Maggie Clears Ruth

Word around IAD is that nothing is to happen to the commander of the Academy. The CR is to be quashed and no discipline is to be attached to the illegal bringing of unauthorized persons and firearms onto an airfield as part of a groupie invasion. And who has declared it to be so?

Mrs. Shortshanks.

Ruth's excuse is that she ran it by a certain ADS, who said it sounded like a very bad idea and she ought not to do it. But since it wasn't a direct order, she claims she doesn't have to answer for her command decision. Look for the ADS to be dumped shortly.

The other reason to kill the investigation seems to be that it wasn't just Brust and Bea getting the free tickets via shady means. It was EIGHT different exempts who got to attend the concert gratis. Putting almost 10% of his exempt staff in the trick bag doesn't seem like anything J-Fed wants to do, seeing as how the best man at his wedding is one, Maggie Daley's buddy is another, and Shortshanks has enough scandal on his plate at the moment.

These are supposed to be the people setting examples for officers that accepting favors, gifts, or bribes is unethical and illegal. But all they're doing is demonstrating that two tiers of discipline will forever separate the lowly peons from the political overlords.

Attempted Murder Charges

Finally hitting the mainstream media:

• Four men were charged today with allegedly trying to kill an off-duty Chicago police officer in a Southwest Side shooting that one police source said erupted when they mistook the gang-enforcement officer for a gang rival.

  The officer -- whom Chicago Police Department officials declined to identify -- was driving home about 3 a.m. Thursday through a section of Little Village carved up as turf by the Latin Kings and Two-Sixers, rival gangs that have been fighting to dominate the local drug trade for decades.

An excellent follow up job by the Area 4 detectives and gang guys.

This quote here seems to verify other parts of the story though:

• At that point, the officer dialed 911 for help -- twice -- but the gang members allegedly accelerated and pulled up next to the officer on 26th Street.

Had to call twice? It's bad enough when citizens have to call twice to get a response. But when a police officer calls? Inexcusable. Something needs to be done, loudly and publicly, over the dropped ball at OEC. We know most dispatchers and call takers do a good job day in and day out. All the more reason to correct this deficiency out in the open.

Interesting Articles

Especially in light of the grade changing scandal out in the open:

• Classes begin at Chicago public Schools in a little more than a week.
  
  Ahead of that, there was a community discussion on the North side Sunday afternoon where education advocates and some state lawmakers talked about improving city schools.

We thought the Sun Times article already explained how to improve schools - change the grades and everyone passes!

And then there was this article:

• More Chicago Public School students are graduating and heading off to college than ever before.
  
  WBBM [...] reports that now, school officials are working with the private sector to help those students stay in their new schools.
  
  The Chicago Public Schools have not only beefed up college prep curriculum, but the very process of getting kids ready for high education as well.

And this one?

• Can a school in North Lawndale achieve 96 percent attendance and 100 percent college placement?

  The Ford Motor Co. Fund's first school in Dearborn, Mich., achieved those results, and now officials hope the same can be done at a new charter high school opened by the fund in Homan Square on Saturday.

Why does it seem that the CPS people had a bunch of "feel good" articles and interviews ready to go when the grading scandal hit? It's almost like the media is trying to blunt the impact of the bad news splashing all over Shortshanks...almost like they were bought and paid for. Hmmmm.

The Way it Should Be

Gee, no Felony Review?

• A Chicago man was charged with aggravated battery to a police officer after a Saturday incident in west suburban Oswego.
  
  Victor Smith, 20, of the 1700 block of East 81st Street in Chicago, was in the Kendall County jail after being charged with aggravated battery to a police officer in the 1400 block of Light Road in Oswego, the Kendall County Sheriff's office said.
  
  Sheriff's deputies responded to a call at apartments on Light Road, and arrested Smith for illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor when he allegedly spit on the officer.
  
  Later, Smith also was charged with resisting a correctional officer at the jail.

Sounds like the asshole won't be seeing Chicago for a few years. It's nice to see the law applied as it was meant to be applied without the ridiculous bullshit of jumping through hoops that CPD has to do.

More Preseason

Three quarters for the starters. Now we'll start to see if everyone is going to live up to the hype.

Thank You Sir

Words from the rescued victim:

• The 80-year-old man who was forcibly held at knifepoint by a panhandler during the lunch hour in the Loop Thursday said he couldn't even feel the weapon against his throat.
  
  
• "He brought it upon himself,'' Bayenderian said about Stolarz today in an interview in his home.

Yes he did. And anyone who attempts to make excuses for his behavior and the subsequent actions of the police really needs to get their heads out of their asses and look at the road society is traveling down.

Weekend Scandal

It's not Chicago unless there's a scandal exposed over the weekend. This time up, it's the schools:

• Nearly a third of Chicago public high school teachers say they were pressured to change grades this past school year.

  One in five report they actually raised a grade under such prodding.

  And dozens of teachers -- elementary and high school alike -- say they believe someone changed their grades last year without their approval.

So let's see. School get the maximum allowable raise in property taxes for something like 11 of the last 14 years; certain "elite" basketball programs have the smart kids take SAT tests for their stars; Daley touts the schools as improving every year; first day attendance is the key to all sorts of Federal money so the schools have concerts, give-aways, contests, parades, etc.

And still, this bureaucratic monstrosity is still infected with grade changing scandals? We thought all this progress meant we had moved beyond this petty corruption. Unless it's all a facade? That things aren't improving? That once again, Daley lies are being exposed? That's cool, too.

Iowa Police Shooting

From this past 31 July. The actual shooting isn't captured on tape although the audio was. Here's the article link.

• The Davenport police officer who shot a man on the Centennial Bridge last week was "reasonable and justified" in his actions during a seconds-long life-or-death struggle, Scott County Attorney Mike Walton announced Thursday.

  Steven Mallory, 39, was seriously injuring officer Clif Anderson and would have continued to do so if Anderson did not shoot him twice with his Glock .40-caliber handgun, Walton said.

  The first shot to Mallory's chest hit his lungs and heart and is believed to be the shot that killed him, Walton said. The second entered his torso near his spleen and went through his body.

And here's the video link. Notice how fast this entire incident goes to shit. The lack of positive contacts by the Taser demonstrates the limitations of this particular tool. And if the off-duty cop hadn't shown up, we can only wonder if the officer would have gotten his gun out to kill his assailant.

The shooting was ruled justified a week or so later. The copper will need plastic surgery where the assailant bit off part of his face. An ugly attack that could have been a lot worse.

55 and Out Not Working

This was supposed to be both the saving grace and doom of the Department. "Saving" $23 million in an era of $500 million dollar deficits. "Doom" in potentially shorting the Department an additional couple of hundred officers.

But it doesn't seem to be working either way:

• Chicago Police officers are not exactly beating down the door to take advantage of Mayor Daley's offer to extend premium health benefits to those who retire at age 55.

  In fact, unless 100 more eligible officers line up before the Oct. 1 deadline -- joining the 60-plus who've signed on already -- the deal is off. And the $23 million Chicago taxpayers desperately need to save will be lost.

Fran seems to be implying that if 100 more cops don't retire, it's all the fault of the police (and not Shortshanks' years of chronic mismanagement) that the city will continue it's careening slide toward insolvency.

$23 million is 4.4% of Daley's $520 million shortfall in 2010. We foresee a lot more layoffs coming with those types of numbers.

We're #1...Again

Most stressful city to live in - two years running:

• ...more pressing factors make Chicago for the second year in a row the country's most stressful city. Crowding, poor air quality, a high 11 percent unemployment rate and free-falling home values have created a cocktail of constant worry affecting many in the Windy City.

