Honorable Mention?

Someone witty evidently typed up a humorous Honorable for the 14 year old. And those who can't laugh at themselves or the Department are tearing up a northside district looking for the faxer. If you want it to die inspectors, let it go, let it die. You're bringing more attention to it by looking. Now we feel like seeing it and having some fun with it.

You really ought to be wondering how a reporter from one of the local TV stations got into the 003 District station and made it as far as the Watch Commander's office with a hidden camera last night unchallenged. Especially after all the security fixes put into place. That ought to be a bigger priority than a BS Honorable Mention.

Lake Street Bar Problems

Seem like that whole corridor is nothing but trouble:

• Chicago Police are hoping to review security tape from a West Loop club to figure out what led to a shooting that left a self-employed music producer dead and another man wounded.

  Bryan King, of the 9700 block of South University, was shot inside Transit Nightclub at 1431 W. Lake St. about 2:30 a.m., police said. A second man also was shot.

Chromium was another mob/political connected joint that saw more than its share of violence and they were supposed to shut down a while ago. It can't be the old Grand Avenue crew because they liked things quiet, right?

Long Chase

Well, it was downstate:

• An off-again, on-again pursuit ended today when Oak Brook police nabbed a Gilberts man who officials say had been on the run -- at moderate speeds -- for nine hours.

  The pursuit began about 5:30 p.m. Thursday near Springfield, where an Illinois State Police trooper noticed the taillights on a Dodge Neon weren't working, said Lt. Luis Gutierrez, a state police spokesman.

  The trooper tried to make a traffic stop but the Neon, which turned out to have been stolen, kept going. It was not speeding and state troopers do not chase drivers for minor crimes, so the trooper noted the license number and let it go, Gutierrez said.

He was charged with trying to run down an officer, who will be fine. But damn - 9 hours? Maybe we can get some of those Neons for patrol?

The Big OWE

Questions continue to arise in Daley's Quest for Fire. How about this article from Canada where Vancouver is scheduled to host the 2010 Winter Games:

• The athletes’ village rising in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics is casting a shadow over the city’s finances.

  Vancouver may have to borrow C$458 million ($375 million) or more to finish the 1,100 units by November, Mayor Gregor Robertson said at a news conference this month. That would almost double the city’s debt to about C$928 million, said Stephen Ogilvie, an analyst at Standard & Poor’s in Toronto. The credit- rating company said Jan. 13 that it might cut Vancouver from AA+.

  The city took over financing of the C$1.1 billion housing complex after New York-based lender Fortress Investment Group LLC halted funding to the builder when costs ran C$125 million over budget. Taxpayers are reminded of Canada’s last Olympic-sized fiasco: The 1976 summer games in Montreal, which left Quebec with a C$1.5 billion debt that took decades to pay.

As we have maintained for years now, and as studies have borne out, Olympics lose money. They don't just lose money, they lose TONS of money. Los Angeles 1984 were the only Games to make money in the short term and that was without a massive infrastructure building effort. We can't even name a City Contract that was delivered on-time, on-budget in the past twenty years of Daley's rule - and neither can you because they don't exist.

We are so doomed.

Good News

Nice job officer:

• It didn't take long for veteran Chicago Police Officer Robert Gamez to put his heart defibrillator training to good use.

  Gamez is credited with helping to revive a man suffering from a heart attack at Midway Airport today, just one week after the officer received the training on how to operate a defibrillator, Chicago police said.

  Shortly before 1 p.m., several travelers gathered at a Southwest Airlines gate waiting to board a plane to Nashville when one of the passengers, a man in his 50s, collapsed and appeared to suffer a seizure, according to a police news release.

  A flight attendant grabbed a defibrillator from the plane and handed it to Gamez who immediately began to operate the life-saving device.

We wish there were more stories like this one and not the one directly below. We know it happens often enough, but it's never covered enough.

And shouldn't we have some of these machines in every police station?

Bad News

Scandal gets bigger. And it might not be over yet:

• A Chicago Police scandal widened today with the unsealing of federal charges against an officer for allegedly taking bribes from tow-truck operators — at least the fourth cop ensnared in the corruption probe.

  Officer Jimmie Akins is charged with attempted extortion for allegedly taking bribes in 2006 and 2007.

  Akins accepted bribes to let tow-truck operators remove vehicles from accident scenes the officer was responsible for in the Near North District, according to an affidavit by FBI Agent Craig Henderson. Akins would use his cell phone to alert the tow truck operators about accidents, Henderson said.

According to the indictment, this was pretty blatant. Charging interest on missed payments and such sounds more like juice loans than anything else. Any idea when people are going to discover that this has all been tried by other goofs before them? And they were caught, too?

Area 4 Detective Dies

By his own hand.

Ladies and Gents, we can't emphasize it enough.

Call someone. Call anyone. Partners, supervisor, chaplains, EAP directly. No matter how bad it gets, no matter what pressure you're under, there is help available.

RIP Detective.

Prayers and well wishes only. All other comments will be deleted.

New Governor - New Tax Hike

Lt. Governor Patrick Quinn was sworn a little while ago.

He has promised to raise state income taxes shortly. He's already asking for "sacrifices."

Lisa Madigan is now the front runner for the next election.

J-Fed Press Conference

Unforgivable says he:

• Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis said today it was "unforgivable ...angering and disturbing" that a 14-year-old boy tricked officers into accepting him as one of their own for the major part of a shift last week.

  "We were fortunate this young man had no evil in his heart," he said. "...We dodged a bullet on this one."

  "This was a matter of complacency. People failed to implement policies that were in place. This is unacceptable."

And the number of firings or demotions and amount of blame to be assessed?

• Weis refused to specifically blame anybody for the security breach, but said it was the duty of every officer and every supervisor to challenge any suspicious individual, something that wasn't done in this case.

  In addition to an internal department investigation into what went wrong and what procedural changes might be in order, he said he has asked the U.S. Secret Service to conduct an independent investigation of departmental security.

  He also said that retailers of police uniforms and equipment had been reminded of security guidelines.

That would be zero then. Evidently, everyone involved is just too damn heavy to discipline or take the heat for this one. J-Fed says it's the "duty of every officer and every supervisor to challenge any suspicious individual," meaning that in a station that has more unsecured ingress and egress points than Niagara Falls, everyone better be running around with a leaky bucket to catch the drops falling down.

Thank goodness we can finally put this episode behind us and potential security breaches have been addressed. Move along people - nothing to see here.

Unauthorized Photo

The cover of yesterday's Sun Times would appear to be a rather large violation of the "pictures of juveniles in custody" rule.

After all the rip jobs we've handed out over the past three years regarding the unauthorized photos of a certain sergeant being inside a crime scene, we'd hope that no one was still dumb enough to spread those things around.

We understand that it's his mother releasing his name to the press. That's her prerogative.

But god help you if you trust a reporter to cover your ass regarding a violation of State law should Lisa Madigan decide it's time to enforce that one. You better delete the file from your phone, remove the chip, torch the phone and bury the ashes somewhere.

Weis on Hot Seat - Again

How's that $310,000 feeling now J-Fed?

• Police Superintendent Jody Weis will be placed on the City Council hot seat for the second time in six months, this time to explain how a 14-year-old police impersonator managed to scam his way onto the streets for a five-hour tour of duty.

  “When you consider the security risk and the potential for disaster-for the young boy, the Chicago Police Department and Chicago residents, it’s clear we deserve some answers,” Police Committee Chairman Isaac Carothers (29th) said in a news release today.

  “Someone has to account for the fact that no sworn member of the department caught him before it reached this level. … This represents a serious breakdown in police security and operational procedures, which should not happen in the nation's third-largest city.”

But Ike will tone it down for another "merit" promotion for his brother. That would make four? "Merit" has done more to kill this department than most other causes we can think of.

Use for Inspectors

How about instead of having the Inspectors come to roll call and write people up for silly shit, further destroying morale and not actually securing police facilities, J-Fed has the Inspectors go around to each and every police facility and write up building violations?

