Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Uncle Rahm Wants You!

  • The city will take applications to join the Chicago Police Department for the first time in three years, officials announced today.

    The department said it has lowered its minimum hiring age for officers to 21 and will allow individuals as young as 18 to apply. Previously, the minimum hiring age was 25 except for military veterans, who could still get hired at 21.

    Applications will be accepted from Aug. 1 through Sept. 16, and a written exam will be administered in December.

    In addition to a written exam, applicants will have to undergo a psychological evaluation and testing for strength, endurance and flexibility. They’ll also need to pass a polygraph test, a medical checkup, a background check and drug screening.
You too can work for an uncaring, unappreciative public and an exploitative political class. But the money ain't bad.

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Whoops

Police impersonators up north pick the wrong car:
  • Chicago police are looking for two men who posed as Chicago police officers this morning when they pulled over a Northwest Side motorist who turned out to be an actual Chicago police officer.

    The officer, in his 40s, was heading home from an overtime shift and was nearing Fairfield Avenue and George Street in the Avondale neighborhood just after midnight when behind him, a white sport-utility vehicle, possibly a Ford, turned on its flashing lights, police said.

    When the officer pulled over, he knew he hadn't committed any traffic violations and sensed something was odd, according to police. Two men, neither of whom appeared to have police radios or guns on them, exited the SUV. One man, wearing dark clothing, remained standing outside the SUV while the other, wearing jeans and a shirt, approached the officer in his car, police said.

    The officer, who was still wearing his bullet resistant vest and was wearing a police shirt, asked the man,  "Who are you?" When the man replied: "I'm Chicago police," the officer sensed they were pretending and said, "Oh really?"

    The man, apparently feeling something was up, yelled to his "partner" in dark clothing "It's OK, it's  Chicago police" and jumped back into the SVU which sped away with the two men inside. The officer followed them for a while but lost them, police said.

    The officer was not injured or robbed and police are seeking two Hispanic men in their 20s who are about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weigh 175 pounds, police said. One had an open-collared shirt and blue jeans while the other was wearing all dark clothing.
Still on the loose at last report.

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JUly 2013 worse than July 2012?

Notice the sudden emphasis on "overall crime" being down and "40 murders less" than last year suddenly popping up? How about in regard to 2011?

We think it's 6 less, but July totals are up.

Anyone have the exact breakdown? HeyJackass.com has some helpful charts, but we don't see a month-by-month breakout of the numbers. And days like Monday can't help things:
  • Four men were killed in separate South Side attacks Monday, two of them within blocks of each other about nine hours apart, authorities said.
The coolest Monday in months and four people/folks get themselves killed.

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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Misplaced Priorities

  • Chicago’s top cop says tougher gun laws would save lives in Chicago, including those of gang bangers.

    Standing before some of the more than 4,000 guns seized by Chicago Police this year, Superintendent Garry McCarthy outlined four cases where men picked up for unlawful use of a weapon later became victims.

    “A 21-year-old man was shot on July 23, was convicted of aggravated UUW in September of 2012. He was given six months of probation,” said McCarthy.

    McCarthy says too many illegal guns and not enough truth in sentencing means more violence in Chicago so he wants state lawmakers to pass tougher laws.
While we're all in favor of more prison time for those who violate the laws, especially violent felons using illegal weapons, let us just be among the first to say, "who really cares if a gang banger gets killed by another gang banger?" If he gets out from whatever sentence he serves and manages to get killed shortly thereafter, we really don't give a rat's ass. Good riddance to bad rubbish. We'd be more worried about....oh, we don't know....a four-year-old getting her stomach and intestines scrambled by a stray bullet than someone who is and will be nothing but a drain on society for the next couple of decades.

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Another Innocent Catches Lead

  • A week after she turned 4, Khalise Weatherspoon was shot in the stomach while playing outside her Southwest Side home Monday, according to her grandfather.

    Khalise and a 31-year-old man were shot just before 5 p.m. near 71st and Rockwell in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood, Chicago Police said.

And you know whose fault it all is, don't you?
  • “The shooting these guys are doing is just ridiculous. The people getting shot are the innocent people like my grandchild,” an angry Spires said. “And the government is now allowing this concealed carry mess. They might as well open it up and say it’s the OK Corral.”
Yup, it's all the government's fault for allowing Concealed Carry, even though there's no evidence a legal gun owner was anywhere within a mile of the girl's shooting and that the random gunfire popping up across Chicago Lawn was fired by a legal gun owner. Blame the gun and the government rather than exactly whom a blind man would know is responsible.

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Aldercreature Cleared

Anyone know if this is true?
  • Alderman [Maldanado] was found Not Guilty in room 408, Judge Gallaghar's room. Judge said the testimony of the two Officers was very credible. And that the Alderman was in a better position to judge if his cutting off of two vehicles in traffic was safe or not. 
Not exactly sure what the commentator was trying to say there - Gallagher found the officers credible? Or not credible? We thinking there's a few articles/words missing there.

Cook County "justice" at its finest there.

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ISP "Ahead of the Game"

  • Anyone wanting to carry a concealed firearm in Illinois likely must wait until April before the first permits are issued, but State Police Director Hiram Grau assured gun owners his department is “way ahead of the game” in getting ready to approve the permits.

    State lawmakers approved concealed carry legislation for Illinois in May, and it became law earlier this month, after the House and Senate overrode Gov. Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto.

    The legislation gives Illinois State Police 180 days – or until Jan. 5, 2014 – to make concealed carry permit applications available to the public. Once applications are submitted, they have 90 days to review them, and approve or reject them.

    “We’re way ahead of the game,” Grau said. “We created a committee when we heard it was going to start going into play, and so we’re going to be ready. We’ll be ready. There are several steps that we have to take, but we’re taking those steps.”
Imagine that - an arm of Illinois government actually working efficiently and anticipating the needs of its citizens? Color us as doubters here, we'll believe it when we see it.

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Monday, July 29, 2013

Police Kill Man With Knife

  • Chicago Police shot and killed a man who attacked his ex-wife with a foot-long butcher knife after “laying in wait” outside her Gage Park neighborhood home Sunday night, authorities said.

    “This is, without a doubt, a classic example of Chicago Police serving and protecting,” Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden told reporters. “They wind up saving the woman’s life.”

Read the entire article - they certainly did save her life.

Very well done Officers.

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Ride to Remember Coverage

  • More than a thousand people participated in a fundraiser for the Chicago Police memorial today, reports WBBM’s Michele Fiore. The engines got rolling at Harrison and Kedzie around 9 a.m. and ended at Gold Star Memorial and Park. [...]

  • In its ninth year, to date, the Ride to Remember has raised $150,000 which helps children whose police officer parent died in the line of duty.

    “it’s a small drop in the bucket compared to the ultimate sacrifices of their parents and brothers and sisters pay but it is well worth it,” said Al Wysinger, first deputy superintendent.

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Highest in the Nation

  • The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has jumped eight cents over the past two weeks and Chicago is home to the highest average at $4.10 a gallon, 43 cents higher than the nation’s average.
Even in Los Angeles, California, a worse economic basket base than Illinois, the average price was around .06 cents lower than Chicago.

