Inside Peek at CompStat

One commentator said it "wasn't pretty." That may be, but it was revealing in other ways:

• Chicago’s new top cop is relying on a strategy that uses statistics to predict and prevent crime.

  CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine was invited to observe first-hand how “Compstat” is working so far –- and how Police Supt. Garry McCarthy is leaning on his higher-ups to get results.

  “We’ve got eight consecutive weeks of 20-percent reductions in crime — that’s pretty darn significant,” McCarthy says. “Imagine when we get better at it.”

Eight straight weeks? Of 20% and more? Really? Time for SCC's Math Tutorial!

• Week 1: 100 crimes (we'll use 20% rounded throughout)
• Week 2: 100 - 20 = 80 crimes
• Week 3: 80 -16 = 64
• Week 4: 64 - 13 = 51
• Week 5: 51 - 10 = 41
• Week 6: 41 - 8 = 33
• Week 7: 33 - 6 = 27
• Week 8: 27 - 5 = 22

That's a cumulative 78% reduction in crime. Now ask yourself, does it feel like there's been a 78% reduction in crime? Have your calls slacked off? Has the rate of report writing and RD#'s gone down? We'll confess that the work load is spread out a bit more with the extra bodies from all this "redeploying" going on and we can get a day off occasionally when we need it. And don't forget, school started, taking a few hundred thousand potential victims off the street during daylight hours. But 78%?

Remember when reporters could actually do math?

Back to the article:

• McCarthy alternates between good cop and bad cop during his weekly Compstat meeting with area, district and unit commanders. TV cameras have never been allowed behind the closed doors.

  “I’m not hearing a sense of urgency. I’m not satisfied with the answers that I’m hearing,” McCarthy tells his subordinates. “This isn’t going to go on like this, folks, of that I can assure you.”

  When Levine tells him later he was pretty rough on some of them, McCarthy disagrees.

  “That wasn’t so tough, because I didn’t fire anybody or throw them out of the room,” he said.

You mean like Carothers? Wasn't he the subject of two or three of these meetings in a row? Rumor has it he walked out. And he paid what penalty for failing to answer McCarthy's questions? Oh right....none. He's still commander, months later. A shining example for all to aspire to. Let's just call this for what it is - a charade. McFigurehead can't fire anyone unless Rahm and the Machine tell him it's OK.

• McCarthy doesn’t let up because of a promise he made to his boss, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, in June -– that he wants to reduce shootings by more than 10 percent.

Well it's a good thing school started - there's your 10% reduction right there. In fact, if we aren't mistaken, 10% is the low end of the average of the reduction in shootings once school starts. Someone want to look it up. McSmoke&Mirrors might be taking credit for what is the historical norm. We might as well credit the Teachers' Union for the drop - hey Karen Lewis? You listening?

Well skip a few paragraphs and come to the portion of the article that made us laugh our asses off:

• We’ve all heard the expression “no pain, no gain.” That’s especially true on Thursdays, when McCarthy holds Compstat meetings.

  Every commander gets a turn on the hot seat. Down the line he goes, to Cmdr. Robert Lopez, who is in charge of apprehending fugitives.

  When Lopez tells McCarthy he anticipates one subject will be showing up in court Oct. 3, McCarthy shoots back with a question: “We’re gonna hope that he shows up in court?”

Um, yeah. It's called "Bond" and it's a kind of judicial process that lets defendants free after posting cash or property to guarantee their appearance at future court dates. If he doesn't show up, he forfeits the "Bond." It's a practice that's been in place since before the Magna Carta - 1275 AD actually. We're pretty sure that the same methods are in place in New York and New Jersey unless we missed something in the news.

They finish up with this:

• A major part of this week’s Compstat session was spent dealing with a virtual gang war on the South Side.

  To make Compstat work, you need accurate intelligence, which is supplied by a variety of specialists. That intelligence leads to rapid deployment.

  The next step, according to Compstat, is effective tactics and relentless follow up.

  “When we identify people, I want them in custody,” McCarthy said. “I don’t want murderers out there for two and three and four weeks. I’m not seeing a sense of urgency here, folks.”

Accurate intelligence - is this that Crystal Ball stuff again?

Rapid deployment - didn't we get rid of those units?

And we're sure that the Chicago Police Department has made it a habit of letting murderers roam around freely once their identified.

Jay Levine and Channel 2 publish this crap as if it's coming from the Burning Bush and pass it off as some big deal, without doing the most basic research, asking the simplest questions or doing any sort of followup investigating whatsoever. What Rahm says goes, and what comes from Rahm's appointees goes unquestioned.