These could be code violations or safety violations. Doors that don't close, broken windows, nonfunctional thermostats, fire alarms, keypads, lockup doors, broken stairwells, bums in the lobbies, plumbing, collapsing structures, etc.

Then they could recoup money for Daley's "Quest for Olympic Fire" by SPAR-ing Commanders and Deputy Chiefs who are supposed to be responsible for their facilities.

Retired Sgt KB - 003

From the comments:

• To the officers who sent the photos to the Sun-times and to SCC for putting the story on the front of the blog instead of leaving it in the comment section shame on you.

Huh? What have you been smoking Sparky?

• While watching the press conference with Dugan and Jackson the reporters were asking questions they could have only gotten from this blog. This 14 yr old tried this in several other districts and has fine tuned his act and finally got away with actually getting in a squad car. Why was no one alerted with a city wide bulletin?

Why don't we ask someone? Don't officers deserve some kind of safety net from those who are supposed to "have their backs" as the Superintendent so blithely stated a week ago? Or are we just going to take Monique's word that he never had contact with the public, didn't drive the car, didn't write tickets? The number of dropped balls on this one is incredible.

• Anyone can get in any station.

That would seem to be a problem then.

• You have plainclothes officers who dress worse than street thugs and have the tattoos to match. Are you so ashamed of your star that you never wear it? Granted the old stars were better, but it doesn't matter. I always wore my star with pride, I earned it. Anyone that does not wear an ID card needs to be challenged and if they are insulted that you don't know them shame on them, too.

Then that would put the blame on the sergeants, lieutenants, captains, inspectors, and assorted brass, wouldn't it? What's your point here?

• If you SCC had left the story buried in the comments section and not posted on the lead page, I truly believe this would not be the lead story everywhere. You have ruined a W/C's good career and yes he is one of the best.

Then you are high. Or drunk. By the time we posted it, there were 20 comments about it in the comment sections. By the time we hit roll call, the arrest report was already in the Captain's hands and he said he got 43 Blackberry messages about it. This one wasn't staying quiet, not by a long shot.

• The Sgt. messed up by not actually checking on the car and instead I am sure used his PDT or the radio to log the car. You can actually put no contact on a log when you don't see the car and that can happen.

We're sure that goes over real well with the Captain. In this day and age of GPS everywhere, your log better match the readout. False Official Reports and all that. You want a list of sergeants at Callback right now for that exact charge?

• The PO in the car - I feel most sorry for her. I can tell you that sometimes you work with someone for 8 hours and they never talk and it is not her responsibility to check his ID or star and in the winter you cannot see everyone's gun.

We haven't blamed her. The comments have been a bit touchy, but we reserve judgment on that one. It's winter, things get covered. We're glad it didn't turn out badly.

• Anything about this job can be learned here in black and white on this blog. You can pick up the latest rumors, who gets transferred, what bosses suck, which bosses are good.

Wrong on most of those accounts.

• You have truly done a disservice this time SCC. I hope you are proud of yourself and this blog.
  

So you're one of those bosses that never believed sunlight was the best disinfectant? You believed in covering up the wrong doing, sweeping illegal conduct under the carpet, letting those who were "born to command" get away with murder and outright theft while everyone else had to play by the rules? Wow, we can smell the "merit" from way over here.

• I for one will only check to see if you have the guts to publish this and then I will never view this blog again and yes I will give a clue to who I am.
  Retired Sgt. KB from 003

We'll, we had the guts. Hope you have a nice retirement. It's obvious that we can't respect your service based on your interpretation of covering up wrongdoing. We won't miss your visit.

Station Security - 27 January

In spite of everything published world wide...

Despite being the laughing stock of late night television...

Even in the midst of the mayor demanding explanations and bosses frantically Blackberrying back-and-forth so fast their thumbs are blistering...

Here's the 003 District back door as photographed 27 January 2009, propped open with a garbage can:


Way to go Burger Queen! You make us proud.

UPDATE: Post corrected for date - yesterday.

Mayor Demands Explanations

He's mad and he wants ANSWERS!!!

• A clearly irked Mayor Richard Daley said today he is waiting for Police Supt. Jody Weis and other police officials to explain how a 14-year-old boy was able to impersonate a police officer for several hours last week before the fraud was discovered.

  "The Chicago Police Department is seriously looking into how an individual at such an age, with a phony badge and a phony uniform - they thought it was Halloween - could come in without a gun and be assigned a locker and be assigned to a car and be out in the street for five hours with another patrol officer," the mayor said in his first extended remarks on the embarrassing incident.

  "Where is the desk sergeant? The field lieutenant? The captain on duty? [It] will be required for Jody Weis and others to thoroughly investigate that and come up to the public about why, what happened."

Well, let's try to answer a few of those questions:

• The desk sergeant? He's on the street because we're so short handed in the districts. How about promoting a few hundred so we can catch up? Oh wait, you can't promote because we're short 3,000 cops from what we had on the street 8 years ago.
• The field lieutenant? She's three districts over, making time-and-a-half if she's lucky enough to be detailed outside her area. We're short there, too. The "merit" letter for Lieutenants went out in September/October of last year and the Department still hasn't made a single one.
• The captain on duty? He's on the phone trying to figure out his computer problems while approving arrests and property releases from three different districts because of the goofy pilot schedules that are shorting him a field lieutenant every day.

And then there's the general apathy that set in 19 or 20 months ago when the contract expired, the daily beatings in the media, the constant stream of payouts to bullshit lawsuits, the state/county/city tax increases that we can't afford to keep paying, the impossibility of getting time off...

Do we have to go on?

Blago Bucking the Outfit?

Kass has had some interesting takes on the ongoing Blago saga. We're following it closely enough to wonder if Kass isn't predicting the Rod might end up "trunked" at some point. In the 27 January column you can read the following:

• On "The View" he issued a threat to his estranged father-in-law, Ald. Dick Mell (33rd), the man who made him. The governor said his political problems began after he blocked an illegal landfill supported by Mell. That may have slipped past all the pretend Chicago political experts, but it didn't slip past Chicago politicians. They know a threat when they hear it.
  
  Yet it is what Gov. [Blago] told NBC over the weekend that surely terrifies Illinois politicians:
  
  "And for me to just quit because some cackling politicians want to get me out of the way because there's a whole bunch of things they don't want known about them and conversations they may have had with me . . . would be to disgrace my children when I know I've done nothing wrong," said the governor.

But that was nothing to what Kass wrote on 25 January:

• "Let's talk about that Bottle Service Bill," the governor might begin, "You know, the bill the Rush Street guys wanted allowing Reserve and other clubs to provide bottle service, and charge the suckers $500 for a $50 bottle of vodka. I remember how it started, up in my office, and who was there, and why. So let's talk."
  
  I'd pay to see it. I'd even pay a janitor to clean the carpet after a few esteemed legislators lost their lunch.
  
  It was the governor's loud demand to call the president's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, as a witness that made the real news. Gov. Nosferatu's criminal defense attorney was Edward Genson, whose job it was to hold the governor's hand and keep him quiet, just as Genson kept Larry Warner, the corrupt pal of former Gov. George Ryan, quiet.
  
  
• Emanuel had been the U.S. representative of the 5th Congressional District. The previous congressman was Blagojevich. The district is dominated by western suburban towns with long mob histories. It is politically dominated by Genson's good friend and Blagojevich's former shadow governor, state Sen. James DeLeo (D-How You Doin'?).
  
  Surely, President Obama would not appreciate his chief of staff publicly reminding America about those earthy political allies.
  
  Weeks ago, I reported that DeLeo, Genson's son and state Senate President John Cullerton (D-DeLeo) are partners in the lucrative Lincoln Park Title Co. It seemed like a conflict to me, but apparently not to others. Yet Blagojevich's insistence for Emanuel's testimony apparently gave Genson the pretext to end their relationship.
  
  "I wish the governor good luck and Godspeed," Genson said.

It certainly sounds like Genson, a lawyer with a habit of defending Outfit members, is getting out of the line of fire. Blago isn't crazy, not totally crazy at least. But he's a loose cannon if he gets pushed too far and Chicago has a well documented history of dealing with loose cannons.

