$2.5 Billion - None for Us

Connected construction companies, however, are drooling. Get a load of this ridiculous crap:

• Mayor Daley announced plans today to privatize Midway Airport in return for $2.521 billion from investors.
  

  The private consortium that would take over includes Midway Investment and Development Co. LLC, Citi Infrastructure Investors, John Hancock Life Insurance Co. and YVR Airport Services Ltd., Daley said at a news conference.

  The lease term would be 99 years, and, under state law, the city must use 99 percent of the lease's net proceeds for infracture [sic] projects around the city, Daley said.

99% for infrastructure? That leaves a mere $25 million to fill in Daley's $400 million budget hole, maybe shore up a certain underfunded pension that Huberman is trying to steal money from, and attempt to bribe god knows how many Olympic Board members.

Prediction: Inside of 25 years, Chicago surpasses Detroit in squalor.

What the Fuck?

This is getting insane. Can anyone save Chicago from its politicians?

• Mayor Daley will eliminate 3,000 vacant positions and lay off 1,000 city employees -- 735 of them union members -- to solve Chicago's worst budget crisis in a generation, union leaders were told Monday.

  The biggest hit will be felt by Laborers Union Local 1001, whose members are in line for 300 pink slips in the Streets and Sanitation Department.

You want to know what Laborers do? Watch "The Sopranos." Those "no-show, no work" spots Tony is always talking about? Laborers. Here's the fun part though:

• The 3,000 vacancies to be eliminated include: 329 sworn Chicago Police officers; 424 non-sworn police employees; 12 sworn firefighters, and 10 non-sworn fire employees.

So the City is finally admitting that we're short. Of course we're "only" short 329 sworn spots. And the 424 non-sworn? How many of those are filled with sworn at the moment? More than few we're going to say. Total number of officers to be returned to the street? Zero.

Now go down a few posts and look at the Huberman scandal. He's trying to parlay possibly three years of street time (and believe us, we're being damn generous calling it three years) along with OEMC time (where he drove that monstrosity into the ground), ADS time (accomplishments - zero) and now CTA time into a Police pension? It's outrageous.

And the topper?

• Meanwhile, all but six of Chicago's 50 aldermen plan to accept a 6.2 percent cost-of-living increase that will boost their annual salaries to $110,556 Jan. 1. [...]
  

  Forty-four aldermen declined to sign the affidavit from Budget Director Bennett Johnson, in part, because of the effect it would have on their pensions. Some were offended that Johnson even asked.

A SIX POINT TWO PERCENT COST OF LIVING INCREASE??? For a part time job??? Because it affects their pensions? Hey assholes?!? We have a fucking civilian who didn't even do enough time to become vested attempting to steal from our 48% funded pension while Shortshanks offers us ONE POINT ONE FUCKING PERCENT on our payraises that are already 16 months overdue?

Un FUCKING Believable. Where are the Feds? Where is the Inspector General? Where are the goddamn voters?

Double Standard

Once again, the Cook County State's Attorney Office proves it's made up of incompetent lawyers and political hacks:

• A Chicago police detective who was beaten while off-duty on Chicago's North Side over a week ago is reacting to the news that the man accused of beating him will not face a more serious charge.

  Detective Steven Amato says he announced that he was a police officer during the beating. The beating took place after the man allegedly ran into the detective's personal car.

  Detective Amato and others believe the charges should be more serious because the attack was against a police officer. The police officer's alleged attacker, 27-year-old John Jasa,s remains free after attending court last week, where a judge refused to charge him with attacking a police officer. That follows a decision by the state's attorney's office to file what is "perceived" as a lesser felony because, they say, Detective Amato was off duty. The veteran cop counters, saying a Chicago police officer is "always" on duty.

So if a cop hits someone off-duty, upgraded felony charges are justified because police are held to a higher standard and must therefore be superhuman in their restraint and conduct, even if the victim has no visible injuries and doesn't even go to the hospital.

But if an off-duty cop is beaten at the scene of a minor traffic accident, announces his office prior to and during the attack, suffers numerous bruises to his face, arms and torso, misses work because of his injuries, well that's just too damn bad. Cook County ASA's will go for the lower charge and to add insult to injury, call the case a week before the victim's assigned court date and not even tell him. And these are supposed to be the people on our side.

UPDATE: Is this why the State is low-balling the charges?

• And Jasas is the brother of one of the guys involved in the leonard Clark beating back in 1997 http://www.cnn.com/US/9810/19/racial.beating/

Once again, the mask slips and the Outfit peeks out from behind.

Cop Killer Tried Previously?

Evidently, not the first time he attempted to kill a police officer. From the comments:

• Can someone let us know how we can alert the media that this asshole's conviction for attempted murder was for the ATTEMPTED MURDER OF ANOTHER POLICE OFFICER!!!! He took three shots at a uniformed officer when they saw him near a gang wake wearing a holster (about a block from his "neighborhood watch" site).

Gee, we wonder what, if anything, this slime may have learned in prison from his last stint.

UPDATE: Frank Main earns his check on the back of the blog...again. Thanks for catching up Frank. How about a dinner once in a while?

Stealing Pension Money

Gee, no wonder our pension is in trouble:

• ...was at the Pension Board today to get payout info and walked into a shitstorm. Fox news covering Ron Huberman's effort to get credit for his CTA service. Total Bullshit. Anyway, a copper named Mike Shields who is running for a Pension Trustee spot was all over it. He confronted Huberman face to face and even gave an interview to Fox 32 calling BS on Huberman's pension grab. This Shields guy even brought his own camera. He asked a Pension Board secretary (ON FUCKING CAMERA!!) why she gave Huberman a private office as a waiting room while a disabled female PO on crutches was made to stand. I never worked with this Shields guy, but he stood up for us, for sure.
  he has my vote. See if you can get the video SCC. Its got to be really funny.

Huberman, the butt of numerous jokes here, was a patrol officer for all of five or six years. He then left and came back with some wondrous computer knowledge that allowed the Police Department, which was mired in the technology of the late 1970's, to make a great leap into some bizarre Amish-based computer system that no one else uses, is incompatible with most known word processing programs, and was directly responsible for 3 degrees of global warming due to the massive amounts of trees killed for bullshit statistical reports.

We believe he returned as a civilian and was appointed to Assistant Deputy Superintendent, a five-step "promotion" that somehow skipped over Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain and Commander spots. He also did a stint on the Mayor's staff (Chief of Staff) before going to the CTA to work with trains.

Now he wants our pension money? Cut him a check for his contributions and send him on his way. He's not vested. Who's this Shields guy? Here's the YouTube video. The sound isn't the best, but it's a damn entertaining video:



The last line about the Guardian Angels is the best.

UPDATE: FoxNews breaks the story into the mainstream. Let's see if anyone else picks up on it. And someone buy Retired Officer Underwood a beer - his expression of incredulity and disgust in the first 10 seconds of the Fox tape is the best.

"The Reader" Goes Bankrupt

Or rather, the company that owns "The Reader" has filed for Chapter Eleven in order to consolidate and restructure debt:

• Creative Loafing Inc., owner of the Chicago Reader and five other weekly U.S. newspapers, sought bankruptcy protection after advertising revenue shrank for its print editions, Bloomberg News reported.

  The closely held company listed both debt and assets of $10 million to $50 million each in Chapter 11 documents filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Tampa, Florida, where it’s based, according to Bloomberg. Creative Loafing took over the Reader last year.
  

Anyone who reads this blog knows how we feel about the print media. We don't feel that any of them would be a great loss to society in general. They are pretty much obsolete. "The Reader" had one shining moment two years ago that made us respect them, if only for a little while:

• When Floyd Durr pled guilty in April to the sexual assault and murder of 11-year-old Ryan Harris, the book finally seemed closed on one of the most notorious criminal cases here in decades. But much remains uncertain. Including who killed Ryan.

