Happy Anniversary!

Two years without a contract at midnight tonight. And all we have to show for it is Daley's hissy fit for daring to march on City Hall to let the public know we're a bit tired of being treated as an afterthought.

At this point, we're going to be on the backside of a four-year deal that will have to be negotiated again in 2011.

Open post for remembrances of a contract.

Remember Who "Has Your Back"

This has popped up in the comments every so often since J-Fed arrived. We let it go through as a matter of course - it's public record. It's also a very pointed reminder of what is running this Department at this very moment. The original link is archived, but if you have a pay account with the Tribune, you can probably access it. It's mirrored at this site here.

• FBI sought to fire complaining agent
  Memo describes retaliation plan
  
  By Todd Lighty; Tribune staff reporter; Published July 13, 2004
  
  A Chicago FBI agent who has complained to the media and Congress that the bureau bungled terrorism investigations had been targeted for firing by supervisors who vowed to "take him out," according to a memo written by a former high-ranking official in the FBI's disciplinary office.
  
  The FBI opened an internal investigation against Agent Robert G. Wright Jr. in 2003 just days after his appearance at a news conference and on a national television news program, according to the memo obtained by the Tribune.
  
  The top two agents in the FBI's disciplinary office at the time, Robert J. Jordan and J.P. "Jody" Weis, ordered an investigation into Wright for insubordination and had already made up their minds to have him fired, according to the memo.
  
  The memo, written by John Roberts when he was third in command of the Office of Professional Responsibility, questioned how often supervisors misused the disciplinary process to silence employees critical of the FBI.
  
  Roberts could not be reached Monday for comment, but his lawyer, Stephen Kohn, said the memo's point is clear. "The FBI uses its Office of Professional Responsibility to retaliate against whistleblowers," Kohn said.

Our ex-feeb leader is well versed in methods of political intrigue and using the disciplinary arm of his previous employer to choke off dissent and those who would point out errors by the organization.

The name of the game at any large bureaucracy is to protect the organization at all costs. It would appear that since Day One, Shortshanks brought someone who will "protect the mayor at all costs" to the game.

Arrest Falloff?

From the comments:

• all of "us" warriors are down 1200 arrests this month compared to this month last year.

That's quite a drop for a single month. Anyone have the monthly breakdown for 2008 and compared to 2009? We're imagining the drop off has as much to do with all the beat cars not having a lot of time for arresting as it does with an actual cessation of proactive police work.

But don't worry! Help is on the way - in about a year or two:

• Chicago is applying for $106 million in federal-stimulus grants to hire 400 new police officers, even though there’s a costly string attached: When the three-year grants expire, the officers must remain on the city payroll for at least another year.

No worries on the "remain[ing] on the city payroll" once the three years are up. At the rate of retirements, we'll be short those 400 three or four times over by 2012.

Vanecko Warehouse Problems

This was our pension money, right? How did we make out on this one?

• Candy Basselen has run a steel fabricating company on the Southwest Side for many years.

  Last summer, she moved it a few blocks south, and City Hall told her she had to get a new business license.

  But they wouldn't give her one.

• None of this made sense to Basselen because she was just a tenant. She didn't understand why the city wasn't leaning on the warehouse owners to fix the landscaping violations.

  [...] "If the city knew there were code violations, why was the city operating out of the building,'' Basselen says. "The city was utilizing a building they themselves said wasn't up to code.''

  So who owns that building? The mayor's nephew Robert Vanecko and his partners. They bought it with some of the millions of dollars Vanecko manages for five city pension funds.

And the City was paying exorbitant rental fees, well above market rates, just to park dump trucks (Hired Truck dump trucks by the way).

So did we turn a profit? Does anyone know? Is the fund out of danger? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Another Good Job

Excellent job in 014:

• Chicago Police caught a suspected rapist early Monday on the Northwest Side after a neighbor heard a woman's screams, saw a man dragging her through an alley and called 911.

  The man was yanking his pants up when Shakespeare District officers responded, police said. He ran, but they caught him within a block.

  Officers made the arrest at 3:30 a.m. near Armitage and Damen. Police recovered a kitchen knife and gloves.

Looks like they might clear up a pattern with this one, too.

Slight Correction

The 108 shooting victims for 19 June through 26 June? Add 24 to that:

• off topic but relating to the previous topic of "108 shot" the number is actually higher. if you look in data warehouse, clear, chris and in the web mapping features and combine all of that info you will find that the acutal victims of agg batt with a handgun is 132 from 19 jun 09 to 26 jun 09. the number of 108 is somewhat correct only because there were 108 incidents. some of these incidents had multiple gunshot victims which makes the exact number of gunshot victims 132. this does not include stabbings, but during that period there were no stabbing related homicides.. or at least none yet ruled homicides that were involving a knife. one of the homicides did involve a vehicle ramming and not gunfire. from what i am seeing it is a fairly bloody weekend. when monday or tuesday rolls around I will try to post the numbers for the weekend. for now, thats all I got. pretty violent... but still not as bad as the 90s as im sure many of you can still remember.

And someone else noted that the number of 041A Record Division numbers was higher this past weekend than during any other weekend this year or last year.

Uh-Oh

Tommy Skilling speaks:

• An entrenched low pressure system approaching Lake Huron will generate gusty northwest winds, spreading cloudiness back over and pulling cool Canadian air into the western Great Lakes and Midwest the first half of the week.
  
  The instability created by this far-reaching low could trigger scattered afternoon and nighttime showers later Monday and Tuesday. The cloud cover along with the unseasonably cold air will result in temperatures struggling to warm out of the 60s, even during the afternoon -- especially Tuesday.
  
  Late in the week, the low pressure system gradually moves east and weakens.

83 degrees Friday. 85 degrees Saturday. So the night of 03 July will be warm, but not oppressively hot. A perfect night for about a million people to head to the lakefront and watch the show. And we aren't just talking about fireworks.

Be careful boys and girls.

Quote of the Year

Priceless:

• A troubled Garfield Park teenager killed when the stolen Jeep he was riding in crashed and caught fire just yards from his home was a good kid who made a bad choice, family friends said Sunday.
  
  
• "People will think, here's a kid who rode in a stolen car and got what he deserved. But if he'd grown up in different circumstances, he could have helped change the world."

And if a frog had wings, he wouldn't bump his ass when he hops.

Here's a clue people (and folks) - life is choices. We are what we make of them. And a parent is supposed to guide those choices, either by example or by taking the child by the hand and directing them to the correct choice. A 13-year-old doesn't just wake up and start taking other peoples automobiles with 4 friends one morning - it just doesn't happen. He sees people stealing, he sees a general disrespect for ownership of assets, he has no boundaries or enforceable limits or self discipline.

That's a failure of parenting. That's a failure of the community.

Sun Times "Reporting"

Silly reporters. They try to get it right, but still have to get their digs in:

• A 19-year-old man was shot by Chicago Police Sunday morning on the South Side's Englewood neighborhood after police said he pointed a weapon at an officer.

  The "offender" was shot by an officer in the 6400 block of South Wood Street about 11:10 a.m., according to police News Affairs. He was taken with a gunshot wound to the leg to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County in good condition.

  Tactical officers working in the Englewood District were conducting a directed mission in the area of West 63rd Street and South Honore Street when they attempted to approach a man believed to have a weapon, according to a Chicago Police release.

The Sun Times actually uses the word "offender" in the report, but puts it in quotes so the reader doesn't actually thing the Sun Times is condoning his "offender-ness."

It would seem that the Tact officers were dead on in their assessment that the suspect had a weapon, seeing as how they shot him after the offender pointed it at them and it was subsequently recovered. Good job all around.

Once a Banger...

...always a banger.

Anyone who's been following the news, may have seen this story this past week:

• A federal jury has awarded $21 million to a man who sued a former Chicago Police officer, accusing the officer of framing him for murder, authorities said.

