along with everyone else and no one ever had to bitch about a boss or a politician or an incident or an arrest.

We don't live in that world. Neither do you.

We live and work in a cesspool of failure and political corruption the likes of Rome, Athens and the Founding Fathers never dreamed of. We exist in a system that is so fucked up, convicted criminals have more rights than those who are supposed to protect the decent, hard-working, tax paying citizens. We operate day to day with inadequate equipment, incompetent leadership, undermanned, over regulated, out-of-contract, under suspicion, mostly unappreciated and cynical beyond belief. The death spiral is getting tighter and moving faster.

Where do we go from here?

Anyone Else Suspicious?

Just a bit?

• An attorney for former police sergeant Drew Peterson says Peterson received an unsigned letter yesterday giving a detailed description of a sighting of his missing wife, Stacy Peterson.

  Attorney Joel Brodsky says Peterson opened the letter today and immediately called the Illinois State Police and his attorneys to notify them of the development.

We'd like nothing better than for Mrs. Peterson to be alive and return to her children. But in our humble opinions (and we are entitled to opinions, no matter how nutty), this is just way too pat. Our bullshit detector pegged at maximum weeks ago with this guy. We don't see any reason to change it now.

Continuing circus coverage at the Sun Times and Channel 5

Thanksgiving Silliness

Not quite a turkey leg murder:

• A 66-year-old man is in a police lockup early Thursday, expected to be charged with battery after he punched a man in the mouth for stealing his Thanksgiving turkey Wednesday night on the South Side.
  
  About 11 p.m., a man ran into the Englewood District police station at 6120 S. Racine Ave. asking for help. The man had been punched in the face on a street near the station in a dispute over a Thanksgiving turkey, according to Englewood District police.
  
  The 66-year-old man had won the turkey and the victim allegedly stole the bird and and planning on selling it. The 66-year-old responded by punching the man, who was allegedly a "drinking buddy," police said.

And we know exactly what this "drinking buddy" was going to spend his ill gotten proceeds on.

Happy Thanksgiving

A Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers. Updates will be sporadic today and tonight as we digest a bountiful feast and watch some football.

Visit over the long weekend - we'll still be around. Be careful with the snow and crazy shoppers.

Knee JERK Reaction

Of course, it's Danny Davis, so what would you expect?

• A Chicago congressman filed a complaint on Wednesday that he has been the target of racial profiling by two Chicago police officers.
• Rep. Danny Davis (D-Chicago) and the police department disagree over why Davis received the traffic ticket. Davis said there was no good reason why he was stopped while driving home early Monday morning, but police said he deserved the ticket...
• Davis then drove to the 10th District police station to register a complaint [...]. The two officers, who were both white, were brought in, and they defended writing the ticket."Quite frankly, this 'left of center' business I've never heard of," Davis said.
• Davis said he wondered if he were stopped, for what he believes is no reason, how others are treated.

We had a SCC reader make a special trip over to 15th and Kedzie, just to investigate the area, see what might have been happening around the area. Guess what he found?

• A whole bunch of black people.

In fact, our reader reported that for almost a mile in every direction, the overwhelming majority of citizens in the area were black. So the "racial profiling" angle seems to be absolute bullshit.

Davis reports he was stopped for "no good reason" and he's never heard of this "left of center business." Leaving aside the easy slam dunk on looking at the congress-asshat's voting record as historically "left of center," people crossing the center line account for something like 100% of the head on collisions in the known universe.

Davis also did what any self important, useless, race-baiting poverty pimp does in a situation like this - complains. Not only complains, but goes to the station and has two officers pulled off the streets to defend their actions. Officers who ought to be patrolling, looking for law breakers, dope dealers, traffic violators, all of which are in abundance in the 010th District.

So as we've already proven the allegation of "racial profiling" doesn't hold water, and Department policy states that a traffic violation cannot be the basis for a CR investigation, and Davis has admitted the officers acted professionally throughout the incident, can everyone just admit Davis is an asshole who is trying to make a mountain where there is not even a molehill?