  By Steve Bogira
  October 20, 2006

What Steve Bogira wrote was the closest thing to the truth that has ever been written (and unfortunately, probably ever will be written) regarding the Ryan Harris case. And even he left out many details that are known to Detectives, prosecutors, Terry Hillard, Corporation Counsel and a number of politicians who helped R. Eugene Pincham swindle the taxpayers for millions and subjected unknown future victims to a potential serial killer.

Stupid Idea - Smart Comment

Taking Shortshanks' thought to its logical conclusion:

• I guess we need to take this to the logical end. If fewer cops won't impact our safety, then fewer politicians shouldn't impact city services. Maybe the mayor and city council should resign, we won't elect anyone new, and Chicago will be a perfect city! (now that I think about it, it's a great idea!)

We have the smartest readers in the world.

Media Coverage

Coverage of Officer Taylor's death:

• Tribune
• Sun Times
• Channel 2
• Channel 5
  
• Channel 7
  
• Channel 32

Be forewarned, there is some truly crappy reporting at some of the links, giving credence to all sorts of bullshit stories and excuses. If you notice the post directly below this one, a Philadelphia lawyer and columnist calls out the communities in which much of this violence exists and doesn't pull any punches. We imagine she's going to take a bunch of heat for her words.

Philly Media Calls It Out

From the Philadelphia Daily News we were forwarded this article by Christine M. Flowers regarding the murder of Philly PD Officer Patrick McDonald:

• After Officer Patrick McDonald was assassinated by Daniel Giddings on Tuesday, neighbors came out of the woodwork and did what neighbors often do.

  They made excuses. Worse, they eulogized Giddings, who was also killed.

  Here were people who could justify the murder of a police officer by playing the race card, forgetting that so many of their own black brothers and sisters are soldiers in the battle between good and evil that takes place every day on Philadelphia's streets.

• Let's say this once and for all, without mincing any words:

  Daniel Giddings was a worthless piece of trash whose exit from this world can only make it a better place. The horror is that, in leaving, he took with him a man like Patrick McDonald.

It would seem that the media in Philadelphia is turning a corner that Chicago media hasn't even begun to approach yet. Witness the CLTV report quoting some relative of the OFFENDER as being some innocent devout muslim doing his morning prayers.

• a named target of a drug conspiracy
• found carrying narcotics in his mouth
  
• a home-body (unemployed)
• praying in an automobile?
• armed
• with even more drugs in his house
  

Reports like CLTV's are asinine and further erode any semblance of actual reporting. They could take a page out of Christine M. Flowers' writing. We can even tolerate her being a lawyer if she writes like that all the time.

Hey Media? Cover This

Someone pointed this out in a comment section. They quoted an entire article from the Sun Times which is a no-no due to copyright restrictions. But they brought up an amazing little tidbit that should concern every single citizen. Here are the relevant portions of the article:

• A 20-year-old man was fatally stabbed after a verbal fight became physical early Sunday in the North Side’s Ravenswood neighborhood. The incident happened in the 4600 block of North Rockwell Avenue... [...]

  Kevin Curtis, of 4108 N. Lawndale Ave., was pronounced dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center at 2:20 a.m., according to a spokesman at the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office, who said Curtis was stabbed at 4639 N. Rockwell Ave.

Unless the media got this entirely wrong, he was stabbed in Ravenswood, then transported 22.46 MILES to Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn? Was every single trauma hospital on bypass this weekend? They had to pass Illinois Masonic, Northwestern, hell they had to pass Sinai and Stroger. Lutheran is only 14.97 miles the other direction.

Imagine if you aren't a criminal and you get into an accident or have a heart attack. Normal everyday citizens should be terrified at this turn of events. How about the media asks about that? Then start asking the really hard questions.

UPDATE: Looks like the media, as per usual, fucked it up. The deceased passed from this mortal coil at Illinois Masonic. And the high quality fact checking editors at the Sun Times confuse Advocate hospitals dozens of miles apart.

New Links

After a few months of just basic neglecting it, we added a bunch of links, including:

• Chicago Breaking News
• Shaved
• Katey's Kafe from Philadephia
• Domelights, also from Philly
• Officer Down Memorial Page

We also rearranged a few of the links so if you don't see it, we probably just moved it.

Officer Shot in 004

Officer shot in 004. It doesn't look good. Thoughts, prayers please. Updates as available.

As usual, posts second-guessing etc. will NOT be published.

UPDATE: Officer on life support, vigil at hospital.

UPDATE II: 1400 hours - The struggle continues. Family is there. Two hundred cops at last report in and around the hospital.

UPDATE III: 2000 hours - Lots of conflicting information. Family might be making a very hard decision right now and we hope no one that we love is ever called upon to make this decision. Keep everyone in your prayers.

UPDATE IV: 2200 hours - Officer Nathaniel Taylor Jr., 39 passed away this evening at 1802 hours. He leaves behind a wife and daughter. We aren't sure of his actual assignment, but was reportedly part of the 6200 teams (Vice?)

No Publicity Benefit?

There's a benefit for Rick Francis tonight at Barleycorn's on Clark. Unfortunately, the Department refused to authorize posters because Barleycorn is on some sort of "watch list" as a problem establishment. That's why no one has heard of this event.

In any case, you can see the Bears game there tonight. No idea on tickets, prices or times. We'll assume 6pm or thereabout since it's an evening game.

UPDATE: 7pm start time, but we imagine it's going to be a very somber event in light of today's shooting.

Da Bears

Let's just say if they don't win tonight, we can pretty much call this season a wash.

Open post for game talk.

Police Shooting

South side again:

• Chicago police officers shot a man tonight after a confrontation on the South Side, police said.

  After a police well-being check in the 7700 block of South Kedzie Avenue, an armed person confronted officers about 7:15 p.m. and was shot, police said.

  The condition of the person was unknown. No one else was injured.

  Police said a weapon was recovered from the scene.

Cops OK. Be careful out there.

Because I Said So

When in doubt, throw a tantrum:

• Mayor Richard Daley on Saturday dismissed the notion that his administration’s failure to make good on a pledge to hire more police is affecting public safety, even as Chicago combats growing violent crime.

• "No, no," said Daley when asked about the lack of new hires and the impact on city safety. When pressed, Daley bristled and said "It just won’t."

  The mayor said he's "working on" hiring more police officers, but didn’t have a time frame for when that would happen.

"I am the Great and Powerful Oz! Stop pulling on that curtain or I'll get my army of flying monkey warriors to call your editors!"

"It just won't"? What does Shortshanks do when gravity gets in his way? Deny it's existence? Listen up jackass - it's affecting public safety RIGHT NOW. Look around you. And you know what? It's only going to get worse.

Rezko Talking?

Hell, we'd settle for another governor in jail, just to whet our appetite for Shortshank's appearance in the Gray-bar Hotel:

• Just weeks before he is to be sentenced, political fund-raiser Tony Rezko is in the midst of intense discussions with federal investigators, sources close to the investigation confirmed to the Chicago Sun-Times.

  There’s no question federal authorities are interested in Rezko, a former top adviser and fundraiser to Gov. Blagojevich, as a federal witness. But one source who spoke on the condition of anonymity, warned it’s too early to call the discussions full-fledged cooperation.

  Already, however, Rezko has provided information to the feds, who are in the process of vetting it, sources said.

What was it Milhouse Van Houten told Bart Simpson? " I can't go to Juvie! They use guys like me as currency!" Who knows what Blago would give up to stay out of prison? We mean besides Mell.

Daley Lied? Again?