  Los Angeles, Calif., ranks second, followed by New York, N.Y., Cleveland, Ohio, and Providence, R.I.

Yup. Shortshanks is quite the leader.

Darwin Award Averted

Why do we have a sneaking suspicion alcohol may have been involved?

• A 27-year-old Joliet woman suffered second-degree burns after using a cigarette lighter to see how much gas was in the can she was filling.

  Police reports say it was about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday when the woman drove to the 7-Eleven at 1609 E. Cass St. in Joliet in a yellow 1970 Chevrolet.

  "(The woman) was filling up a gas can, which was sitting on the passenger seat of the car. (She) then used a lighter to use as a light to observe how full the can was," police said.

  The can ignited from the lighter's flame and the resulting explosion also set the vehicle's interior ablaze.

We recall the story of a south side citizen lying smoldering in an alley when police arrived. He was alive, barely. His momma told the officers he was trying to run an illegal hookup into the house from the utility pole because the electricity had been shut off for nonpayment of bills. Then she told the officers his brother had died the year before trying to do the exact same thing.

Quick! Tell your best near-Darwin story. Names should be removed to protect the idiotic.

Shots Fired at Off Duty PO

Disturbing report:

• SCC-
  Car full of bangers (possibly Latin Kings) followed a PO home last night, pulled up next to him and opened up fire. Thank God that they missed (two inches from PO's head) and the PO was able to return fire. If it is true that it took 10 minutes for OEMC to dispatch this, someone needs to be fired. the offenders escaped and no has been able to locate them or the shot up vehicle. This was not in the paper or on the news, but there needs to be more exposure. That is very bold of the bangers. Everyone needs to be aware of their surroundings. It is unknown if they targeted the PO or if it was just random.

Is this the same incident?

• 1013's Job at approx 03:00. Zone 10dispatcher is sleeping and doesn't dispatch a 10-1 for 7 minutes. A 10-1 is an immediate dispatch. 7 minutes is not immediately. Nice job dispatcher. Glad the officer didn't get killed due to your inattention to duty. This guy should be fired. I bet the city doesn't even reprimand him. Aren't the 911 supervisors supposed to monitor these dispatchers so that this doesn't happen?

Someone want to find the full story?

The Second Guessing Media Whores

And so it begins once again. If you click on the assorted media links in the right-hand tool bar, you'll find lots of reports about Thursday's downtown shooting. You'll see headlines about "Officer shoots fellow cop" and a bunch of quotes from "witnesses" who can't believe the police would shoot someone where there are all sorts of people around.

In a number of comments, more than we would have suspected, people take the media to task and ask, "Well what the hell should the cops have done?" This was an assailant with a knife. The damage he could have done is huge. Thanks to some quick thinking cops, the damage he did accomplish was negligible. And while we're sure the officer feels bad wounding another cop, in a situation like that with a knife wielding madman, they did what had to be done to protect the citizens from further harm. When someone in the media invents a magic bullet that only finds bad guys and disarms them with minimal muss and fuss, let us know.

It seems that the pendulum is starting to swing back the other way and readers are unwilling to take media reports at face value any more. We hope it's true. It'd be a welcome relief from the inanity of the past few years.

UPDATE: Reports coming in that the Officer wounded was struck by a through-and-through shot. In this case, it's just bad luck that the Officer's bullet didn't hit anything solid on the way that might have slowed it's trajectory. It's also another blow to the media generated story that Officer shouldn't have fired on a crowded street. Lacking any additional media hype about dented buildings or broken windows or scraped citizens, it would appear that each and every bullet hit the intended target - the knife-wielding assailant. And that should be a testament to the Officer's skill and awareness.

Fighting Lawsuits

Interesting approach:

• Bring it on!

  That's what police Supt. Jody Weis is telling lawyers who sue his officers.

  Weis has asked the city to become more aggressive in fighting lawsuits he views as "meritless" by going to trial instead of settling them.

  Last month, Weis notified Chief U.S. District Judge James F. Holderman of the change in strategy.

Now we run into the argument that fighting lawsuits places Officers in jeopardy of crippling punitive damages since, by law, the City cannot cover those.

If the cases were heard by competent judges, which automatically discounts anyone not on the Federal bench, we might actually have a fair shake at dismissing most of the nonsense suits. Eliminate anyone residing in Cook County as a federal juror and we're well on our way to putting some trial lawyers out of business.

Question - and forgive us our cynicism - is this a ploy by J-Fed to drum up support from the rank and file (doubtful) or is this another jab by Shortshanks who controls J-Fed's every sphincter spasm, to see a few cops lose big punitively and drive yet another stake into a once great Department (more likely than not).

This Isn't Good

We sense a disturbance on the horizon. A mental disturbance:

• Chicago is looking at shutting five of its 12 mental-health clinics to save money because of a cutback in state funding, a city Public Health Department spokesman said today.

  Although the city is still looking at how best to consolidate its mental-health services, “one possibility” is closing five of the city’s 12 clinics, Timothy Hadac said.

Great idea. We hope they're planning on doubling the wagon crews and equipping everyone with TASERs, because guess who is right on the front lines responding to the spike in mental disturbances along with the ambulance crews.

And in light of the "overly-aggressive knife-wielding homeless panhandler" being shot and killed by police Thursday, we'd get the boys and girls down in News Affairs a set of cue cards to read off for the media when these events become more and more commonplace.

Officer Wounded - Offender Dead

Officer reportedly in good condition at Northwestern - his vest saved him serious injury:

• A man was shot dead in the Loop and a Chicago police officer was wounded but saved by his bulletproof vest this afternoon, sources say.

  A man in his 50s was transported from 190 N. State Street and was pronounced dead at 1:09 p.m. at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to a spokesman from the Cook County medical examiner's office.

  The wounded cop was also taken to Northwestern but did not appear to be seriously injured, according to fire officials.

• The suspect put a knife to a woman's neck and officers began chasing him, the officer said. A cop was wounded and then fired several times at the man, the officer at the scene said. Witnesses said they heard as many as four or five shots.
  

  Bobby Polk said he turned to see a man holding "a butcher knife" to a woman's throat. As many as five police officers were pursuing him.
  

  "The policeman shouted 'Stop, stop,' but he didn't and that's when [the officer] shot him," said Polk, 20.

From initial reports, it sounds as if the Officers involved did an excellent job. We are assuming that the wounded officer may have been stabbed or slashed in the vest. More info as it becomes available.

Attempted Murder of Police

A sergeant vigorously and lawfully defended himself and his officers from an assailant who attempted to kill them all with a motor vehicle being driven at a high rate of speed in reverse following an undercover drug buy in the Gage Park neighborhood. Now the BreakingNews version:

• A drug suspect was shot by police when he tried to run over a district sergeant and other officers following an undercover drug buy from the suspect's car late Wednesday in the city's Gage Park neighborhood, police said.

  Although a Fire Department spokesman said the man was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in serious-to-critical condition, police said his injuries didn't appear life-threatening.

  Details of the man's age and injuries were not being released by police this morning.

We like our version better.

One officer was taken to the hospital for treatment and is expected to recover. Best wishes for a speedy return.

Vandals Caught, Charged

We only wish it was "Shot, Drawn, Quartered," too:

• Four teenagers were charged with felonies Wednesday night, accused of spray-painting graffiti on a memorial near Soldier Field honoring slain Chicago police officers and their families.

  Police arrested two 17-year-old girls, an 18-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy, said Chicago News Affairs Officer Michael Fitzpatrick.