And anyone (including intesrested investigative reporters) who's ever played "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" might be amazed at how many degrees separate the following people from some well known Mob figures:

• Daley (all of them)
• Mell (including Patti) and other aldrecreatures
  
• Blago and George Ryan
  
• Rahm Emanuel
• DeLeo and all his cousins
• The President of the United States

We're just saying...

Tillman Spared Jail

Sometimes there just isn't any justice:

• A trespassing charge against former Chicago alderman and civil rights activist Dorothy Tillman was dropped as part of a settlement with an Alabama hospital, her lawyer said today.

  Municipal Judge Les Hayes had found the former Chicago alderman guilty last October of trespassing at the Jackson Hospital in Montgomery during a dispute over medical records. She appealed that conviction, and a jury trial in Montgomery County Circuit Court was set to begin Tuesday.

  Mississippi-based attorney Dennis Sweet, who represents Tillman, said he was on the phone with the city's prosecutor and counsel for the hospital right before the trial was to begin.

  Sweet said Tillman, who accused police of using excessive force, would not pursue a civil case and "everything would be taken care of" by the settlement.

The entire video is posted at the link and although it's stop action filming, it seems obvious the only person not following directions was "The Hat." No abuse by police, no excessive force. Just a loudmouthed former Chicago aldercreature with an interesting criminal background making mountains out of molehills.

Step #1

We've been reading about suburban stations and out-of-state police facilities and it's amazing how similar the descriptions are of how they run their operations. They don't have homeless bums wandering about. Their doors lock. The building is adequately supplied with power, computers, furniture, etc. Everything a professional department might need, near at hand.

Obviously, the city isn't going to build us 25 state of the art facilities. They can't even build a Headquarters on the square and level (see the sagging floors and walls). But there are things that can be done that might restore some measure of security and professionalism to a Department just going through the motions.

Secure the stations.

That means the doors, windows, elevators and parking areas. All those old "facility inspection" reports that listed the faults that never got repaired? Repair the problems, close out the reports.

We aren't a social service and we shouldn't be pretending to be one. Homeless people shouldn't be wandering the lobbies, hallway, where ever. This "touchy-feely" crap has to stop. No one gets to sleep in the station - no more "warming centers." Set up a regular pick up time for Human Services and get these people gone. As many have said, it's a safety issue, it's a health issue and it's a morale issue.

A million stand-up roll calls and Inspectors coming to hammer the troops isn't going to improve morale or encourage officers to take pride in their service. But actually coming to work and not having to smell month-old dead ass, unwashed feet and infected festering sores might work a little more enjoyable for the people inside the station.

Jay Leno Spanks CPD

Jay went to town on the CPD in his opening monologue. Height requirements, the kid saying "Turn on the siren again!" and a few other things. Maybe someone will YouTube it.

National laughing stock.

So when is the mayor going to tell J-Fed to demote some people and move others? The mayor has to be seen as doing something and J-Fed isn't going to do anything without marching orders.

More Power for Police

Thanks to the US Supreme Court:

• In opinions so spare that the Supreme Court did not labor long to produce them, the Justices on Monday unanimously expanded the control that police can exercise at the scene of roadside traffic stops, and, again without dissent, pushed up the chain-of-command in prosecutors’ offices total immunity to liability for decisions made in preparing criminal cases for trial. The first ruling was an enlargement of “stop and frisk” authority, the second was a reinterpretation of when prosecutors’ supervisors do administrative tasks.

• With fewer than four full pages of analysis in a nine-page opinion, the Court decided that police may order a passenger out of a stopped vehicle, and then conduct a “pat-down search” (a frisk) if they have reason to believe that the rider may be armed and dangerous. (In this particular, it was assumed that the officer involved had such a reason, but that could be tested when the case returns to Arizona state courts.)

So good news.

Nice City Ripoff

Who wrote this contract? And who's really benefiting?

• Under a new CTA policy, the agency is paying the $100 fine for each red-light violation instead of requiring bus drivers who broke the law to hand over the cash.
  
  The change was made in part because of pressure from the bus drivers union in response to the proliferation of red-light cameras across the city, officials said.
  
  They added, however, that it's now easier to mete out discipline because the CTA has access to the photos and video footage of the violations.

So if a city owned bus goes through a city intersection, monitored by an outside contractor's red light camera, the CTA pays the fine to the contractor and the contractor kicks back a portion of the fine back to the City after taking their cut?

Why wasn't some city-exemption written into the contract whereby the photos would be used for disciplinary processes and retraining of bus drivers rather than this little money switch? It's not like the contractor is wasting money on film - we understand these are all digital operation and the storage capacity for a single camera unit runs to tens of thousands of pictures.

This whole operation stinks.

All Kidding Aside

Just for a few seconds:

• What if this kid wasn't a kid with a desire to play cops and robbers?

Numerous commentators have stated "what if he had a gun?" "What if he had a bomb?" "What if he was part of an organized effort, like Mumbai or a gang initiation?" And the answer is simple:

• We'd be fucked

Station security is a joke and has been for years. Doors that don't open. Doors that stay open. Sally-ports that don't function. Lockup doors that don't lock. Civilians with no ID running around. Homeless encampments racked with how many strains of TB, Hepatitis and all manner of virus, germ and EPA Biohazard Superfund potential.

This kid identified an "egregious" flaw? Not at all. This kid exploited an egregious flaw that's been in place for years.

Do you know what we saw today? We saw J-Fed make the smartest move he's made to date. He stayed away from the press conference. And do you know why he was right to do so? Because these flaws, these shortcomings, these "egregious" and monumental lapses in building security were in place long before J-Fed got here. Decades in some cases.

So expect some knee jerk reaction that doesn't involve spending any of the mayor's precious Olympic bribe money. Doors will not be fixed. Metal detectors will not be installed. Security checkpoints within a building will not be manned. Felons who work for various housekeeping outfits will continue to empty unshredded documents with names, star numbers and criminal histories. Homeless persons will continue to camp out in lobbies spreading plague, Ebola and hemorrhagic fever.

Stand up inspections will cure everything along with a healthy dose of Big Bird. Pucker up boys and girls.

Missing Office Equipment?

And since we're on the subject of Station security, anyone heard about missing equipment from the area of 3510 S. Michigan? Expensive equipment? Sensitive equipment?

Equipment from the fifth floor offices of a certain investigative arm of the Department?

We're just wondering if someone is trying to yank our chain or actually give us a heads up.

It's Everywhere

Everywhere:

• Sun Times
• Tribune - Breaking News (press conference included)
  
• Channel 2
• Channel 5
• Channel 7
• Channel 32
• Yahoo News
• Chicagoist

We'd also like to point out that the mother is contesting Monique's version and the exempt version of the story:

• "The senior officer was in full control of the squad car at all times, and the 14-year-old never interacted with the public while present with the assigned officer," said Chicago police Asst. Supt. James Jackson.

  However, Brock says that is not true. She says her son told her that he went on 10 calls Saturday afternoon, including a couple domestic violence calls.

Many of our commentators back mom's story and verify the kid drove the car. For more than a little while. He also got a locker, checked out a ticket book and rode back-up on in-progress calls. There's also a number of other inconsistencies in the "official" story that are sure to be debunked in our comment section.

Remember - it's not a Rule Violation to lie to the media. It's encouraged. They even run a pool regarding it. The politically connected person who can tell the biggest whopper to the media and get it published wins the pool money for the week. Current record holder with almost 40 weeks at the top? Shortshanks.

Child Labor in 003 - Burger Queen

The buck stops at the top, doesn't it? This is a violation of at least a few Child Labor laws we're sure. And a liability issue from the Commander on down who didn't make sure the "officer" had a gun and star.

• This is classic. A male/1 in full uniform walks into the 3rd district desk and tells them he is from 005 and was sent there to work a traffic car. They get him a locker to use and call in the traffic car. He signs out a radio and jumps in with the female officer and away they go. They handle a traffic accident and when she realizes he doesn't have a ticket book they go back into the station and he signs one out.
  