Yesterday's Airport press conference:

• As Daley hailed the opening of an extended runway at O'Hare International Airport, Weis waited at the edge of the crowd for more than two hours. After the event, as reporters asked Daley about police hiring, Weis stepped up to the microphone stand.
  
  That's when the mayor abruptly ended the news conference. Daley said he would talk today about O'Hare expansion and nothing else.
  
  "We're going to stay on this subject matter because I think it's important to stay on the subject matter," Daley said. "No, no, it's good to stay on it. Yesterday I took questions [on other topics], tomorrow I'll take questions, so you'll see me all week. Don't worry."
  
  A broadcast journalist mentioned the Tribune story to him, and Daley replied: "I know, don't worry. Tomorrow, we'll be there. OK, thank you."

Today's reality:

• For the second day in a row, Mayor Richard Daley refused to take questions from reporters about his administration's failure to keep its promise to hire more police officers.

  Appearing at a Friday event to announce federal money for public housing, Daley once again avoided discussing the police issue.

  Police Supt. Jody Weis had promised to increase the ranks of officers as Chicago grapples with its first increase in its homicide rate in years. But the Tribune reported Thursday that City Hall has not approved department requests to hire enough officers to keep up with retirements and other attrition, resulting in hundreds of vacancies.

Some reporters are putting two and two together. Finally. And when Daley says "two plus two equals five," these same reporters are pausing in the middle of their sycophantic laughter and realizing, "Wait a minute, that's not what they taught us in J-school."

Anyone who scans the FOP newsletter can see the average fifty-plus retirements every month. Then you just pay attention at roll call and don't hear about the recruit graduation ceremonies and notice that there aren't any new faces in the Districts and the number of 99 cars keeps going up. Cops are supposed to be bullshit detectors. Anyone else smelling something odd coming out of City Hall and 35th Street?

Philadelphia Forum

As noted in the comments and elsewhere, Philadelphia suffered yet another Line of Duty death. There are a number of Philly police blogs that have been mentioned here over the years. If we recall, the main one was Domelights.com. A regular visitor of ours, KateyKakes also has a blog.

We're sure they'd appreciate a few kind words.

What Others Are Saying

Seems the AP story has generated a bunch more local interest. The Capitol Fax Blog (covering Springfield, IL news) has a big article up, quoting numerous local and national sources. They dissect the AP article, our responses and link to a Reader article:

• The backdrop for all of this, of course, is the city’s $420 million budget hole, which will likely require hundreds of layoffs, unfilled positions, and early retirements to plug--though the Daley administration hasn't been saying much about it. Some aldermen, though, are quietly suggesting that Donahue’s union could pay for a few more jobs if it were willing to give up a few costly perks. On top of their regular pay, officers receive $730 every three months for “duty availability”—that is, simply being on call, even though they get additional overtime pay if they actually have to take an extra shift. They receive another $600 every three months to pay for new uniforms, and they can take a check for any furlough time they deserve but don’t use. These benefits add up to about $73 million a year.
  

  "Apparently the aldermen grumbling about such things don’t see the hypocrisy of their grumblings," Donahue says. "The average police officer coming out of the police academy onto the force is going to make an investment of $7,000 to $9,000 dollars—the department doesn’t buy the uniform, doesn’t buy the guns, doesn’t buy the shoes. What would the aldermen say if we proposed cutting the money for their staff and expenses?"

Not noted in the Reader article is how those "extras" were acquiesced to during negotiations as a way to boost officers' salaries without having to actually pay the pension benefits associated with a higher salary; how much of the increased contributions for health and pension benefits ate up salary raises before officers ever saw the money; and how in light of recent City, County and State tax hikes combined with economic realities means that we aren't even treading water any more - we're sinking.

Costly perks? How about the aldercreatures annual $1 million "discretionary fund" which ends up being spent on sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, wives, etc so as to keep the entire million in the family? The TIF slush fund? The City Council approving all sorts of settlements and legal work to connected law firms? Those monies alone dwarf contractually negotiated perks and might even fill Shortshank's budget hole.

Gas Attack!

This is a little extreme:

• SOUTH CHARLESTON, WV – A man arrested for DUI in South Charleston, West Virginia, found himself in a heap of trouble after he farted on an officer while being booked at the police station.

  Jose Cruz was originally arrested and charged with DUI after being stopped on Route 60 for driving with his headlights off.

  The police report indicates that, while being fingerprinted, Cruz moved closer to the officer and passed gas on him. The investigating officer also reported that the “odor was very strong.”

If we could charge like this, last week's DUI arrests would have been the electric chair for two people and the burrito supreme meal would have been the subject of a CR investigation according to a few of our coworkers.

Short 250? 400?

The truth coming out slowly:

• The Chicago Police Department is down hundreds of officers despite pledges by City Hall to boost the force to combat growing violent crime, police union and department officials confirmed Wednesday.
  
  Police Supt. Jody Weis, facing criticism over rising homicide rates, promised aldermen to expand the department by 75 officers as part of an effort to put more officers on the street. But City Hall has not approved department requests to hire enough officers to keep up with retirements and other attrition.
  
  Mayor Richard Daley has said the city must reduce personnel costs in the face of a dismal economy and a gaping budget hole but has not specified where the cuts could be made at this point.

Daley makes J-Fed walk away and keep quiet:

• As Daley hailed the opening of an extended runway at O'Hare International Airport, Weis waited at the edge of the crowd for more than two hours. After the event, as reporters asked Daley about police hiring, Weis stepped up to the microphone stand.
  
  That's when the mayor abruptly ended the news conference. Daley said he would talk today about O'Hare expansion and nothing else.
  
  [...] With that, Daley walked away from the microphones, trailed by Weis.

The shortage numbers are way more than 250 or 400. That could be total hires, but if you want street strength, we're down 1,000. Easily. You want proof? How many down Beat cars on midnights where you work? How many 99 units? The Department hasn't reduced the number of beats, that's for sure.

Subway Series Sinking?

Can't happen if the other guys don't make the playoffs:

• MINNEAPOLIS - With long glares darting through the clubhouse, the White Sox attempted to put on the best game face Thursday night.
  
  That mask, however, fell off as Minnesota delivered another stunning blow to the Sox's American League Central title hopes.
  
  The Sox blew a five-run lead, as the Twins dealt them another blow with a two-run eighth off relievers Matt Thornton and Bobby Jenks that forced a 6-6 tie before winning 7-6 in extra innings.

Come on guys.

Buying a Job?

Sure sounds like "pay to play." Or "pay to keep your job."

• The Democratic candidate for Cook County state's attorney defended her practice of accepting campaign cash from employees within the office, saying Wednesday that it should not reflect on her ability to make tough calls if elected.
  
  Anita Alvarez, who currently holds the number three post in the prosecutor's office, was ripped by Republican opponent Tony Peraica, who questioned the ethics of her decision to accept donations from subordinates.
  
  Alvarez characterized the donations as small gifts from "friends" who wanted to express their support.

If we aren't mistaken (and in this case we're not), Daley's people used to have to kick in money for his birthday present. We think it was the Tribune that exposed this and the practice suddenly ceased. The story was that the "donation" was passed onto some of Daley's charities in his name, but tenor of the reporting made it seem that this was a pretty weak excuse for open and notorious graft.

Bus Trip for Parole Hearing

Didn't even hear about this until the bus left and the news covered it:

• A group of Chicago police officers will be in Springfield today when the Illinois Parole Board meets to decide the fate of a convicted cop-killer. [...]
  

  Richard Luckey will be 80 years old next month. 35 years ago, he shot and killed Chicago Police Officer Robert Wenzel during a traffic stop on Lake Shore Drive.