  The teens were arrested at about 3:05 a.m. Wednesday after police on routine patrol saw them running from the Gold Star Families Memorial and Park, Fitzpatrick said.

We imagine we'll get a number of bleeding heart types who will complain that we're advocating a death penalty for simple acts of vandalism. Too bad.

Citizens Call for J-Fed's Head

The community meetings head into unscripted territory:

• The night was filled with complaints over the city's priorities in tackling a deficit that can only be filled by tax increases and spending cuts.

  "At $315,000 a year, your police superintendent Jody Weis makes more than you ..." charged Michelle Dixon-Holmes.

  "Yet, my understanding from the airwaves is that rank and file don't respect him, and in the time he's been here, crime has not gone down, it's gone up. Weis has to go."

Shortshanks might be in a bit of trouble. Hopefully, his Teflon coating is wearing thin.

More Jaywalking Missions!!!

Fiddling while Rome burns:

• Another strong-arm robbery was reported in Lincoln Park early this morning, but police said they had no reason to connect it with the recent series of muggings that have put the area on edge.
  
  A 20-year-old woman was approached by two assailants just after midnight in the 800 block of West Webster Avenue. One of them hit her in the face with a handgun and snatched her purse

But we have the jaywalking missions up and running. Got to get that Olympic revenue don't you know? In the meantime, the knowledge of coppers like Snethen and Farrell dissipates into nothingness. Dress up either of these guys (or a couple other people our readers could name) and these Lincoln Park muggings would stop overnight. Stop dead as a matter of fact.

This Department has lost its way. Jaywalking revenue while armed robbers run free? How far we've gone.

IG Quits for Politics?

Who the hell has been whispering into Hoffman's ear?

• Chicago's corruption-fighting Inspector General David Hoffman has resigned to enter the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, removing what appeared to be a giant thorn from Mayor Daley's side.

  Hoffman enters a Democratic field vying to replace U.S. Sen. Roland Burris that already includes Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and Cheryle Jackson, the president of the Chicago Urban League.

  A former federal prosecutor who specialized in breaking up street gangs, Hoffman was hired away from the U.S. attorney's office in 2005 at a time when Daley was besieged by the Hired Truck, city hiring and minority contracting scandals.

  It wasn't long before an office that had concentrated on low-level corruption and almost never conducted criminal investigations was working hand-in-glove with federal investigators.

We suppose the Inspector Generals job can be viewed as a stepping stone. The trouble is his name recognition seems low and the Democratic party in Illinois is a closed shop. Hoffman is going to have a heck of a time ginning up support and raising money, especially if the Machine is lining up behind Giannoulias.

Hoffman has a long road ahead of him if he's is truly serious about a grass-roots type run. Our only fear is that Shortshanks engineered this to remove Hoffman, the Machine goes balls out for Giannoulias and after the dust clears, Hoffman is on a train out of town. Hoffman did a lot of good here. Going to Washington DC doesn't seem like a continuation of the corruption fighting

Shocking Revelation

This just turns our stomachs:

• The outrage over the release of the bomber and mass murderer responsible for killing 270 innocent people grew overnight as a key Libyan political figure claimed that the release came as part of a commercial deal. Seif al-Islam, the son of Libyan strongman Moammar Gaddafi, met Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi at the airport and proclaimed him a hero in a display that embarrassed the UK when video of it hit British televisions. Gaddafi’s son then told interviewers that British commercial interests had required Megrahi’s release.

Releasing convicted terrorists as part of an oil deal? And just how sick was this terrorist?

• The Scottish government released the terrorist who killed 270 people in the Lockerbie-Pan Am 103 bombing for “compassionate reasons,” because they claimed he only had three months to live after being diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. Scotland has begun to question where the government got that idea. Only one doctor was willing to make that prognosis, who apparently had no expertise in either prostates or oncology

We just want to throw up.

RIP Mary Jo

Give Ted a good swift kick in the nads if he makes it past the Gates.

Jaywalking Stings

All this hoopla when there are dozens, maybe more, inside HQ people about to lose their take home cars in the next week or so!

• Chicago police handed out 43 citations to drivers who failed to stop for people using crosswalks.

  It was part of a sting set up at Belmont and Orchard on Monday night.

  Plainclothes officers used the crosswalks and cars that failed to yield got pulled over and ticketed. It's part of a city wide crackdown at crosswalks. It was the first night time sting.

  The police department said during the day time stings it only handed out about 18 or 20 tickets.

We've already stated our opinion on people who go strolling out into traffic in this town. We pray no cop gets hurt for this misguided publicity stunt.

Now about those take home cars. Who's losing them? We heard exempts who don't have 24 hour call out responsibilities and then everyone below that. About freaking time seeing as the abuses that have been pointed out here and elsewhere are nothing but a scandal in waiting.

No Apology

Yes, you read that right. Shortshanks refused to apologize:

• The words were right there in his script. Words that a lot of you wanted to hear Tuesday night about Chicago's parking meter mess. But Mayor Daley skipped over them. [...]
  
  We are often called on to translate "Daley-speak" and expected to report what he meant to say, rather than what he actually said.
  
  Tonight, we knew what he meant to say, we were given his prepared remarks. But when the time came to say, 'We screwed up', the words never passed his lips.

Hubris, thy name is Daley. This guy can't even follow a prepared script that would have generated a modicum of good will in the tiniest of tiny-brained voters. We have a feeling he's going to announce shortly that he isn't seeking re-election, so he figures why bother saying something we all know he never meant anyway.

Go Rocky!

Not only has he brought the Blackhawks back from the verge of extinction, he wants us to have cheap booze, too!

• With the clock running, Blackhawks chairman Rocky Wirtz, whose family also runs a liquor distribution company, filed a lawsuit Tuesday to block the state’s controversial construction program that is to be funded by legalizing video poker and hiking a number of sin taxes, including on booze.

  In the legal challenge, filed Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court, Wirtz calls the state’s $31 billion statewide construction program unconstitutional. In addition to legalized video poker, the program is to be funded by new taxes on beer, wine and liquor that go into effect Sept. 1.

September 1st? Damn, we better go stock up on Wild Turkey and Glenlivet. Medicinal purposes only J-Fed - we swear!

Too Little...

Oh, okay Shortshanks:

• Mayor Daley will acknowledge tonight that his administration "totally screwed up" the transition to private control of the city's 36,000 parking meters and that some Chicagoans believe he has "put too much time into" the quest for Olympic gold.

  With a $520 million shortfall that can only be filled by tax increases and spending cuts, three nights of public hearings on Daley's preliminary 2010 budget are expected to turn into giant gripe sessions before City Hall lowers the boom.

  At a public hearing Tuesday, Mayor Daley addressed the much-maligned parking meter deal.
  

  Congressional hearings on President Obama's health care plan are likely to look tame by comparison.

  Nothing like an apology on parking meters to take the edge off the anger.

We'd like to point out to Fran that nowhere in this article, which gives a synopsis of Shortshanks' prepared speech, is there an apology. Nowhere. "[I/We] totally screwed up" is a lot different than "I'm sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn't have done it." and then making it right. Perhaps there's a real "I'm sorry" somewhere in the speech that Shortshanks is giving tonight, but we doubt it.

Now, Shortshanks. What about apologizing for jerking us around in contract negotiations, hiring J-Fed, appointing all the CPD exempts, jonesing for the Olympics, Hired Trucks, Meigs Field, Millennium Park, the Chicago Public Schools, the Monroe Street parking garage, unpaid furlough days for city employees...ad nauseum.

...too late. "Apology is only egotism wrong side out."