We also find ourselves amused by the recent press events held by Emanuel touting how more and more bikes are being used around Chicago reducing congestion. No mention of how higher gas prices might be driving a minor bump in Public Transit usage and certainly no mention about how lower automobile usage is having the unintended side effect of less parking revenue and even less collection of gas taxes, which means less money for road projects and the like.

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Initiation Shooting Outrage

Oh wait, there is no outrage. No protests. No marches. No angle to play evidently:
  • A 29-year-old man is reportedly recovering at Mt. Sinai Hospital with wounds to the legs, back and neck after he was shot six times while putting his toddler in a car seat.

    A 19-year-old man was denied bond Sunday in connection with the shooting.

    Esteban Sotelo was charged with aggravated battery, attempted first-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, police said.

    The shooting was reportedly intended as a gang initiation for a 14-year-old boy who was also charged with aggravated battery and discharged of a firearm, officials said.

Shooting while a 6-year-old is present - that's something to strive for, isn't it? Too bad these assholes don't face the same repercussions that the Outfit dished out when a hit went wrong like this - hello to the inside of a trunk.

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Sunday, July 28, 2013

Hahahaha

Imagine being a functioning neuron in this idiot's head....just before the bullet passes through it:
  • A man pushing his friend in a wheelchair wrestled a gun away from a man who shot him and then shot his attacker in the head on the South Side Friday night, according to police.

    The 21-year-old man was in the 200 block of Root Street in the Fuller Park neighborhood about 6:30 p.m. when a 19-year-old man approached him and opened fire, police said. The two men were from rival gangs, police said.

    The 21-year-old was hit in the arm and upper back and fought with the younger man after getting shot. He was able to get the gun and shot the 19-year-old "multiple" times, police said.

    The 19-year-old who initiated the exchange may not survive but if he does, will be charged with the shooting, according to police.
The "oh shit" look must have been priceless.

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No Apple Picking for You!

Let's see a few of these on Michigan Avenue:



Of course, this is one-on-one, but still amusing as hell.

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This is July, Right?

  • It's been even less of a beach-going day than forecast in Chicago, likely setting a record low high temperature for July 27, but at least it's not expected to get cold enough to set a record low temperature.

    The high temperature on Saturday was forecast to stay one notch below 70 degrees, but the warmest it's gotten at O'Hare International Airport has been 65 degrees at 11:20 a.m., according to the National Weather Service.

    Lows are expected to dip into the mid and lower 50s in some suburbs Saturday night, with northern suburbs experiencing slightly colder and southern suburbs slightly warmer temperature conditions.
Chilly day for the Ride to Remember.

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Saturday, July 27, 2013

Comments Down

Minor technical glitch - Friday comments are frozen at the moment. Projected fix early tomorrow.

Open post in the meantime.

UPDATE: Fixed.

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By the Numbers

  • Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed the books on 2012 with $33.4 million in unallocated cash on hand — down from $167 million the year before — while adding to the mountain of debt piled on Chicago taxpayers, year-end audits show.

    Last week, Moody’s Investors ordered an unprecedented triple-drop in the city’s bond rating, citing Chicago’s “very large and growing” pension liabilities, “significant” debt service payments, “unrelenting public safety demands” and historic reluctance to raise local taxes that has continued under Emanuel.

    The 2012 city audits explain why. They show that an unallocated balance that was $167 million a year ago because of Emanuel’s aggressive cost-cutting efforts has dropped to $33.4 million.

    Budget Director Alex Holt blamed the $133.6 million drop on “honest” budgeting and ending the long-standing practice of carrying “ghost” vacancies.

And here's part of the "crime is down" argument:
  • The number of “physical arrests” by Chicago Police officers declined again — from 152,740 in 2011 to 145,390 in 2012. That continues a six-year trend that coincides with the hiring slowdown that caused a dramatic decline in the number of police officers. Police made 227,576 arrests in 2006. The number of arrests has been dropping like a rock ever since.  
Less cops = less crime? Not really....just "less reported crime."

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Want to See Rahm's Head Explode?

  • North Carolina lawmakers have approved a bill greatly expanding where concealed handguns are legally allowed.

    The Republican-backed bill approved by both the House and Senate on Tuesday allows concealed-carry permit holders to take firearms into bars and restaurants and other places where alcohol is served as long as the owner doesn’t expressly forbid it.

    The measure will also allow concealed-carry permit holders to store weapons in locked cars on the campus of any public school or university. Guns will also now be allowed on greenways, playgrounds and other public recreation areas.

North Carolina actually treats it's citizens as adults. Illinois not so much.

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This is News Why?

  • Chicago Police Department documents, some of them marked as confidential, were found this week in a trash bin in a Wisconsin cemetery.

    The manager of Prairie Home Cemetery, in Waukesha, just west of Milwaukee, said the binders contained photos of crime suspects and descriptions.

    "The contents had what looked to be a publication of some sorts that said 'police confidential,'” explained manager David Brenner.

    He said there were between six and eight of them, each about two inches thick.

    "These were records from 2001 [and] 2002, just lots and lots of these," he said.

    Chicago police officials said the reports don't contain any sensitive information but it still wasn't clear Wednesday evening who threw them out. A department spokesman said the documents appear to be old reference material, possibly study guides for police sergeants.

Just about every piece of paper produced by this Department is marked "police confidential" or "restricted LEO only." That doesn't mean much. And if it's bound up as training material, someone is just cleaning out an attic or tossing Dad's old papers.

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Friday, July 26, 2013

Rahm Appoints Police Assailant

We had completely forgotten about this:
  • Deb Mell arrested for battery to a PO. Then swept under the rug. Already had it expunged from her record. How nice.
We did a cursory search for the incident and there is one single line in her Wikipedia bio that references the incident (the same amount of coverage to glossing over her connections to the flower pot people), another mention at the DemocraticUnderground site (no link) and nothing else for about 10 pages of inquires.

The story seems to be that she struck a CPD Lieutenant during a protest over the County Clerk's office refusal to issue her a marriage license. At the time, it wasn't within the power of the County Clerk to issue a non-existent document, so instead of working to change the law, she resorted to misbehavior and a criminal act.

We have no idea what happened to the case, the Lieutenant or the arrest record. We imagine Dick Mell did his best to quash it all and expunge the record, bending and contorting the law as he so often has to benefit himself and his family. But we assume it's safe to say the CPD didn't gain a friend in the City Council this week.

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Remember, the Mag Mile is "Safe"

But if you go a few miles south on Lake Shore Drive, well, you might be a victim-in-waiting:
  • Police are warning residents in the Kenwood and Hyde Park neighborhoods after there have been three attacks in the last three weeks along the Chicago lakefront.

    Police say the robbers are a group of as many as 13 teenagers and young men. Police say they displayed weapons or attacked their victims, then robbed them.

    Chicago Police issued a community alert Thursday night after three robberies this month happened along the south lakefront.

    Two robberies occurred on the 4300-block of South Lake Shore Drive on July 5 and July 19, and one on the 4700-block of South Lake Shore Drive on July 17.

    Two to 13 male offenders reportedly displayed weapons or physically attacked victims and then stole property.
Kenwood? Hyde Park? But that's Obama's neighborhood. How can this be happening?!?!