  Attorneys for Juan Johnson held a news conference to discuss the award, which they said they believed was the largest-ever in a wrongful conviction case involving the city of Chicago.

  [...] Johnson, a reputed Spanish Cobras leader, filed a lawsuit against former Chicago Police gang crimes specialist Reynaldo Guevara, accusing him of framing him with a 1989 murder. The city also was named in the lawsuit.

It seems a number of witnesses changed their testimony on the stand after Johnson already spent 11 years in prison leading to the questionable acquittal. Bottom feeding lawyers twisted the civil trial to their own ends, suppressing information on Johnson's gang banging past and the fact that the FBI of all people "busted Johnson last year for allegedly selling drugs" while he was a member of CeaseFire.

Today, this appears in our comment section - it seems too good to be true:

• 3 more shot today in humboldt park in 2 incidents. the first at 0700 hours. 1 died. the other 2 will live.
  
  the dead guy was in the car of some goof who just won a $21 million verdict against the city.

$21 million (minus bottom feeder fees) and he ends up with a dead body in his car not even six days later? Anyone think the cops had it right all along and the gang bangers have figured out how to game the system? Anyone up for some tort reform?

Hilarious Channel 5 Report

Here's the Sun Times report:

• Taste of Chicago revelers will see more police, and for the first time they'll have to enter at security-heavy entrances in a comprehensive plan Supt. Jody Weis unveiled Thursday designed to quell the violence that landed him on the hot seat last year.
  
  [...] "Folks will feel very safe because they're going to see a police officer on almost every block, and in some instances 20 feet, so we're going to have a very hard presence in terms of letting people know we have a lot of officers in place," he said.

At least the City is acknowledging last year's Taste was screwed up beyond belief. But Channel 5 did a report on this same thing Friday night. And in the background shot behind the reporter standing in the middle of the Taste, describing how tight security was going to be? Three or four jagoffs "throwing up for the nation." We just about died laughing. Channel 5 has thus far refrained from posting this piece.

The fact is, even with secured entrances and high visibility presence, gang bangers and ne'er-do-wells are going to get in. And depending on how they feel like behaving, they are going to cause trouble. There's too much to cover and it's too open. It's big and quite frankly, it has gotten too large to effectively police.

You want to start having nightmares? Think about ten guys with rifles landed at the yacht club walking southwest. It's Mumbai on the Lakefront.

These Are Our Leaders?

We're supposed to impound cars to generate revenue stop crime. Someone even wrote a letter about it. Here's the problem:

• (from the comments) In-service training requires personnel at the academy to do training. Yet everyone screams that the academy is open. Brust orders academy to detail out ten instructors a day with a sgt to work seat belt missions on the south side. The team must impound cars and write tickets. Not to answer calls and make arrests....
  
  6/26/2009 10:10:00 AM

The reality?

• Heard that Brust and Wedster made a traffic stop in 005 the other day, (no pc for the stop other than they didn't like the looks of the driver). The entire entourage of this seat belt mission was in vehicles behind them. One officer was made to search the driver and found two bags a weed. Brust and Wedster wanted the driver locked up for the weed. The officer politely told them that they did not have pc for the arrest and let the driver go.

Arizona v Gant anyone? These are the people that have our backs? One of those people is in charge of the Academy for pete's sake, teaching recruits how to follow the law. And here they are violating a citizen's civil rights in front of the Instructors they're supposed to be leading.

Alder-morons

We can save money by, get this, laying off police!

• Longtime administration loyalists Ray Suarez and Richard Mell suggested it might be time for a cutback in public safety staffing—something that's usually considered a political no-no. “I thought the pain was going to be shared by all city workers,” Suarez griped.

  “If you want, you can introduce a resolution urging layoffs of police and fire,” snapped committee chairman Ed Burke.

  “I know police and fire are sacrosanct, but these are dire times,” Mell said. “When I see cement mixers gone, when I see those people who are out in our communities daily and they’re going to be gone—the ramifications of what we’re doing are a lot more than what we’re seeing right now.”

Hey morons? If you get us a decent contract, you'll have 500 retirements by years end, guaranteed. And since Shortshanks isn't hiring, you'll "save" millions.

Isn't someone going to propose cutting aldercreatures by half? That'd be at least another $100 million savings in salaries, staffing, and slush funding, not to mention the reduction in corruption which could number in the billions.

108 Shot in a Week

Reader in the know. How many did the media report on?

• Ok Scc....Here are the totals for the city in Agg Batts with ONLY handguns for the periods of 19 June-26 June....one full week....I have 108 persons shot and 7 homicides.....That is what I counted off of my blackberry...Bring on the Olympics!!! Zone 8 was like a frigging war zone last night (25 June) there were 4 persons shot in something like 5 mins....and the calls of man w/gun or shots fired were unbelievable!!! I am telling you....108 shot in a week...you do the math as far as how many per day , hour etc.....We live in a war zone...

With knives? Not there. With blunt objects? Nope. Vehicular assaults? Not a one. Just 108 people with more holes in them than they started the week with.

Accountability?

J-Fed old boy, you want to handle this one? We know your head is reeling from the fact she had dope, guns and a convicted gangster stored at a condo in her name, but isn't this a little over the top?

• Aunt B Cuello showed up at the Academy the other nite in civies and no id card.
  F/1 at the desk refused her entry.
  F/1 now dumped.
  
  Hey B is you make a rule, try to follow it yourself!
  
  
• CPD policy states that every officer in plain cloths WILL wear their department I.D. when in a police facility, unless your aunt B the deputy superintendent.
  
  Aunt B comes over the the academy late Wednesday afternoon and is instructed by the female security officer she needs to wear her department I.D. as the signs states when you first walk into the building. Aunt B has no I.D. on her person. Well the security officer is doing her job by the book and the two start to exchange a few words. (the female doesn't know who B is) Aunt B is escorted into the building by a sergeant anyway.
  
  On the way out Aunt B reams the female officer with Maria Maher type screaming and by Friday the female officer is dumped to 004.
  
  Some reward for doing your job by enforcing our policy.

It's the little crap like this that completely undermines anything that comes out of your mouth. Oh, who are we kidding, it's the big stuff, too. And the idiots you surround yourself with.

The Untold Story

The media reports half the facts and thinks they are doing a great job. Here's some disparate pieces of what should have been a much bigger story:

• A boy is dead and four other people -- including two other boys -- remain hospitalized after a Jeep and a van fleeing an armed robbery collided early Friday in the Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side.
  
  A Jeep Cherokee and van collided about 3:30 a.m. at South California Avenue and West Jackson Boulevard -- causing the Jeep to flip and burst into flames, police said.
  
  A boy inside the Jeep was killed and four others from the Jeep were injured and remain hospitalized, including two in critical condition, police said.

So the dead kid turns out to be 13. Out at 3:30? Our radar is beeping that something isn't right here. We read further:

• Two boys -- 13 and 14 -- who were inside the Jeep remained hospitalized as of 10 a.m. with non-life-threatening injuries at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to police...
  

Now we have three teens out at 3:30. Something isn't right. They're all around the same age. We check with another news source:

• Two others, both 15-year-old boys, were at Stroger Hospital this afternoon, where one of them was in critical condition while the other was in serious condition, according to a hospital spokesman.

So, 15, 15, 14, 13, 13. Where's the adult? Or adults? We make one single phone call:

• The SUV turns out to have been stolen

Well that explains why the radar was going off like crazy. They're car thieves. And unfortunately, they were in exactly the right place at the right time to get broadsided by a pair of robbers fleeing the scene of a crime. Let's see the media report that part.

Already, the lib-tards are in the comment sections of the media reports saying, "You can't blame the parents - we all used to sneak out of the house when mom and dad weren't looking." Maybe so. But we don't recall going around boosting cars and flying around the hood. The ability to justify any behavior perpetrated by criminals regardless of age, is astounding of late. The death of personal responsibility continues.