Good thing these cops are already on midnights, because once congress-asshat Davis calls aldercreature Sharon Dixon, Commander Cuello will fold like a house of cards again and take away these officers' car like she did to Officer Danny Ward.

Fifth Amendment Anyone?

Someone wake up the Supreme Court:

• [...], an off-duty Chicago Police Officer was arrested by the CPD for a DUI. While being processed for the arrest, the off-duty officer was asked to submit to a breathalyzer exam. The off-duty officer refused and he was processed as a “refusal.” A sergeant from IAD arrived at the scene and gave the off-duty officer a direct order to submit to a breathalyzer exam for the administrative portion of the investigation. The criminal portion of the investigation was completed after the officer refused. After being given the direct order, the officer submitted to the breathalyzer exam and the result was over the legal limit. Everyone involved assumed that the result of the breath test would not be a subject of any criminal proceedings because it was produced while the officer was under duress; accordingly, it was inadmissible in court. As a matter of fact, the issue has arisen several times throughout the years and any result from a breath test has not been admitted. In this case, the state attempted to use the administrative breath test. The off-duty officer’s attorney filed a motion to suppress the evidence of the result and for some reason, the states attorney’s office decided to oppose the motion. The ASAs filed a ten page argument outlining the reasons why the breath test results should be admitted.
  
• The Lodge’s attorneys filed a brief on behalf of the officers and argued that the results of the breath test could not be used at the criminal trial for several reasons. The Lodge outlined its argument in great detail and the judge agreed with the Lodge when he ruled, on November 15, 2007, that the state could not use the results of the breath test. The state announced that it would appeal the decision. The Lodge intends to take its winning argument to the Appellate Court and is confident that it will succeed in that court as well. Stay tuned.

The above is from FOP Current Updates. We don't know what law training the Illinois Bar requires of it attorneys, but going against established US Supreme Court precedent in Garrity v. New Jersey, 385 U.S. 493 (1967) and then running into the brick wall that is the Fifth Amendment, makes us all the more amazed at the complete lack of legal knowledge exhibited by Devine's office.

Of course, recent events at the office and everyone jockeying for position in the wake of Devine's announced retirement, have pretty much set the ASA's at odds with CPD. Too many are seeing career advancement in prosecuting police officers - even at the expense of officers' guaranteed constitutional, contractual and established legal rights. They are proving time and again that they are not on our side any longer.

Clout? Maybe?

What could be the deciding factor here?

• Joseph Annunzio used the n-word and other racist and sexist slurs, but won't lose his supervisor's job with the city Department of Transportation, a review panel decided.
• The board did find Annunzio made "racist, derogatory and disparaging remarks," but didn't fire him because the most "egregious" allegations weren't backed up by testimony from the target of the barbs.
• City Inspector General David Hoffman said the board's decision signals the city can't fire someone for racist and sexist remarks and conduct, even when multiple witnesses confirm them under oath.

Evidently, the Board decided you have the freedom to be a complete ass at work, but only if you're related to an old time Machine politician. We don't see this becoming a trend citywide.

Inspector General Hoffman just got emasculated by Daley's hand picked Review Panel. Publicly. And without anesthesia. Ouch.

A Truly Great Rumor

We don't mean "great" as in fantastic either. We mean "great" as in the construction of the rumor. First, we present "the rumor:"

• Word is that a year after the secret grand jury held in Milwaukee concluded hearing the corruption allegations in Organized Crime Division / Prostitution section. The Feds will be handing down Christmas Indictments to some PRESENT AND FORMER OCD assigned police officers.
  
  Allegations are suppose to include some very sticky fingers in the inventorying of the high end call girls & johns money and allegations some married men johns paid big money not to be arrested while engaged in male on male prostitution stings.
  
  This may get ugly. Wasn't Debra Kirby at OCD while this was allegedly happening? Wouldn't look good that the Head of IAD was the boss where it was happening.

