How Many Shot?
The next generation of journalists learns an important lesson:
I bet you have no idea how many shootings there have been in Chicago this year.
Me either.
And it’s not because I haven’t tried to find out. About two months ago, I started reporting on crime and public safety. In light of the on-again, off-again handgun ban and Supt. Jody Weis’ insistence that there are too many guns out there, I was certain the Chicago Police Department would track shootings.
And by shootings, I meant just that. Any time a loaded gun was fired. I thought that was clear enough.
Ah, how naive you are. The article relates how the aspiring journalist files numerous FOIA's and can't seem to get a straight answer from anyone in the Department, at the hospitals, anywhere she turns. She finds out that incidents are counted instead of actual victims, that robberies take precedence over actual people shot, that assaults include people threatening you with a gun as well as actually missing their intended targets and that old stand by - "no victim, no crime."
You think our readers might be on to something when they comment about the sharp pencils and even sharper erasers currently in use downtown by J-Fled and his merry men? Twenty-two consecutive months of crime reduction? Keep drinking the kool-aid kids.
You think our readers might be on to something when they comment about the sharp pencils and even sharper erasers currently in use downtown by J-Fled and his merry men? Twenty-two consecutive months of crime reduction? Keep drinking the kool-aid kids.
Labels: stats
posted by SCC at 12:05 AM
41 Comments:
About a year ago at the area there was an announcement at roll calls for the det's to check their death investigation case's. Downtown called and related that there were over 300 death cases that were not investigated and to please check with the morgue to either close the case or reclassify it as homicide upon the finding. Never heard anything more. News people check it out.
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
In the early 1980's PAM ZEKMAN ran a series on Channel 2 called, KILLING CRIME ON PAPER.
At the time it made a definite impact on the way crime was reported Patrol Division and how the Detective Division handed the cases.
As I recall we even changed the reporting system, Federal to State standards, I think.
Maybe it's time for Ms ZEKMAN to do an encore. There's lots of material there and a lot of pissed off victims. It might make it impossible to give J-Fled and extension. Free Bill Cozzi.
Only way to do it, really, is go day by day from the Trib or Sun-Times, although that won't probably give you an accurate account either. But it would be better that what CPD officials will ever provide.
Are those the same journalism students who got into hot water for "creative" writing when working on wrongful convictions for grades?
How's that case going?
Like filing a FOIA request is going to get you the truth.What a tard.
Dear Meghan:
You get an A++ on your project. You have done some REAL reporting. Something mainstream reporters will not do.
One last thing, the CPD shares information with CEASEFIRE, but not with you. I repeat, the CPD provides, what appears to be confidential information, with gangbangers, hustlers, and plain old criminals, but not with you. And ain't nobody falling for that "former" bullshit.
Make ya mad?
---not a cop
Trace all guns taken, lets go after the gun trafficers. Somebody out there is buying these guns, time to start charging them federally.
NO INVESTIGATIVE SKILLS!
PLEASE GOVERNMENT GIVE ME ALL UR DIRT SO I CAN EMBARRASS U.
THE MEDIA HACKS IN THE AGE OF GOOGLE R JUST LIKE ARE GOLDEN BOY BRET GOLDSTEIN LET THE COMPUTER DO MY JOB.
AND THE OUT PUT ENDS UP BEING CRAP COVERED IN A NICE SIDE HELPING BULLSHIT!
I read the whole article. This is not some piece of hard-hitting journalism exposing a departmental conspiracy to cook the books and operate in secrecy.
This is an amateurish work by a spoiled child who did not do her homework and was not given exactly what she wanted, so lashed out.
If in fact it is her assignment to report on crime in Chicago, a modicum of leg work on her part would have revealed how crime is categorized. And not just in Chicago, but by all departments who utilize the FBI's Universal Crime Reporting (UCR) classification system.
How many "shootings" are there in Chicago? No one knows. A report is not generated everytime a gun is discharged. How many shots fired calls get coded, 19P. Are they all bs -- not likely. Not to get all zen but, if shots are fired in the ghetto and no one is around to report it, does it generate a record?