NYPD Contract

Since only New York and Los Angeles can be thought of as "comparable" to the CPD, this could be good news:

• Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg called a news conference at City Hall this afternoon to announce a tentative agreement with the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the union that has most openly clashed with the mayor during his six and a half years in office, on a contract that would give 23,000 police officers a 20 percent raise over four years and increase salaries for rookie officers to almost $42,000 a year, from $36,000.

  The contract would cover a four-year period, from Aug. 1, 2006, to July 31, 2010. If the deal is ratified by the officers, it will be the first time since 1994-95 that the police will be working under a current contract. For more than a decade, officers have been working as their union leaders grappled with the city over contracts that were applied retroactively, often under the supervision of arbitrators. The deal will allow officers to “focus on their jobs without the distraction of contractual disputes,” Mr. Bloomberg said.

  The union’s past three contracts under the Bloomberg administration were reached under binding arbitration, not consensual negotiation.

A FOUR-year deal at an average of 5% in a recession. FOP, are you taking notes? With all the Olympic cash Daley is sitting on, this should be a playbook for your presentation. Daley isn't allowed to sit on "Olympic cash." He has to provide for public services first, then anything left over can be applied to his Olympic debacle dream.

UPDATE: We have no idea what we divided to get that wrong figure. Post corrected for math.

The Secret Recorder II

We've been taking more than a little flak in the comments over the alleged "voice recorder" that may or may not be in the Tahoes. A few points:

• It was brought to our attention via e-mail. We thought the readers deserved to know - it's always better to operate from a vantage point of too much info than too little.
• We've spoken to a few people "in the know" as it were. To a man, they agree that this device was used to exonerate a copper. Therefore, its existence wasn't made public.
• Eavesdropping law does not apply in this case - you have no expectation of privacy in a vehicle owned by the city. They are entitled to know where it is (GPS), who's in it (A&A's; supervisor logs; transport jobs over the radio), and what's going on in it (the "secret" recorder). And we doubt the city is obliged to inform the FOP or its members until the device is used in an adversarial proceeding. No one is checking these things unless there's an allegation, right?
  

And from a very reliable source, an 011th District Tahoe was held down for the better part of four days while IAD checked it for "evidence" recently. It wasn't a camera upload and no ET/Crime Lab was ordered.

What does that tell you? It tells us to be damn careful what happens in the car, that's for sure.

Cop Watch Fundraiser

Gee, we're sorry we missed this one (NOT!):

• COPWATCH, an organization that works to prevent police brutality and educate the community on citizen rights, is holding a breakfast benefit to recover the costs of $750 worth of stolen equipment used to monitor the police that was being stored at the Catholic Worker House in Uptown. The benefit will feature banana pecan pancakes, tomato basil eggs, Metropolis coffee and the reward of being a good samaritan.
  Brunch will be served 10:00 a.m-1:00 p.m. at the Catholic Worker House at 4652 N. Kenmore on Sunday, August 23 with a $5 suggested donation.

There are more than a few comments over at Uptown Updates that poke fun at the CopWatch mopes and take them to task for their attitude of "all cops are corrupt, evil and bad." It's refreshing to find that support out there in more and more places. It's a small glimmer of hope that all isn't lost in this city. We aren't celebrating by any means, but it's good to see. Maybe there will be a city worth saving by the time enough people see the light.

Box of Twinkies Please

A run of the mill story:

• Cook County Forest Preserve police and agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Wednesday destroyed an elaborate marijuana-growing operation tucked away in a patch of woods in Palos Township.

  In all, authorities burned about 6,000 marijuana plants that were being cultivated in six fields along a stream in the Edward M. Sneed Forest Preserve near 123rd Street and LaGrange Road.

  If harvested, the 12,000 pounds of pot would have had an estimated street value of almost $2.5 million, according to Forest Preserve Police Chief Richard Waszak.

And a truly amusing picture:

This guy must have had such a headache the next day. He probably woke up amidst the wreckage of a case of assorted Hostess products and his NetFlix queue was all Cheech & Chong movies.

Pay to Play Media

A very interesting article in the Chicago Daily Observer:

• A few weeks back an old friend called to say he could get me $25,000 from Very Important People if I would “blog in favor of the Olympics.”

  For those of you who may have been comatose in Central Waziristan for the past year or two, bringing the 2016 games to Chicago is something Mayor Daley wants more than oxygen itself.

  “I am still agnostic on the Olympics,” say I.

  This friend is indeed close to the mayor, but rarely actually represents him in such dealings. He is also close to many wealthy developers.

Don Rose goes on to explain how he has gone from "agnostic" to "antagonistic" is his Olympic opinion. He doesn't name names, but we detect the unseen hand of Shortshanks using third and fourth parties to drum up support for an event most Chicagoans could give a rat's ass about. What everyone should be more concerned about is the overt selling of the city's future to fund the pockets of the connected few.

Go read the whole thing. Why we still don't tar-and-feather in this town is beyond us.

Casper Lauer Ride

It's not a very good scan. But then, we don't have a very good scanner.

The date is 19 September at 9AM. The ride starts at 5049 W. Lake Street and ends at the Gold Star Memorial Park. $20 tickets and all proceeds benefit the Gold Star Families and Police Survivors.

The Secret Recorder

An interesting e-mail. It seems to check out:

• I happened to be at one of the Area garages because my top of the line chariot needed some work and my partner and I noticed a Tahoe that had been in a nasty crash. Doors were bent, windows were broken, frame was twisted. And there were a hell of a lot of wires hanging around the dashboard. I recognized some of them - PDT, camera, siren box, GPS, etc. But there was a set of wires I wasn't sure about. So I asked the garage guy why the extra wiring. His reply? "That's to the in-car voice recorder."
• I asked if he meant the camera microphones. He said no. Every camera-equipped car is wired to a second voice recorder separate from the camera system. It goes to another drive that records everything in the car in case there's some "emergency" situation where they need to know what happened in the car. "Emergency" like a copper is attacked by a prisoner or passerby and they need to find out who he was dealing with or maybe a copper is accused of some misconduct and dragged out in cuffs.

Be aware boys and girls. You are almost always on video somewhere. Now you may be on audio, too.

7,000,000

Sometime Thursday afternoon or evening, we passed seven million visitors.

So once again, we post a heartfelt "Thank You" to everyone who comes by our humble little site and gives us a read. Without readers, we don't exist.

And even if you are coming here and screaming at the inanity of the Department or just trying to stay abreast of the latest boneheaded moves by J-Fed and his merry fools, your visits are welcome.

Again, thanks.

Forgotten Chicago

Some of our oldest readers are the people over at ForgottenChicago.com.

One of our favorite sections is the "Disused Police Stations" section of their site. And now they are selling framed and unframed prints of a few photos from their collection.

Stop by and look around. Some of our older readers and retirees may enjoy just browsing their entire collection of old time Chicago landmarks and architecture.

The Arrogance of Command

The stories are flying hot and heavy out of the 011th District.