Not a single description among the 13 offenders is published. Interesting. And you know that "profiling" any "young men" in the area will be met with the shrill outcry of aldercreatures and lib-tards alike. "How dare you?" and "Not my son" will reverberate throughout the parks and beaches.

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Rahm Lashes Out at Guardian Angels

Not because they're wrong, but because they're bringing a spotlight to an ongoing problem and it's embarrassing:
  • Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday said that if the Guardian Angels want to protect something, their efforts would be more appreciated along Safe Passage routes than on Michigan Avenue.

    "Michigan Avenue, police work every day to make that secure and safe," he said after a meeting of the City Council.

    His remarks come a day after members of the non-profit volunteer organization distributed flyers along one of the city's prominent shopping districts. The flyers referred to the Magnificent Mile as "Muggers Mile."

    "I think the Guardian Angels are interested in safety and security," said Emanuel. "There's a lot of areas in the city where they can work in partnership" [with police]. There's gonna be a lot of safe-passage routes for kids. Come work those."

The Guardian Angels invited Rahm to come walk with them, but Rahm refused as he didn't want to actually witness a large portion of his voting bloc's offspring making the city uninhabitable.

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Here Come the Lawsuits

  • Chicago’s 30,000 retired city employees are trying to stop Mayor Rahm Emanuel from saving $108.7 million — by phasing out the city’s 55 percent subsidy for retiree health care and foisting Obamacare on them.

    One week after an unprecedented, triple-drop in Chicago’s bond rating, retirees have filed a class-action lawsuit against the city and its four employee pension funds that threatens to make the financial crisis even worse.

    The suit argues that the Illinois Constitution guarantees that municipal pension membership benefits are an “enforcible contractual relationship which may not be diminished or impaired.”

And it would be difficult to pick a better plaintiff than this:
  • The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit is Mike Underwood, a retired Chicago Police officer with Parkinson’s disease, whose service on the streets of Austin left him with a laundry list of injuries.

    “I wasn’t hiding behind a desk somewhere. I earned these benefits. I paid for them with my blood. I was shot in the head and stabbed. I broke my hand, my leg, my ankle twice and fractured a vertebrae, a cheekbone and I can’t tell you how many ribs,” Underwood said Thursday.

    “When I was hired in 1972, one of the benefits I was guaranteed was health care for life. Now that I’m old and sick, they want to take it away from me and put me on Obamacare. I’m not interested. Nobody knows what that cost will be or what it will cover. He’s throwing us into the unknown.”
If you aren't paying attention, start. Now.

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Thursday, July 25, 2013

Reading Material for Sgt Test


The officer running the 5F website has added a webpage with links to other sites to collect reading materials.

Better than the Department site, he also provides additional links to sites you can located the MCC and ILCS material. It appears that he has compiled everything into a single .zip file, eliminating the need to point, click, download/save, hit the back button, repeat.

We're headed there shortly, but anyone who downloads it in the meantime, let other readers know if it's as simple as it seems.

For the non-cops reading, the name "Five-Frank" is a riff on the number-letter codes used for clearing jobs.

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Robberies? What Robberies?

Just the other day, the media reported that the Department said their were only 3 incidents of wilding/iPhone snatching downtown in the previous 28 days.

Someone better run those numbers again:
  • Three juvenile girls were in court today accused of robbing and punching two 14-year-old girls on Oak Street off Michigan Avenue Tuesday evening in the Gold Coast neighborhood, authorities said.

    The victims, both of Chicago, were not injured but had their cell phones taken, according to authorities.

    Police responded to call of a robbery in the 0-100 block of East Oak Street about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday and met the two 14-year-old girls who told them one of the three suspects approached one of the girls and asked to use her cell phone, police said.

    The girl complied and when she walked away with the phone, the other two suspects confronted the victims and began to punch them and grabbed a second cell phone, said police.
Too bad "stupidity" isn't a charge - the victims could have caught a case in this instance. What the hell are people thinking? "If I don't lend this poorly dressed, poorly spoken youth my $400 iPhone, she's going to call me a 'racist' and that will hurt my feelings"? Seriously?

And now the detectives are ruining the CompStat narrative by issuing alerts about the thievery:
  • Detectives are warning riders of the CTA Blue Line downtown about strong-arm robberies in which men take riders' iPhones or iPads.

    In both of two recent robberies, the men forced someone to give up an iPhone or iPad as they rode the subway, Central Area detectives said
If you include the tourists that got mugged over the weekend, that's 4 incidents in just 8 days, though we imagine the Department is saying the subway robberies weren't on the "Mug-nificent Mile"so they don't count - only the actual one-mile stretch of Michigan Avenue is the affected area. The fact that you can draw a one mile circle around a few dozen incidents isn't the purpose of CompStat.

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    There He Goes Again

    Our favorite impersonator is back, this time on the north side, trying to put his former uniform collection together again:
    • Vincent Richardson, who made national headlines four years ago when he briefly was able to pass himself off as a police officer at only 14, has been busted again for pretending to be a Chicago cop, authorities said Wednesday.

      Despite his age, Richardson was so convincing in 2009 that he went on patrol with a real officer for more than five hours on the South Side. This time he didn't get past a clerk at a uniform store, authorities said.

      Richardson, now 19, was arrested Tuesday afternoon soon after he walked into the VCG Uniform store in the 5000 block of West Irving Park Road posing as an Englewood District officer, according to the Cook County state's attorney's office.
    This part is funny as hell:
    • Richardson was arrested about 2:15 p.m. at the uniform store, police said.

      "I know what it's like to be one of you," Richardson told officers, according to police. "I respect you because I did it for a day chasing and helping people. My intentions are never to hurt people, just to help."
    The Department continues to deny that this goof actually drove a squad car, pulled over traffic violators and got into a foot chase, claiming that he just rode along for five hours without incident.

    IF he could have just waited until December, he might have been able to pass the entrance exam and make it legit - the background check probably would have missed all these little bumps in the road.

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    Nepotism Again Rahm?

    Lisa Madigan can appear in public and say with a straight face that Illinois would not be served by having two members of the family in such powerful state positions should she have decided to run for governor, completely ignoring the fact that Illinois has a rich history of related politicos feeding from the same trough - including the Speaker of the House (daddy Mike) and herself as Illinois Attorney General.

    The public certainly isn't served well when she can't seem to find even a single instance of politician law-breaking or rule-stretching in her ten years as Attorney General, while the feds managed to put two governors behind bars along with a few aldercreatures and state reps.

    Rahm doesn't even bother to fight the appearance of impropriety in appointing the daughter of a corrupt asshole to the most corrupt legislative body in recorded history:
    • Minutes after Deb Mell was sworn in as Chicago's newest alderman Wednesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel motioned her to the dais in the council chambers and handed her the roll call of colleagues officially agreeing she could join the City Council.

      It's a memento of a proud moment for Mell. When she scans the sheet, however, Mell also will be reminded that one alderman voted against her and a handful of others opted not to weigh in.


    • "We are not a monarchy. We're a democracy. Let's start acting like it," said Ald. Bob Fioretti, 2nd, before voting against the Mell succession plan.