This thing is brilliantly put together. First up, it takes some of the stories that appeared here almost a year ago - that something was brewing on another floor of Homan Square and not just the third floor where SOS was housed. Then it includes a "secret" Grand Jury from out of state. Finally, it drags in someone who would have quite a bit of explaining to do should it become reality.

Here's the problem:

• It could be entirely true

A "secret" grand jury is not uncommon. Federal grand juries usually hear only from Federal agents according to the University of Dayton website, and usually look into cases of massive local corruption. Chicago fits that bill.

A grand jury in Milwaukee would make perfect sense as it falls within the boundaries of the 7th US Circuit (Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana); it's close enough to Chicago to facilitate the transport of witnesses, agents and others to be questioned; it's far enough away to be outside of the political reaches of the Chicago Machine to operate in relative security from leaks and eavesdroppers.

The stories of problems at OCD aren't new. We've been hearing for over a year now that the FBI planted a number of "johns" in the Chicago area with specific amounts of money in their pockets to be arrested and processed through on various misdemeanor charges. When they bonded out, they were shorted money, usually on the order of a few hundred bucks. These rumors were and continue to be pervasive. Unfortunately, making the leap to possible blackmail incidents isn't all that far fetched given recent events. And given that these types of events don't just pop up overnight, going back over a list of OCD exempts reveals some interesting names and connections that would be highly embarrassing to the command structure of the Department. You get one dirty blackmailer red handed and a whole bunch of other shit is going to come to the surface.

It would also explain why the mayor looks like a complete basket case lately if this is about to break.

The Supreme Court to Rule

Both sides are girding for a huge battle:

• The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will decide whether the District of Columbia can ban handguns, a case that could produce the most in-depth examination of the constitutional right to "keep and bear arms" in nearly 70 years.
• The main issue before the justices is whether the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to own guns or instead merely sets forth the collective right of states to maintain militias. The former interpretation would permit fewer restrictions on gun ownership.

Arguments in March, ruling in June most likely. We'd say there's a good chance the Supreme Court is going to strike down entire swaths of gun laws nation wide. Even a number of liberal scholars are admitting that the Bill of Rights are individual rights, one and all, and have been misinterpreted by anti gun folks for years.

More Bad News

Copper charged in fatal DUI:

• A Chicago police officer faces drunken driving charges five months after a crash that killed a woman. The victim's family says the DUI citation is too little, too late.
  
  [...] there are now accusations that the officer's inebriation and involvement in causing the accident was covered up because of his position.

The other individual was charged with misdemeanor DUI. But the family of the victim claims they had to sue the hospital to get the blood work up on the cop from 5 months previously, and it wasn't pretty.

What also isn't going to be pretty is what's going to happen to whatever officers did this accident report. The Department is looking for sacrificial lambs to slaughter. Batten down the hatches. Again.

Scandal in Waiting

Audits of Search Warrants following the SOS scandal:

• The Chicago Police Department has begun reviewing whether officers have been properly executing search warrants.

  In the first wave of audits, 39 search warrants were checked to see if they were filled out according to department rules.

• In auditing the first of the search warrants that will be checked, inspectors focused on 39 warrants obtained in July by the city's gang and gun teams.

  Twenty-five led to arrests and 33 resulted in seized property.

As cited, this would appear to be part of the cloud following at least two Area gun teams that readers of this site are aware of. Most of the seized "property" you can safely assume were guns (Gun Teams = gun numbers).

We'd like to know if the Supreme Court strikes down various municipal gun laws as unconstitutional, would the owners of these now legal handguns be entitled to restitution and replacement of hundreds, if not thousands of guns, confiscated under the old system? It'd be more than a little ironic if Chicago and Mayor Daley ended up buying thousands of guns for people wronged under unconstitutional seizures, illegal search warrants and improper procedural errors.

Cops Exonerated

The trial took place in April. We don't recall if we saw anything about it then and we can't find anything we might have written about it. It deserved a bit of play then and more so now:

• A Cook County jury took only 10 minutes to decide Chicago Police Officer Clyde Brandenburger and his partner were justified in killing Joseph T. Zagar.