We've gotten stories about Penny demanding people leap to attention when she walks into the room. We've got eyewitness of accounts that she has been afflicted with "J-Fed-itis" where she can't even be bothered to return the polite greetings of "Hello Commander" to entire watches going in to checkoff. We've gotten word that no one can smoke at all, even in the face of General Orders that only specify "out of public view." Now comes the latest in a string of what we shall now call "Penny-isms:"

• On 20 August, Vice President Biden was in town to give away millions of our tax money to Mt. Sinai Hospital. No big deal, that's what Vice Presidents do. But the Detail was short personnel - lots of personnel. So the 011 District was forced to surrender 6 cars to the detail for 4 hours. That ended up being a quarter of the manpower on the street. The backlog was instantaneous and huge.
• In the midst of this, Commander Henny Penny's staff asks for a car for a "station assignment." The Watch Commander rightfully refuses and notes that there are at least a dozen sworn in the front office, review, timekeeping and CAPS that can do a station run. Henny Penny gets word of this, runs to the Watch Commander's office and rips him a new one in front of officers, supervisors and civilians alike, out loud and in public.
• She tells the Watch Commander that these are HER cars and if SHE wants one for a "station assignment" then SHE is going to damn well get one. After all, her brand new car isn't going to drive itself up from 51st and Wentworth, is it?
• That's right SCC, it was all over a new car! 011 is in a backlog every day, but stealing six cars for a detail and then demanding another car to go pick up an exempt vehicle is the height of stupidity. Officer safety be damned, if Henny Penny needs a car to get a car, she's going to get a car or else! And the first call she goes to in her brand new ride? The shots fired/barricade on Madison where she didn't bring along her vest or her star! Help SCC!!! Save our District!!! Someone ask Jimmy Jackson what we did to deserve this!

Un-fucking-believable. What hath J-Fed wrought?

Game Day

The tune ups continue.

As someone pointed out, if you only count the time the first string played, the Bears actually won the first game 3-0. In any case, nothing counts for a while yet. But we'd like to see a few big plays that would make everyone look forward to the upcoming season. It seems the baseball teams are struggling just to break even. We'd hate to see an 8-and-8 here.

Fun + Lawyers = No Fun

Is this completely asinine?

• A Chicago woman is suing Brookfield Zoo, claiming -- among other things -- that bottle-nosed dolphins there deliberately splashed water on her during a visit to the zoo in August 2008.

  In a suit filed this week in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Allecyn Edwards, claims she slipped and injured herself, blaming zoo keepers who “recklessly and willfully trained and encouraged the dolphins to throw water at the spectators in the stands, making the floor wet and slippery.”

  Edwards is seeking in excess of $50,000 for her injuries. Edwards did not return calls, and when her husband answered the door to the couple’s home Wednesday, he told a reporter to call his wife’s lawyer. The attorney, Edward G. Proctor Jr., did not return repeated calls to his Chicago office Wednesday.

We've been to Brookfield Zoo. We've been to the dolphin exhibit. They warn everyone in the first few rows that if they sit there, they are going to get splashed. There are even signs there. Then there's this giant tank full of water. It slops and sloshes over the edges as something like 5 or 8 dolphins swim in circles before showtime. It looks like a place you ought to get wet and have fun. We mean, what did she think was going to happen at a dolphin exhibit?

But trust an idiot and a bottom feeding lawyer to try to take the fun out of a trip to the zoo.

West Side Follies

A barricade situation with a twist:

• U.S. Marshals and the Chicago Police SWAT team responded to a barricade situation near the intersection of West Madison Street and South Homan Avenue which lasted a few hours this afternoon before being resolved without injuries.

  According to Chicago Police News Affairs Officer [...], U.S. Marshals happened to be in the area at about 1 p.m. when they heard loud reports in the 3300 block of West Madison Street.

  They saw people run into a nearby building on Madison. Moments later a female in the building got their attention and said there was a man with a gun inside, Kilmer said.

An e-mail relates that two subjects with pistols engaged another subject with a rifle, blasting back and forth across Madison. The US Marshalls were filming some "COPS" type show of them arresting fugitives when the gunfire erupted.

And the twist?

• The 011 District Commander was driven directly into the "hot zone" in front of the building and dropped off. Her driver left with her car and returned 15 minutes later with her bulletproof vest and star that she had left back at the station.
• How does this moron go to a scene of multiple weapons being fired without a vest AND how does she leave her star behind when her first month of being in 011 is marked by stopping people in the hallways for being out of uniform?

Another brilliant exempt move by J-Fed is already providing years worth of comedic fodder.

Mixed Message

The City:

• Mayor Daley says by working with philanthropic groups the city is more efficiently using federal stimulus money.

  So far Chicago has been awarded more than $1 billion dollars.

  The city has applied for an additional $800 million in competitive grants under the program.

• The mayor says under the stimulus program the city has, among other things, completed two street resurfacing projects purchased 39 buses for CTA and created more than 7,000 summer jobs for young people.

The State:

• Illinois' jobless rate rose to 10.4 percent in July even though the pace of job losses is slowing.

  That's up slightly from 10.3 percent in June.

  The Illinois Department of Employment Security released the new figures Thursday. They show the state lost another 13,000 jobs in July, bringing the number of unemployed statewide to 692,500.

Seems Daley is awash in cash. But the unfriendly-to-business atmosphere continues to be a drag on any meaningful recovery.

Police Kill Gunman in Hospital

Olympia, Washington:

• At about 2:13 AM on Saturday, August 15, 2009, Olympia Police received a 9-1-1 call from the Security Office at Providence St. Peters Hospital. Officers were requested to help the Hospital staff deal with a patient who was being unruly and who was possibly armed.
  
  Officers arrived at the Hospital and contacted a 43-year old man in the Emergency Room who had been brought into the Hospital with a head injury.
  
  The officers searched the man and found him to be in possession of two loaded handguns. The guns were confiscated.
  
  The subject remained in the ER with police present while treatment for his head injury continued.
  
  At about 4:15 AM, the subject was scheduled for a medical test, but, when Hospital staff began to get him ready for the test, he again became agitated and unruly. The officer who was on guard entered the treatment room to assist the ER staff, and, when he did, the subject produced another gun. The officer and the subject wrestled for the weapon. During the struggle, the officer fired one shot at the subject. Hospital staff immediately began treatment of the subject for the gunshot wound, but they were unable to preserve his life.

Evidently, the jagoff knew the gun would show up on the x-rays. An excellent job by the officer on guard duty.

But concealing three guns? During an ambulance ride, triage and at least one search? This must have been one large individual hiding stuff in his fat flaps. Search, search and search again - one gun, look for two. Two guns, assume three. Bad guy goes to the morgue, so that's a good thing.

Academy Problems

This is supposed to be where we teach the new kids how to dress, how to shoot, how to run and how to yell really loud to get someone's attention. We're also supposed to teach them some form of ethics where you don't accept gratuities and free stuff. The new Commander wants to get away from all that evidently:

• Elton John and Billy Joel apparently have one awfully big fan on the Chicago Police Department.

  And when the Rocket Man and Piano Man flew into Midway last month for a concert at Wrigley Field, they found officer friendly waiting for them on the tarmac.

  We're told that officer is Commander Ruth Wedster, seen here in an interview with Fox Chicago in 1999.

  Now she heads up the Chicago Police Training Academy where she remains on the job but under investigation for what would appear to be inappropriate behavior.

  Wedster was not on any official police detail, but apparently convinced someone to escort her inside the fenced-off area to meet the singers.

We don't see how bringing a gun onto the airfield isn't a violation of all sorts of rules - don't we read almost every other month of so of some poor sap who "forgot" a gun in their baggage and catches a felony arrest for even being near a TSA checkpoint? But Wedster can circumvent a secured gate and actually get on the airfield with an entourage of armed individuals who shouldn't have been there anyway?

And to guard against possible disciplinary actions (or cement your insider status), you use tickets (that you shouldn't have accepted) and drag Aunt Bea of the gun-infested coke house and J-Fed's best man into your scheme? Wow. Talk about middling your superiors. And she's still in a position to be in charge of teaching recruits about Ethics and Law?

What's the over/under on J-Fed actually applying any sort of even handed discipline to a politically heavy Commander, an apparently untouchable Deputy, and his bestest buddy from the FBI? Slim? Or none?