  Away they go again. This time he asks if he can drive and she lets him. They write a few tickets and finish their tour.
  
  Now comes the good part
  
  Capt on the 3rd watch sees him and asks someone who he is. They tell him that he was sent over from 005. The capt has no knowledge and they start to question the "officer" When the Capt asks for his ID and star he says its out in his car. They tell him to go get it. Some smart detective follows him out to the car and they find out that he has no ID and his star was a commemorative CPD star. His vest was a vest cover stuffed with newspaper and if that wasn't funny enough...HES 14 YEARS OLD AND HAS BEEN ARRESTED FOR POLICE IMPERSONATING BEFORE
  
  Check out cb#017471508 if you don't believe me. They left out some of the more embarrassing details like him driving a squad car and writing tickets.
  Crump should take the hit on this one. But then again at least they finally found someone that wants to work in 003. ha ha

Oh yeah, we're ready for the Olympics.

That GPS Works Really Well

Wasn't this sort of behavior supposed to stop with GPS?

• 1760 was looking for unmarked vehicle 3605 after asking on the raido several times no responce.. with in a short time the vehicle returned. tthe day guy R.S. TOOK IT HOME FOR HIS ON USE BUT THIS TIME WAS CAUGHT.. 1760 was too scared too ask why he had the vehicle.. this is the mealers buddy. SCARED ARE YOU 1760 OF YOUR SPOT.. WHY DOES'NT IAD USE THE GPS ON THIS MISSING POLICE CAR..

Wasn't there a crew that used to use unmarked cars from different districts and do stick ups? Oh yeah, they went to jail, didn't they? And there was a big stink about controlling access to unmarked vehicles off-hours and outside units "borrowing" cars so as not to burn other cars. We seem to recall this.

And another incident where someone from 014 has his marked car stolen and he didn't report it, he just went home for the day and told no one? And when two jagoffs were caught doing traffic stops and stickups with the car and keys in it, he tried to deny ever having the car even though the jagoffs told the detectives exactly how and where they stole the car? GPS would have most likely assisted in discovering the missing car quicker.

Now someone is allowing a tact lieutenant's car to disappear for hours on end? With no adequate explanation? This doesn't seem very "reasonable." It almost appears that there are two tiers of discipline being enforced.

Did we say "almost appears?" Sorry about that.

Murder in the Mayor's Hood

This is where, three blocks from his house? It's well under a mile we think:

• A woman and her infant daughter were found shot to death Saturday evening in their South Loop apartment, Chicago police said.
  
  Police spokeswoman Monique Bond said that a family member alerted police after they found the victims about 6 p.m. in the 0-99 block of West 15th Street.
  
  They were identified as Nova Henry, 24, and her daughter, Ava, 9 months, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. Officers found a second child -- the woman's son -- in the apartment unharmed, Bond said.
  
  Detectives are searching for a "known acquaintance," she said.

Find him quick boys and girls. A 9-month-old child?

Tahoe Safety Issue

Someone mentioned this in a comment section, but we're understanding there's an issue with the door locks? They lock automatically when the car is in drive and don't release once the car is in park if it's running or the keys are in the ignition?

This is going to be the mainstay of our fleet? What genius ordered this feature and why isn't is disabled?

Be an Aldercreature's Friend II

Now the Sun Times is reporting the other side of the story:

• Owners of a Bridgeport hot dog stand that is the focus of a city investigation insisted Friday that they hired a private scavenger service and never once asked for city crews to make illegal pickups.

  "I've had a Dumpster for 20 years. Why would they pick up my garbage when I have a Dumpster" from Allied Waste, said Ginger O'Malley, who runs O'Malley's Hot Dogs, 3501 S. Union, with help from her husband, a retired Chicago Police officer.

  "I'm not out there staring at my garbage cans 24/7. I don't have a camera out there. I don't stand out there and see the garbage trucks come through. But, to the best of my knowledge, they never picked it up. We have never asked for anything. We tried to do everything by the book. We don't want any problems."

That certainly doesn't sound like an outright denial. The "never once asked" and "to the best of my knowledge" are phrases used by defense attorneys, politicians caught in scandal and other people looking for loopholes.

Here's the thing - taxpayers are getting fed up. We've got the highest City, County and State taxes in the nation along with one of the highest unemployment rates in the mid-west. There's an undercurrent brewing against the established political order and coincidentally, the established political order is centered on Bridgeport and the 11th Ward. Certain people are going to start diming out the old scams for whatever reasons. We all know they exist. We all know how they operated. This entire burg is built on corruption of the highest order.

But whoever is trying to say the blog is at fault for the Sun Times reporting, you're really stretching. We don't have a circulation of a few hundred thousand and a staff of crack reporters and investigative journalists to vet their newspaper stories. Neither does the Sun Times anymore, but they still have more than we do. We use them almost as much as they use us.

Updated Retro Calculator

The folks over at FiveFrank.com updated their "retro calculator" to include estimates for OT, Federal and State taxes. They also added a section for different pay scales all the way up to Captain. Nice job.

No Experience Necessary

He had almost no experience as a street cop, absolutely none as a supervisor, but he made Assistant Deputy Superintendent from Patrolman in under 6 years.

He had no experience in the political arena, yet became the mayor's Chief of Staff.

He had no experience in urban transportation, yet became the head of the CTA.

He has no experience in teaching or education, and is poised to become head of one of the largest and most troubled public school systems in the nation.

• Mayor Richard Daley is considering CTA President Ron Huberman as a potential successor to Arne Duncan in running the city's public school system, sources told the Tribune on Friday.

  The mayor could make his selection as early as next week, said a source familiar with the selection process.

  Like Duncan, who left to become U.S. education secretary for President Barack Obama, Huberman does not have a teaching background. Huberman headed the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications for about a year after nine years with the Chicago Police Department.

  In 2005, Daley named Huberman his chief of staff following a series of City Hall scandals. In April 2007, the mayor tapped Huberman to lead the financially troubled Chicago Transit Authority.

Jack-of-all-trades. And master of none.

J-Fed in 024?

We'll call it "The Reasonableness Tour."

Supposedly, J-Fed made an appearance in 024 to reassure officers that he truly had their backs over the recent run-in with alderdrunk Sharon Dixon.

Who's got the scoop?

Explain This J-Fed

This is bad enough:

• Chicago Public Schools director of sports administration Calvin Davis told the Tribune late Thursday that three changes would be implemented for the rest of the season:

  •All varsity boys basketball games will begin at 4 p.m.

  •Fans from the visiting team will not be allowed to attend.

  •In some cases in which there has been a history of trouble between schools, no fans will be allowed to attend the game.

  On Tuesday night, North Lawndale forward Jermaine Winfield was shot in the leg during a postgame altercation in which Winfield came to the aid of a teammate.

Frankly, we'd like to see them ban all basketball in the public schools. It's a source of way too much violence, gambling and misconduct on a number of levels.

This makes it worse:

• Last night in the 011 District there was a 10-1 called after the game at Marshal High School. 10 District responded, numerous plain cloths units, MSF was called in, SWAT. The N.Lawnadale coach went at it with the opposing coach and all hell broke lose.
  
  When the first units arrived they went and broke up the fight between the coaches and the N.Lawndale coach was hooten & hollering. Next thing that happened is this skinny N.Lawndale coach arrives in the 011 District wearing his cheesy brown suit and identifies himself as a Detective for I.A.D.
  
  This piece of sh*t then called the commander of I.A.D to get involved and to get the white officer who broke up the fight in trouble because he "pushed" him.

We'd like an explanation of his conduct at the basketball game. How is he able to not identify himself at the scene, participate in a street fight, and then use a phone call to an IAD boss to attempt to jam up on-duty cops.

We don't usually expect much from IAD, but this is low even by our standards. Is J-Fed's best man going to straighten out his own house? Or are we just going to assume business as usual?