  Luckey and his passenger allegedly had been making plans to pull off an armed robbery before they were stopped.

  Sgt. Patrick O’Malley is among 27 officers appearing at the parole hearing and says the group wants “to make sure he serves the time he was sentenced”, 75 to 150 years.

  The Chicago Police Department moved to two-person squad cars after Officer Bob Wenzel’s murder on a dark January morning in 1973.

Just the other night, we saw 3 one-man cars up on the First Watch and 2 down Beat cars. Guess that "two-person" rule just fell by the wayside.

Anyone have a report from the scene? How did it go?

Big Reward Money

In light of the lawsuit filed against the Department regarding the treatment of an alleged cop killer, we'd like to think that this would get more front-page coverage:

• CLTV reports that there has been an increase in the reward offer leading to the killer of an off-duty Chicago police officer and his female companion.

That's the entire CLTV report - kind of amazing any reporting ever gets done in this city. There's also a 45 second video attached to the story.

The reward site is sotorewardfund.com and has a $35,000 dollar reward posted for information along with the contact numbers for Area 4 and the Patrolmen's Credit Union for donations. Whoever the anonymous donor is who put up $25,000 of the $35,000, we'd like to buy them a very expensive beer one day.

Channel 7 mentions the reward fund at the bottom of the lawsuit piece.

The Outfit - Alive and Well?

Hmmm:

• A man found decomposed in the trunk of a car in Franklin Park Tuesday night had been shot in the head and strangled, according to an autopsy today.

  Residents in the 3400 block of Sarah Street in the northwest suburb called police around 8 p.m. after detecting a strong odor coming from the vehicle. When police opened the trunk, they found the body, said Franklin Park Police Chief Thomas Wolfe.

  Police are conducting a homicide investigation.

  Identification found on the body matched that of the owner of the car, a 43-year-old man reported missing from Melrose Park on Sept. 13.

Let's see...

1. found in a trunk;
2. in Franklin Park;
3. shot and strangled;
4. missing from Melrose Park;
5. last name released a short while ago - sounded like "Sanes"

We're going to go out on a limb here and say "low level Organized Crime figure." We'd lay money on it, but our bookie hasn't been returning our calls since... since... 13 September now that we look at our day planner.

Daley Wrote a Letter?

According to various media sources:

• Mayor Richard Daley has sent a letter to Iowa's governor urging a pardon for Chicago Police Officer Michael Mette, who is serving a five-year prison sentence for assault after punching a man outside a 2005 party in Dubuque.

  Daley told Iowa Gov. Chet Culver that Mette "did little or nothing to provoke" the fight.

  "Mr. Mette's response to the physical assault he experienced was not pre-meditated, but merely a matter of self-defense in reaction to a very real threat," Daley wrote in the letter dated Aug. 20.

Whoa whoa whoa. Hold on there. "...in the letter dated Aug. 20."

Let's check our handy dandy little day planner. Yup, it's 25 September. So where has this info been hiding since 20 August? And why wasn't it made part of news reports earlier this month when J-Fed's and Blago's letters took center stage?

Call us cynical, but isn't it strange that this info that purportedly shows Shortshanks' supporting a Police Officer comes out right after his State's Attorney indicts an Officer on what seems to be the weakest case in recent memory? After all, who was Daley's right hand man in the SA's office when he was running it? It sure seems we're getting patted on the back with one hand while the other knifes us. Typical Chicago.

Munoz, Munoz, Munoz

That name rings a bell for some reason.

• Federal agents have cracked down on the trafficking of fake documents on the Chicago's Southwest Side.

  More than a dozen people were arrested in police raids in the last two days. Among those arrested was the nephew of a Chicago alderman.

  Most of the 21 people named in the case were picked up Thursday as federal agents executed five search warrants in the Little Village neighborhood.

Oh yeah! The latin king aldercreature that used to hold guns for the gang.

Let's see, Dad pleads guilty to forging ID's. Mom's Foto Estudio Munoz burns to the ground three years ago. Forty latin kings indicted yesterday, most from Munoz's ward.

One more step and someone might be continuing the fine aldermanic tradition of going to jail shortly. Mr. Fitzgerald? Faster please.

Persecution

There's no other way to describe it:

• A Chicago police officer accused of killing two Cicero men in a Thanksgiving Day auto accident was indicted on charges of reckless homicide and drunk driving, authorities said Tuesday.
  
  Officer John Ardelean, 34, faces two counts of reckless homicide and four counts of aggravated DUI, according to a news release from the Cook County state's attorney's office.

Let's get this straight - the Crook County State's Attorney just released an asshole who murdered two people, one of who was a decorated Chicago Police Detective, because there were "problems" with the evidence and interviews. This involved witnesses recanting testimony. To date, the only person charged is the girlfriend of the primary suspect for witness intimidation when she and another girl beat a cooperating individual. This asshole is now suing the Department.

Now we have the Crook County State's Attorney office indicting an officer on solely political considerations when no evidence exists to support the charges filed. The basis for the aggravated DUI is an Administratively Ordered breath test, which is inadmissible in a court of law (read Garrity law). The two counts of reckless homicide are equally inane as the investigation revealed that the deceased persons were (A) both highly intoxicated and (B) at fault for the accident. Reckless homicide does not include a "psychic" provision where Ardelean was required to predict a pair of drunks would drive into his path at a high rate of speed.

If the Department exempts who were on scene disregarded their own General Orders regarding some unknown timeliness of the sobriety testing, then shame on them and seek sanctions or restitution in the Civil Courts. Ardelean complied with all legal obligations under Illinois law and all Department orders. Believe it or not, Law Enforcement Officers have rights under Illinois Law and under Court rulings - we are still citizens though we are treated much worse than that.

Remember the NPR interview J-Fed did where he called us "insignificant"? J-Fed cited this case specifically and noted that the Department was going after Ardelean administratively. This criminal case is purely driven by the Machine to remove an issue from the republican candidate (who is also calling for prosecution of police officers in violation of existing statute).

Bad News

Whatever demons possessed this officer to do the unthinkable have finished their evil work:

• The 9-year-old son of a Chicago police officer who last week shot his two children before committing suicide has died.

We are physically ill at this news. God bless the child and his sister.

Acting Deputy Chief?

Is this true?

Actually, we don't care if it's true - we just love using this pic. Hi Leo!

If True, This is Very Sad

We used to be led by "bosses." People who'd actually make an effort to appear interested. Now?

• The Commander of TRU has not been seen in the unit since the passing of Officer Eddie Massas. No roll call briefing about the incident, no condolences, not even in the building to be seen for the past 48 hours. How does a Cmdr. of Police not show up at roll call after one of the men in his unit dies of a tragic accident?!? Peer support has been there both days. Both Lt.'s have addressed roll call but no sign of the Cmdr. anywhere. It is a sad, sad time in this department. They, read Exempts, have no regard for those of us still out there working the streets. Not one exempt member came by the unit to address the officers, not one. Not even our own Commander. Unbelievable!!! I obviously did not post this among the rest of the regards for Officer Massas because I did not want to put this among the condolences that are placed there, but I think this needs to get out to the rank and file. Yeah, they have our backs alright. The only ones that have our backs are the guys sitting next to us in roll call.

This was posted in the comments at 0638 hours. We'd hope this was remedied by today at some point.

Slowdown Talk

At last count, something like one hundred news organizations picked up the AP Wire story about the Chicago Police Department "rebelling" against J-Fed. There's also a growing movement among some commentators to advocate rash action. We'd like to remind people of the following:

• ARTICLE 5 NO STRIKE
  Section 5.1 — No Strike Commitment.
  Neither the Lodge nor any officer will call, institute, authorize, participate in, sanction, encourage, or ratify any strike, work stoppage, or other concerted refusal to perform duties by any officer or officer group, or the concerted interference with, in whole or in part, the full, faithful and proper performance of the duties of employment with the Employer. Neither the Lodge nor any officer shall refuse to cross any picket line, by whomever established.