More Meter Heartache

This was a ridiculously bad deal:

• A taxpayer watchdog group filed suit today, alleging the city's much-criticized deal that put Chicago's parking meters in the hands of a private firm still relies on police -- and public dollars -- for enforcement.
• In their lawsuit, the Independent Voters of Illinois along with Chicago resident Aviva Patt charge the parking meter privatization deal "unconstitutionally obligates the city to expend public funds in order to police, enforce and maintain the privately held and privately controlled parking meter system" -- a violation of the Illinois Constitution which states "public funds, property or credit shall only be used for public purposes." Earlier this year, the city leased some 36,000 meters to Chicago Parking Meters LLC for $1.15 billion for 75 years -- a move drawing the ire of motorists who are seeing a steep climb in rates.

This lawsuit will take years to wend through the system. And when it does, it's pass through the hands of a lot of people who owe their very existence to Shortshanks. But eventually, it may find an honest judge (or at least as honest as a judge can be) who will decide the case on its merits and actually find in favor of Chicago taxpayers.

All three of them that are left.

Trial Date for Ike

We're betting he takes the guilty plea in exchange for tiny prison time:

• A federal judge today set a March 8 trial date for indicted Chicago Ald. Ike Carothers (29th) and a wealthy developer, both accused of taking part in a zoning-for-bribes scheme.

  Prosecutors, meanwhile, plan to turn over evidence in the case to the defense today.

  Carothers, an ally of Mayor Daley, and Chicago developer Calvin Boender have pleaded “not guilty” to the bribery and fraud charges.

We are most interested to see what the wire Ike wore actually captured in terms of bribes, contract fixed and job placement. Ike has a lot of relatives on the public payroll. Could be he let slip on how they got their jobs at some point. And who knows what might have transpired at certain Committee Meetings.

Prayers Needed

Update - Injured Police Officer Densey Cole
Status Update on Chicago P.D. Officer Densey Cole

I got word this morning that Densey is NOT doing well, that he remains in ICU, and that he may NOT have visitors other than "family and clergy." He has asked to see me and I've been granted access to visit and pray with him possibly this afternoon and tomorrow AM. PLEASE, PLEASE lift our brother in prayer. Pray also for Densey's wife during this exceedingly difficult time.Please pass on...

Posted by Detective/Chaplain MC Williams

Please everyone, even if you don't pray, please say a prayer for Officer Cole and his family.

Fox32 Blows Another One

Ridiculous that they even give this woman the time of day:



First of all, what is this woman's background in State Law, Chicago Police procedures and the application of Use of Force under both of these criteria? Larry Yellen doesn't even ask these questions to establish this woman as anything but a low-credibility witness. She has just paid a toll, was two lanes over and even admits in the story that it happened so fast that she "could be mistaken" in what she may have observed. So why even give her air time?

Oh yeah, Yellen is a police hater.

More problems with her story:

• Tollway Plaza's are loud and busy places. She claims she didn't hear anyone announce their office or tell the offender to stop the car. We understood the car was partially disabled following a crash (that she doesn't mention hearing). Any announcing of "Police!" could easily have been drowned out in the hustle and bustle of the toll plaza, sirens, traffic noise, and it was directed at the offending vehicle, not toward a woman two lanes over looking at officers' backs. And after 30 miles of blue lights chasing him to Elgin, we're pretty sure the offender knew it wasn't Santa Claus chasing him with a missing present.
  
• She says the police walked up and shot the offender once - yet the offender had at least two holes in him from separate shots. And windshield holes.
  
• Unless she has x-ray vision, she cannot see the hands or legs of the offender. If the offender was putting the car into gear in a continuing effort to escape, then the offender needed to be shot, probably many more times than twice. He had already attempted to run over a CPD officer in Chicago - it's completely believable he would do so again. Use of a vehicle as a deadly weapon?

In any case, this is just another piece of garbage reporting from a bottom feeding "reporter" with an anti-police agenda who puts a completely unreliable "witness" on TV to trash cops. No different from other local hacks who grab the first baby-momma-cousin who knew "Boo" was just about to turn it all around and he "never did have no gun no way no how" and the police planted that pistol after they shot "Boo" in the back. Never you mind about "Boo's" three other gun arrests, all resulting in probation, his long rap sheet of dope arrests and the tendency for him to beat the crap out of four different baby mommas cause they're always after him for child support.

Aldercreature Flees Constituents

This doesn't bode well for Shiller's re-election chances:

• A Chicago 2016 meeting Monday night got ugly at the end as some angry Uptown residents went after 46th Ward Alderman Helen Shiller, calling her ineffective.
  
  Alderman Helen Shiller began by trying to explain to some of her constituents that she's concerned with the recent violence.
  
  "The level of violence, actually, is less this year than last although I think that that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be concerned," Shiller said.
  
  But when residents began to get angry, Shiller stormed out and they followed.

And when you have an elected official refusing to stand and take the heat, you usually have a new elected official when the next elections are held.

Shiller has driven that ward into the ground with its myriad of shelters and clusters of halfway houses. And then you have the giant low-income monstrosity at Montrose and Broadway that will be unrecognizable from a Taylor Home project building within two years. Anybody have some political ambitions over in the 46th Ward?

Shaved has the YouTube video up.

God Reduces Crime?

In Gary? We thought God left Gary about 60 years ago or more:

• Crime in Gary fell dramatically in the first half of the year, with violent offenses having the biggest drop, 43 percent, police said.

  Cmdr. Anthony Titus said he can't explain the decline in the data submitted to the FBI.

  "It's God," he said, smiling. "I would really love to take the credit, but just like I can't take responsibility for a homicide, I can't take the credit here either."

  Assaults are down from 1,039 to 645, with a decrease in every assault subcategory, including the use of a firearm, knife and fists.

Maybe they're taking a page from Chicago's book? If it takes the police an hour or more to get there, the chances of the victim just shaking their head and leaving the scene increase exponentially:

• No victim = No report = No crime

43% sounds like a rather large statistical anomaly without a little assist from the Creative Accounting Department. Even when Shortshanks fudges numbers (Taste of Chicago attendance, Air & Water Show figures, First Day of School head counts), it's never more than a percentage point or two lest the media look too closely at the reality. Gary sounds like they got greedy.

Mope-Rah Fouls Off Another

She just can't seem to hit the ball anymore:

• If Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis can't apprehend a ragtag group of muggers in Lincoln Park, what hope is there for the folks who are under siege on the South Side?

  The latest victim is 15-year-old Taccara Swain. On Wednesday night, Taccara was shot three times in the head in the Roseland community.

  The shooters were so ruthless, their gunshots also hit a day care center next door.

Well first up, J-Fed is a Fed - a former feeb. He doesn't apprehend people aside from a few photo ops, and he isn't out there in a Sherlock Holmes get-up looking for clues and waving a magnifying glass around. He's an administrator (and not a very good one at that.) He has people to do the apprehending for him.

And your characterization of the shooters as "ruthless?" Very weak Mope-rah. It was nighttime. The day care center was long empty and no one would be in it for hours. You're trying for drama, but the facts don't fit.

• [...] South Siders are still reeling from the senseless killing of Justin Daniels. The 17-year-old was killed when he was kind enough to give two thugs a ride in his car. Because the thugs coveted the car and had a gun, Daniels became another "innocent victim" in a city where some children are like lambs being led to the slaughter.

  Meanwhile, Weis is having a hard time catching up to young robbers who are creating a crime spree on the North Side.

Again, as much as we dislike J-Fed, he isn't the one running around slaughtering the children. We'd point out who was doing it, but that would open a whole other can of worms. Things like conscience, impulse control, moral compass are all things taught or not taught by a parent. Could any of this possibly be lacking in Mope-rah land?