Dumbest Poll Ever?

WGN runs this poll on Friday night:

• Was it appropriate for the former police officers from the 1968 DNC to hold a reunion?

What the hell kind of question is this? Appropriate? These are guys who worked, fought and bled together. If they want to hold a reunion, who the hell is anyone to ask if it's "appropriate?" This is still America, right? The democrats haven't destroyed it yet? We still have freedom of assembly and things like that?

And here's the truly sad part:

• Only 57% agreed it was appropriate

That means 43% of respondents believe that there ought to be restrictions on the rights of people, with whom they have a difference of opinion, to even associate with one another.

Here's some coverage of the protest:

• "No justice, no peace! No riot police!" protesters shouted, some in megaphones, others beating drums in sync. The protesters held signs saying "same stick, different Daley" and "Fight racism! Stop police brutality."

We'd love to see the "Same Stick, Different Daley" made into a t-shirt. We'd buy three. But the "Fight racism!" rings a bit hollow at a 1968 reunion, seeing as how it was mostly white hippie and yippie protesters jumping on a mostly white police force.

Nice Work

The ability is still there. The skills remain. It's just in a reactive mode.

• One person was killed in a shooting tonight on the West Side and police arrested several suspects following a more than seven-mile pursuit that ended in a Southwest Side alley, officials said.

  About 8:20 p.m., police were notified of a person shot near Homan and Ogden Avenues. About 20 minutes later, officials said, a vehicle fleeing the scene from police got boxed in to an alley near 70th Street and Fairfield Avenue.

  Four people bailed from the vehicle, but found themselves surrounded by responding officers a short time later, officials said. A weapon was also confiscated.

Very good work Officers.

Law School Scandal

The Tribune doing some fine reporting for the first time in a bit. John Kass continues his peerless take on it all:

• If there were any doubts that Illinois is the diseased poster child of political corruption, those doubts are long gone.
  
  Friday's story in the Tribune exposes a widening pattern of corruption at the University of Illinois. This time, with the trading of law school admission for patronage-style jobs.
  
  So any doubts about where this state stands should be erased. What remains is the smell.

And what a smell it is. The full Tribune report is here. The internal e-mails released finally prove support to a theory that cops have speculated on for years:

• [Law School Dean Heidi] Hurd's e-mail suggests that students getting the jobs are to be those in the "bottom of the class." Law school rankings depend in part on the job placement rate of graduates.
  
  It wasn't immediately clear if the private sector or government jobs were provided.

Government lawyers, be they Corp Counsel, ASA's or various elected thieves, are usually the bottom of the barrel as far as Law School rankings are concerned. The U of I proves to be no exception to these expectations.

Aldercreature Olympic Vote

Here's how it will go. Our opinion only, but it will be interesting to see how close we are:

• More secret meetings, all in violation of the Open Meetings law. Two, three or four aldercreatures meeting with various administration officials and private influential citizens with a financial interest in the games. Lisa Madigan and Fitzgerald will look the other way.
  
• Promises will be made to certain aldercreatures, especially those with open land to build or existing facilities to be improved with promises of jobs, contracts and kickbacks. It's the Chicago way after all.
• Threats will be conveyed to certain appointed aldercreatures. Daley has appointed around 27 or 28 of the current 50. Markers will be called in and they will vote Daley's way or else.

Remember, all Daley needs is 26 votes. And because too many on the Council owe him their very existence, he will get most of the 26 from this pool. The uprising felt in the wards that actually pay attention to the corrupt process will allow Shortshanks to make gains, too. He can actually give these aldercreatures political cover by allowing them to vote against the Olympic bond and insurance issues. They can cry to their constituents that, "I voted against it! It was all those other greedy bastards!" And by doing this, Daley will be owed yet another favor by these "anti" Olympic aldercreatures anyway.

Anyone see it differently?

Officer Cole Updates

From comments and e-mail:

• OT....I just got back from Visiting Densey Cole at the rehab center. He is alert and talking and has some feeling in his outer extremities. He can feel it when you touch his toes and hands. He will be going to a longer term rehab in Colorado, probably some time next week. He is in as good spirits as the situation will allow, and is looking forward to this next chapter. It was great to see him, and both he and his girlfriend asked me to pass along their thanks at all of the support that they have gotten in all forms. Once we get his info as to mail and e-mail out west it will be passed along. He has a tough road ahead, and he will continue to need our support and prayers. I know, as does he, that he will get that support both now and in the future.
  
  
• Howdy, just left Densey Cole's room. He is getting stronger and actually getting married tomorrow. He will be going to a rehab facility soon, so those who want to see him need to get there in the next week. He would be happy to see anyone, well those who know him, who want to come. I didn't want to put it in a regular post, but I did want you to know it was legit. Cards and letters are definitely a great idea.
  
  visiting hours are 1100-1900, but I got there at 0950 and they let me in no problem.
  
  He also wanted to make sure everyone who was involved right after the accident, to saturating the neighborhoods, to getting his property back, especially to catching the guy, and visiting him a tremendous thank you...

Certainly some welcome news. And married? Congratulations Officer. We'll update when possible.

Back to the Streets (Not?)

Again, a half-baked idea goes awry once implemented due to a complete lack of strategic foresight:

• No radio jobs? No paper jobs? Aren't these police officers? Aren't they sworn and can legally carry a gun, unlike certain unsworn Chiefs of Staff? They just ride along on existing district jobs and with very few exceptions, never do a thing to chip the $200 manicures - and that's just the guys.
• With these seat-fillers, we are getting reports that for the first time in years, Districts are actually able to man a full compliment of Rapid Response cars...except that there aren't any cars to fill! That's right - for at least the fifth straight month, and probably longer, the day began with "no pool cars available citywide."

And now we get this safety issue:

• FYI, I'm a "wheel gunner", who after my 1st "incident", discovered that 6 shots were not enough.....and went w/15 shot 9mm, the next day....I was told today, that my aux. 9mm is expired and MUST only carry, on duty, my.357. Because no auxillary weapons qualifications can be scheduled...I know, it's better to take the "hit", for using my aux.weapon to have the firepower to defend my Brothers and I, but armed only w/my 6 shot, I feel extremely vulnerable, regardless of how well I can shoot it. And to those that say "don't do anything",FU,shit happens!!Just by virtue of donning my vest and Star, I'm in harms way.....To the powers that be I implore you, to let us carry our auxillary weapon as a proper means of defense, when "shit happens"........

If true, then the unbelievable has actually happened - we can't only not carry rifles without jumping through hoops, anyone who hired on before the early 1990's is being required to transition backwards to a revolver in the face of increasing firepower utilized against the police and citizens because the Department can't run a range program to save its life.

Can someone verify that last paragraph?

End of the Line for BQ?

We can only hope so:

• breaking news!!! just confirmed by a very good source that lillie crump in 003 is gone on friday. her, the supe and the first had a meeting that didnt go very well. she will be sent back down to her civil service rank.. this is just an inside rumor but if you ask the right people im sure you will find it confirmed. this comes from a very good 5th floor insider. I also talked to a guy in three who knows that lillie went to the closed door meeting and was extremly flustered when returning to the district. its all adding up now. hopefully she enjoys her last few days.

If any of this is true, it would seem that J-Fed is actually doing the job he should have been doing about a year-and-a-half ago by interviewing some of the mopes he "put" in charge. We all know that J-Fed actually had zero input into his command staff - how could he? He didn't know anyone aside from Peterson.

We are actually surprised that Masters (oops - another CR number) is letting him off his leash and loosening the blindfold so J-Fed can see what he's been taking a beating for on the blogs.

Creepy Singer Dead

Now is the chance for SVU to Exceptionally Clear/Close just about every unsolved case in the archives.