And this:

• Section 5.4 — Discipline of Strikers.
  Any officer who violates the provisions of Section 5.1 of this Article shall be subject to immediate discharge. Any action taken by the Employer against any officer who participates in action prohibited by Section 5.1 above shall not be considered as a violation of this Agreement and shall not be subject to the provisions of the grievance procedure; except that the issue whether an officer in fact participated in a prohibited action shall be subject to the grievance and arbitration procedure.

Commenting on an anonymous blog is one thing. Talk at roll call, in front of god knows who, in this political climate is something to be wary of and might open up a can of worms. If you go through the archives, you will not find one instance of SCC advocating a strike, slowdown, stoppage or similar job action. Guess why?

Now, there isn't anything in the contract that we've ever seen that would prohibit advocating the "proper performance of the duties" of a Chicago Police Officer. The "proper performance of duties" might include the following:

• Enforcement of any and all parking restrictions in the vicinity of churches, synagogues, or other such houses of worship. Pros - We are doing our job enforcing the duly enacted ordinances of the City Council. So-called "parking courtesy" is a political move that allows storefront churches to exist without providing adequate parking for their congregation. Cons - Commanders aren't going to be happy with all the phone calls and non-suiting of tickets they'll have to do. There's a good chance of retaliation.
  
• Enforcement of any and all moving violations against media trucks, cars, and such. Pros - Again, we're doing the job, enforcing the law. Delivery trucks aren't special just because it's 3-in-the-morning. The media gets annoyed, but they aren't doing us any favors lately, so who gives a fuck? Cons - No free papers, but that's a no-no under strict interpretation of the Rules and Regs anyway - a fifty-cent paper to avoid a $100 moving violation? Sounds like a J-Fed referral to a Federal Grand Jury is a step away.
• The next holiday (13 October), everyone check the Money Box. No one take the 12 hours, just take the money. Pros - It's legal, it's contractually protected, it's a simple way of costing Shortshanks a bunch of money upfront instead of in a few years when we retire. Cons - none that we can see. Christmas is coming anyway and the kids need new sleds.
• This is a big one and would take a concerted effort on a few levels. Every job, and we mean every single job, gets a response. Not just the gun calls, robbery calls and in-progress stuff that no one was slowing down on in the first place, but the dope calls, the noise disturbances, the cigarette sellers, every single damn call. O.W. Wilson believed that if a citizen cared enough to call, then they deserved a response. It was the basis for motorizing the entire Department. No supervisor coding old jobs, no Tact teams stacking the jobs and going off to do their own surveillance, no one claiming they'll get to it. Everyone goes. Within three hours, the Department would grind to a halt. Pros - this would highlight the manpower shortage in ways normal counting can conceal. Of course, political spots (read Captain) would probably be ordered to code jobs from behind the desks and OEMC would be ordered to quash jobs, but can you imagine if the media ever did some followup? They won't because we wrote them all tickets in second bullet point above. Cons - Anyone? And don't say "we'd have to answer all those jobs." We're supposed to do that anyway, but the blanket codes only exacerbate the "do more with less" attitude that is burning everyone out.
  

Each and every one of these is a way to make a statement. Each and every one also DOES NOT run afoul of Section 5 of the Contract the way some of the other wilder proposals do. Whatever is happening at this moment in time is getting the attention of downtown, City Hall and the national media. More eyeballs on Shortshanks is a good thing.

Ron Magers Denies

We are so insignificant that we received the following e-mail Monday from Ron Magers of ABC News:

• The Second City Cop web site ran a recent item about the allegedly insensitive behavior of Supt. Weis at the Gold Star Park event on September 18th.
  
  I was the emcee for the inside portion of the event which was done in Soldier Field's Cadillac Room. The room is in the shape of a concourse, long and narrow. I have emceed other events there and it is always difficult because many people are placed quite far from where the emcee stands at the microphone and it is difficult to gain and keep their attention.
  
  The program began with Emerald Society pipes and drums which we hoped would get everyone's attention. Right after they concluded playing I introduced a video about officers who have lost their lives or suffered catastrophic injuries. As the video started it was clear that some people at one end of the room were still talking amongst themselves. I walked to that end of the room. Along the way I passed Superintendent Weis but he was watching the video. Beyond him were some folks who had not heard the introduction of the video and were still engaged in cocktail hour chatter. I walked into the group, raised my hands, and loudy voiced a "Shhh" sound. They responded with immediate quiet and afterward one of them came up to me to say he was sorry but that he didn't know the video was playing.
  
  The people I quieted were beyond where Mr. Weis was standing and he had his back to them. I did not observe him being in any way inattentive and I did not ask him to be quiet.
  
  Your blog indicated that some of his fed friends were with him. I wouldn't know who that might be and I wouldn't recognize them. I did recognize some civilians in the noisy group and they are civilians I know have long supported Chicago Police. I do believe they did not hear the introduction and did not know the video was playing.
  
  I don't know Mr. Weis and we've never formally met. I do know that during his first year as Superintendent Carol Marin and I were not invited to emcee the police memorial luncheon which we have emceed for many years. It has long been one of the things I look forward to every year and I believe I've emceed the event for five superintendents. I don't know whether Weis had anything to do with that decision but I bring it up to point out that I have no reason to be personally supportive of him.
  
  However, as a matter of fairness, I would appreciate your posting my response to your item.
  
  Thanks very much,
  Ron Magers

Our friend Shaved also covers the incident. Ron Magers and Roe Conn spoke of the matter on Conn's radio show also. From the comments:

• At least Ron Magers and Roe Conn addressed it today, however, if they had just listened to their audience last Friday, they could have cut this crap off at the pass.
  
  They did not cut it off at the pass because they did not know what to say until getting their thoughts together. Today, four days later, Ron Magers said that the group he cautioned DID NOT include J-FED. He says that the rumor is FALSE.
  
  Magers did admit to nodding at Weis while walking past Weis, as Weis was watching the video presentation, on his way to shushing a group of people further away from the podium that were making noise and were apparently unaware of the ongoing video presentation.

We still think it's sad that Ron Magers had to shush people instead of the Superintendent who was closer and who is supposed to be the public face of the Department, but that's our personal opinion and as Ron Magers says, the venue isn't the most perfect place for events. And we'll save commentators the howls of outrage for posting what we posted with the following:

• How dare SCC question Ron Magers, friend of the police and trusted media voice. SCC should be ashamed, shut down the blog, and perform assorted acts upon various farm animals, even though we never questioned Ron Magers.
• How dare SCC refuse to apologize for the comments made about J-Fed, the attractiveness of his chosen life partner, the blinding intellect that led him to select the brilliant members of the current command staff, etc, even though it wasn't SCC making them.
• Everyone knows that every single problem on this Department is solely the fault of SCC and the blog and began on 31 May 2005 despite the years and years of underground publications, bathroom walls, rigged promotional exams, political shenanigans and bedroom exploits.

We will be deleting those without fail.

Rough Winter Ahead?

Once again:

Yesterday's sunspot activity. That is to say "zero." There is one small spot in the upper right quadrant, but all signs point to a colder than normal winter. And that leads to this Indianapolis story:

• INDIANAPOLIS---- A shortage of road salt and skyrocketing salt prices could mean slippery roads this winter in communities across the nation as officials struggle to keep pavement clear of snow and ice without breaking their budgets.