• [...] Whether it's because it's unusual for criminals to be running amok on the North Side, or because the media have closely followed the lack of progress in apprehending these thieves, it does seem like more attention is being paid to the North Side attackers than to catching the drive-by shooters who have turned the South Side into a war zone.

  To be fair, police have arrested a crew of three male juveniles and a 17-year-old female who allegedly attacked a newspaper deliveryman with a baseball bat in Roscoe Village.

Oh, now you're going to pretend to be fair? Are you going to point out that the State wouldn't charge at least one of the robbers despite an eyewitness identification? That isn't really the police's fault you know.

• And a man who is allegedly responsible for a string of armed robberies near the Metra train station at 87th and Cottage Grove has been caught.

And just how does this tie into the north side muggings? You're twisting and mixing again to get some result that we aren't quite sure about yet. Maybe the next few paragraphs?

• One of the reasons crime is so out of control on the South Side is because aldermen representing North Side wards haven't supported a policy that would give high-crime districts more police resources.

  I don't begrudge the North Side their "beefed-up" police protection, but it stands to reason that police should be dispatched more heavily where crime is highest.

Mope-rah is talking out her ass again. Veteran officers will note that it has always been the south and west sides that received the bulk of police services. Housing was almost exclusively run on the south and west sides. Gangs West and South dwarfed their counterparts in Gangs North and when disbanded, Special Operations spent the majority of their time in places 011, 015, 006, 007 and 002. When SOS went away, TRU and MSF continued operating south of Madison Avenue. Even today, a quick PCAD search reveals Tactical Teams from 016, 017 and 020 working in 015.

The trouble is we're stretched too thin now and what used to be "normal" deployment is more of a stopgap or "reactionary" and doesn't prevent a thing. Not only that, the Uptown eruptions are a direct result of manpower being shifted to higher crime areas and less pressure being placed on the local hood rats who figure out very quickly that they can act out with less repercussions.

Perhaps Mope-rah needs a few starts in the minor leagues to get her rhythm back? She's blaming the symptoms again.

The City That Didn't Work

Just about everyone was shut down. Unless you generated revenue:

• You could not get a library book or see a doctor in a city health clinic Monday in Chicago, but you could pay a parking ticket or fight to un-boot your car, provided you'd wait in a line long enough for an amusement park ride. Cops, firemen and privatized parking meters were working, however, even if nothing else was.
  
  From a security guard answering phones in the mayor's office at City Hall to a harried staff collecting payments of fines at one of the few city offices open Monday, confusion and frustration reigned in the City that Works, which by design wasn't officially working at all.

And Police Department operations were affected, despite assurances that we'd be at full strength:

• Animal Control ran a skeleton crew, meaning extra long response times to vicious animals and strays, meaning police manpower wasted babysitting dogs;
• Most of Fleet's gas stations were closed, meaning tens of extra miles driving to find gas and tens of extra minutes that cars were out of district not answering calls, leading to monumental backlogs;

And did anyone get a look at the lakefront? Two days worth of garbage from 2 million Air & Water Show attendees stacked and spilling over cans and dumpsters. Way to keep Chicago a world class city there Shortshanks.

UPDATE: Someone is hassling us in the comments saying that the lakefront was picked up within hours of the event ending. All we know is that it wasn't cleaned up after we left the lakefront and no one was picking up when we passed by after a 1900 hour downtown dinner. And we drove the entire length of LSD.

Also, some other commentator is stating that the Park District had huge crews in white garbage trucks cleaning the lakefront after the event. Who were these people? Subcontractors? On a Sunday? If so, where's the savings generated by having everyone off on Monday? Or is this more union busting by Shortshanks? Anyone?

Hero Mayor

No, not Shortshanks. Shortshanks wouldn't know a hero if the hero bit him on the ass:

• Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett went home from the hospital on Monday after a man shattered his hand and knocked two of his front teeth out as the mayor tried to defend a grandmother who was screaming for someone to call 911.

  His office said Barrett was at home resting comfortably and looked forward to returning to work.

  The 55-year-old mayor has been lauded by family, friends and even President Barack Obama for trying to help the woman and her 1-year-old granddaughter in a parking lot near the Wisconsin State Fair on Saturday night.

  [...] The mayor went to the fair outside Milwaukee on Saturday night with his sister, his 10- and 12-year-old daughters and a niece. As the group left and walked to the sister's car, they heard a woman screaming for someone to call 911, police said.

A selfless act. Reports say he refused his bodyguard detail because he wasn't on an official function. Let's compare that to Shortshanks, who uses his bodyguard detail 24/7/365, has them drive him to Michigan, even travel overseas with him. And how about the mayoral spouse who has them do the shopping, pick up the laundry, grocery shop, etc., etc. Quite a difference. And how about Burke? How many bodyguards and free cars for "threats" that may have happened decades ago?

When's the next election?

Shallow Reporting

This is not what we'd call good reporting:

• Community activists are calling for the removal of Cook County Circuit Judge Bertina Lampkin from the case Shawn Gaston, who's one of three men charged in the June murder of Chicago Police Officer Alejandro "Alex" Valadez.

That is the ENTIRE article in the Chicago Breaking News site. Nothing about Lampkin releasing Gaston on bail for weapons charges. Nothing about her ridiculous sentencing of the other shooter (Walker) getting two years probation for sticking a gun in some one's ear. And another murderer she released in 2001 who went on to kill again a few years later.

This ought to be a bit bigger of a story. And the FOP ought to be helping out these community activists in removing Lampkin from any consideration as the trial judge for the murder of a police officer.

Full Strength Today

We don't know how he did, but the mayor managed to save the day. Click on the image for a full size poster:

While libraries, clinics, senior service and City offices will be closed, the poster claims the following:

• All public safety services, including police and fire, will remain at full strength and not be impacted.

So since we haven't been at full strength for over two years now, and are probably short over 1,000 officers, we can assume that everything has been fixed as of today. Thank goodness, we were worried, especially when we saw the sheets for today and we had downed four beat cars for the twelfth time this month. We were expecting more of the same.

Criminals beware! We're at full strength! Shortshanks has spoken!

The Tribune also covers this.

Rumors Abound

Interesting. But only if true:

• Just in: 25th District Tact Lt. Dumped to 1st watch in 11th District.

Fallout from the chase that ended in Elgin? And this one:

• Off topic, the burger Queen is being suspended for seven days for having her gun at the airport. How much time is Ruth Wedster and aunt Bea getting? Anyone know? The Burger Queen made a mistake. You can't say the same for Wedster and Aunt Bea

Again, a good start - if true.

Hey, this would be a perfect opportunity for J-Fed to demonstrate across-the-board racial sensitivity, and continuity of punishment. A Black Commander, a White Commander and a Hispanic Deputy all facing discipline and/or demotion.

Sounds like a joke we heard once involving a bar.

UPDATE: The first rumor about the Lt being moved is a 1-day WC detail to 011.

Olympics Back On (Quick Hits)

The last stumbling block to a Chicago Olympics was removed:

• The U.S. Olympic Committee had everything to lose and nothing to air.
  
  That made the decision to postpone plans for its own television network, in deference to the International Olympic Committee's wishes, an easy one.
  
  ``There is no question that we underestimated the intensity of the reaction that we got from multiple constituents,'' USOC chairman Larry Probst said Sunday, after meeting with IOC president Jacques Rogge and deciding to postpone the effort.
  
  The negative reaction came mainly from the IOC and TV partner NBC. All of it seemed to be hurting the effort to bring the 2016 Olympics to Chicago.