  Brandenburger said he's happy the lawsuit is behind him. "This really put us in a bad light," he said.

• "It took us about 10 minutes, and everyone agreed this was not wanton disregard of his rights," [the jury foreman] said.

Ten minutes has to be some sort of land-speed record for a Cook County jury siding with the police. "Suicide-by-cop" was the final determination. The article is actually sympathetic to the cops in that they were responding to a drunk caller claiming to have a gun and when he pointed something at his head, then at the cops, they killed him. Justifiably. But the nightmares for at least one of the coppers haven't stopped.

We just wonder why Frank Main, who wrote such a shitty article for Sunday's paper that was nothing more than a hatchet job on the police for the City's decision not to fight lawsuits, can play the other side halfway decently with a little effort.

Brookins

What an ass:

• Chicago Ald. Howard Brookins (21st) is making a blunt claim as he campaigns to become the next Cook County state's attorney:

  African Americans don't trust county prosecutors, he says.

  "Many [prosecutors] have forgotten that they were put in that job to do justice," Brookins told 30 people at a town hall-style meeting in Markham over the weekend. They've "created a culture that has caused a distrust among the entire [African-American] community. . . . People are apprehensive to cooperate with the state's attorney's office."

Damn. They don't trust the police because the police might put a case on them or shoot them and plant a gun because we all know that every cop out here carries about 30 extra guns just in case he kills an altar boy or honors student who isn't packing heat. Now they don't trust the State's Attorney because they are all in a league with the police and actually prosecuted cases against ::dramatic gasp:: minorities!

And in Brookins corner? Old "Let 'em Go" Leo Holt:

• "There's one thing I have learned about the system, and that is that it is deeply racist," Holt said. "Our community has to come together around Howard's candidacy, or we have to stop talking about the unfairness of the criminal justice system. Everybody knows the criminal justice system is unfair."

Ah Leo. Is there any enterprising investigative reporter reading this site that might go over a few of the low bonds that Leo set for minority murderers? Or dope dealers? And the crimes they committed thereafter when released to bond? We've heard a number of stories and we're sure our readers can share a few in the comments.

And notice how Brookins attacks the State's Attorney office without actually pointing out who was running it during the time that Burge was supposed to be "torturing" 200 people.

Let this guy keep talking and he'll render himself unelectable within a few months. Remember, he's one of those calling for the release of the list of names.

New Links

Couple of links we're adding to the side bar. Thanks to the readers who e-mailed them this way.

First up is BluTube.com. The site is similar in nature to the Blue Sheepdog site that we have listed in the right hand column. Tons of videos, lots of police related products, a passworded message board. Worth a look.

Next is Forgotten Chicago. Lots of old photos, maps and just a whole boatload of history that is all but swept up, demolished or hidden from view. Here are a couple of photos just to show you what's over there and steer some traffic their way (click for bigger picture):

Anyone remember when the old "S curve" was really an "S" and was rightfully called "dead man's curve" many Friday nights? Now it's all condos and tourist traps. Or the old Lake Shore Drive split around the Field Museum and Soldier Field:

And these aren't even the best shots. They've got stuff from the neighborhoods, buildings that don't exist anymore, history destroyed in the name of progress. We're sure there are cops out there and more than a few retirees who might be able to tell some stories about bunches of the neighborhood shots and even some history buffs with pictures that the Forgotten Chicago web owners would be interested in.

It'd certainly be interesting to see if they could set up a Police and Fire section with pictures of the old stations and such.

Honor Roll Student Killed

Seriously. A real one:

• A University of Chicago graduate student from Senegal walking to his off-campus apartment was shot and killed overnight in what officials said was one of several violent incidents in the area.
  
  Police increased campus patrols after Amadou Cisse, 28, was fatally shot in the chest around 1:30 a.m. on the street outside his home in the 6100 block of South Ellis Avenue, school officials said.
  