We remember over the past few winters, Daley stocking up on piles and piles of road salt. At the time, we wondered who had the contract as Shortshanks was loading up on salt that wasn't needed. Now, in light of the current global cooling and predictions of a colder and snowier winter, we wonder if the "Evil Genius on Five" might have outsmarted Mother Nature, however inadvertently.

Last Chance

The second and final round of FTO bidding:

• 004 - 13 openings
  
• 006 - closed
  
• 008 - 5 openings
• 010 - 10 openings
• 015 - 10 openings
• 024 - 12 openings

No word one when they are going to hire people so the FTO's actually have someone to teach.

Another Big Chalkie Weekend

WBBM 780 has the list - 6 of the 7 fatalities are Chicago shootings. They also list an additional 5 shootings, non fatal.

Not listed for some reason, this one:

• A Southwest Side man was beaten to death Sunday morning in the Archer Heights neighborhood. [...]
  

  Ulmer’s attackers beat him with their hands, fists and feet and he was initially hospitalized in critical condition with blunt force trauma to the head, police said. A description of the attackers was not immediately available.

Daley is looking into regulating hands, fists and feet, forcing them to be registered as "deadly weapons" until such time as pillows and feather dusters can be attached to all citizens.

And again, a warm fall week in store.

Off Duty Cop Killed

Motorcycle accident:

• A 33-year-old motorcyclist was killed in a crash late Saturday not far from his Near West Side home.

  The police Major Accident Investigation Unit was trying to determine Sunday why the motorcyclist, identified as Edward Massas, lost control of his bike in the 700 block of North Racine Avenue about 11:30 p.m. Saturday

Reportedly from TRU. Condolences to the family and the cops at TRU.

Gave it Away

ESPN has the autopsy.

Our take? The Bears defense looked exhausted in the last quarter. Seriously tired. They were back on their heels the whole time.

And that Personal Foul in the OT? Dumb mistake - it was 4th and long and because of a cheap shot by Tampa Bay, the Bears give them 15 yards and a first down?

.500 is looking like a good season at this point.

Home Opener

ESPN preview here. Orton's got to open it up in the air for the ground game to have a chance.

But we've got more important things to worry about:

Camp is open! Eight preseason games and nineteen days until we see if Rocky's off-season moves will break the "Curse of Bill." It has been a long few years.

Step One

So there are something like three more steps to go?

Semifinals, Finals and World Series?

And guess who's come out as a Cubs fan and authorized this limited edition bobblehead collectible?
Chalkie!

Rumors Abound

From the comment section:

• The Midway sale is done it will be announced soon! My friend at city hall said that all the doa coppers at the airport will be "gone" and the city is trying to figure out how to bring another 65 cpd officers there to cover the airfield, and all the gates! We have no officers in the districts how will they fill this? then again king richie ordered a nice detail of coppers in osama obamas area, guess he could the same here right! The airports according to my friend will have a new commander by Dec 01 and the boss at midway will be back in 009 as a field LT. That is all! Updates as they become available! this city has more leaks than the titanic ever had!

The Midway sale has been making the rounds for a month or two now. We don't see how Shortshanks could keep the sale a secret if in fact it's done. The media has written a few articles about how he's looking at almost a billion dollars less that previously estimated due to various economic realities.

We'd imagine if the deal is being finalized, it includes a number of Daley's relatives who work at various banks that will be providing the bonds or loans or administer the monstrous amount of cash heading this direction.

Interesting speculation on the fate of Airport South though.

Hey Look!

New schedules coming soon!

• Chicago police officers in nearly a dozen districts and units will try out new schedules in 2009, including a 10-hour, four-day work week, in a pilot program the city hopes will cut overtime and boost officer morale.
  
  Officers had been pushing for changes to work schedules during negotiations with the city on a new contract, now more than a year overdue.

And the Police Board firings become a regular news item!

• Three Chicago police officers were fired last month by the Chicago Police Board, according to records made public Friday.

At least they do us the courtesy of burying the crap in the Saturday paper like they do for unpopular City Hall moves. Hooray! We rate as high as ward heelers finally.

Verified Story

Unfortunately, this is proving to be accurate:

• During the Police Memorial Vigil, J-Fuck, his ugly ol' lady and all of his FED buddies were in the back of the room talking and laughing. Are you ready for this, RON MAJORS (SP?) had to walk across the room and ask these ignorant assholes to be quiet out of respect. Not only are we insignificant to this pig, but so are our fallen brothers and sisters. Nice huh?

Verified through half-a-dozen sources who were there. Just a class act. More info?

UPDATE: Ron Magers replies - see posting on 23 September.

Vigil Coverage

Nice article in the Tribune:

• More than a century after their deaths, three Chicago police officers were among seven enshrined Thursday night beside more than 500 other fallen officers at a lakefront memorial. Some were not considered to have died in the line of duty until recent decisions expanded the definition to include on-duty officers not slain by criminals. But for families of the seven names added to the Gold Star Families Memorial at a candlelight vigil, the honor was better late than never.

Please use this thread for appropriate remembrance comments. Use the one directly above this for the unfortunate incident where a Chicago news anchor has to teach etiquette to a bunch of assholes.

Excessive Force Allegation

Against a dog?

• Harrison District officers in the 500 block of North Lawndale Avenue witnessed three dogs attacking a little boy about 7:50 p.m., according to police News Affairs Officer JoAnn Taylor. NBC5's [...] reported that the dogs' owner lived next to the vacant lot, and the property is gated, but the pit bulls escaped and attacked the boy while he was playing with his friends. The child's brother tried without success to pull the pit bulls off of him.
  
  "The dog wouldn't let go, they just locked down," said witness Lawrence Balark. "Another kid was able to run and flag down a police officer that came back to the scene. When the police officer got back to the scene, he used excessive force, and pepper spray, (but) the dog was just relentless and wouldn't give up."

We certainly hope this gentleman's use of the words "excessive force" are just a synonym for "baton." Otherwise we're going to see the "reverends" all up in arms again about killing a dog to save a child, and then the cougar people are going to get all uppity again and we'll have to filter out nasty-grams from the ASPCA.

Why does the media give theses idiots a platform?

Any Aldercreatures' Fathers?

Oh wait, Munoz's dad is in jail already:

• Federal officials arrested 21 people in the Little Village neighborhood in a second sweep of an alleged illegal visa fraud operation since last year.

  Agents with the U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement began arresting people Thursday who were allegedly involved in an extensive phony document scheme. Many of the arrestees appeared in federal court Friday.

  Last year, agents swept through the Little Village Discount Mall in a controversial confrontation between federal law enforcement and immigrants who say they were unfairly targeted.

Unfairly targeted? Because they were forging documents? Once again, Daley's "sanctuary city" engendering a complete disregard for the law and some twisted outlook that entitles them to break the law.

Police Shooting in 013

Good shooting, cops ok, life saved, bad guy dead:

• Chicago Police fatally shot a man early Friday after he refused to stop stabbing another man at his Near West Side home.

  Tyrone K. Bell, 20, of the 100 block of North Bell Avenue, was shot at his home and was dead on the scene, said the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

Supposedly a domestic. Good job.

UPDATE: This was supposed to go up around 0800 am, but the publishing button didn't get pushed.

Insignificance Continues to Grow

Long post.

We'd really like to claim that we were in contact with the AP and we knew that J-Fed's NPR interview was going to end up looking like a face full of egg. We didn't. But somehow, some way, the alleged "de-policing" taking place in Chicago is reaching a national audience. And it's doing something hitherto thought unthinkable - uniting the masses. Here's some of the report:

• Serious crime is up but arrests are down in Chicago, and some police officers say they are working the streets less aggressively out of resentment toward their new chief and fear of being second-guessed by him.
  "People are doing just what they need to get through" their shifts, said Lt. Robert Weisskopf, president of the Chicago police lieutenants union, "and not any extra."