As Jackson aged, he not only changed his entire facial structure, he got paler and paler, so he'll fit the description of the unnamed offender 80 or more percent of the time.

The overall clearance rate would triple overnight.

Englewood Killing

Just about every specialized unit working in Englewood or the surrounding districts, manpower pulled from damn near every district in the city, and still, violence abounds:

• A 9-year-old girl was killed and three other people were wounded when an unknown shooter or shooters opened fire from a van on a crowded block on the South Side Wednesday night.

  The young victim was identified by her family as Chastity Turner, who was just beginning her summer vacation after 3rd grade and was staying with her father at her grandmother's house when the shooting occurred.

  Police confirmed at a news conference at the scene in the 7400 block of South Stewart Avenue that a 9-year-old girl had died in the shooting.

Another warm couple of days building to the weekend.

Federal Money = More Cops?

The question is "when?"

• Chicago Police officials are hoping to hire up to 150 officers this year with federal grant money, Supt. Jody Weis said Tuesday.

  In the meantime, Weis is putting about 300 additional officers on the street this summer by shifting them from desk jobs or paying overtime with federal grants.

So wait a minute...we're shorthanded?

And they are paying time-and-one-half to work the Taste of Chicago?

Things aren't looking up any time soon either seeing as how there aren't but 46 recruits in the Academy, no class is scheduled the rest of the summer, the Range is shut down for lead contamination and won't be open for shooting for months...how are we supposed to get anyone trained up?

We also heard that auxiliary qualifications aren't happening, rifle qualifications have slowed to a crawl, and transition courses are nonexistent. We can only hope that one day soon, we'll enter the 19th century of policing.

Secret Meetings

Has anyone involved ever heard of the Open Meetings Act?

• Just two days after Chicago 2016 Chairman Patrick Ryan tried to put off public hearings with angry aldermen about plans for financing the Olympic Games, he came to City Hall on Wednesday to allay their concerns in a series of closed-door meetings.

  As he tried to calm City Council members who complained Mayor Richard Daley was keeping them in the dark about potential liability for taxpayers, Ryan and a Daley spokeswoman denied the private briefings would prevent the public from knowing what aldermen were being told.

The head of a private foundation dedicated to spending almost $5 billion in taxpayer money holding secret meetings with the people who are supposed to represent and safeguard the public interest and control the purse strings?

Time to yank the plug on these assholes. Call them and let them know you are supporting viable candidates to oppose them in every instance.

Blood Shortage

Thank goodness crime is down or we'd have a big problem on our hands:

• There is a real emergency for a county hospital emergency room. The uptick in violence is literally draining the blood supply.
  
  
• The blood bank showed us the eight units of O-negative blood that are left. Only three of the units are designated for trauma patients, though. Any more outbreaks of violence on the streets pose a threat here.
  
  "Tonight we may be in a very tough situation," Dr. Dennis said. "Because we're that short on O-negative blood."
  
  O-negative is the universal donor type and anyone can accept it when seconds count.

We, along with others, have noticed the BloodMobile popping up at Districts and cruising the Medical Districts on the south and west sides looking for donations on the street. The local hospitals are stretched way too thin in terms of blood supplies due to the surge in aggravated batteries that don't seem to be reported in the news too often. A nurse friend said that her hospital has been canceling elective surgeries to keep from using blood supplies.

It's amazing how cops seem to be able to connect all the dots that the media can't. Or won't.

What Could Possibly Happen?

It's not like he's risking any personal money:

• The head of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics has rushed to assure city taxpayers and city council members that it's unlikely they'll be on the hook for millions in case the games turn out to be a financial flop.
  
  Patrick Ryan said Monday that the risk of taxpayers' money in Chicago bid is "improbable.''
  
  Bid organizers met with the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland last week. The meeting included a promise from Chicago Mayor Richard Daley that he'd sign a host city contract, which assures the city will take full financial responsibility for the games.

"Improbable"? No, Mr. Ryan. What is "improbable" is a City contract awarded in Daley's Chicago that actually comes in on-time, under-budget and fully functional as designed. Off the tops of our heads, we can't think of a single instance. Ever.

Daley and his spokesweasel Jackie Heard are now spinning so fast, they could power Chicago for a year based on their RPM's lately:

• After initially questioning the need, Mayor Richard Daley has decided to discuss the controversy over Chicago's Olympic bid contract with aldermen in a public forum, his spokeswoman said today.

  “The mayor understands the City Council is a critical partner in this endeavor,” Daley spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard said. “They’ve raised concerns. They have questions. So we will put the matter before council again.”

  Whether the session is informational or involves another vote “would be a determination that the City Council members would have to make.”

  A day earlier, Heard had said the mayor did not have to take the issue before the council again. That changed today.

So this is pretty much the last voice the public will have in an almost $5 BILLION bid for the Olympics that is sure to balloon to over $15 BILLION in the years to come. Remember, that initial bid is a full year of City resources committed to the Olympics in it's entirety. Nothing, and we mean NOTHING else gets paid for without a massive tax increase. Once the costs spiral out of control, we'll be looking at tax hikes of unimaginable proportions, even with Washington's help.

So call your aldercreatures. Here's a link with a handy list of phone numbers. Make the call and spread the word.

Blog 501?

So has John Henry and Pat Camden's embarrassment of a Department blog finally collapsed? We'd check it, but we don't give them traffic as a matter of policy. We'll get a homeless bum at the library to check it out and report back.

In the meantime, this is popping up in the comment sections:

• Blog501 is going online in order to provide CPD members with credible news, accurate information and an open and honest forum to post questions. J-Fed asks that you put in your PC# to post comments. This will be a VERY significant blog. Not like that other insignificant one.
  
  Mike Masters

So the Department is starting another blog? Credible news, accurate information and an open, honest forum for questions? And all you have to do is enter your PC#? Hahahaha!!! Oh lord. Hahahahahahahahaha!!!

Um...wasn't that what J-Fed's Town Hall Meeting were for? Are they admitting that everything that came before was bullshit, lies, smoke and mirrors?

Between Shaved, SecondCitySarge, Rue and your humble servants here, you get the real pulse of the Department 24-7-365. The Department doesn't want any of us to have credible, accurate or timely information. The Department wants mushrooms - raised in the dark and fed horseshit. Weis, Brust, Masters and the rest don't even have to send out to the stables for their Grade-A horse crap.

UPDATE: According to our homeless correspondent, the "official" Department blog is still up and running. Of course, it hasn't been updated since the 15 April. And it didn't even have a single remembrance for Officer Valadez. Not one. For that reason alone, the "official" blog should be put out of its misery. It's an embarrassment. And Henry and Camden ought to be ashamed.

No More 'Splaining for You

Commander Martinez, dumped from 014 to 002, midnights.

Escalante from Bomb and Arson takes the helm.

Supposedly the first of a number of directed dumps about to shake up the exempt ranks. Again. Nothing like consistency in upper management to let everyone know that the situation is completely under control.

Pay no attention to the machinations behind the curtain! We've got your back! Nothing to see here! Move along!

Officer Cole Needs Help

Via CFD Lt. Jim McMahon (retired):

• Doctor said cards are needed for visual help. A note, inspirational card, balloon anything like that Jim. Blessings to all of you. Mrs. Cole (Denzey's mother).
  
  Please send to:
  P.O. Densey Cole II
  RML Specialty Hospital 5601 S. County Line Road
  Hinsdale, IL 60521

It only take a few minutes of time, a trip to the card store and a stamp.

Two Years Probation

Abbate sentenced. And if we recall correctly, receives the exact same sentence that Cozzi got prior to his being jackpotted by J-Fed:

• A Chicago police officer was sentenced to two years probation today for pummeling a woman who was tending bar.

  Anthony Abbate -- who declined to say anything to the judge before he was sentenced -- could have gotten up to five years for beating Karolina Obrycka in February of 2007. The attack was captured by the bar's security camera and the video was shown around the world.