      Emanuel has positioned himself as the herald of a new, cleaner way of doing political business in Chicago, but with the Deb Mell appointment finds himself defending a process critics say smacks of the old way. The mayor pointed to Deb Mell's work as a state representative and her re-election to that post by many of the same voters who live in the 33rd Ward.
    Rahm isn't even pretending anymore. Harold Washington called it "hubris - that's arrogance gone wild." He had it 100% correct.

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    Sentence Cut for Union President

    He pays back almost one-third of the money he stole, so the judge arranges a one-third cut of his sentence:
    • A Cook County judge Wednesday reduced the sentence of a former Chicago Police sergeant from 12 to eight years in prison for stealing $1.1 million from his union.

      Judge Diane Cannon resentenced John Pallohusky, 57, after his attorneys told her he could pay back $465,000 to the Chicago Police Sergeants Association.

      Pallohusky, who appeared in court wearing a prison uniform, did not comment at the brief hearing.

    If we recall, he married the union treasurer, one of the only other persons with the power to countersign the checks. She died after a long illness around the time he was indicted and the Sergeants Board was full of people who "hadn't known a thing" about the shady accounting or the marriage of two of their executive board members.

    Only in Chicago we guess.

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    Wednesday, July 24, 2013

    Another Nice Gesture

    • Hollywood actor and Chicago native Dennis Farina tipped his hat to the Second City posthumously today.

      In lieu of flowers, anyone making a donation in honor of his death will be sending their money to the 100 Club of Chicago. The organization helps families financially after they have lost a loved one in the line of duty. These are families of firefighters, police officers among others.
    Thank you Detective Farina.

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    Ride to Remember


    • The Memorial Ride
      On 28 July, the ride leaves the former Area 4 Detective Headquarters and travels south on the Boulevards and east to the Memorial site along the Lake Front where there will be a short program.

      Registration Information
      Registration is $30.00 for a rider and an additional $30.00 for a passenger plus an on-line convenience fee. The ride and after-ride celebration will occur, rain or shine. No refunds will be issued.

      Check-in and Assembly
      Check-in and Assembly begin at 7:00 a.m. in the west parking lot of Area Four Detective Headquarters. The ride will leave at 9:00 a.m. sharp.

      After Ride Celebration
      Celebration for all participants at Teamsters Local 705 @ 1645 W. Jackson Blvd. Chicago, IL 60612 following the ride. Food/Live Music/Refreshments
    When these guys say 9:00 AM, they mean 9:00 AM.

    See you there.

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    Black Helicopters

    • U.S. military personnel are conducting training exercises in and around Chicago through Thrusday, including flying military helicopters in areas around downtown at night.

      City agencies are providing support for the “routine military training exercises,” according to a release from the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications.

      Monday night, many Chicagoans wondered what military helicopters were doing downtown. They are part of the training exercises, a spokeswoman for the office said.

      Military personnel including soldiers from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment--who fly and support military helicopters and specialize in nighttime operations—are among those involved in the “realistic urban training,” said a spokeswoman for the 160th, which is headquartered in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The exercises also include other units under the U.S. Special Operations Command, based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla.
    We can only hope a huge "wilding" crowd gathers the next couple of nights downtown and gets jumped by an entire regiment of USSOCCOM soldiers leaping out of helicopters.

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    Muggers Mile

    • Tourists are everywhere on a summer day in Chicago. Guardian Angels are passing out fliers warning people about a rash of crime - calling the area not Mag Mile but ''Muggers Mile.''

      The Guardian Angels patrolled the Magnificent Mile by Chicago and Michigan Tuesday. The main target of thieves: smart phones.

      But smart-phone theft is going on all over the country. So are the Angels being alarmists and threatening tourism?

      The city says tourism numbers now are record breaking. And a police spokesperson said there are hundreds of thousands of people on the Mag Mile every day; incidents, they say, are isolated, and arrests are being made.

      The Chicago Police Department website shows 19 street and sidewalk incidents and nine CTA incidents occurring in a two-week period of July, in the Gold Coast, Streeterville and River North neighborhoods.

      Guardian Angels have back pedaled a bit, not flat out calling it Muggers Mile, but now saying they don't want it to become ''Muggers Mile.''
    Again, here is where CompStat really shines. Reclassify the crimes from "Strong Arm Robbery" to "Theft from Person" and --tada!!!-- Instant drop in violent crime. You don't think they're doing it? How about those juveniles that got caught the other day? The one had another smart phone and was charged with "Theft of Lost/Mislaid Property" probably because no one could identify who committed the actual robbery.

    Or the lack of police that is emboldening the robbers? If someone has to wait an hour for a police report, they might as well head home and do it over the phone....or not do it at all. --Tada!!!--- another drop in crime!

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    A Nice Gesture

    • A Michigan woman who lost her iPhone in a mugging on Michigan Avenue is getting a new one from the organizers of the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon she was in town for.

      "I started crying," said Tammy, the 51-year-old victim, who was back home Tuesday when she learned of the gift. "I'm like ... oh my gosh … I'm so grateful."

      The robbery happened Friday night and included another visitor to Chicago, a 15-year-old girl who tried to help Tammy while she was getting robbed by a group of teens and got punched by one of them.
    Hopefully, McCompost doesn't call the D-Unit and tell them since she came to town with an iPhone and now she has a new iPhone, it's a wash and the crime didn't happen. Although such a brilliant idea might land someone a promotion if they present it to the right people.

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    Tuesday, July 23, 2013

    Protect the Plumbing!

    A number of months back,. maybe a year or so, some metal thieves stole the plumbing fixtures from the 011th District, within 20 feet of the desk crew. We have been informed that this problem has been solved in the following manner:


    Bets are now open on how soon until they steal the box.

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    Dennis Farina Passes

    • Dennis Farina had the sort of Chicago neighborhood face you’d find behind the tap at a corner tavern, standing at first base on a softball diamond or lugging your new icebox up the stairs. As he said to a Tribune reporter nearly 20 years ago while sitting high above the city of his birth, riding the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel: “I spend all day walking around this city. I always come back here. This is where I’m comfortable.”

      The actor — famous for his work in such films as “Get Shorty,” “Saving Private Ryan” and “Midnight Run,” and in television shows such as “Crime Story” and “Law & Order” — died suddenly Monday morning in Scottsdale, Ariz., after suffering a blood clot in his lung. He was 69.
    Quite a few movies and shows we enjoyed over the years. RIP Dennis.

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    Polite Muggers Apologize

    Maybe they're just about to turn their lives around and this is part of the process - feeling bad about taking property that doesn't belong to them:
    • It was bad enough the robbers pushed Joanna Hernandez and her friend against a wall, pointing a knife at her and holding a gun to her friend's head.

      "I think what bothered me the most was afterward they said, ‘We’re sorry we had to put you through this,' " said Hernandez, 21. "I did not accept their apology."

      Hernandez and her friend were not injured during the robbery early Monday morning in the River North neighborhood, but the robbers got away with $300 in cash, the women's cell phones and Hernandez's wallet.