The Sergeants Union gets in on the act (commenting on the Cozzi case):

• In addition, he asked federal officials to investigate an officer who had already pleaded guilty to beating a handcuffed man shackled to a wheelchair and was serving a two-year suspension. That angered the rank-and-file.
  They felt the officer "did something wrong and he paid his debt to society," Weisskopf said. "But it was as if that wasn't good enough, 'We didn't get our complete pound of flesh.'"
  Since then, "guys feel the superintendent and the administration does not have their back," said John Pallohusky, president of the police sergeants union.

For some reason, the FOP declined to comment to AP for this story. Then the AP brings up statistical analysis to back up their contention of "de-policing":

• Through the end of August, the department made 103,589 arrests (not including arrests for outstanding arrest warrants) compared with 117,971 for the same period last year, according to the department. The 5,600 guns recovered is roughly half as many as police seized in the same period in 2007, internal documents show.
  Bookings in the Cook County Jail - where the vast majority of inmates come from Chicago - are down, too. In all but one month this year, the number of people booked into the jail was down from the same month a year earlier, sometimes by hundreds, according to data obtained by the AP through a Freedom of Information Act request.
  Chicago has had 322 murders through Aug. 21, or 42 more than the number committed through the same date last year. Also, police have received 10,000 more calls from people about shots being fired, and the number of calls about gang disturbances has jumped by nearly 4,000, according to the department documents.

And the allegedly biggest reason for the drop?

• But among the slew of statistics kept by the department are "self-initiated" calls, or those in which officers stop and question people about possible drug or gang activity. Department figures show the total is down by more than 3,700 from the same period last year.

CNN covers the story. The Chicagoist chimes in. We're sure there's a bunch of local coverage we're missing. J-Fed is foundering - badly. And he's just committed the unforgivable Chicago sin - making Daley look inept in his choices.

Here's the problem as we see it:

• J-Fed was brought in to rein in a Department out of control. Unfortunately, the facts on the ground didn't (and still don't) support this belief. The Department was directionless, but that was directly attributable to the last three Superintendents and their inability to move the Department away from the corrupting influence of politics. It's not entirely their fault - no one could completely resist Daley and the Machine. But each made it progressively worse by their inaction.
• When J-Fed came in blind, he had no choice but to make the moves Daley and the Machine wanted. The last twenty years of Daley has hollowed the Department in a way no one would have ever dreamed possible. There are almost NO qualified individuals to LEAD this Department. Any that could were chased off by the political animals, shunted into dead end sergeant or lieutenant spots, or simply frustrated by their inability to make real and lasting changes in working conditions.
• Managers don't make good bosses. Good bosses can be capable managers, but it almost never works out the other way. And when the criteria for promotion are bloodline, blow job or political sponsorship, the Department isn't even finding capable managers within its ranks.
• J-Fed, after dismissing out of hand a few hundred years worth of police experience, is saddled with incompetent political hacks left and right. So what does he do? Brings in his own stable of "non political" friends, thereby perpetuating the "closed shop" and dashing any chance of attracting capable managers who may have showed him the ropes.

The end result? J-Fed reverts to what he knows:

• local law enforcement are a bunch of rubes and provincial hacks and if you spin them a yarn and promise them the world, they'll run right into the gates of hell because you tell them to.

We'll bet $100 that J-Fed still thinks he did each and every one of us a favor by getting Cozzi indicted.

Whatever is going on, call it "de-policing," call it a "slowdown," call it "just doing your job and nothing extra" is gaining national attention and is scaring the crap out of 35th Street. Daley isn't scared - he's in for another 3 years regardless since there are no elections and no recall provisions. Why would he care?

But the brass can be moved, they can be demoted and they can bear the brunt of the mayor's displeasure. And the displeasure is beginning to center around J-Fed.

Not an Honors Funeral

Arrangements for Officer Mike Robbins:

• Arrangements for Officer Mike Robbins:
  
  I am the daughter of Michael Robbins and I just wanted to share with you the funeral arrangements for my father. Please share with others so they can be in attendance. They arrangements will be the following:
  
  Saturday, September 20, 2008
  
  Memorial Service (@11am)
  
  St. Columbanus Church
  331 E. 71st Street
  Chicago, Illinois
  
  Burial Service (following procession)
  
  Oak Woods Cemetery
  1035 East 67th Street
  Chicago, Illinois
  "Garden of Meditation"
  
  There will NOT be a repast but cards of condolences can be sent to:
  
  (removed by request)
  
  Thank you for being so patient with our family as we take a moment to
  remember my dad.
  
  Warmest Regards,
  
  Michelle

What Did He Say?

A lot, and we mean a lot, of anger bubbling to the surface in 009 over some speech the Commander gave following the Monday incident. We've had to remove a few over the top comments. What happened over there?

• To the officers of the 009th Dist. Thank you for the way you handled the scene. It was messed up from the beginning when the dispatcher dispatched the job to one officer without a backup. We all came together within an instant and we all knew what to do without being told. You represented the CPD, your district and your watch with respect. It doesn't matter what your specific duty was that day, either at the scene knowing what was happening or answering calls and not know what was going on with this family or if their fellow officers were safe. The officers of the surrounding districts that came into 009 for assistance, we thank you also. Each and every one of us handled this incident with dignity, and don't you let anyone try to tell you any different. Not one officer, sgt., or captain at that scene did anything wrong, ARE YOU LISTENING ROY, NOTHING WRONG. How dare you imply that a "blueshirt or whiteshirt" was spreading rumors, how dare you say that to those officers that dealt with that scene while you were in the command van or standing a block away, while your officers and supervisors were in that house. How dare you imply the officers did wrong-when your officers were the ones at the hospital talking to the children trying to keep them alive because that's all they could do. How dare you make that implication when your officers with not even two years' experience had to put his body in the wagon. You had no right to make that implication. If you felt that someone did or said something wrong at that scene you should have been a boss, a leader, and pulled them aside either that day or the next in order to find out what you wanted to know, but you couldn't even give us that much respect, to just talk to us instead of imply that someone did a bad job. We were better off without that meeting, we were doing just fine without your pep talk. You are the one that should be ashamed of himself, not us. Instead of it being us against them, it is always us against you.

Sounds like J-Fed's latest changes can't come soon enough for 009. What the hell is this all about?

Aaaaargh!!!

Avast ye scurvy bastards, 'tis Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Official site here.

Translate English into Pirate here.

And still the funniest Pirate joke we've heard:

• This pirate walks into a bar with a big ship's wheel down his pants. The bartender says, "Excuse me, sir, but do you know you have a ship's wheel down the front of your pants?"
  And the pirate says...
  "Aaargh, it's driving me nuts!!"

Hoist the anchor, we're off to the Isle of 35 and we be pillagin' and burnin' and thar be plenty o' keelhaulin' to be done. Maybe a wee bit o' walkin' the plank to finish the evening? Whar be our hook?

And Speaking of Insignificant...

When was the last time anyone posted anything on the Chicago Police Department blog? The Orange One was unceremoniously dismissed a few months back. And the other "author" hasn't had an update since 16 August.

As per policy, we don't link to them (after this little snit they threw) and haven't mentioned them since 01 March 07:

• Just for shits and giggles, we are hereby banning any comment or post that links back to the "official" blog of the CPD. We were actually toying with the idea of giving them a link in the sidebar, but not anymore. They don't like us, fuck em. We aren't going to send any traffic their way, good or bad. You want to write about them or make a reference to them, it better be as "that other blog" or it better be on your own website. Let's see how they like generating their own traffic instead of riding on our coattails.