  Judge John Fleming said he decided against jail time, explaining he did not believe the crime was serious enough and that throwing Abbate in prison would not be a deterrent to others.

And the police haters are out in force at the various media links. Click on them at your own risk.

And any civilians or media types looking to start shit, just about every single reader here deplored Abbate's actions and called for his firing. We also uncovered numerous instances where Abbate should have been fired before or never even hired. It was the political structure that permitted this aberration to occur, not the men and women who serve and protect honorably day in and day out.

Technical Difficulties

A server crash on blogger froze us up last night. We couldn't moderate comments, post updates, or schedule new material. And there was was also no way to let everyone know either. But we're back, we're recovering articles and we'll be posting last night's stuff shortly. Thanks for your patience.

Last night's posts should appear below this one in a little while.

Safety Alert

Shooting at the police:

• A person was in custody this morning after allegedly firing at officers who were investigating a shooting on the South Side.
  
  Police said they did not return fire and no one was injured. Officers recovered a 9mm handgun and a M-16 rifle after chasing down the suspect at 6120 S. St. Lawrence around midnight, police said.
  
  Officers were in the area, questioning several people about a previous shooting, when the suspect was seen firing in the officers' direction, police said. The shooter fled in a car, then jumped out and began running, police said.

They either don't know or don't care that police are in the neighborhood and are blazing away with whatever they have. Watch yourself.

Vacancies Available

A couple comments say that there are over 900 beds open in the jail.

Everyone remembers the sanctions placed against the Sheriff's office for the overcrowding issues at County a few years back? Inmates were bunking 3 and 4 to a cell along with camping out in the gyms and even on the open grounds during warm months.

This goes hand-in-hand with the story of Dart thanking Donahue for solving his overcrowding problem. Arrests are supposedly down almost 50% from two years ago. The Department and the City have almost completely beaten the desire to do work out of coppers. It's amazing how far and how fast this job has fallen. The current leadership is utterly clueless - and we mean pretty much everyone wearing a gold star.

EPA Shutting Down Stations?

This is amusing:

• O.T...LMAO! new quote of the day. The EPA was here in 011 and did a surprise inspection, when said officer advised said Agent that, all questions should be directed to HQ she related.... "Daley will hear about this and he'll fix it." I think I hurt myself laughing so hard..
  LIFM

An e-mail, also from 011, said the EPA was looking for lead content violations in the Range and something about battery disposal.

No word yet from 025 if ancient Indian burial grounds qualify the entire facility for EPA Superfund assistance.

Bloody Weekend

At least 46 people shot.

At least 6 dead (we aren't sure if that's in addition to the 46 or part of the 46).

Someone can tell us if they count the "weekend" as Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, but the totals make the rate at either just under or just over 1 casualty per hour.

Warm weather. And getting warmer.

UPDATE: Counting the robberies where the victim caught a round or more, the total number of people shot seems to have climbed to 60+.

What Exactly Did He "Merit"?

Back when the list for Sergeants came out, it was noted that J-Fed's driver somehow snagged one of the "merit" spots. It was asked, but never answered, how exactly driving around J-Fed qualified this person for anything? Was he extra good at avoiding potholes? Was the coffee and bran muffin always exactly the correct temperature when J-Fed arrived in the SUV? Perhaps the passenger side mirrors were always in the correct position so J-Fed could check the hair and flex a little before getting in the ride?

Now comes this word:

• In response to a previous post stating that the Supt's driver who was promoted to Sgt, is driving to training at the academy in one of the Supt's unmarked cars... Not only has this guy been hanging around HQ when he's supposed to be in class like every other person on that list, whatever the reason he is driving a CPD vehicle, on the City's dime, so he can attend training classes for a "merit" promotion is BS.
  
  I read the posts about his continued use of the car because its a freebie of his unit until he is transfered as a new Sgt. Kids, all I wonder about is his JUDGEMENT. Where is his superior JUDGEMENT?
  
  Apparently he doesn't have much. Apparently he doesn't "get it" that he already has a red flag because he was promoted for being a driver to the Supt. Spending city money on gas to drive to and from training is a slap in every PO's face that is in his class. What a buffoon. He is obviously arrogantly stupid. He would rather save a few dollars on gas than earn the respect of his class mates and the officers whom he will be released to the streets to supervise. Too bad he doesn't have that kind of judgement. I wouldn't be surprised if he lacked better judgement in other areas.

We've seen the comments posted that, "...well he's only detailed to the Academy for training. He's still assigned to HQ, so he gets the car..." Bullshit. Wrong message to be sending. He's not being called out of class to drive J-Fed...though according to the first paragraph, he's spending quite a bit of time at HQ during training hours, so we'll take that to mean he already either (A) knows everything already or (B) won't be a street supervisor - which is probably a good thing.

We'll bet on B. This is an abject demonstration of exactly what is wrong with the "merit" system. The message we're getting here is "supervisor training is a joke, there are two sets of rules, I'm better than the rest of you chumps." Where is the judgment we're supposed to be emulating? Where are the leadership qualities? Where is the shame?

We'll also bet that the so-called "accountability" noises coming out of Patrol don't apply in this case. Nice pick J-Fed.

Telander Spanks Daley Again

Geez, Daley has to be feeling some of these body blows:

• The most dangerous four words in the world are these: Trust me this time.

  That's what you hear from Mayor Daley and his 2016 Olympic-bid cronies. Those four words.

  Forget the incessant city scandals that Daley knows ''nuttin' about.'' Forget the Daley relatives and pals lined up ass-to-elbow, snorting at the money trough. Forget the lakefront airport torn up in the middle of the night, the neighborhoods where school kids have as good a chance of getting shot as going to a four-year college, the police department that has had its morale ripped up and beaten to a pulp.

  Forget -- dear God -- the parking-meter fiasco that will saddle our progeny with debt for so many years to come that you don't even want to mention street parking to any optimistic citizen under the age of 40.

We don't know how much it will actually affect the outcome. We're sure the bribes have all been paid (from the "rainy day fund" and whoever collected the premiums on the "insurance policies" Daley has up his sleeve for "overages) and the deals have been struck. Hopefully an enterprising reporter will be exposing the background of the upcoming Olympic scandals for years to come.

As Telander notes, the Chicago Olympic bid is $4.8 billion. By comparison, the entire City of Chicago budget is just a shade under $6 billion. Daley is committing almost 80% of an entire year's worth of budget to a sporting event that was never even offered to the voters for an opinion. That's no money for jobs, social programs, building, clean-up, pensions, schools, whatever, for one entire year out of the next seven. Spent on a one-time blow out sporting event that will strain resources and put heretofore unknown pressures on an infrastructure that is already crumbling.

Oh, and the London games of 2012? The bid was about $4 billion (2.4 billion pounds). The latest estimate? About $32 billion (almost 20 billion pounds), a cost overrun TEN TIMES the bid amount. And that's in London, not Chicago, with its storied history of crooked construction contracting, fake minority front companies and connected subcontracting where everyone and their uncle gets a piece.

We are so screwed.

No Accountability

Not in the Department, not in the political structure, not in the schools:

• A startling number of children are falling through the cracks at one Chicago Public School. More than half of the kids didn't even pass the eighth grade. As CBS 2's Jim Williams reports there is fierce debate about who's to blame.
  
  It is a debate that has gone on for years in poor communities: do you blame the schools for the students' poor performance or do you blame their parents?
  
  
• It was a disastrous year for the eighth grade at the south side Bradwell Elementary school in a tough neighborhood with high poverty. More than half the class, 44 of 77 students, did not graduate.

