Anatomy of a Public Castration

This was a hilarious bit of theater that took place all day Wednesday.

Scene I, Act I: Sneed's column:

• Sneed hears Police Supt. Jody Weis has issued a new deadly force police policy, which is scheduled to go into effect this weekend.

  • • To wit: Chicago cops will now be permitted to shoot at drivers or passengers in cases of felons fleeing in motor vehicles. (Weis' policy advisers recommended the change.)

  • • The upshot: Proponents claim it helps protect cops.

  • • The buckshot: Critics claim the new policy is "ridiculous" and the liability to the City of Chicago could be astronomical.

  • • Translation: "Officers were allowed to use deadly force to prevent death or great bodily harm to themselves or another person, but it didn't allow them to use force to apprehend a fleeing forcible felon," said a police source. "If confronted by an oncoming vehicle, officers were simply told to get out of the way, unless they were put in great danger," added the police source.

Note the key words designed to generate outrage among the populace - "permitted to shoot at drivers or passengers in cases of felons fleeing in motor vehicles." Wow. Just wow. Shooting passengers? We don't know who fed Sneed this bit of crap or on who's orders, but well done! She ran with it and the entire day's events were completely predictable from that point forward. Sneed gives some play to the "policy advisers" who feed her the info and we're assuming this is the "policy group" made up of clout babies with a grand total of eight years experience.

Act 2, Scene 3: Around noon, Shortshanks had a starring role:

• The mayor said the Chicago Police Department is working to improve its existing policies, but has not officially changed anything.

  Mayor Richard M. Daley said reports that the CPD had changed its police policy on deadly force in incidents involving felony cases where suspects fled the scenes in vehicles were incorrect.

  Earlier Wednesday, a CPD spokesman told ABC7 the policy was going into effect this coming weekend. However, Daley said that's not the case.

Why do we have a sneaking suspicion that the CPD spokesman who gave that interview might be headed back to a district in short order? Last time we checked, it was the Superintendent's signature that appeared on the bottom of most General Orders, Special Orders, Department Notices, or whatever. The Superintendent was the Administrator and set policy direction within the bounds of existing local and state laws. Daley pretty much removed that power by stepping in as boldly and publicly as he did. In essence, he grabbed J-Fed by the balls and gave him a bit of a shake.

And finally, the public castration of the Superintendent (Act 3, Scene 2):

• Chicago aldermen -- not Police Supt. Jody Weis -- would decide whether police officers can fire their weapons at felony suspects fleeing in motor vehicles, under an ordinance introduced Wednesday amid conflicting statements about an impending policy change.

  Chicago Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed reported the new deadly force policy scheduled to take effect Aug. 3. It was confirmed to her by Police Department spokesman Roderick Drew, who did a subsequent radio interview discussing the new policy.

  But, the change was apparently not cleared with the powers that be at City Hall, a no-no for any Chicago police superintendent.

And guess who introduced the ordinance that removed the Superintendent from being the figurehead power dictating policy? Recently indicted aldercreature Ike Carothers!

Priceless.

Ike who was giving J-Fed all sorts of flak during public hearings. Ike who was ignored by J-Fed, either because J-Fed knew of the coming indictment or because J-Fed figured Ike was just another blowhard to be ignored. Ike, even though he's under federal indictment and wore a wire for a year, gets to make the proposal that shows everyone exactly who runs the show here in Chicago and presents the mayor with J-Fed's testicles in a jar. What a show.