Which brings us to her FOIA request for "shootings"? How many "shooting" reports have you taken officer? None? That's what I thought. It took them 5 minutes in the academy to explain the difference between agg batt firearm, agg assault and the heirarchy of crime reporting classifications. Apparently it's all a bit too complex for this Northwestern student to grasp.
She requested records of "shootings" -- those don't exist. Why? Because, as was explained to her, our department and departments across the country don't record "shootings" by report. They are categorized in a number of ways such as Agg Batt Firearm, Agg Assault, etc. All things this reporter could have and should have familiarized herself with BEFORE making her request.
Look, I'd love to see a real news story exposing some of the many lies told during the Weis regime. This isn't it. This is merely the work of a naive dolt who was shocked to find that the Department's Records Section isn't meant to function as her personal research assistant.
"...And by shootings, I meant just that. Any time a loaded gun was fired. I thought that was clear enough..."
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Get serious, sweetie!
You have heard about the great "code" system the Chicago PD uses, right? On a call of "shots fired", if there isn't a body laying around, chances are that call will be "coded out" as not bona fide, no person found, no such address, no police service necessary, other police service, etc.
It is not in the politicians best interest for the public to know how many times "a loaded gun was fired" in the City of Chicago. It might lead people to believe that their tax money is going to the Daley Crime Family and other corrupt venues, instead of to pay for adequate police protection for the public.
You will NEVER get a straight answer, just like you can't easily penetrate ownership of a blind trust or shell corporation. It is specifically designed to shield the information that you are looking for and THAT is the name of that tune!
I know someone in this program (not the same as one to free killers). I think he told me this particular student went to law school. Also mentioned how thrilled she was when SCC picked up her article about Aunt Bea.
These students are fanning out to CAPS meetings. Had one at my Beat meeting a few weeks ago who told me CAPS meeting were a priority...Watch what you say as they could be in any meeting and as they are public, you can be quoted. Based on past history, J-Fled would happily jam any cop up for being honest with the residents on your beat.
Dear Meghan:
You get an A++ on your project. You have done some REAL reporting. Something mainstream reporters will not do.
One last thing, the CPD shares information with CEASEFIRE, but not with you. I repeat, the CPD provides, what appears to be confidential information, with gangbangers, hustlers, and plain old criminals, but not with you. And ain't nobody falling for that "former" bullshit.
Make ya mad?
---not a cop
How about the CAPS reverand that was giving the info to the TVL's. Not a peep from the press about that.
"Twenty-two consecutive months of crime reduction? Keep drinking the kool-aid kids."
==========================
That's not "drinking kool-aid", that's sprinkling a mixture of LSD and Zyklon-B on your corn flakes.
OT Spanish 4's tagged the hell out of the southend of 16 and north end of 25. They tagged cars, garages, residential buildings. Once again no service for tax paying citizens wht are Alderman quiet on this subject?
How are we supposed to investigate over 300 death investigations without Detectives. Three years without a class.
C-O-V-E-R-U-P.... Where's the mainstream News Media ? AWOL as usual.
"...any time a loaded gun was fired. ...I thought that was clear enough."
Simply NAIVE!
Okay, so even if J-FLED didn't lie... ...that question is completely naive and impossible to get.
The majority of gun fire is reported in 9-1-1 calls and police reports. SO:
request EVERY 9-1-1 call and EVERY police case report. You'll have to investigate ALL THE CALLS AND ALL THE REPORTS.
Why? Because there are typically 5-10 calls of "shots fired" from various neighbors and witness when Pookie actually gets shot. So, 9-1-1 calls are not reliable.
You know the problem with our case reporting and the CPD/City management.
Next: how many fireworks calls are actually labeled "Shots fired."
OR:how about New Years Eve. Come to 011 or 015 and watch the skies light up like Desert Storm footage. Hundreds of thousands of gun shots are fired.
AND, even if people hear gun fire, in the ghetto, it's sometimes not reported because citizens don't care unless someone is shot.
You are on to something, however finding the truth will not be easy. To get the true number you will need to get the 24 hour reports from all five areas for each day. The numbers on that report will give the number of persons shot and each incident is entered individually. One additional benefit is that the indigents are listed before the incidents get to the review office and are changed to death investigations.