So now it comes down to the suitcases full of cash. Who will win? The smart money is on this hemisphere - Chicago vs. Rio. Japan just had the Winter Games ten years back and Madrid isn't going to get the Games right after London has them. We're under 50 days away.

**************

Uptown shooting, blocks away from the "riot" video posted here and elsewhere this weekend:

• Three people were shot early Sunday while driving through an alley in the North Side Uptown neighborhood.

  About 4:50 a.m., three males, whose ages were not available, were in a vehicle traveling through an alley in the 1200 block of West Leland Avenue, police News Affairs Officer Amina Greer said.

  An unknown offender approached the vehicle on foot and fired shots, striking one person in his arm, one in his thigh and grazing another, Greer said.

Related?

**************

No good deed goes unpunished:

• Like many cops, Chicago Ridge Police Chief Tim Baldermann has walked the line between extending courtesies to outside officers for minor infractions and slapping cuffs on them for more serious crimes. But a courtesy he recently extended to an off-duty Chicago officer is causing him a headache.

This is why so many of us tell our neighbors we're garbage men.

The Box Chevy Phantom Speaks

An excellent comment that deserves it's own post:

• Please...
  
  The very second some coppers take care of business the old fashioned way, these same people who are amazed by how the "white tee shirts" are doing the fool with impunity will fall over each other providing video to the media to help j-fart drag yet more Policemen up a gnarled, knotty pine for crucifixion.
  
  People are now real quick to talk shit about Policemen "not doing anything" or being "scared." It's not quite that simple. No copper in his/her right mind is going to risk their job and freedom (sin and a shame what happened to Ofc. Cozzi) thereby jeopardizing being able to provide food, shelter and support to their families and loved ones. No, we're not necessarily afraid but we're far from stupid as some people wished we were. We're just making a justifiable and reasonable effort in self preservation.
  
  It seems as if the Policeman fights back or strikes a hard blow for himself, in the defense of others or in the name of the law, the collective audience gasps "how dare you strike such a blow, Policemen shouldn't be able to do that!"
  
  For those who consider the current detached method of policing to be selfish, we say fuck you. You're no better than the politicians and exempts elbowing each other for the front row to shed false tears for bright lights and cameras at a Policeman's funeral. They love to talk about our "willing" sacrifices but get upset when we do what needs to be done to survive.
  
  It seems as if it's alright to take a bullet, get spit on, have things thrown at you and put up with the blatant public and institutional disrespect that would drive the average person mad! Policemen endure this for 20 to 40 plus years yet people talk shit about "sweet pensions" "early retirements" and "hidden money."
  
  Get over yourselves. We've collectively earned every penny of this comparative pittance and have a litany of broken/dislocated/torn-up/surgically repaired-replaced/worn out body parts to prove it along with the friends and comrades who died by the hands of others, by their own hands or just succumbing due to the pressures of the job.
  
  The blame for the current state of affairs in this city rests squarely on the shoulders of the mayor, the aldermen the superintendent with material aid given by the news media.
  
  The mayor is a petty and vindictive man who has openly vowed to destroy C.P.D for personal and political reasons. He only has some pause now because his plan has worked too well. As long as bloodshed and bullshit is confined to areas like Englewood, Austin, Lawndale, he didn't give a shit if it spread to neighborhoods where Policemen, Firemen and most city workers lived.
  
  The superintendent is vicious, a liar and bereft of any decency, humanity, character or courage. He should humbly hold his hat in his hands and genuflect upon the tops of his shoes WHENEVER he dares to cross a POLICEMAN'S path. He mocks us, he mocks those Stars in the display case and makes them to stink when he wears OUR UNIFORM! We have no trust and no use for this reptilian.
  
  Grandfatherly wisdom dictates we beware of a man who can't look you in the eye, shake your hands or sit and have a drink in the company of MEN and talk as only MEN can.
  
  Now the bloodshed and bullshit is beginning to spill over into areas like Lincoln Park in loud, vivid colors and the $20k to $70k property tax payers (read as BIG MONEY CONTRIBUTORS to the local democratic machine) who were under the spell of the "magick odours and enchanting musick" spewing from the Daley colon are waking up and realizing that they're actually being bullshitted and shitted on just like us common
  folk and they're not too happy about it.
  
  The CITIZENS who pay the disproportionate amount of freight in this city need to stand up and say WE NEED OUR POLICE TO BE THE POLICE, POLITICALLY CORRECT CONSIDERATIONS BE DAMNED...

That sums it up nicely.

Prepare to Vomit

Hide all spew-able beverages from your computers. This ain't going to be pretty:

• Chicago aldermen have used their newly expanded, taxpayer-funded expense accounts to hire relatives, lease expensive vehicles and pay for downtown parking, according to a Tribune analysis.
  
  The money -- up to $73,280 for each of the 50 City Council members -- comes from a budget line that gives aldermen wide discretion to cover an array of expenses related to official duties. After years of aldermen crying poor, Mayor Richard Daley agreed to more than double those funds to $3.7 million for 2008 -- even as the city struggled with a growing budget hole.
  
  The Tribune analysis of the 2008 expense funds, augmented by other public records and dozens of interviews, showed a broad range in what aldermen deemed necessary spending to do their jobs and serve their constituents. It also raised new questions about political patronage and nepotism on the public dime.

Yup. In the midst of a growing budget crisis and union contracts coming due, Shortshanks doubled the aldermanic expense accounts. Additionally, the aldercreaures got 6% raises for themselves, 5% raises for their staff and an increase in their "discretionary funds" that now total about $1.33 million per aldercreature.

But hey, share the pain, blah blah blah. 500 layoffs, blah blah blah. No hiring blah blah blah. Be sure you click on all the links in the Tribune article, and wonder aloud that we can't get a contract for almost 26 months now.

Da Bears Written Off

The Tribune is brutal in its coverage of the Bears pre-season game:

• ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The Jay Cutler Era in Chicago all but started with a thud.
  
  The Bears' 27-20 loss to the Bills in their exhibition opener Saturday night was supposed to be a sneak peak of what type of firepower Cutler would inject into the offense.
  
  Well, in 14 plays he never marched his team into the end zone, threw a head-scratching floater off his back foot that was picked off by Leodis McKelvin and nearly had another ill-advised throw intercepted by Reggie Corner.

Geez, it's the pre-season! The first pre-season game, for pete's sake. There's a long way to go here, so let's not panic yet.

Gun Turn-In a Bust?

At least compared to the last few years:

• Turn in a gun and get a $10, $50 or $100 gift card, no questions asked. The city of Chicago sponsored another "gun buy back" event Saturday.

  Officials see the effort as a way to get guns off the streets. However, at least one Chicago area activist thinks gang members use the program to take advantage of the city's generosity.

  Residents had until 4p.m. Saturday to turn in their guns at any one of 27 participating churches across the city. Police had been optimistic that they would at least match last year's take of 6,000 guns. However, ABC7 Chicago learned Saturday evening that 1,883 guns were collected.

And now we're getting word that once again, BB guns and replica Soft-Air guns are being mixed among the publicity photos and passed off as real guns.

The city and Department have their excuses ready made for the drop off in numbers:

• Officials say the reason they had to offer half of the amount they usually offer for guns and rifles is because they rely on donations to fund the program, and this year, donations were way down. That may help explain why so few guns were turned in this year compared to last year.

If people really wanted to get rid of guns, they'd do it for free. The fact is that when the police are minutes or more away, your gun may be the only thing standing between you and great bodily harm - maybe even death. And it pays to keep it around.