The above policy continues to this day. But we're "insignificant." J-Fed? How about taking down the "official" site? It's embarrassing.

Federal Charges?

J-Fed Watch begins:

• Ending a nearly two-year investigation, Cook County prosecutors said Tuesday they will not charge any Chicago police officers in a 2005 fatal shooting of a motorist who was riddled with bullets after he allegedly tried to drive over an officer.
  
  Although the shooting of Emmanuel Lopez initially was ruled by police to be justified, the Cook County state's attorney's office opened an investigation in 2006 after a private attorney brought forward evidence that contradicted the accounts of the five involved officers.
  
  Charges would have sent shock waves through a Police Department already under siege for a string of misconduct scandals.

We wouldn't put it past him. And truly, that is a sad commentary on his regime.

Stressful? That's Just Silly

Once again, Daley the putz:

• According to Forbes.com: "With 7.3% unemployment and a gallon of gas going for just under four bucks, the Windy City has some economic headwinds that result in a perfect storm for stress. Chi-town’s pollution problems (it ranked No. 7 in terms poor air quality) and lack of breathing room (it's No. 2 in terms of population density) couple to create a Midwestern Molotov cocktail of stress."
• ...Mayor Daley was asked about the Forbes ranking Chicago high in stress.

  "I can attest to that,'' Daley said citing his daily questioning from the media.

  But he dismissed the ranking as "laughable.''

No mention of the climbing homicide rate, skyrocketing shootings and questionable tracking of property crimes. A pension system about to crumble, $400 million in budget "shortfalls" and an apathetic police force working 15 months without a contract. It's all just "laughable." What a clown.

Candlelight Vigil Tonight

Always a moving experience:

• Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 1930 hours the Chicago Police Department and citizens of Chicago will honor the dedication and courage of police officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
• This year's ceremony is dedicated to Officer Richard M. Francis, whose tour ended on July 2, 2008.
• The ceremony will take place at Gold Star Families Memorial Park. The park is located just East of Soldier Field.

Pictures from the event can be mailed to us (e-mail address in the profile page) and we'll see if we can't post a couple.

Welcome to the Party Pal

First thing this morning when the clock radio goes off, we hear WBBM 780 reporting on a story pointed out to us almost four days ago. Then we go to the Tribune website and find they are reporting the same thing.

• An off-duty Chicago police officer who had just finished eating breakfast Saturday morning at a pancake restaurant near Provo, Utah, may have saved the life of a man who was attacked in the parking lot by a mentally ill man wielding fabric scissors, police said.

For a second, we thought we were stuck in Groundhog Day. Still, an excellent job by the off duty copper and Utah has been nothing but gracious and appreciative of his efforts according to all reports.

J-Fed Says We're Insignificant

Golly, we better shut down the site and go home.

Usually, we avoid National Public Radio like the plague. Leftist lib-tard programming for persons unable to think, reason or form a cognizant thought, all subsidized by tax dollars! NPR (and Amtrak) ought to be cut loose from public funding - they'd be bankrupt in a month and the country would save millions.

Someone pointed out that on the Eight Forty-Eight program, they had one-on-one with J-Fed on 15 September. Most of it was canned Q&A (Abbate, SOS, Ardeleen, etc), but then the host asked about Department morale (at 13:40 on the counter) and J-Fed replied thus:

• "I don't put a lot of stock in the blogs. We have thirteen-and-a-half thousand officers and about sixteen thousand people. When you see 234 comments posted, that sampling is pretty insignificant, statistically."

J-Fed also commented about the "lies" posted "by the blog." That is in itself a lie as we never posted word one about him running DUI checkpoints - that was a reader's comment and it was pretty much debunked after it went up. J-Fed can't be seen admitting he reads the blog, but he can spread his own misinformation. So typical of a fed.

We'll admit, 234 comments is statistically insignificant. We actually do about 400 comments daily and that's still insignificant compared to 13,500 officers. Here's what's not insignificant though Jody:

That's a little snapshot of the past twelve months of the blog. 2.3 MILLION visits in the last twelve months, 1.8 MILLION this year alone. Five of the last six months topped 200,000 and we'll do it again in September. Every single bit of it while BANNED on Department computers. Did you notice the front page of the web edition of the Sun Times yesterday? A direct link to the blog referencing Prayers for the Children. TEN THOUSAND visits yesterday. Someone thinks we're significant.

Here's a challenge J-Fed. If we're so insignificant, take the filters off. You'll never let it happen of course. You'll remain true to type, stuck in the Catch-22 not entirely of your own making, but stuck none the less. Keep thinking cops communicating Citywide is "insignificant" though. Who knows, maybe we are.

The Determined Offender

In most of our recently cited examples of rifles being used against the police, officers have survived by the mere fact that the shooter wasn't adept with the weapon or pure luck. Luck runs in streaks - ask any gambler. So what if you remove the other factor - the untrained shooter? Then you get something like this video (the first two minutes are the meat, but the whole six minutes are educational):



The video is around two-years old and it ought to give everyone pause. The offender placed a fake call to lure police into a one-man-ambush and his tactics when confronted are deadly, wounding one of the first two officers within seconds, killing a responding sergeant immediately thereafter and when cornered, advancing aggressively before being "knocked down" by police gunfire.

We've been to a lot of training in various roles and we don't recall anything like this ever being mentioned but once and that was an informal bullshit session of "What if...". We don't even know if anything like this has been offered to anyone except SWAT.

If confronted by such an offender, a rifle might be a handy thing to have around. A shotgun would be a nice thing to have around, too. But maybe Lady Luck will carry the day.

Deleted Comments

As stated earlier, we deleted a number of comments in the "Horrors" post. Most wished ill upon the officers and although most are speaking from the gut and even more feel that way, we just didn't think those should be out there at this time. It was a judgment call on our part and if we erred on the overly cautious side, we're sorry you feel that way. We'll take the heat.

We also deleted a number of comments directing their vitriol at us. Through the magic of the internet, we present a few of the more vile comments to show you what twisted psyches inhabit the void, most likely liberal cop-hating trolls living in mommy's basement:

• [critique of our grammar]...why not offer an apology to all the "shitheads" whose murders you so enjoyed and tacitly promoted these past few months?

We promoted murder? That's a stretch and some sort of meth-induced fantasy. We'd love to see those posts. Care to quote them? We'll pay you a dollar per instance of "promotion." As to "enjoying," welcome to the world of dark humor and sarcasm.

• [insane ramblings about murder] You reap what you sow, SCC. And you have sown a field of rotten filth. But take heart, it's a bumper crop.

Again with the accusations of advocating homicide. Where has SCC ever said, "Kill people"? It's never happened. Maybe your brain is warped? Definitely a possibility.

• [blah blah blah, SCC cheers for murder] ...and the victims are little kids. Doesn't "Chalkie" come in Jr. sizes? MURDER IS NEVER FUNNY. KARMA IS A BITCH. Post ALL comments of take down this blog.

We'll decline your demands on principle. We tried posting all comments once and.... let's just say it didn't work that well.

And again, we never said murder is funny, but we manage to find dark humor in just about everything. We learned at the feet of the masters. We've never advocated unjustified killing, but we've pointed out the rank hypocrisy of "reverends" and their flocks turning a blind eye to the carnage of their communities, pillorying the police for bringing the killers to heel who terrorize their neighborhoods. We've lamented the fact that certain segments of society have supported the murderers of small children in the face of all evidence to the contrary just to make a buck. We've laughed at the stupidity of the gang bangers, gunning each other down in some bizarre ritual over territory or disrespect or anything else that demonstrates a complete unwillingness to act as if they had a shred of decency or moral fiber.

We'll continue to laugh when we can, scream if we have to and rage when we must.