  U. of C. President Robert Zimmer said in a statement that there were two other incidents on or near campus early this morning in addition to the fatal shooting.

This guy came from Senegal to attend high school in Oklahoma, then gets to go to the University of Chicago - one of the top universities in the world; home to more Nobel prize winners than just about anywhere. You don't get many idiots who end up at the U of C. Yes, it's in Hyde Park, home to come of the most annoying Chicagoans ever, but people who graduate from the U of C end up changing the world. This guy had just defended his doctoral dissertation on atomic oxygen erosion which is way beyond anything we have even a passing interest in.

And somewhere in a space of a few hours that included a staff member chased and shot at by someone and two women being stuck up nearby, this guy who made it all the way to a doctorate from the University of Chicago and ends up dead in our fair city.

And we're sure we'll get the various trolls in the comments that think we're making light of this man's death - we're not. We are merely observers of the violence and chaos that runs through large swaths of this city and just shake our heads when it butts up and extinguishes a promising life.

After Dinner Project

Something to do:


Most bulk ammo suppliers won't ship to the city, nor Illinois without special (and expensive) haz-mat stickers. But you can get bulk ammo out at Cabela's in Hoffman Estates and a few outfitters up toward Gurnee Mills. And Wisconsin.

This is Great

From the comments:

• OFF TOPIC:THIS IS A TRUE STORY OUT OF 018 AND AN EXAMPLE OF THE WHINING PUNKS WE HAVE COMING OUT OF OUR GREAT ACADEMY.YESTERDAY THE RECRUITS ASSIGNED TO THE MICHIGAN AVE.WINDOW DETAIL GOT A RIDE FROM MICHIGAN TO THE STATION AT THE END OF THEIR TOUR IT THE WAGON.NOT LIKING BEING DRIVIN BACK IN THE BACK OF A PADDY WAGON THEY DECIDED TO STORM THE CAPTAINS OFFICE,WITHOUT KNOCKING,AND DEMAND TO BE DRIVIN IN THE VAN FROM NOW ON!THIS IS NO JOKE.THE CAPTAIN HAS MORE TIME ON THE JOB THAN THE PIECES OF SHIT HAVE ON EARTH.LONG STORY SHORT,THEY ARE NOW MAKING THE TRIP BACK TO THE STATION ON FOOT.TO MAKE IT EVEN BETTER THE WATCH COMMANDER CAME OVER THE RADIO AND TOLD THE RECRUITS TO MEET AT MICHIGAN AND CHICAGO AND START WALKIN IN,IT WAS GREAT!THINGS BETTER TURN AROUND CAUSE WE ARE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE.

Name the W/C. This guy gets our "Saltiest Old-time Boss of the Year Award."

Way to install a little bit of discipline, respect and such in the young hair gel police.

Nice Learning Environment - Part II

Could it possibly be true that a certain west side school (mentioned very prominently here a few days ago) is headed by an allegedly retired member of the four-corner-hustlers? We're hearing rumors.

Are the schools required to do background checks, including criminal histories, on all school employees? And do old gangbangers ever really retire?

A Sneed Source Revealed?

Sneed is one of those reporters who seems to have tentacles in every pot out there. She's been carrying all sorts of anti-Starks stuff for some of Cline's old buddies, she's a regular sounding board for all sorts of City Hall leaks that eventually seem to become policy or law.

A sharp eyed reader pointed out that on 15 November, she offered condolences as follows:

• Condolences to Officer Shawn Hallinan on the death of his father Eddie, a longtime People's Gas employee

We can't recall Sneed ever offering condolences to any patrol officer for the loss of a parent. When you read the Daily Bulletin, there are anywhere from 2 to 4 funerals a day for parents and siblings of officers, but they never get mentioned in Sneed.

What gives? Who's this guy to Sneed?

Sports Time

Bears at Seattle, 5-and-a-half point dogs, Grossman at the helm.

Doom or not?