We'd say there's plenty of blame too go around. But more likely than not, everyone will talk talk talk and nothing will change. The "parents" are too used to relinquishing any actual responsibility for raising responsible human beings, the schools are a bloated bureaucracy in hock to the Teachers Union and the political masters are too beholden to soft money donations from the unions and too scared to take the strong stand that would cost them votes. So everyone will make noises and little Johnny will be "socially promoted" without knowing how to read, write, or do math.

But they'll still be allowed to vote, continuing the cycle of destruction.

Happy Father's Day

Whether you're sitting around watching golf, on an outing with the kids, or just sitting around having a cold one while running the BBQ, have a great day.

Happy Father's Day Dad! We know you're reading this instead of relaxing.

Light Sunday Posting

Not much in the way of news today. Though if someone from the Academy wants to tell us what "Tri-River" is, we're all ears.

Otherwise, open post.

K9 List

That thing is under lock and key.

However, letters went out last week to everyone who took the tests and the last rumor heard is a fall class after the summer festival season.

Sergeants graduate around the end of the month. Was there a Detective "merit" letter floating around?

It seems there is no way J-Fed is going to get the promotions and hiring done that he talked about in his PAX 501. Ah well, another in a long series of lies.

Casualties Count?

Does anyone know if we'll every see the true numbers? The media is still sitting on a few:

• At least one man was reported stabbed during an altercation at the Fiesta Puertorriquenas festival in Humboldt Park Saturday night, officials said.

  A 25-year-old man was stabbed in the park near West Evergreen and North California Avenues about 8:30 p.m., said Fire Department spokesman Quention Curtis.

• A man believed to be in his 20s was shot and critically wounded this evening at an intersection in the Humboldt Park area.

  About 7 p.m. the victim was in his vehicle in the 1600 block of North Western Avenue when he was shot by an occupant in what was described as a black Honda, Chicago police said.

There may have been more incidents prior to publishing and the roving gang fights seem standard. Any coppers working it have some first hand stories?

County Corruption Continues

With a bit of levity tossed in:

• The ever outspoken William Beavers says fellow Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool — in a shocker announcement this week — decided against running for County Board President because he’s a “born loser” who doesn’t have a shot at the top job.

  Beavers admits ally and incumbent Todd Stroger has a bit of an uphill battle to retain his seat, but said today he thinks Claypool dropped out because he knew the odds were against him.

This from a guy who compares himself to porcine testicles.

In any case, Claypool is rumored to be joining up with some health care consortium that stands to make millions in Obama money, so that means he's been bought off, leaving the field open for some Machine hack to bump off the Toddler.

Can someone remind us again what the purpose is of Cook County government? Their every function is performed somewhere else for less money and without half-a-dozen of Todd's relatives sucking up a six-figure salary.

Roland Burris - Moron

We thought this was a joke when we first heard it:

• How lame of a Senator is Roland Burris, the hack brought in by Illinois’ indicted ex-governor to take Barack Obama’s seat? The guy has himself an appointment to the Armed Services Committee. Which means he oversees the Pentagon, in theory. But during last week’s proceedings of that committee, Burris seemed genuinely shocked to discover that the Defense Department devoted so much time and money to science and technology.

  "You’re saying that [the armed] services have their own research laboratories going?” he asked Zachary Lemnios, the administration’s nominee to be the Director of Defense Research and Engineering — the Pentagon’s geek-in-chief. Then he asked Lemnios — pronouncing his name “Leonis” — the follow-up question you’d expect from a son of the Chicago Machine: So does that mean you’re the guy in charge of all that research cash?

So where does Roland think all these weapons come from? They don't exist on shelves. Russia doesn't own them and sell them to us. There aren't any "magical" weapon factories - except those that the United States owns and operates - to produce smart weapons, stealth craft and almost "SkyNet" type systems.

This is the best and brightest our political class has to offer to represent Illinois in the US Senate? We certainly hope voters are paying attention.

Once Again...

Just a friendly word of advice:

• We seldom censor comments, seldom meaning about 93% of what readers submit goes through. Certain words, phrases, names-calling gets banned right away. Repetitive comments, thousand-word manifestos, overly long quoting of previous posts is judged on a case by case basis. It a labor intensive job, but we enjoy it and we've got plenty of help.
  
  We've also stated in the past that we have readers on 6 continents. We cannot prove, nor do we intend to prove, that any particular commentator is, was or might one day be a Chicago Cop. Certain persons admit to their identity as current or former cops, but most don't. And as we appreciate our current anonymity, so we respect those who choose to remain nameless.
  
  It is in the vein that we once again feel compelled to issue our standard semi-annual warning - advocating or participating in any sort of job action is punishable under Department Rules, Regulations, General Order and FOP Contract by termination. As we've stated, it would be hard to prove anyone who typed such a comment on an anonymous internationally accessible blog was doing anything but howling at the moon. But in a roll call room? In a processing room? Over a PDT? The walls have ears. So do the cars, the attached cameras and the mysterious talking radios that have long been rumored to have a switch that can listen to in-car conversations.
  
  Be careful.
  

Media Discovers Correlation

And since it's from the New York Times, you know it has to be rock solid!

• Seven homicides in New York City. None connected in any way but this: They happened during the summer months, when the temperatures rise, people hit the streets, and New York becomes a more lethal place.

  There were more homicides in September than in any other month last year: 52. Next highest was August, with 51. Variations, of course, exist. There were 48 homicides last March, for instance.

  Still, the prime time for murder is clear: summertime.

Wow. We're speechless. All those years and decades of police work and observing the human condition in all its stages, and we finally hear the truth from the New York Times.

Hahahahahaha

Is there anything funnier than Jackie Heard looking like the most out-of-touch spokeswoman in history?

• Mayor Richard Daley may have smoothed the waters in Switzerland this week by dropping his refusal to sign the International Olympic Committee's standard host-city contract. But his abrupt -- and unilateral -- decision to place the full financial responsibility for the 2016 Summer Games on the city has touched off a storm at home.
  
  Daley may not have anticipated the local reaction, because a day after he asserted that there was no reason to consult with aldermen on this commitment, his spokeswoman said the mayor would indeed meet with the City Council.
  
  Aldermen and civic leaders are railing against a perceived lack of information on how Daley could make that pledge and still say the city's liability will not exceed the $500 million guarantee agreed to earlier.

And why would Daley ever feel there was a need to consult with the City Council? He appointed over half of them to their seats. He owns them. They've been nothing but a rubber stamp for years now. Remember the parking meter fiasco from last week? That was approved by something like 42-4 or some other such nonsense with barely a whimper. How about the last 10 City budgets? Unanimous or one short of unanimous.

The rumblings of dissent grow louder...and this time, it's voters.

Why Is It...

...that high ranking officials of the Daley administration always seem to end up on the suspicious side of deals too good to be true?

• Former Chicago emergency management chief Cortez Trotter's consulting firm had contracts with companies owned by David Hernandez, a convicted felon currently on the run from federal charges he ran a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of $11 million.

  Trotter, who was Chicago's first African-American fire commissioner before being promoted to chief emergency officer, said he met Hernandez at a Christmas party and was later contacted by him about establishing a business relationship.

So did Trotter make any money in the deal?

• "It should be made clear that I had no involvement in any of Mr. Hernandez's financial dealings with any of his companies or any of his investors," Trotter said. "Like many others, the most recent checks written to me bounced.

We like how he studiously avoided any mention of the checks written before the rubber ones. Anyone want to bet how many checks cleared?

WGN Radio Poll

Interesting:

• Do you trust Mayor Daley to run an Olympics that won't cost the taxpayers too much money?

So far the totals are running 86.5% to 13.5% against the mayor.

Click the link up above and look down the right hand side of the website to vote.

What Missile Shield?

We'll bet the citizens of Hawaii feel so much safer today knowing that the Obama Administration is declining to fund research in to ballistic missile defense:

• North Korea may launch a long-range ballistic missile towards Hawaii on American Independence Day, according to Japanese intelligence officials.

