What's That Smell? (UPDATED)

It smells like desperation:

• For the third consecutive day, a top Chicago police official held a news briefing as the department struggles to get out its message that crime isn't out of control despite headline-grabbing stories about the city's daily violence.

  On Monday it was police Superintendent Jody Weis, who highlighted that homicides have dropped sharply over the last two decades and, for the first seven months of 2010, are holding about even with last year. He also noted other violent crimes have plummeted since the early 1990s.

  Weis also suggested that Chicago is not only battling street gangs but also an image problem when it comes to crime.

The vast majority of crime fighting is public relations. Yes, crime is down in certain categories, but it masks the crimes that are up.

Homicides are up this year. We're currently at last years levels, give or take half-a-dozen dead bodies. Unfortunately, three of those dead are cops, killed in front of a parents home, in a police parking lot and in front of his own home. That in and of itself is going to paint a very different picture than if it was three convicts shot on the dope tip.

Shootings are up. Shootings with multiple victims are way up and probably account for most of the increases seen citywide. And it doesn't help that most articles in the media end with "No one is in custody, Area 2 Detectives continue to investigate." We haven't had a detective promotional class in three years now and the number of detectives retiring is slightly ahead of the Department average. Crime is not being investigated, no matter what J-Fled says. You can take that to the bank.

Arrests and convictions are down. Significantly. Clearance rates are under 50% for most crimes and murder clearances are under 33% and dropping. There are fewer "success stories" of killers being caught, prosecuted and sentenced to decades in prison. In fact, thanks to Ryan, Blago and Quinn, violent criminals are serving less of their sentences than ever before and too many headlines are reading how someone who got released early is right back on the street doing the same shit over again.

The public perception is that crime is out of control. It's based on less police visible in the cars, and the near constant "wildings" downtown, at the beaches and during the festivals. People don't need the media to drive their perceptions anymore - they have all sorts of social websites and YouTube and networks to communicate. How many people do you think actually saw J-Fled talking about "statistics"? Very few. But we'll bet thousands of people told their friends, "You won't believe the shit I saw at the XYZ club last night."

Shortshanks and J-Fled are losing that battle.

UPDATE: Drink the Kool-aid! DRINK THE KOOL-AID!!!

This is a hilarious passage we missed initially:

• Weis also dissected the shootings over the weekend, noting the high percentage connected to gang activity. He said he intends to use briefings to update the public on the progress of investigations and announce accomplishments of the department.

  "I hope this press conference helps," he told reporters Monday. "You have charts, you have numbers, you have facts that leap right out. This is where the truth lies. When you strip away all the sensationalism … hopefully this will work.''

So is he trying to convince the media this will work? Or trying to convince himself? Regardless, it sounds like he's taking to a room full of morons. We just aren't sure if it's the media he considers morons or the brass looking back at him.