And how about them Blackhawks? Beat Detroit for the FOURTH time this season. If this keeps up, the Wirtz boys might be able to fill the stands for the first time since the 1990's.

Sun Times Hit Piece?

Some of the comments have been saying that the Department made the front page of the Sunday Sun Times again. Unfortunately, we don't have access to an early paper and we can't seem to find it online yet. Something about police shooting people? What are we getting slimed for this time?

And speaking of sliming, batten down the hatches - rumors are starting up again here and at work about SOS indictments coming around the holidays. Typical fed pressure tactic. Seems to bear fruit quite a bit.

And other rumors of additional aldercreature indictments are making the rounds. We can only hope.

UPDATE: Here's the nonsense article

As you can see, the City (a) settles way too often, (b) gives money to gang bangers way too often, and (c) is being pressured to fire coppers in a way never before seen.

Crime Down

Per the Department:

• Violent crime dropped 2.6 percent, with 29,266 crimes, such as rapes and homicides, reported through October of this year, compared with 30,037 last year -- a difference of 771 such crimes.

  The number of reported arsons so far this year, 601, is up from last year's 582.

  And the number of reported murders is down 3.8 percent, with 380 reported so far this year and 395 reported last year.

Still a chance for a strong finish though.

Shooting Burglars

Not here - in Texas:

• In a case legal experts say may "stretch the limits" of the state's self-defense laws, a Pasadena man shot and killed two suspected burglars during a confrontation as they attempted to flee his neighbor's property Wednesday afternoon.

  In the minutes before the fatal shootings, Pasadena police said the man called 911 and reported that he had heard glass breaking next door and saw two men entering the home through a window. Still on the phone with police, the man, believed to be in his 70s, saw the suspects leaving from the back of the home.

Someone posted the entire linked article along with a bunch of Texas law. WAY too big buddy. Plus the copyright violations. But it was interesting enough to post. The cops still didn't get there until 6 minutes after he shot the two. The state senator who drafted the "castle doctrine" law says he doesn't think this would apply as the neighbor was defending property not actually his own. But some of the cited law leans toward defending your neighbor's property as your own if you know the neighbor not to be at home.

We'll trust Texas to get it right - they usually do.

The Howard Dean Playbook

A few months ago, Dean was quoted as saying the Democratic Party had dirt on Giuliani:

• Democratic party chairman Howard Dean said on Thursday that Rudy Giuliani "personal life is a serious problem."
  
  Dean sent the warning on CNN's SITUATION ROOM with host Wolf Blitzer.
  
  BLITZER: Well, describe those character issues...
  
  DEAN: No, I'm not going to get into that stuff. I don't like attacking people on their personal lives, but I can assure you that in the Republican primary, given what went on in the 2000 Republican primary in South Carolina between George Bush and John McCain, those attacks will be made in the Republican Party.

Typical. Hillary like this method though:

• AGENTS of Sen. Hillary Clinton are spreading the word in Democratic circles that she has scandalous information about her principal opponent for the party's presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama, but has decided not to use it. The nature of the alleged scandal was not disclosed. This word-of-mouth among Democrats makes Obama look vulnerable and Clinton look prudent.

But her people will still leak it out there, get the press to start asking uncomfortable questions, etc. The Clinton's kept (and still keep) an entire stable of muckrakers on staff just for eventualities like this.

We'll tell you one thing though - all that talk of Obama being the VP candidate? Ain't going to happen. Hillary's people are making that loud and clear.

Picture This

You're on patrol. You see an individual walking in an alley. He doesn't fit the area, won't answer simple questions and all he has in his possession is a small amphibian. It's happening in Missouri:

• A 21-year-old man has been accused of using a toad to get high.Clay County sheriff's deputies said David Theiss, of Kansas City, possessed a Colorado River toad with the intention of using it as a hallucinogenic.Experts said it's possible to lick the toad's venom glands to achieve psychedelic effects.