Be an Aldercreature's Friend

Balcer goes to bat for his precinct captain like the guy has dirty pictures of Balcer in compromising positions with twenty underage hookers:

• The sanitation superintendent from Mayor Daley's boyhood home, the 11th Ward, and several underlings are under internal investigation over allegations they made illegal city garbage pickups from a Bridgeport hot dog stand owned by a retired Chicago cop who's a friend of the local alderman.

• Ald. Jim Balcer (11th) defended his ward superintendent.

  "Joe McMullin is hardworking. He's dedicated," Balcer said. "I don't think this man has a dishonest bone in his body. If Joe McMullin thought it was illegal, he wouldn't do it. I stand by him. I'm proud to stand by him."

  The alderman said he has known O'Malley for years, eats lunch at his restaurant and considers him a "good guy" and a friend. But Balcer said he knew nothing about city crews picking up garbage at the neighborhood hangout.

Thirty city garbage carts behind the restaurant and the ward superintendent didn't see anything wrong with this? These people aren't just thieves, they're arrogant thieves with an out-of-control sense of entitlement and a feeling of, "what are you going to do about it?" that we assume is the result of being allowed to get away with shit for so long, they feel they are untouchable. And they're probably right. The fact that the hot dog stand is owned by a retired cop just makes it all the more shameful.

We'd love to run a business where we could just eliminate an entire line-item like garbage pick-up to pad our gross income. That is, if it was eliminated at all - anyone want to bet on what the business returns look like? And how many of Balcer's ward businesses might be claiming garbage pick-up while having city trucks do it? It might explain Balcer's overreaction for starters.

Pay no attention to that Outfit behind the curtain!

This Couldn't Be True

We sense a hammer being raised over the 009 District:

• SCC YOU WILL LOVE THIS! INSPECTOR BIG BIRD'S DAUGHTER WAS ISSUED A SEAT BELT VIOLATION IN THE 009TH DISTRICT TODAY AND CAME INTO THE STATION ASKING IF IT COULD BE "TAKEN CARE OF AND IF THE DISTRICT PERSONNEL KNEW WHO SHE WAS!" TOO FUNNY!

Sounds like a set up to commit misconduct. We imagine 009 is going to be getting quite a few visits from the Big Bird sometime soon.

Cozzi Pleads Out

The timing of that "Reasonable" video and the "we've got your back" statements look curiouser and curiouser:

• A Chicago Police officer pleaded guilty today to a civil rights violation for beating a 60-year-old man who was handcuffed and shackled to a wheelchair.
  

  “I lost it,” Officer William Cozzi admitted in federal court.

  The government is seeking a sentence of six to eight years for the 51-year-old officer.

  Cozzi previously was convicted on a state charge of misdemeanor battery and sentenced to 18 months’ probation.

The reality of the situation is that to fight something like this all the way through the federal courts is going to bankrupt anyone not making a few hundred thousand a year. We aren't sure of the reasoning behind it all, but that's between Cozzi and his lawyers.

Daley Has Our Back?

Actually, he just has it in for Dixon who ousted his tame aldercreature Chandler. But it's almost like he cares about us...aside from the contract thing, the no cars, the no long guns, the no overtime, etc., etc.

• Without mentioning Ald. Sharon Dixon (24th) by name, Mayor Daley had some choice words today for people who drive drunk or attempt to drive around the scene of a fire, accident or other major emergency.

  “I have a candlelight vigil. How many people are killed and seriously injured [by drunken drivers]. You should go to that some day and talk to the families that have lost a loved one. Or their son and daughter, a family member is in rehab for the rest of their life,” Daley said of the gut-wrenching annual event sponsored by Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.

  “When you mix drugs and alcohol or just alcohol and you drive, that is a very dangerous type of incident that takes place. It could even jeopardize your life.”

Don't look for J-Fed or anyone to make any public statements in the near future. Word is that Mike McCotter already made an appearance in 024 and thanked everyone for being professional during the entire alderdrunk incident. While it's a class move on McCotter's part, it's probably the only recognition that the cops did the right thing and they're safe from political retribution that we're going to see.

Tahoes v Pontiacs

Here's what some Departments are doing to save on gas costs:

• CAHOKIA, Ill. - Police Chief Richard Watson admits his department's newest patrol car is a curious departure from its big-horsepower Ford Crown Victorias. But the four-cylinder Pontiac Vibe GT has plenty of pep for policing, he said, and gets twice the gas mileage.

  Law enforcement agencies across the country looking for ways to cut corners and reduce costs after last year's $4-a-gallon gas are increasingly turning to more fuel-efficient cars.

  While few expect that more muscular cruisers like the Crown Victorias or Dodge Chargers will be replaced altogether, there's little confidence gasoline will stay below $2 a gallon much longer.

We don't expect anything like this to be on the streets of Chicago any time soon, but it's nice to see what a professionally run department can do with their vehicle fleet.

Fence? We Don't Need No Fence

Why on earth would we need secure borders?

• An illegal immigrant deported three times to his native Mexico since 1995 was found guilty today of reckless homicide and other charges in a hit-and-run crash that killed a motorcyclist, authorities said.
  
  [...] Haro served 15 months in prison for a 1993 crash that killed his brother and injured two others. Immigration officials deported him to Mexico in March 1995, but he returned to McHenry County, authorities said.

  In 1998, he was arrested twice for driving under the influence of alcohol and pleaded guilty to two drunken driving charges.

And now we'll have to pay to house his ass for the next few decades.

Cubs Almost Sold

Only one buyer in the market now:

• After nearly two years of intrigue, the billionaire Ricketts family has emerged as the winning bidder to purchase the Chicago Cubs from Tribune Co. for about $900 million, sources close to the situation said this evening.

  The family will now complete negotiations with Tribune Co.

• The family patriarch, J. Joe Ricketts, grew up in Omaha and started a discount stock brokerage. In the 1990s he transformed the company into an Internet trading powerhouse now known as TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.

We don't really care for baseball, as we've stated before. We're hockey people. Our only interest in this is what it'll do to the Tribune's debt load and whether or not it saves them from bankruptcy in the next few years.

In the meantime, the comments are open to belittle the Cubs chances for this year.

If I Didn't Pee, You Must Set Me Free!

We admit, we didn't see this excuse coming:

• A Chicago alderman arrested on drunken driving charges early this morning insists she was not drunk — and says she was berated by three Chicago Police officers who yelled at her and refused to give her their badge numbers.

  As proof of her sobriety, Ald. Sharon Dixon (24th) said she never used the bathroom once during her seven hours at at North Side police station. She also said she believes officers arrested her because she was “going to write them up” for “mistreating” her.

As one of our wiser commentators stated, those who are full of shit also happen to have exceptionally large bladders.

And now, we get to see how J-Fed deals with an alderdrunk interfering with an active police investigation:

• On the day the City Council approved the appointment of Jody Weis, Ald. Sharon Dixon (24th) vowed to give Chicago's $310,000-a-year police superintendent "the benefit of the doubt until you prove otherwise." Now, Dixon is about to put Weis to the test.

  Dixon said Wednesday she plans to press her case with Weis about the "abusive" treatment she received from two female police officers and their male back-up during an inauguration-night altercation in Rogers Park that resulted in the alderman's arrest.

If J-Fed accepts a phone call, an e-mail, even a singing telegram from this alderdrunk, then he's an even bigger softball that we give him credit for being. This is an on-going investigation and she's attempting to influence it.

Then there's the whole "going to write them up" for "mistreatment." Is this some secret aldercreature power that we aren't aware of? This sounds like a contract violation if such a system exists. Isn't IPRA good enough for the alderdrunk's complaint? That's all the citizens have - maybe if they were able to "write up" coppers for "mistreatment," then we could all go back to our fuzzy bunnies and pink ponies and live in harmony.

Good god J-Fed, this idiot is giving you half a dozen opportunities to stand up, be your own man and demonstrate that you won't tolerate interference by politicians into police matters. Of course, your continued silence and the silence of your minions is telling the rank and file exactly how much you've "got their backs." What wasn't "reasonable" about arresting a drunk who drove over fire hoses and endangered the lives of first responders?