The liars only tout the #s that benefit their dishonorable intentions. Jfled is a piece of crap. Same as the old boss.
Remember the 9 shot at 79th western a few months back? It was counted as 1 incident, si Meghan add 8 to your total.
Wonder why robberies are up? Because any shooting that can be classified as a robbery is, I guess they rather have more robberies than shootings
Just over 4,000 last year for the city. We average about 10 a day. In 015 we had over 400 last year.
Years back, but I can't recall how many though. An Aggravated Battery was documented when a weapon was fired at you whether it was a hit or miss. CPD had that changed in order to lower the numbers of Aggravated Batteries reported in the city.
"OT Spanish 4's tagged the hell out of the southend of 16 and north end of 25. They tagged cars, garages, residential buildings. Once again no service for tax paying citizens why are Alderman quiet on this subject?"
--11/15/2010 10:36:00 AM
C'mon. The aldermen are busy working their real estate deals.
I know of two cases within the last year of family friends beings the victims of agg. batteries. Both were cases of random violence with serious injury. Both cases were reported as simple batteries and important information was left out of both case reports which may have helped solve these cases. All the victims were sober and did not know the offenders.
Can you guess which Northside district headquartered at Belmont and Western screwed up both cases reports? I have quit trying to make excuses for the "hair gels" and they were "hair gels". At least try to get the facts reported correctly.
Megan, when someone shoots a gun but the bullets only hit a building, it's reported as criminal damage to property. add that to your foia request. OR better yet, be a real muckraker and go to a cop hangout, meet a real police officer who can tell you the truth as that "anonymous source."
Just over 4,000 last year for the city. We average about 10 a day. In 015 we had over 400 last year.
That's persons shot.
Years back, but I can't recall how many though. An Aggravated Battery was documented when a weapon was fired at you whether it was a hit or miss. CPD had that changed in order to lower the numbers of Aggravated Batteries reported in the city.
11/15/2010 02:36:00 PM
True
but not quite. The Feds changed/ clarified the rules for crime reporting. Everybody is supposed to do it the same way.
The problem for this girl is that not one of her teachers has adequately explained FOIA laws to her. The Department (or any other public agency) is under no obligation to create a document or tabulate a statistic to reply to a request if the document or record doesn't already exist.
What she believes is a simple question is not answered as easily as she likes because the records aren't kept that way. The Department and most everyone else- except this student reporter- have no use for keeping tabs on the number of times "a loaded gun was fired", so they don't, and so when someone FOIA's the information, the Department doesn't have to provide it.
I guess the headline "Student Reporter Learns FOIA Laws the Hard Way" wouldn't do much to light a fire under readers.
Just call each area det div and they will tell you the agg batts and homicides for the 24 hour period. Hq gets the same info, I don't know why they cant' give straight answers.
i remember being a new p.o. responding to a case where an offender approached a gang member's house, saw the gang member walk by a window, and opened fire with a machine gun. there were about 20 bullet casings along the house, as well as about 20 bullet holes in the house, window, interior walls, furniture. however no one was hit. i started the case report as an agg battery firearm. sgt arrived on scene and explained that the gang member was nobody important, nobody was wounded or killed, there were no witnesses, and no one in custody, and more than likely no one would get caught. then he explained that we would have to call the detectives out if it was made an aggravated battery, and we just didn't have the manpower to do that. he said make it a criminal damage to property and if anyone cared, they could reclassify it later.
that's the CPD way. . . .
This is the reason why the FBI does not use CPD crime statistics in their yearly National crime stats. Too much "re-classification" of crimes. If CPD actually reported crimes the way they were supposed to, the citizens of Chicago would realize that they are living in war zone, overrun by thugs. But there has been a systematic practice of hiding crimes to make the city look safer, when in reality it has truly become a very dangerous place. It started with the mayor telling the CPD to "review" the crimes and look for ways of making them go away. Crime is bad for tourism. If the sheep only knew how bad it really is. Remember this when you are downtown and a pack of savages are beating you. The sad thing is, the Sup, being a FBI agent, knew this before he took the job but he is continuing the practice to make himself look better. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Anonymous said...