OK, we made up the scenario. Everyone knows you can't stop some guy walking in an alley for not fitting the area - that'd be profiling! And he's under no obligation to answer your questions - you're messing up his trip, man. You are so bogus.

So the toad would be thrown out of court as a bad search and you'd be subject to Department discipline and monetary damages for violating the toad licker's civil rights.

Ramsey in Philly

The Washington Post article (you might need a password to read the whole thing):

• Former D.C. police chief Charles H. Ramsey was named commissioner of the Philadelphia police force yesterday, taking the job nearly a year after he stepped aside in Washington.

So as numerous people have pointed out, we can take Ramsey's name of any lists. Here's a link over at Domelights.com where the visitors comment on the appointment.

We've got a question though. Is anyone else seeing top police jobs as similar to Major League Baseball coaching positions now? We've seen different chiefs (coaches) moving from city to city, making a big splash, "shaking" things up where they can, then getting hired to go clean up or straighten out another town when stagnation sets in again. New York, LA, and a couple of other medium sized cities seem to be in on this trend, hired guns with new "ideas," even though most of the ideas seem to be stolen from New York. Doesn't it say something bad about your Department if you can't promote from within? That no one is competent to lead that you've trained from the ground up?

Of course, just look at what the last 20 years of the CPD has produced.

Nice Learning Environment

How do they learn anything?

• Forty-seven students were arrested after a fight broke out at a West Side high school this morning, authorities said.
  
  The fight started about 10 a.m. on the third floor of Crane High School, in the 2200 block of West Jackson Boulevard. The initial call to police reported a battery in progress, they said.
  
  Police this evening continued to process those who were arrested, said Chicago Police Officer Tom Polick. Authorities said they were charged with mob action and reckless conduct. No weapons were used.

We regularly get letters about fights this size (and bigger) going off all around the finer schools of our fair city. What is amusing to us is that even though cops know about every one of these fights and so do the neighborhoods, there's never a camera anywhere nearby. Ever. It's not like these huge disturbances are a big secret or anything. Operation Closed Market was regularly redeployed to high school dismissals every single day and a few people down in Springfield actually got $20 million of our tax money redirected to fund coppers working overtime for "Safe Passage" at certain schools in certain congressional districts (guess which ones!)

Perhaps if the taxpayers being fleeced by the politicians actually saw what was going on in these "schools" on a regular basis, that recall option being pushed by the Tribune might get some steam behind it and we'd get some real stabs at reform.

Anyone got a camera?

Zeckman Story

Pammy does a little piece on some car thieves:

• ...

Ah, screw it. We're going to address something that's been appearing in our comment sections over the past few days.

Seems Pam was mugged on the north side recently. Some cretins stole her purse and everything in it according to one report. The officers responded promptly, gave Pam Soll Zeckman a report and then did what every decent hard working copper does, even if it's just for a few minutes:

• Toured the area

Many times, you never get anything out of this. A lot of times, it's just a line in a report. But most cops will at least circle the surrounding blocks, go through a few alleys, some even look in gangways and trash cans because if you try, you might find the purse 10 or 15% of the time. Sometimes you even find a subject matching the description (5% of the time maybe).

According to a poster, the cops found an offender with his ill-gotten gains. Hooray for the good guys! Right? Well, if the comments are true, Pam refused to prosecute. We guess it would have hurt her police hating credentials if she actually, you know, cooperated with the police in putting someone who deserved to be locked up, in jail. Kind of like when one of the "ope-rahs" (Mope-rah? Dope-rah?) refused to sign complaints on a car thief that was actually apprehended in her car.

Evil police - remember that.

UPDATE: Some comments are coming in that it was a "Theft from Auto" case and on-site security may have had involvement. Whatever. If you don't want the person who is breaking into your car or taking your property apprehended, just leave the car windows down, the apartment doors unlocked, and walk down the street wearing a suit made of $20 dollar bills. That way you can feel all righteous and noble about giving thugs a second chance to commit their crimes against somebody less enlightened than you are who actually likes owning property.