Reasonable? Didn't we hear that in a video recently?

Patti Blago Fired

We assume she'll be collecting unemployment? At least she has selling real estate to crooked Illinois pols and connected developers as a fall back position:

• llinois First Lady Patti Blagojevich is out of a job.

  Blagojevich — who started Sept. 1 as development director of the 100-year-old Chicago Christian Industrial League — was quietly dismissed from her $100,000-a-year job on Tuesday.

And how did she do at her $100,000 job?

• The Sun-Times reported that, in each of Patti Blagojevich’s first three months on the job, the Christian Industrial League brought in $10,000 to $15,000 a month — the same as it did before she started, according to president William Good.

So this was essentially a bribe to the Blago family. Or the Mell family - who knows where the money went. And the Chicago Christian Industrial League? Facing bankruptcy and maybe even dissolution after being around to help people since the turn of last century.

Air Support Absent

Any idea why they're grounding the helicopter unit for a few weeks? We hope they're retrofitting the bird with missiles and cannon. Something like this would be a nice start:



We've even got a target list available.

Alder-Drunk Arrested

Watch the political games begin:

• Ald. Sharon Denise Dixon (24th) left a North Side police district this morning, offering no comment on her arrest Tuesday night on charges of drunken driving and obstructing a police officer.

  Dixon walked out of the Belmont District station at about 9:40 a.m., refusing to comment as she was picked up by a female friend.

  But a former fiance and current administrative aide, reached by the Chicago Sun-Times, defended the alderwoman.

  “I am just now talking to her,’’ said Frank Watkins. “It’s not true. She has a very different story.”

A different story? This should be interesting. Aldercreature Dixon is scheduled to hold a press conference this afternoon and the betting is as follows:

• "The police put that liquor on me" (2-1 odds)
  
• "The police are all racist stopping black folks" (3-1 odds)
  
• "I'm an alderperson - I can drive around police cars, over hoses and over the goddamn fireman if I feel like it" (7-1 odds)
• Obama! (7.5-1)

Remember, Dixon is the piece of crap who got a 010th District officer launched off the car he worked for years, serving the people of North Lawndale with respect and high praise, because he wouldn't sit on her home (which doubled as her aldermanic office) and do light office work when she needed copies and such.

And Bea "the bartender" Cuello is the one who pulled the trigger when Dixon bitched DW wouldn't dance to her tune.

Tribune also covers.

UPDATE: WBBM 780 quotes the alderdrunk as saying, "I am not a power-trip alderman." We'll say she's full of shit on that count alone.

Whisper of a Hint of a Rumor

Heard in a darkened stairwell where someone was sneaking a smoke about midnight two nights ago, down by the old warehouse near the docks:

• J-Fed is looking to close two districts

The most recent PAX 501 is just a hint of what's brewing.

• 200 hires plus 200 promotions means zero cops gained.
• 500 retirements this year means a manpower shortage of unheard of proportions.
• Closing two districts is a quick way of alleviating the shortage.

What else are people hearing?

FOP Update and Meeting

From the website updates:

• The Core Group met with the City on Friday as the collective bargaining process rolls on. Issues that were discussed included:
  
  Lowering the age to 55 from the current 60 for Retiree Health Insurance coverage;
  
  Wage increases;
  
  Reorganizing Section 23.8 relative to bid units;
  
  Discipline issues;
  
  Military Leave issues;
  
  and the financial situation of the City.
  
  We are now getting into the issues of most importance. Each of these issues is still open for more discussion which will take place at the next Core Group meeting scheduled for 26 January. We anticipate having a full negotiations team meeting shortly after that at which time we will discuss the current status of negotiations and what course we will take in the future.

Also from the meeting, there are no negotiations taking place that do not include retro. They were pretty adamant about it. Retro is coming. Someone is feeling the heat.

Was This Guy CPD?

He sounds like a moron:

• While the sudden suspension of CSU Police Chief Dexter Yarbrough last month came as another shocking challenge facing a transitioning administration, several campus officers say his absence comes as a breath of fresh air to the department -- putting what several independent sources called his "reign of terror" on hiatus.

  Listing numerous accusations of improprieties ranging from falsifying police documents, to mandating the special treatment of student athletes, to teaching students illegal police tactics, several timid police officers say the President's Office had plenty of alarming evidence to take action long ago but turned a blind eye to a handful of alleged abuses of power.

• In one classroom lecture in spring 2008, Yarbrough advised his students -- including many aspiring police officers -- to provide illicit drugs to informants as payment for information.
  
  
• In a later lecture, the chief, who was a Chicago policeman prior to entering academia, said sometimes excessive and violent force against a suspect is a "reality of law enforcement."

Those who can't - teach. What a mope.

The EB Rule?

Administrative Special Order 09-01, issued 16 January:

• Section II - To be promoted to captain (SES), candidates must
• (J) - complete the Consent to Obtain Consumer Reports form at the time of application

This is new. Not in the private sector where credit checks are almost universal, and not if you were applying to Vice, but a first for a promotion.

Is this because too many checks people were writing to aldercreatures for promotional spots were bouncing? Or because they're worried Captains in dire financial straits might start selling spots on the watches? Or the EB fiasco.

If you want to be a captain, you better "open your books" as it were. You could take a stand and tell them it's none of their damn business. But then the next 20 "merit" selections would be leaving their footprints all over your back to get that spot.

Cop Home Invaded

Listening to the "all call" going out every few hours, seems he might have winged someone:

• An off-duty Chicago policeman was the victim of a home invasion late last night on the city's West Side, authorities said. There were reports of gunfire, but it wasn't confirmed anyone was hit.

  The incident happened on the 5400 block of West Ohio Street in the South Austin neighborhood about 11:30 p.m. Two suspects fled the scene in a 2000 Chevy Suburban, reported to have damage to a passenger-side window.

  An all-call bulletin issued over police scanners warned patrol officers to be cautious, saying the suspects should be considered armed and dangerous. The bulletin also said to check hospitals for anyone coming in for gunshot wounds.

Be careful, on and off duty.

Ramos, Compean Commuted

Good news:

• In his final acts of clemency, President George W. Bush on Monday granted early prison releases to two former U.S. Border Patrol agents whose convictions for shooting a Mexican drug dealer fueled the national debate over illegal immigration.
  
  Bush, responding to heavy pressure from Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike, commuted the prison sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. The two guards from El Paso, Texas, each were sentenced to more than 10 years for the shooting, which they tried to cover up. They will be released within two months.
  
  Opposition to their convictions, sentencing and firings has simmered ever since the shooting occurred in 2005.

Better news:

• Former Gov. George Ryan’s prospects of getting out of federal prison early appear to be dimming, Sen. Dick Durbin said today.

  Last month, Durbin asked President Bush to set Ryan free after serving slightly more than a year of his 6 1/2-year term for corruption while governor and secretary of state.

  But that possibility of an early release now appears remote because of collateral damage from Gov. Blagojevich’s Dec. 9 arrest on corruption charges, Durbin said.

Keep on serving that sentence George. Blago is going to need pointers shortly. Shortshanks, too, if we're lucky.

Tribune Prepares for Merger?

They're recalibrating their presses to a Sun Times type paper:

• By now, you may have heard the news: Starting Monday, Jan. 19, the Chicago Tribune will publish a tabloid-size newspaper for readers who pick up their paper at newsstands and retail outlets. This new Tribune "to-go" edition will be available Mondays through Fridays.
  
  Last week, we told you in our progress report about improvements we've made to our new design based on your comments. This is another.
  
  Many of you told us that if the Tribune were published in a more compact, portable format, it would be easier to use on the go. You said you wanted more user-friendly packaging, but you preferred the same insightful news reports, unique features and columnists you've come to expect in your daily broadsheet-size Chicago Tribune. So, now we're offering the Tribune in two formats.

The Trib called the other day and asked us to re-subscribe. We asked if they were ever going to do any real investigating on Shortshanks aside from Kass and if they might consider moving back to the center of the political spectrum. The saleslady seemed confused. Any bets on when they merge with the Times?