      Hernandez and her friend, 23, had just finished working at a Division Street bar and were headed to another club to unwind after a long shift, she said. They parked at a garage at 10 E. Grand Ave. and were walking in the 200 block of West Illinois Street when four men approached from behind around 3:10 a.m., according to the women and Police News Affairs....
     And just in case anyone missed the implication here, the crime victims spell it out quite succinctly:
    • “Obviously, it’s not safe for two girls to be walking by themselves,’’ acknowledged Hernandez, who was born and raised in Chicago. "It really caught us by surprise."
    It shouldn't be that surprising, seeing what's been going on the last few years.

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    Monday, July 22, 2013

    Tuition Reimbursement on the Way Out?

    It's on the table at least. Expect this in the city's "offer" for all ranks:
    • Reimbursement will be limited to twelve (12) classes during the Sergeant's career and limited to 50% of the cost of each class.
    That's directly from the e-mail forwarded to us by a friendly white shirt and it is the city's proposal.

    Rahm is going for broke on this one ladies and gents.

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    Problem Solved

    Pointing out the slight problem with Urban Outfitters t-shirt issue.

    T-shirt #1 - The Problem:


    T-shirt #2 - The Solution:


    Win-Win for all involved.

    Thanks to an Insane Fish fan for this simple, yet effective, solution.

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    Another Innocent Catches a Bullet

    • A person was in police custody this evening in connection with the shooting of a 6-year-old girl and her aunt, wounded during a Fernwood neighborhood memorial for a man shot to death in 2008, a source said.

      The shooting started about 8 p.m. Friday in the 300 block of West 105th Street, when one young man spotted two others and started shooting and the two returned fire.

      The girl and her aunt, age 52, innocent bystanders, were the only victims. The girl, who had been riding her scooter, was hit in the chest, collapsed, and writhed a bit before she stopped moving, according to witnesses.
    "...during a Fernwood neighborhood memorial for a man shot to death in 2008." Just riding her bike, catches a bullet through-and-through her chest.

    We wonder where she fell on the "heat list." Maybe instead of making tenuous connections between assholes who probably deserve to get shot and drafting letters to them, the community ought to demand fewer "more with less" speeches and a couple more "hire police" commitments.

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    Sunday, July 21, 2013

    Good Samaritan Gets Beaten

    • A 15-year-old Florida girl was punched when she tried to help a 51-year-old Michigan woman being robbed Friday night on the Mag Mile by eight juveniles, officials said.

      Two 15-year-old girls, a 14-year-old girl, a 13-year-old girl, three 15-year-old boys and a 16-year-old boy were arrested and charged with robbery, police said.

      One of the 15-year-old girls -- who punched the Florida teen who tried to help -- also was charged with battery, and one of the boys was additionally charged with theft because police said he had another person's iPhone that had been either lost or stolen earlier Friday at North Avenue Beach.

      Their names were not disclosed because they are juveniles, but they all are from Chicago, police said.

      According to a police report, about 7 p.m. Friday in the 700 block of North Michigan Avenue, the teens grabbed and held the 51-year-old Muskegon, Mich., victim while one of them took her iPhone from her pocket.

      A 15-year-old Florida girl who did not know the victim tried to help the woman but was punched in the face by one of the teens, police said.
    All of the offenders, even though it wasn't mentioned in the article, were black. We checked. We wonder if any of these "yutes" may have been part of the group that had all charges dismissed the other day?

    We also wonder that they seem to be targeting white tourists. Imagine what would have happened if one of the elderly tourists was packing heat. We'd have Obama and Holder claiming that the victims shouldn't have stood there ground, taken a beating and just surrendered their property to the disadvantaged "yutes" who were all just funnin' in any case. And Anita would have charged them with something.

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    Bad Marketing

    • Urban Outfitters has decided to stop selling a t-shirt featuring a symbol that closely resembles the pitchfork symbol associated with the gangster disciples street gang in Chicago. Salon on Wednesday pointed out the similarity between the company's "Vanguard Fork" t-shirt and the pitchfork symbol used by the gangster disciples. When the Huffington Post reached out to Urban Outfitters, the hip clothing merchant said it will discontinue the item pictured above.

      The gangster disciples is one of the largest and most dangerous gangs in Chicago. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) recently suggested rounding up all 18,000 known members and tossing them in jail. Two reputed members have been arrested in connection to the murder of Hadiya Pendleton. A recent Tribune editorial pointed out the gang is "believed to account for a significant fraction of Chicago homicides."
    The offending t-shirt:

    $32 for this crap? We guess if you get shot wearing it, you've been victimized twice.

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    Whispers in the Hood

    Not that we believe anything like this, but we heard some of the people in our neighborhood whispering that Monique Davis moonlights as a streetwalker Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays over on Cicero Avenue in 015.

    The other four days she whores herself out to the democratic machine.

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    Anyone Seen Garry?


    We heard he might be in the neighborhood.

    Open post for Sunday morning.

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    Saturday, July 20, 2013

    Monique Explains

    • After expressing her own belief that Chicago police are doing their best to quell street violence, Davis says when she spoke on a Detroit radio station about Chicago's high percentage of unsolved murders, she was only repeating what some people in her district believe about some of the killings.

      "Some people in my community believe the police may be involved in some of these murders," said Rep. Davis.
    So she's defending her comments with the excuse, "it's only what I've heard."

    McStreetlights makes a lukewarm statement, once again, pandering to the idiots who are way more entrenched here than he is:
    • "I think it's absurd, I think it's inflammatory. I think it's also insulting," said Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.

      Supt. McCarthy dismissed the Davis observations and said they were not worth repeating or more discussion....
    Wow. Thanks so much for your support Garry. You inspire us.

    How about leveling a broadside at this career politician and common criminal who refused for years to pay rent on her office and stole (permanently borrowed) a sculpture worth a few tens of thousands of dollars in her office and refusing to return it to the rightful owners?

    Maybe something along the lines of "These divisive comments slandering the hard-working men and women of the Chicago Police Department cannot stand during these trying times. We are attempting to work with the community on so many different levels and words such as these do nothing to bridge the gaps between the police and the people they serve. Perhaps if the Representative from the south side of Chicago would care to spend a little more time confronting the culture of silence and the callous disregard for human life, the crimes she laments might be solved and the community she also serves might find itself welcomed into the society of decent human beings."

    But then we realize that Channel 7 isn't interested in solving anything and "reporter" Charles Thomas buys into the story that Monique is selling:
    • ...but South Side resident Allen Lee says he's heard the rumors. "I ain't going to say it is, I am not going to say it ain't, cause I've seen some cops do some wicked stuff, man," said Lee.

      And Karen the hairdresser says she hears clients all the time talk about unsolved murders the cops may have committed.

      "People do think that, a lot of people think that. A lot of people in these neighborhoods like the Englewood neighborhood. We have clients from all over. I don't think she said anything out of the ordinary. That's a conversation that people have," said Karen, who did not provide a last name, a South Side hairdresser.

      Davis says the incident is proof that the public image of Chicago police is still not recovered from high-profile brutality cases, and that she should not be condemned for saying what people think.

      "I was repeating what has been said to me many times by the people of the community that I represent," said Rep. Davis.

      Davis says police need to work more on improving their image in her community.

