Saturday, June 16, 2012

Good Observation Skills

  • A man with dementia is safely back with his family today thanks to an alert police officer, a mobile phone and a story on the Chicago Tribune Breaking News page.

    Deering District Officer Dominick Catinella used his iPhone to check the Breaking News page on the Chicago Tribune while he was waiting for roll call to start before his evening shift in the district, and saw a story that was updated this morning with a photograph of 75-year-old James Gardner, Catinella said this afternoon.

    Gardner had disappeared from his home in the Marquette Park neighborhood about 10 p.m. Wednesday, after recently moving from the West Side, and hadn’t been seen since then by his family.

It would be even more impressive if we were able to get photos like that on our mobile computers instead of relying on our personal phones. We could get pictures of wanted cars, real time pictures of wanted offenders, all sorts of stuff. Nice job in any event.

The Officer also has a iron-clad tax deduction this year.

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18 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah..wth the tribune site must of had at least four missing person stories up all elderly people missing. That's kind of a disturbing trend unless it's CPD public affairs attempting to distract the people from all the shootings.

I have to wonder how many of these senors are maybe a result of the mental health clinics being closed and they are off their meds?

Maybe not related nevertheless then it must be like the zombie Apocalypse with them walking in a daze. I don't mean to make lite of it. That could be us in 50 years who knows.

What a city.

6/16/2012 12:26:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

who's the softball copper that got himself in a jam for buying blows at kilbourn and van buren--- oh wait, he's already at callback--- what the f%%k were you thinking....

6/16/2012 12:51:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice job, Office.

6/16/2012 02:00:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

who's the softball copper that got himself in a jam for buying blows at kilbourn and van buren--- oh wait, he's already at callback--- what the f%%k were you thinking....

6/16/2012 12:51:00 AM

so wait lemme get this straight

A criminal who made his way onto the police force has been exposed / caught?

sounds like a win / win. Whats your beef exactly?

6/16/2012 06:13:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great Job Officer. We do get some good coverage every now and then.


A Cop

6/16/2012 07:15:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeap distraction from the shootings and homicides. Since when this city actually cares about the elderly or did they forget the Medicaid recent cuts? Everyday officers across the city do more than recognize a lost/missing elderly but you never see them recognized.

6/16/2012 07:29:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

With the rapid advancement of mobile technology the Dept only recently made general orders in mobile format. So much more is possible, could our tech gurus way too busy tweaking statistics or the Dept won't spend any money on mobile program to check warrants, wanted mopes and misc alerts concerning persons or property.
Another plus if we had our own CPD server, with password protected searching. Keeps the trolls off our sites.
Good to hear Apple trained some po's how to use the Find My Stolen iPhone app.
The Gen Order app we have works good to find info, only wish they'd upgrade it. It could be better.
The CPD is still reeling in the late '90s as far as tech goes. And that may be stretching it.

6/16/2012 08:42:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Normally, the good stories about the CPD never get any 'air-time.'
Others may not know or appreciate it, but I can speak collectively for our team when I say, 'Thank You, nice work brother.'

Thin Blue Line

6/16/2012 09:31:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So this Officer used his IPhone and GEU used google to Identify a wanted Offender because he didnt show up on the Police Computers. Good job to both for thinking out of the box.

6/16/2012 10:17:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

who's the softball copper that got himself in a jam for buying blows at kilbourn and van buren--- oh wait, he's already at callback--- what the f%%k were you thinking....
___________________________________

Go to the video at 12:50:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOh1E3pNCZs&feature=relmfu

Good riddance. Buh Bye.

6/16/2012 11:23:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good job officer. Anyone who has had an elderly relative with dementia can relate to what these families go through.

Even if you live with them, 24/7 care can take its toll and you've got to sleep sometimes. People with dementia can wander 24/7 and some are still great escape artists, even with their limitations.

Thanks to the observant officer, I'm sure that this elderly person's family is greatly relived.

6/16/2012 11:42:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not a cop here and LOVE this story of an alert CONSCIENCIOUS officer who pays attention to what's going on and makes the EFFORT to CARE about people.
Just a civilian here but I KNOW there are MANY OF YOU like him.
THANK-YOU 4 caring !
To you officers who are tired of the city, tired of all the crap that comes at you from the street, the CPD brass, reporters and politicians > WORD UP > Please FIGHT to care, even when you don't want to. YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE WHEN YOU DO. GOD BLESS YOU GUYS & LADIES, we need you.

6/16/2012 11:43:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just for we citizens who haven't been introduced to the inside of a squad car, why are the mobile computers in the cars not able to get this sort of information? Is the broader internet not accessible, or are there bandwidth limitations?

Many of us want to help you guys, and our neighbors, out by alerting the wider community to what we observe via blogs, Everyblock, community news sites, etc.

It would seem that giving officers access to as many streams of data as possible would yield better results.

6/16/2012 01:35:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sounds like the CPD is like my last job.. the only way you can get things done is buy your own equipment.. hope you get a better pension than I got..

6/16/2012 10:09:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"The Officer also has a iron-clad tax deduction this year."
---


The tax deduction will be denied because the department does not require the officer to use his personal phone while on duty.

We should be grateful that the Department doesn't still use Windows 98. They upgraded to the still obsolete Windows XP.

6/17/2012 01:16:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

the wider the audience for this kind of thing the better. the more people that see it the more chance someone drops a dime (so to speak).

where I live they have electronic billboards that show pictures of criminal fugitives asking for people to report on them. now and then, a fugitive gets caught that way.

6/17/2012 10:12:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just for we citizens who haven't been introduced to the inside of a squad car, why are the mobile computers in the cars not able to get this sort of information? Is the broader internet not accessible, or are there bandwidth limitations?

Many of us want to help you guys, and our neighbors, out by alerting the wider community to what we observe via blogs, Everyblock, community news sites, etc.

It would seem that giving officers access to as many streams of data as possible would yield better results.

6/16/2012 01:35:00 PM
-
It isn't like on tv.
Many of our mobile computers don't work at all. They're very expensive tv trays.
Even if they worked, we don't have enough to put them in every car.
Because of the rigged bidding system, they're clumsy and obsolete, both in hardware AND software.
The dept can't figure out how to limit internet access, so it shuts down a lot of potentially helpful functions altogether.
Towers are useless or inadequate. Can't get a radio signal AT ALL in certain large areas, and, no, I am not going to specify them.
Someone else will be along to add to the list, I'm sure.

6/17/2012 09:14:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

6/17/2012 09:14:00 PM -

Thanks for the insight Officer, it's appreciated.

Understanding how things (don't) work in this city as a 25+ year resident, is there any realistic strategy that citizens can use to effectively lobby for equipment that provides specific functionality?

As a web developer, I firmly believe in the power of information. I also believe taxpayers want police in the field doing real police work to have effective tools. We just need to know what to lobby for and whom to lobby. Knowing that certain (most?) officials (elected and appointed) are useless, there still must be some avenue that would be more likely to be responsive than others.

Knowing what cops would find useful combined with my and others own IT expertise would help cut through the inevitable blizzard of babble, obfuscations and double talk that city hall will inevitably use to steer requests to contractors that can't deliver what you guys need.

Maybe SCC can do a post to gather feedback? I'm sure cops have asked for certain functionality through channels for the longest time. Maybe a public airing can prompt action from those of us in the IT/design fields? Probably massively naive of me to think some designers/coders can pierce the bureaucratic armor at city hall, but maybe it's worth a shot.

6/18/2012 11:08:00 AM  

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