Disaster in 017

What hath "merit" wrought? We don't know how much of this is true, but it's getting so much attention in the comments that it has to be addressed:

• Well you reap what you sow Mr Mealer.
  
  [Cmdr] Mealer made a traffic stop in 017. He asked for a car. The radio was dead silent. Now you see what treating your troops like crap gets you.
  
  No one would respond or come up to volunteer. Yea its wrong but Mealer is writing up/harassing coppers for every little nonsense thing he can. I mean petty crap that makes big bird a saint.
  
  He brings a new height to micro managing and an all time low to 017. He is our black cloud.
  
  Mealer then calls for a Sgt and begins to mother fuck the Sgt on scene wanting to know why nobody backed him up. Valid question but just handled all wrong.
  
  Kind of how Mealer handled the 017 Christmas party making racial jokes about asian people eating dogs and jewish people eating pork. But when your jewish and IAD to boot I guess its ok right Commander? I wont even go into the other humor he displayed on an open microphone.
  
  So now Mealer states that he will really play hard ball. No breaks. Like he has been supporting his troops all along. NOT!
  
  I like how he comes to our roll calls threatening us that if we dont start producing numbers he is going to spar us. Let me say this Mr Mealer Commander guy. Please do so, you make us all rich.
  
  Here is what I suggest to the troops. Let him spar us for our activity. Last I knew there was no G/O stating we had to write tickets and parkers. Second of all sign off on the spar and take the time he gives us. Grieve it and get a class action law suit on Mr Mealer the Laywer/Commander and the department. Lets get it on Mealer.
  
  Lastly....he is going to demand a to/from from all of us on duty that night when he called for backup. Simply state on your to/from...
  
  R/O DOES NOT RECALL! If you put down something he can trace w/ GPS and catches you in a lie he will jam you. And waste lots of time writing it up while your down in the station.
  
  Anybody can be a boss Mealer. But a true leader knows how to lead and doesn't have an over blown ego like yours. You catch more flies with honey. We all know your the commander...you just don't know how to be one. Let the games begin.

Has anyone here ever heard of a movie called "The Caine Mutiny"? Humphrey Bogart plays Captain Queeg, a mentally unstable CO who nitpicks his crew over dozens of little slights, culminating in an all out search for whomever stole a pint of strawberries and an act of cowardice during a combat beach landing that results in the XO relieving Queeg.

So do we have a Queeg in 017? An entire watch dropping paper? SPARs for numbers? Racially inappropriate jokes? Cursing out subordinates? From this comment and others, it would seem that the troops in 017 are sending a very clear message as to what they are and aren't willing to put up with. But will downtown hear the message?

Shades of J. Edgar

Now this is some funny writing:

• "A Chicago Carol..."
  
  Attention...J-fed, its the ghost of J-edgar. In life, I was the first director of our beloved FBI. Yes, I'm over here in the hot pink satin number.
  
  I am here with a warning.
  
  You were brought up as a good FBI special agent, filled with promise. But you have chosen a path which leads to doom.
  
  Feds don't know jack shit about municipal law enforcement. Its just not what they do. Therefore, YOU don't know shit about municipal law enforcement. Really. Nada. You have gone astray, and are in way over your head...these locals actually lay hands on people. Or they would, if you stopped screwing with them.
  
  I saw your TV interview online . Yes, in the afterlife we have some kick ass internet access.
  
  My son, the failed "community policing" fad has gasped its last breath. Work with community groups and people will stop shooting each other? [moan] Don't throw cops at the problem, throw money to the Rev's? (loud moan) The locals have tried it. It just got the Rev's richer, bolder and more demanding.
  
  I thought when you started gutting CAPS you figured it out. I guess not.
  
  And where do you get off with wearing that uniform? When did the FBI teach you to wear a uniform? The CPD guys (most of them) earned every stitch of that uniform, and they don't think a trip to Kale's gives you the right to wear one. You'd have more credibility in a black off the shoulder dress and pearls. At least in my eyes.
  
  And your kowtowing to a local politician? Oh, Daley is a pro, but we are the FBI. He should be kissing your rear, not the other way around. Jeeze, boy. He's going to throw you to the wolves as soon as he can.
  
  And not even our FBI stats people can crunch the Chicago numbers to make them look good. And whats this crap you are saying: Learning curve year??? Did we teach you line?
  
  People are dying at a faster pace. But its OK...you're almost done learning?? What were you thinking?
  
  "This year we'll get results?" THAT line will haunt you in about 50 weeks. And the press haunts better than I do. Unless you are Barry Obama.
  
  I won't waste your time sending three ghosts or any of that fancy shit.
  
  Reform your life and career! There's a SAC job in Brokeback Mountain Wyoming that has your name on it. You'll be happier and more successful in the long run running down interstate trafficking in rebranded cattle....
  
  Reform...reform... refor....
  
  (Fades out)

We'd love to be able to write comedy like that.

Cops to Washington

It's all in the phrasing:

• Nearly 50 officers from the Chicago Police Department are heading to Washington, D.C. to help with managing crowds for the presidential inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.
  
  Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis says the 48 officers have been chosen for their expertise.
  
  Police say the absence of the officers won't affect the day-to-day operations of the agency in Chicago.

Expertise? Expertise in what?

We heard that the reason that this won't affect day-to-day operations is that each officer was required to bid a furlough segment during the Inauguration window. Unfortunately, there are a bunch of coppers who bid a 1A or 1B furlough segment and didn't get picked for Washington. So unless they know how to ski or have plane reservations for somewhere warm, they pretty much screwed themselves for no apparent benefit.

Killing Trees

Stupid idea:

• 009th district second watch roll call today. Second watch Lt. R K states that if you do not come in with any activity, you have to submit a to/from stating why. Where the hell did he come up with this and is there enough paper available to write all the reasons why there is no activity. What a goofball this white shirt is.

Make sure you come in half an hour early to write the paper. Or stay half-an-hour late and drop the slip.

J-Fed, you want to step in here and lead? From the front?

J-Fed Spins and Spins

A ridiculous interview with J-Fed. Who the hell is feeding this guy info?

• Chicago homicides, shootings and other violent crime are up. Arrests, gun recoveries and other indicators of police activity are down.

  On Friday, Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis officially closed the book on 2008, a year that one alderman said left little to celebrate.

  "He's made mistakes. This is the residual effect of that. He's got good intentions. But it's hard to see anything positive about his reign," said Police Committee Chairman Isaac Carothers (29th).

Good intentions don't mean shit Ike. And you're part of the problem putting your brother in for "merit" promotions.

• Weis said Friday he believes he has a dedicated, hardworking force and that he has seen a shift recently.

  Homicides are down 31 percent since Dec. 15. Shootings dropped slightly, and gun recoveries nudged up.

  It's far from a trend, but Weis said it could be a sign that command changes he made last year put the right people in place.

It could also be a sign that the temperature has been keeping jagoffs off the street and reducing target opportunities. Want to bet what a warm spell brings? And who in their right mind quotes a "31 percent since Dec. 15"? That's a 30-day window and you're going to make a "trend" out of that? And gun recoveries edging up? Three words - New Years Eve - the biggest gun recovery night of the year. Who's writing this claptrap?

• Weis also pointed to a decline in excessive-force complaints and election night as successes. "We were on a worldwide stage that night, and it was an absolute, 100 percent success.''

Sure - with the media refusing to report anything about misbehavior up and down the West and South sides lest it taint the chosen one.

• Friday's statistics show homicides jumped 15 percent and shootings increased 17 percent in 2008. Shots-fired calls jumped 33 percent; gang disturbance calls went up 18 percent.

  At the same time, police made 12 percent fewer overall arrests and 15 fewer felony arrests. Police responses were down 21 percent for gang loitering and 38 percent for gang narcotics loitering. Cops recovered 4 percent fewer guns.

Calls up. Arrests down. Seems like a pretty clear picture of what's going on.

• Weis acknowledged that police officers were being less aggressive as violent crime rises for fear of piling up citizen complaints.