      ABC7 talked to more than one person, several people actually, who told us they'd had discussions of the kind Rep. Davis described.
    You probably did Chuckie. And the fact that you give them a platform proves you have no desire to shake them of this perverted illusion that they hold - that an entire neighborhood can believe the police go around planting guns, dope and committing murder in this day and age of electronic media without leaving a single clue to their actions - and a black attorney general appointed by a black president would permit this to happen?

    Welcome to another 60 years of living with your hands out, begging for a scrap from the table while doing exactly zero to earn it and voting for the Machine that keeps your people in thrall.

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    Quote of the Month

    Hell, this is a "Quote of the Year" contender:
    • If BHO had a city, it would look like Detroit
    Bravo Anonymous. Very well done.

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    "Shoot into the air..."

    • Vice President Joe Biden's gun advice is being used as a defense by Jeffery Barton, a 52-year-old Vancouver, Wash., man charged with illegal aiming or discharging a firearm.

      Barton was arrested Monday for allegedly shooting a shotgun in the air to chase people he considered potential car thieves off his property.

      "I did what Joe Biden told me to do," Barton told KOIN-TV outside court Wednesday, where he pleaded not guilty. "I went outside and fired my shotgun in the air."

      On February 19 Biden – then promoting a package of gun control proposals that included a ban on assault-style rifles – said he had advised his wife, "if there's ever a problem, just walk out on the balcony here, walk out and put that double-barrel shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house."
    Of course, this requires a complete misunderstanding of proper gun use and near ignorance of Deadly Force laws, but hey, he's the Vice President, right? And any softball listen to an idiot like Biden, well, you just can't make up that sort of stupidity.

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    012 Station Uninhabitable

    How long has this brand new station been open? Eight months?
    • Could someone please turn the a/c on at the new 12th district? It's unbelievably hot and humid in there.

      Front office said don't hold your breath. No one is coming to fix it because, the company responsible for it has NOT been paid. Just like winter when everyone had a small space heater, time to go get a box fan.
      Around 7 months old and there are already buckets in the hall catching leaks. Not to mention the sewer smell in the first floor hall. 
    Who the hell gets these building contracts? Have they ever built anything before? Cracked slabs, faulty electric, broken A/C in glass hothouses, collapsing floors, parking lots that drain into the lobby. Every police building in the last six or seven years is an embarrassment beyond belief.

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    Friday, July 19, 2013

    Have You Killed a Minority Child Today?

    • An Illinois state representative has publicly raised the possibility that Chicago police officers might be the ones responsible for the unsolved murders of black youths in Chicago.

      WBBM Newsradio [...] reports state Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago) was interviewed about Chicago crime Tuesday on WCHB-AM in Detroit.

      “I’m going to tell you what some suspicions have been, and people have whispered to me: they’re not sure that black people are shooting all of these children,” Davis said.

      “There’s some suspicion – and I don’t want to spread this, but I’m just going to tell you what I’ve been hearing – they suspect maybe the police are killing some of these kids.”

      When WBBM asked Davis if she thinks it’s possible that police are killing children, she said, “I don’t know. I don’t know that they are, and I don’t know that they aren’t, since no one’s been arrested. We don’t know who’s doing it.”
    People are "whispering" to her? Why aren't they broadcasting this from the rooftops? It's all the po-lice doing the killings!

    Hey, Eric Holder, are you on the way here to investigate this claim? Because this would seem to be a slightly bigger deal than a wanna-be-thug getting capped. And while you're here, maybe we can jump start those talks about race you seem to be supporting. Maybe Monique can chair the assembly?

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    Mail Call for Criminals (UPDATE)

    Ranking among the silliest and nonsensical ideas ever to come down the pike, we are moving from "social workers" to "mail men and women:"
    • Working from a list of people deemed most likely to become shooters or victims, a Chicago Police commander is expected to start knocking on their doors Friday and deliver letters warning them not to commit any violent crimes.

      The “custom notifications” are a pilot program in the Austin District on the West Side. Austin District Cmdr. Barbara West plans to deliver letters to 20 people on a so-called “heat list,” officials said.

      The heat list stems from work by Andrew Papachristos, a Yale University professor who studied murders between 2005 and 2010 on the West Side. He found 70 percent of the killings were in a social network of 1,600 people out of a total population of 80,000.

      The citywide social network of violence includes more than 16,000 people, police Supt. Garry McCarthy said. The department narrowed that list to more than 400 “hot people” most likely to commit shootings or become victims — or 20 people per police district.

    So the Yale professor thinks that crime is like Facebook with guns. Brilliant. And the person most qualified to be the mail delivery person for this new "strategy" is Barb West, a woman who ran an illegal First Amendment investigation of the blog.

    And what do these letters contain?
    • The letters will warn those on the list that they will face the most serious charges possible if they’re arrested for a violent crime.

      “The custom notifications are the next step in the evolution of putting those guys on notice that they have the highest propensity for homicide,” McCarthy said. “We’re saying, ‘We know who you are, we know what you do and your chance of dying in a homicide is much greater than John Q. Citizen.’ ”
    You know what Gar? We're pretty sure that these pieces of shit already know what they are, what they are subject to and what might happen when they go hunting for trouble. We also think they don't really care. They embrace it. Or maybe you haven't seen the body count over the weekends. Or weekdays when 8 people get shot on a Wednesday.

    UPDATE: If we're reading this correctly, they aren't even spending the money on a stamp. These are to be hand delivered by the "Custom Notification Team." We suppose that's so there is someone to read the letter to the little scamps if they actually answer the door.

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    Detroit

    We were just reminiscing about the past. A little over a year ago, Mitt Romney said to let Detroit go bankrupt, that a complete financial overhaul of the city, its corrupt practices and restructuring of debt was probably the best route for the beleaguered city. He was speaking as a businessman would with a company that was bleeding money. Remember all the democrats and media making fun of him for actually considering a city the size of Detroit could (or should) fail?  Silly Mormon businessman.

    In a completely unrelated story, we just heard that following an eleventh hour appeal to the Obama administration, Detroit filed for bankruptcy on Thursday, placing the city residents, its employees, its retirees and its creditors in financial limbo:
    • Detroit filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history on Thursday, setting the stage for a costly court battle with creditors and opening a new chapter in the long struggle to revive the city that was the cradle of the American auto industry.

      The bankruptcy, if approved by a federal judge, would force Detroit's thousands of creditors into negotiations with the city's Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr to resolve an estimated $18.5 billion in debt that has crippled Michigan's largest city.

      Michigan Governor Rick Snyder said he saw no other options for Detroit and approved Orr's request to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection.

      "Detroit simply cannot raise enough revenue to meet its current obligations, and that is a situation that is only projected to get worse absent a bankruptcy filing," wrote Snyder, a Republican, in a letter accompanying the filing.

      Detroit's creditors are expected to face huge losses, and the future of retiree pension and health benefits for thousands of city workers hangs in the balance.
    • Buried in the middle of the report is a telling climax to this sorry tragedy:
      Any hope of a federal bailout to avert bankruptcy fizzled last week after Mr. Orr spoke with the White House, including Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett, according to city and White House officials.
      This is where blue governance has brought Detroit in the end: not even a liberal Democratic administration will step in to save the pensions of thousands of public workers and African Americans, condemning countless innocents to having their pensions and health benefits gutted in bankruptcy court.