  The missile, believed to be a Taepodong-2 with a range of up to 4,000 miles, would be launched in early July from the Dongchang-ni site on the north-western coast of the secretive country.

  Intelligence analysts do not believe the device would be capable of hitting Hawaii's main islands, which are 4,500 miles from North Korea.

"Not capable yet" should be the quote. But every launch brings new data to increase range and function of the missile systems. The Pentagon is worried:

• Gates, speaking at the same news conference, said the Pentagon is concerned about the possibility of a North Korean missile launch "in the direction of Hawaii."

  Gates told reporters at the Pentagon he has sent the military's ground-based mobile missile system to Hawaii, and positioned a radar system nearby. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in their last stage of flight.

Seems that a number of challenges are being tossed our way. But since the US has already telegraphed a non-response, we don't see any of this boding well for US influence.

Higgins Lands Another Shot

Who the hell gave Higgins the testicle transplant?

For that matter, what bi-polar mental patient is running the Sun Times? On one hand you have Spielman regurgitating Jackie Heard pap about the mayor feeling bad about his nephew's business dealings where he made off with millions while losing millions more. Then you have Fusco and Novak going to town on the corruption angle. Now Higgins has posted three cartoons in 10 days or so all but calling Daley a corrupt thieving politician - which we and our readers have been doing for years.

Daley Lied....Again

Gee, we called this years ago. And so did half our readership:

• Mayor Daley finally sounds ready to give the International Olympic Committee the financial guarantee it is seeking.

  The mayor told reporters in Switzerland that he’ll sign a host city contract with the committee putting taxpayers on the hook for any financial losses if the city wins the summer 2016 games — even as some aldermen grumbled Daley is exceeding his authority.

Jackie Heard is spinning so fast that if you wrapped her in copper wire and surrounded her with magnets, she could power Chicago for a month:

• Back in Chicago, mayoral press secretary Jacquelyn Heard stressed that Chicago 2016 has come up with a series of guarantees and private funding formulas for the proposed $4.8 billion game plan, so taxpayers won’t be footing the bill.

Unfortunately for Jackie, the record shows something completely at odds with her contentions:

• Daley initially vowed that not a dime of taxpayer dollars would be spent on the 2016 games, but after the last election — and a prod by the United States Olympic Committee to “put some skin in the game” — the City Council approved the financing.

And guess what? There are PILES of money lying around. Piles that should be funding our contract, our retro and our pensions:

• The net already includes: a $450 million “rainy day fund;” as much as $375 million in IOC cancellation insurance; an additional $500 million in insurance coverage, a state guarantee of $250 million and a “last-resort” $500 million guarantee of taxpayer money from the city of Chicago.

Here's what ought to happen:

• The Pension Fund, or a member of it, needs to file a lawsuit in Federal Court demanding that these "rainy day" monies be used to fund existing pension liabilities. The pension must be funded by State law;
• Gannon's people need to march. They are actually talking about 1,500 layoffs and pay cuts while Daley sits on billions? Step up;
• The FOP better have an ace up it's sleeve that guarantees retro or face the possibility of being dissolved as the bargaining representative. Daley has all this money and we're getting screwed?

Government has obligations. Those obligations must be paid for before spending money on some ridiculous waste of time like the Olympics just to assuage Daley's swelled ego.

This would be exactly the time for someone to start a run for mayor based on a "Daley lied" mantra. He's vastly exceeding his authority it would seem and when these construction contracts start rolling through the City Council, we'd hope that the Feds have everyone wired up the ass for deals and quid pro quos. The challenger could also run on a "referendum" platform that would submit the question of an Olympics to the voting public and then when it loses, refuse to spend a dime on the entire event.

And a Chief Shall Lead Us

Would you follow this leader into battle?

That's an impressive head dress to say the least.

Accountability Disconnect

The more you read and digest Dugan's letter, the funnier it seems:

• As I expect you to hold your Watch Commanders accountable, I am holding you accountable for your Command.

And then we wonder about certain incidents where no one seems to be held accountable:

• The Burger Queen carries a loaded pistol through an airport checkpoint. Going through the archives, at least 3 regular citizens are facing Felony UUW charges and federal prosecution for this same thing, but the Burger Queen gets covered for by none other than Ric Flair's wife and doesn't even miss her plane. Accountability? Negative 2;
• A property owned by The Bartender is used to store guns, a largish quantity of narcotics, and a convicted felon. The ensuing CR investigation is strangled and dead by dinner time the exact same day. Accountability? Negative 1;
• J-Fed's Chief of Staff, appointed by the mayor to keep an eye on shit lest the hired feeb actually think he's in charge, is out making arrests with a gun he's not allowed to own, accompanied by a member of J-Fed's inner circle policy group. Accountability? Negative 2 again.
• And speaking of the Burger Queen, shouldn't someone be held accountable for the 55 listed openings in 2 periods? It's not like 003 has been hit by a wave of retirements. People don't want to work there - guess why?

You want accountability? How about making a few sacrificial lambs out of gold stars on the altar of accountability?

Here are Some Ideas

Typical Department mentality - ask a bunch of bought and paid for double-and-triple "merit" appointees how we're going to raise morale, do police work and inspire the troops. Never the street guys and gals who might actually have some real insight into what the problems are.

Here's a few free suggestions they're welcome to steal since we're sure they didn't come up with anything original at Wednesday's meeting. We'll skip the obvious ones like more manpower, running cars, operational computers - those are fantasies we aren't going to see any time soon.

• Define "merit." We know they won't, but it'd be nice to see what it actually entails and how low people are willing to stoop to get it;
• Get rid of the District missions. They accomplish nothing except to bury us in backlogs;
• Revamp the call taking system. Step up to the plate and be willing to tell the morons who call about their child "disrespecting" them it isn't a police matter - it's a matter of you being a fucking parent;
• Same thing with anonymous disturbances involving nonsense;
• And landlord tenant crap;
• No affidavit, but officers are still identified? And it stays in your jacket as "not sustained" for 7 years? What a pile of crap. No complainant, no investigation, no identified officers. Fix it;
• SPARs going up the chain in pencil with a "recommendation," then back down the chain with what a Deputy Chief will approve, then back up the chain with the agreed to penalty? This seems to be an end-around the schedule of penalties;
• You want impounds and revenue generation masquerading as police work? Open up the OT opportunities again. We remember getting two and three appearances a week at impound court. When the opportunities dried up, so did the impounds. You get what you pay for;
• Lose AIRA and Automated Arrest, fire those responsible for this atrocity, pay someone who knows what they are doing to create a system that doesn't take three times longer to fill out on a computer than it does to write paper.

And that's just for starters. Implement even two of these and someone will go down in history as the greatest boss ever.

UPDATE: Title corrected

Riot Reunion

The Tribune is picking up on the upcoming event:

• The violent clashes between police and protesters during the 1968 Democratic National Convention aren't typically considered proud moments in Chicago history.
  
  But some members of the Fraternal Order of Police want to change that. On June 26, the Chicago police union will hold a "Chicago Riot Cops Reunion" at its hall to set straight "what really happened," according to the reunion's Web site.
  
  "The only thing that stood between Marxist street thugs and public order was a thin blue line of dedicated, tough Chicago police officers," the Web site says. "Chicago police officers who participated in the riots continue to endure unending criticism -- all of which is unwarranted, inaccurate and wrong."

Most polls taken at the time showed widespread support for the police actions that week. It was only with the passing of time and a politically motivated witch hunt that blame was affixed to a supposed "police riot." Not mentioned anywhere were the months of threats by yippie and hippie groups, the outright provocations, the bags of urine and feces hurled at police. The entire event was rewritten as some heroic struggle against the system instead of a bunch of overly rich spoiled college anarchists intent on being as disruptive as possible.

Our predecessors still have our utmost respect for the fine job they did in 1968. Full info on the reunion over at this link.