  In fact, on Friday, Weis reported a 13 percent drop in excessive force complaints. Search warrant complaints also are down.

  Weis attributed that to training and education from the new Bureau of Professional Standards -- not to less-aggressive officers.

How much were Search Warrants down? We're sure that question didn't get asked. And how about what percentage of manpower we're down? Another question that never even occurred to the reporters eating up this press release. As it appeared in numerous comments here, "No contact, no complaints." Nice attempt to spin the statistics.

ChicagoCop.com Website

Missing In Action.

Anyone have any info? We know they were banned from Department computers because they actually got information to coppers in a usable format. That sin is enough to condemn you to a foot post at Inland Steel.

But did the Department force them to shut down? Any info is appreciated.

UPDATE: He's baaaaack. Apparently, it was technical in nature.

Satellite Tax Illegal

Gee, who'd have thought the mayor and his cronies would ever try anything illegal?

• Mayor Daley is pulling the plug on his controversial plan to end the free ride for 135,000 Chicagoans who get their cable TV by installing a satellite dish.

  Daley quietly introduced a repeal this past week of the ordinance tied to his 2009 budget requiring satellite customers to pay the 9 percent amusement tax that applies to monthly cable TV bills.

  To get around a federal law that appears to ban cities from taxing direct-broadcast satellite services, Daley wanted to require DirecTV and Dish Network to give the city's Revenue Department the name, address and phone number of all of their Chicago subscribers so the city could do the billing.

"To get around a federal law"

That kind of says it all for this mayor, doesn't it?

Upcoming Fundraiser

Seen in the window of a uniform store, 4-year-old Sara Martorano is fighting cancer. She is the daughter of a Chicago cop and there is a fundraiser upcoming:

• When: April 5th, 2009
  
  Where: Electrician's Hall
  600 W. Washington Blvd.
  Chicago, Il 60661
  
  Time: 2-7 p.m.
  
  To make this benefit a success, we are asking for assistance with raffle prizes and donations.

Full info at the SaintsForSara.org website. The update last week said she's making good progress with the chemotherapy but there's still a ways to go.

A Favor - Remembrance

An e-mail:

• Could you please post a remembrance for Angelina M. White, she was a CCDOC officer killed January 18th of 2008, in a car accident on her way to work. Her husband Joe is a CPD TRU officer. It's been a long hard year for him and their 4 boys. Joe is one of the most wonderful people I have ever met. I love him dearly and I know he would appreciate anything posted to honor her. I hear she was a fantastic lady.
  

Hopefully, Joe's friends and co-workers were, are and will continue to be a source of strength and comfort to him and his family.

Hiring Equals Less Manpower?

The numbers just don't add up.

The new PAX 501 shows just how silly this Department is:

• 200 Recruits to be hired in all of 2009
• Promotions from the rank of patrolman as follows:
  
  80 Sergeants
  85 Detectives
  35 other D-2 spots

That equals 200 promotions. Which means hiring is a wash this year.

Now factor in the regular 500 to 600 retirements. And the additional retirements once a contract is signed. And who knows how many if Pension Portability becomes law.

The Department is going to have to shut down two Districts just to alleviate the shortages in Patrol.

Weis Interview on Fox

Here's the link to the entire thing.

Interestingly, the attached poll shows that 72% of respondents think J-Fed is doing a bad job. Now why would that be?

Firefighters Injured

Get well soon guys:

• An elderly woman was killed and three firefighters were seriously hurt after a Thursday night house fire in the South Side’s Morgan Park neighborhood.

  [...] Three firefighters were also injured and were all taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in serious condition, Langford said. Preliminary reports indicate the firefighters were injured in a “flashover.” Police said all the firefighters remained in “stable” condition Friday morning.

Well wishes only. We have plenty of other threads to spout off in.

Merit Board Change

All of those asking about why the Department hasn't made a Detective class in over a year or why there have only been two tiny classes of Sergeants off a list over two years old, we don't have the answers.

But we did notice an amendment to the Department Order governing the Merit Board. The Director of the Human Resources Division was added to the Board that decides who is and isn't worthy of the "merit" promotion. So that means we have the following:

1. Assistant Supt. of Operations (Jackson)
2. Assistant Supt. of Bartending Admin (Cuello)
3. Dep. Supt. of Patrol (Dugan)
4. Dep. Supt. of Investigative Services (Peterson)
5. Dep. Supt. of Professional Standards (Brust)
6. Dep. Supt. of Admin Services (O'Keefe)
7. Director of Human Resources (Tracey Ladner)

So an additional civilian is added to the mix? And a quorum can be constituted (according to the order) if the following persons are present:

• Cuello or O'Keefe as chairperson and vice-chairperson
• two other members of the board

So potentially, on paper at least, we could have three persons with just about zero street experience choosing who the leaders of street cops are supposed to be?

Signing Bonus

As FOP hasn't released any information, we can only suppose this is a rumor. Someone said that it was proposed years ago, but it went nowhere.

However we can tell you right now, if the City comes up with some BS number like $3,000 for almost two years' retro, we will encourage every single reader to vote the contract down. Arbitrators have awarded retroactive pay each and every time it has come up. We'd win. And the City negotiators know that, so we don't see it even being a realistic option.

But we've been surprised before.

Awesome Picture

Some damn lucky people there.

And some damn fine flying done by the pilot.

Quick Hits

Just a few stories:

• A Christmas Story - LIVE! - HAMMOND, Ind. -- In a scene straight out of the movie "A Christmas Story," a 10-year-old Hammond boy got his tongue stuck to a metal light pole.

  Police say the unidentified fourth-grader was able to tell them that a friend dared him to lick the pole Wednesday night. Temperatures in Hammond were around 10 degrees at the time.

  By the time an ambulance arrived, the boy was able to yank his tongue off the frozen pole.

• Thanks for taking the spotlight CFD - A Chicago firefighter has been charged with stealing gas meters from vacant houses and reselling them, officials said this morning.

  Firefighter Milton Stewart, an eight-year department veteran, has been placed on administrative leave, Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. The department is conducting its own investigation, which could lead to Stewart's termination, he added.

  Stewart, 38, of the 1600 block of East 85th Street was charged with one count of official misconduct, one count of forgery by altering a document and one count of wire fraud, Police Officer Amina Greer said. The wire fraud charge was related to Stewart's alleged use of a fax machine.

• There's a lawyer joke here somewhere - A criminal defense attorney was arrested and charged with smuggling marijuana to inmates in the Cook County Criminal Courts Building, authorities said today.

  Dave Compton, 61, a lawyer since 1991, was arrested Wednesday after he delivered 30 grams of marijuana to an undercover sheriff's employee posing as an inmate, Cook County Assistant State's Atty. Russ Baker said.

UPDATE: Spelling error corrected. Oops.

Brrrrr

How cold is it??

Keep it clean please.

Global warming, remember?

Open post in the meantime.

Pay to Play Gets Deeper

But you'll never see the main stream media cover it. It'd ruin their fantasy world:

• She hasn’t shown up for work very regularly over the last year or so, so when Michelle Obama’s $300,000 job was cut at the University of Chicago Hospitals, it may have been hard to notice the difference. Crain’s skipped the part about the incoming First Lady, must have been an oversight in their expert analysis of Chicago Business, because we know Crain’s is “Not show business. All business”.

  The Tribune announced the layoff without much analysis, but let the cat far enough out of the bag to prompt our Don Rose to question how important Michelle Obama’s job must have been, as it was so easily eliminated. The New Republic gnashes their dentures at the how a community can be served without Michelle Obama, despite the void of actual labor she has performed while being on the campaign trail. The comments are much more informative than the article in TNR.

This is how "pay-to-play" works in Illinois. Create some do-nothing board job that can be eliminated at the drop of a hat for a politicians wife, child, niece, etc, especially when that politician is in the position of being able to direct "earmark" money to your hospital, university, whatever.

And hey, another brilliant move by the Transition Team nominating a Treasury Secretary who "forgot" to make tax payments. It's almost like there's some "culture of corruption" running rampant.