      Blue model defenders will point to the cruel exodus of General Motors, the unjust outsourcing of American manufacturing, and the general unfairness of life in the big city as the culprits in the slaying of Detroit. But these champions of the marginalized should keep a few facts in mind.

      Detroit has been spending on average $100 million more than it has taken in for each of the past five years. The city’s $11 billion in unsecured debt includes $6 billion in health and other retirement benefits and $3 billion in retiree pensions for its 20,000 city pensioners, who are slated to receive less than 10 percent of what they were promised. Between 2007 and 2011, an astounding 36 percent of residents lived below the poverty line. Last year, the FBI cited Detroit as having the highest violent crime rate for any major American city. In the first 12 years of the new century, Detroit lost more than 26 percent of its population.

      And now Detroit’s desperate request for a bailout has been turned down by the Obama White House.

      Progressive politicians, wonks, and activists can only blame big corporations and other liberal bogeymen for so long. The truth is that corrupt machine politics in a one-party system devoted to the blue social model wrecked an entire city and thousands of lives beyond repair. The sooner blues come to terms with this reality, the greater chance other cities will have of avoiding Detroit’s fate.
    But hey, those Republicans are evil sons-of-bitches, aren't they?

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    Bond Downgrade

    • Moody's Investors Service has slashed Chicago's general obligation and sales tax ratings by three notches to A3 from Aa3 due to the city's large and growing pension liabilities and related budget troubles.

      The move affects $8.2 billion of Chicago's general obligation and sales tax debt, Moody's said in a statement. It will make it more expensive for the city to borrow money, and Moody's said it may further downgrade the ratings if conditions don't improve.

      "The current administration has made efforts to reduce costs and achieve operational efficiencies, but the magnitude of the city's pension obligations has precluded any meaningful financial improvements," Moody's said.

      The credit rating agency added that its negative outlook is based on the "dramatic spike in annual pension payments scheduled to take effect in the 2015 budget year."
    And the outlook continues to be negative, meaning the death-spiral of Chicago gets tighter and tighter as Rahm continues to spend money on nonsense to buy votes while neglecting the debts owed. But what does he care? He make almost $11 million in shady insider deals just for showing up to work, so his needs are taken care of forever. He even claims he saw this entire fiasco unfolding...because he's a financial whiz, you know:
    • "This confirms what I have been saying for more than a year," Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. "Without comprehensive pension relief from Springfield, municipalities such as Chicago will continue to receive negative reviews from rating agencies."

      "Since I became Mayor, I have used every tool available to tackle and reform government, strengthen our financial position, and invest in our City's future," he added. "The pension crisis that is nearing our doorstep puts all of those investments at risk."
    Every tool except the ones that actually enable Chicago to fulfill its obligations. You know, like committing casino money to fill the hole or supporting the state law requiring the actuarial contributions to be made to bring the pensions up to solvency.

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    CPS Layoffs

    All the jobs Rahm likes to tout as "moving to Chicago" are kind of offset by the "bloodbath" at the Chicago Public Schools:
    • Citing a $1 billion budget deficit, Chicago Public Schools will lay off more than 2,000 employees, more than a 1,000 of them teachers, the district said Thursday night.

      About half of the 1,036 teachers being let go are tenured.

      The latest layoffs, which also include 1,077 school staff, are in addition to 855 employees—420 of them teachers--who were laid off last month as a result of the district’s decision to close 49 elementary schools and a high school program.

      CPS spokeswoman Becky Carroll said the district was “scraping the bottom” of reserves to provide financial relief and had made cuts in other spending before making layoffs.

      “We’re not going to be able to cut our way out of this crisis,” Carroll said. “Our revenues are simply not keeping in line with our spending increases.”
    It is amusing to see the Machine eating its own (and oldest) supporters.

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    Thursday, July 18, 2013

    Sergeant Exam Announcement!! (UPDATE)

    Well, not quite. But the website is ready for the announcement:


    This is on the Department Intranet under the heading of Human Resources. The embedded links don't go anywhere yet, but once an announcement is made, it's just a matter of activating the paths. No word on how much (if any) they are planning to charge as a "processing fee." We'll try to keep abreast of the developments as they occur.

    UPDATE: The link on the HR website is active and the reading list is posted.

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    The StreetlightMarksman Strikes Again

    Can someone mention to this hypocrite to keep his opinions to himself? He is the mayor's mouthpiece, nothing more, and for him to make any sort of statement about training is ridiculous:
    • By next spring, hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans are expected to be carrying concealed, loaded firearms. That became law last week. But the debate over what should be in the 16 hours of training each must receive, rages on.

      The Concealed Carry Law enacted last week gives the Illinois state police 60 days to come up with guidelines for the required training classes, 16 hours' worth. Chicago's top cop told FOX 32 News, though, he doesn't think that's nearly enough to teach civilians what they need to know, especially when it's legal to fire a gun at someone.
    How about when to shoot at streetlights? Was that covered? Because we heard that that will be hours 12 and 13 of the Concealed Carry class. It also helps if you yell racial slurs at the streetlights and maybe have a few drinks in you to improve judgement and accuracy.

    You know what's coming next, don't you? Can you feel it??
    • "Why don't you ask the family of Trayvon Martin? Seriously. We're setting ourselves up for problems," Garry McCarthy said. "And 16 hours of training? And then telling somebody, ‘Here, go have at it.' There's not even a qualification involved. There's 16 hours of training. Do you know what 16 hours means? That's two days in school, right? Eight hours a day. That is not an adequate period of time to become proficient with a firearm. You probably can't even figure out how a gun works in that short a time, how to clean it! Let alone to learn how to use it."
    THERE'S the racial pandering you knew was on the horizon. What a fucking toolbag this jagoff is. And how many hours of training did he get? And New York had to replace how many streetlights because of him and his brother? We'll just state this for the record - even one streetlight is too many. He is the poster child for irresponsible gun ownership, an embarrassment to at least three police departments and a veritable walking example of everything wrong with clouted/connected patronage hacks.

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    Eric Holder - "Lie Back and Enjoy It"

    Remember this day - democrats want you to submit to criminals. You shouldn't defend yourself, because you might hurt their voters:
    • Attorney General Eric Holder waded deeper into the controversy over the George Zimmerman case and verdict on Tuesday, suggesting a national review of "stand-your-ground" laws during a speech before the annual NAACP convention in Orlando.

      [...] He went a step further on Tuesday, weighing in for the first time on controversial state-level laws on self-defense.

      "Separate and apart from the case that has drawn the nation's attention, it's time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods," Holder said.

      The comments were a reference to so-called "stand-your-ground" laws, which in Florida and other states allow people to use deadly force if they think their life is being threatened.
    Let's just repeat that for the slower folks:
    • "...it's time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods."
    Got it? Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness? Eric Holder says fuck that noise, you'll bend over, take it in the ass and like it. You will retreat, retreat and retreat again until the attacker catches you, beats you in the street, rapes you in the alley or kills you in your own home.

    Does this dumbass even realize that Zimmerman didn't invoke a "stand-your-ground" defense and actually turned down a hearing on the issue, opting instead for straight up self-defense? Probably because it's difficult to "stand-your-ground" when you're lying on it with an assailant sitting on your chest. Once again, misrepresenting an issue in a roundabout attack on our Rights as citizens.