Results of the Meeting

Exclusive video from inside the walls of 35th Street:



We're all going to look really scary and mean! That's sure to do the trick!

Big Meeting Day!

In Dugan's letter, he announces a very important meeting:

• In the next couple of days, I expect Area Deputy Chiefs and the ADS SFG to meet with your respective District/Unit Commanders and kick around ideas to accomplish the mission. Wednesday afternoon I will be meeting with the Deputy Chiefs to discuss what ideas you have come up with.

This is it! This is the big day! This is where our "WARRIOR LEADERS" determine the entirely new direction the Department will be taking! We are shivering with anticipation.

Of course, if this is like the last few meetings held downtown, Commanders won't be allowed to bring up issues like manpower shortages, equipment breakdowns and unrealistic expectations on an overburdened Patrol Division:

• Don't let our previous ways of doing things get in the way of your creative ideas. I'm really tired of hearing "we can't do it because...." You have the mission, how are we going to get it done?

He's "really tired if hearing "we can't do it because..."" How about listening to the "because" and address that? That isn't whining - that's someone explaining the limits of human endurance, the assets required for a satisfactory job completion, prioritizing of jobs, and the frustration of coppers who have to execute the "mission" within an artificial time limit that doesn't take into consideration the reality on scene.

Prediction - not one single exempt member will stand up and say, "We are unable to accomplish the mission with the assets currently available." J-Fed, Bea, Dan, Jimmy won't allow that - they'll make noises and threaten to find someone who will "get the job done if you can't," completely disregarding that the next poor sap will have learned only to tell them what they want to hear and invent new and improved excuses for the shortfalls at the next "accountability" meeting.

The problem is the mission. At some point, we have to stop trying to go over the mountain and find a path around it. It might take a bit longer, but it's easier, the scenery is nicer and you end up where you wanted to be anyway. Again, this is a failure of leadership. Nothing less.

Disturbing Report

The recent police shooting in the 010 District was a very good job by the involved officers. However, a comment here brings into question Department intentions once again:

• It is being reported by some of our readers that a DNA sample was acquired from the officer discharging his weapon.

The FOP posted a letter about this when the Department first proposed collecting DNA samples from officers and advised against it. The main trouble is that your DNA sample, once collected, goes into the statewide database along with all the convicted felons and sex offenders and pretty much exists there for eternity.

In this case, it's a straightforward shooting, offenders in custody, weapon recovered, why on earth does the Department need to collect DNA? The only reason we can see for it is to set a precedent for violating not only your contractual rights, but the Rights guaranteed to each American citizen under the US Constitution.

Let's lay this out here - the Officer is a VICTIM. He was menaced with a weapon. A VICTIM being asked to provide DNA in a case that has nothing to do with biological evidence is ridiculous. We realize that being ridiculous is nothing new to the Department, but this is beyond the pale, everyday ridiculousness. As we are aware, there is no policy regarding DNA collection of officers and attempts to do so are attempts to circumvent the contractual protections your rights.

Anyone who tries to justify this by saying commenting along the lines of, "If you're innocent, you have nothing to fear" will be deleted without fail. Americans don't have to prove innocence - the State has to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. You might feel comfortable giving away your Constitutional Rights. We don't. And we don't want anyone else giving them away for us either.

A Well Made Point

We have some pretty astute readers:

• a Harrison District mobile strike force squad car tried to stop a vehicle near Independence Boulevard and Polk Street, but the vehicle instead sped away and got on the eastbound Eisenhower Expressway, Bay said. The vehicle exited the highway on Halsted and headed south to Taylor, where it collided with a police squad car.
  
  It was unclear if the police car involved in the crash was the same one that initially pursued the vehicle from the West Side.
  
  Police have four people in custody in connection with the incident and charges are pending. Investigators also recovered two guns on the Eisenhower in the area of the chase.
  
  ------------------
  
  Similar scenario.
  
  Except this time the car races away down Independence onto the Eisenhower Expressway.
  
  The offender's car crashes into a family of four returning from grandma's house in Oak Park, killing everyone except, of course, the offenders.
  
  No gun is found in the car. The driver of the offender's car has a traffic warrant.
  
  Dugan gives a press conference.
  
  What does he say?
  
  Does he use the word "warriors" in his statement to the press?

Well played. Especially if the chase happens so quickly that the "balancing test" can't be applied.

Somehow, the words "under," "bus," "discipline," and "termination" come to mind quite quickly though. We wonder why that is?

Smoke

Still waiting for the mirrors:

• Big meeting with Tact Lts & Sgts by Jackson, Dugan, etc. From here on until further notice, my sgt told us, all tact, midnight tact, mission teams, GEU, gun teams, everyone will be working in uniform so the public perceives more police on the street. The bosses admitted to being about 500 cops down from authorized strength and they're afraid of a spike in violent crime. They told the supervisors that homicides and shootings were either even or a bit down from last year and they want to prevent the spike.
  And this will accomplish what? My sgt said he thought they were going to "take the gloves" off and let us be the police. Oh well, more smoke and mirrors on the horizon.

Does anyone else get the feeling that part of the reason we don't have a contract is because the Department is scared shitless that once it's signed, we'll have 200 retirements the next day instead of over the next four months? There's no way in hell they can absorb that manpower hit with the summer months coming on.

In any case, this 90 days in uniform? Rearranging the deck chairs. Again.

LUCIO! You Got Some Splaining to Do

From the comments:

• Lucio signed off on a liquor permit for the Puerto Rican fest for the first time in 30 years. They are going to have a "beer garden."
  
  Is there anyone left from the 1970s who can show us how order was restored last time?

Pray for lots of rain.

Someone tell us again how this guy made exempt?

UPDATE: E-mailers have confirmed with the Area HQ that Lucio's signature did in fact appear on a liquor permit for a "beer garden" at the Humboldt Park event. Evidently, Lucio will sign anything that appears in front of him without reading it. Wiser heads have prevailed and pulled the authorization however. So expect only the regularly scheduled mayhem of years past - three or more shootings, at least that many dead within one block of the festival, a dozen or more stabbings and a few hundred fights.

This is Journalism?

They aren't even concealing their half-assed efforts anymore. It's all about being anti-police:

• It's two in the morning and while most of Chicago sleeps, the bar and nightclub strips are humming with activity.

  Young men and women drinking, hanging out. Looking for a good time. And patrolling the party, Chicago police officers making sure the fun doesn't get out of hand. Which is why we were surprised when we received a series of photos showing on-duty officers flirting with women.

  The photos are from a frustrated club worker who says some officers have been slow to respond to his calls and he believes these pictures show why.

So FoxNews admits that these pictures are just from some hacked off club worker who's looking for his pound of flesh because he probably can't handle his job as bouncer. It's an agenda. How the hell is this anything but a hit job at the behest of a private entity.

And looking at the photos at this link here, we are forcibly reminded of Macaulay Culkin's quote from the immortal "Home Alone"



Pathetic "reporting."

Police Wound Armed Student

So all year long, the kids try to avoid school. Now, with school closed, they start breaking in? With replica firearms?

• A 14-year-old boy who allegedly pointed a firearm at Chicago police was shot by an officer inside a Pilsen neighborhood elementary school that he and a 13-year-old boy allegedly broke into Monday morning.

  Police said that about 4:30 a.m. officers responded to a burglar alarm that activated at the Whittier Elementary School, 1900 W. 23rd St. When officers got inside the school they discovered a 14-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy.

  The older boy allegedly pointed a weapon ­- possibly a shotgun ­- at officers, one of whom then shot at him and struck him in the leg. The 14-year-old did not fire his weapon and the 13-year-old did not have a weapon, police said.

We don't think this is what Daley had in mind when he said, "I ask you to involve your children in positive learning activities through [...] programs like After School Matters..." in a letter he sent home with every student. After School doesn't mean 4:30 am evidently.