I read the whole article. This is not some piece of hard-hitting journalism exposing a departmental conspiracy to cook the books and operate in secrecy.
This is an amateurish work by a spoiled child who did not do her homework and was not given exactly what she wanted, so lashed out.
If in fact it is her assignment to report on crime in Chicago, a modicum of leg work on her part would have revealed how crime is categorized. And not just in Chicago, but by all departments who utilize the FBI's Universal Crime Reporting (UCR) classification system.
How many "shootings" are there in Chicago? No one knows. A report is not generated everytime a gun is discharged. How many shots fired calls get coded, 19P. Are they all bs -- not likely. Not to get all zen but, if shots are fired in the ghetto and no one is around to report it, does it generate a record?
Which brings us to her FOIA request for "shootings"? How many "shooting" reports have you taken officer? None? That's what I thought. It took them 5 minutes in the academy to explain the difference between agg batt firearm, agg assault and the heirarchy of crime reporting classifications. Apparently it's all a bit too complex for this Northwestern student to grasp.
She requested records of "shootings" -- those don't exist. Why? Because, as was explained to her, our department and departments across the country don't record "shootings" by report. They are categorized in a number of ways such as Agg Batt Firearm, Agg Assault, etc. All things this reporter could have and should have familiarized herself with BEFORE making her request.
Look, I'd love to see a real news story exposing some of the many lies told during the Weis regime. This isn't it. This is merely the work of a naive dolt who was shocked to find that the Department's Records Section isn't meant to function as her personal research assistant.
11/15/2010 09:09:00 AM
***********************************
Damn, at least somebody understands.
About a year ago at the area there was an announcement at roll calls for the det's to check their death investigation case's. Downtown called and related that there were over 300 death cases that were not investigated and to please check with the morgue to either close the case or reclassify it as homicide upon the finding. Never heard anything more. News people check it out.
11/15/2010 12:13:00 AM
That occurred because one of the dog asses at the morgue was about to retire and stopped submitting reports on the posts for a year or two. The dogs who followed refused to fix the mess. Therefore, the dicks in the areas were supposed to find the results of the posts and submit reports that the dogs on the morgue detail were supposed to submit. Another useless part time detail, the morgue unit.
"I bet you have no idea how many shootings there have been in Chicago this year."
Statistics are so badly pretzel-twisted these days that I must extend this outward a bit.
I bet you have no idea how many people even live in Chicago.
The very 2010 "census" was a colossal joke. Despite illegal aliens standing in front of TV cameras urging other illegal aliens to "stand up and be counted" without fear, in order to be sure of receiving their apportioned welfare benefits, the fifteen different Scotch-taped names on the five mailboxes screwed to the fence outside what used to be a single-family home still disappeared, and it got real dark and quiet.
Knock knock knock.
Must not be anyone there.
A walk around to the back of the house, to see the mountain of garbage -- how many people must there be in there to use so many giant-sized jugs of laundry detergent? -- would have been more instructive. Hmm. Front and back yards paved, seven or eight cars jammed in there...
Since the federal government coined the term "Hispanic" to further muddy the waters, any sort of demographic information -- be it about shootings, childbirths, whatever -- has become virtually incomprehensible in our officially-designated "Sanctuary City."
What's going on?
A shrug, a shake of the head.
No se.
Don't know.
Look, I'd love to see a real news story exposing some of the many lies told during the Weis regime. This isn't it. This is merely the work of a naive dolt who was shocked to find that the Department's Records Section isn't meant to function as her personal research assistant.
11/15/2010 09:09:00 AM
Well said. Next thing you know, they'll be working at freeing some murderer for a good grade.
It's all legit.
I'd like to see a news story concerning 'any time aN UNloaded gun was fired'
"I don't know why they cant' give straight answers.
11/15/2010 08:54:00 PM"
can't [kɑːnt]
vb contraction of
cannot
cannot [ˈkænɒt kæˈnɒt]
vb
an auxiliary verb expressing incapacity, inability, withholding permission, etc.; can not
maybe the more accurate word would be: won't
It's me neither, not "me either."
Post a Comment
<< Home