    We can't believe this came out of the mouth of any public official, let alone the supposed highest law enforcement official in the land. We're actually speechless at the moment.

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    Silence Speaks Volumes

    • Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan brushed aside questions Wednesday about whether her father, powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan, has ever asked her to hire or give a raise to someone and also denied she misled campaign donors when raising money for a possible bid for governor.

      The attorney general announced this week that she instead will seek a fourth term as the state's chief lawyer, saying Illinois “would not be well served” with a governor and House speaker from the same family. The declaration came amid scrutiny of Speaker Madigan's patronage demands of former Metra CEO Alex Clifford, who claims his downfall was the result of refusing to give into the hiring and raise requests.

      It was under that spotlight that Lisa Madigan held a news conference on mortgage foreclosure relief at the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago. When reporters asked about her father or her political decision making, she cut off questions or did not directly answer them.
    Still no word on how the state (and city) is served by having a mayor, county board boss and presidential adviser from the same family. Or aldercreatures begetting other aldercreatures for as far back as we can remember. Or aldrecreatures bequeathing their seats to their spawn.

    But hey, Lisa refuses to answer a simple question in the most patronage-ridden cesspool of corruption it has been our misfortune to reside in. And she'll get a pass on it within a few weeks.

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    Rahm Loses the X-Games

    • It’s Rio deja vu all over again. Chicago has lost its bid to host the summer X Games, ESPN’s made-for-TV extreme sports competition. 
      ESPN announced Wednesday that Austin, Texas will host the summer X Games for four years beginning in 2014. The four finalists were Chicago, Charlotte, N.C., Austin and Detroit.

      The summer X Games, which have been held in Los Angeles since 2003, will move next spring to the Circuit of The Americas, a 1,500-acre racetrack and sports complex in the Texas capital.

    • Chicago was vying to snare the high-profile X Games, which would have brought about $50 million in economic impact to Chicago per year, according to a recent study. The games, held over four days, were set to take place in the United Center and on its adjacent parking lots.
    Bummer - Rahm follows Shortshanks' footsteps once again.

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    Wednesday, July 17, 2013

    FOP Ahead of the Curve

    The FOP doesn't like us much. We'll agree that the feeling is mutual.

    But we'll give credit where credit is due concerning certain parts of the Contract negotiations. They campaigned hard against the PBPA Sergeants attempted sellout of all the other city unions and helped send that Contract offer down in flames nearly 9-to-1.

    A sergeant reader sent us the June update of "Contract Issues for Interest Arbitration" and the closing paragraph states the following:
    • According to our attorneys, the city's continued inclusion of references to pension funding is unenforceable under our collective bargaining agreement. Therefore, pension issues cannot be awarded to either party by an arbitrator.
    Really? But wasn't that part of the Contract sent out to the Sergeants for a vote?

    Didn't the Sergeants PBPA President make an appearance with Rahm touting their Contract as the "model" for all the other unions to help in "solving" the pension crisis?

    Where the hell were these attorneys with their bright advice months ago before our FOP had to spend tens of thousand of dollars of our dues money on mailings and publicity ads to make sure this dangerous practice didn't have a chance of slipping in under the cover of a "negotiation" and used as a hammer to beat the other employees into submission?

    The PBPA was used by Rahm as a Judas goat to lead the rest of the unions down the slaughter chute. Fortunately, almost 90% of the sergeants weren't going to be led by the nose down that road, and the FOP deserves some of the credit.

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    Another Useless Law

    Just about everyone agrees it would be useless, but they have to be seen doing something, so they pass it anyway:
    • City officials acknowledged Tuesday that Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plans to update the city's assault weapons ban and toughen penalties for some firearms violations near schools will have only limited impact on the gun violence plaguing parts of Chicago.

      That didn't stop the ordinances from advancing despite complaints from some aldermen that the measures don't go far enough.
       
    • City attorney Rose Kelly told the council's Public Safety Committee that there's only so much the city can do, given the state constitution and state gun laws that in many cases supersede municipal rules,

      "(Fines) have to be proportional to other, similar types of fines," Kelly said. "And as for the 180 days (behind bars), that's also a constitutional limitation on municipalities, we can't do more than 180 days."
        
    • Kelly said people caught with guns in Chicago often face state or federal charges with longer sentences than the city ordinances. "In most cases, gang members are going to be in violation of other laws that have serious penalties," she said.

      Todd Vandermyde, lobbyist for the Illinois chapter of the National Rifle Association, contended it's likely parts of the mayor's narrow municipal gun package won't withstand a lawsuit because they overstep the city's authority.

      "They don't seem to make it real easy to exercise your rights under the Constitution here," he said.
    As proven time and time again in Chicago, the point isn't to be able to exercise your Rights. It's to look like you're doing something, anything, to "protect the children" and scare the populace into thinking that only the Machine knows what's best for you.

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    Clerk Beaten Over a Shirt Size

    A guy who probably doesn't have a lot of say in what a store orders to keep on the shelf:
    • A store clerk was attacked by a man with a baseball bat this morning after being told the store did not carry the size of tank top shirts he requested, police said.

      The attack happened between 10:30 and 11 a.m. at a convenience store on the 5500 block of West Belmont Avenue in the Cragin neighborhood, said Chicago Police News Affairs [...].

      The 51-year-old clerk was behind the counter of the store when a man went into the store and asked the clerk if he had triple extra large sized tank top t-shirts....

      After the clerk told the man the store did not carry the item, the man pulled out a baseball bat and began beating the clerk, [...]. After beating the clerk, the man fled with the bat.
    Amazingly, the Tribune prints a description of the offender:
    • The suspect is being described as black, between 23 and 30 years old, between 5 feet 8 inches tall and 6 feet tall and between 200 and 250 pounds. He has brown eyes and black hair and a dark complexion and was last seen wearing a red bandanna and white tank top shirt...
     Over a t-shirt.

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    Obama's DOJ Out of Control

    • On Monday afternoon, the US Department of Justice appealed to civil rights groups and the general public across the country for “tips” on George Zimmerman in their pursuit of potential federal civil rights charges against the just-acquitted defendant in the Trayvon Martin killing. The DOJ actually went so far as to set up an e-mail address to allow such tips: Sanford.florida@usdoj.gov. The email address is slated to go operational by the end of the week.

      Barbara Arnwine, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law told the Orlando Sentinel that the DOJ had held a Monday conference call “calling on us to actively refer anyone who had any information” that would help build a case against Zimmerman. "They said they would very aggressively investigate this case,” Arnwine stated.

      According to Arnwine, the call began at 3:30 p.m. with Tom Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the United States DOJ, and representatives of the FBI on the line. Several prosecutors joined the call, too.

      Arnwine listed off other organizations represented on the call, including the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the ACLU, and several “human relations” groups.
    Remember, the Department of Justice has the entire FBI investigation record at its disposal and they haven't found a thing they could use. Now they're appealing for "tips?" The entire weight of the USDOJ being brought to bear because of a fucked up political prosecution that couldn't prove beyond a Reasonable Doubt that a crime had even been committed.

    And here's an amusing tidbit - people bitching that there were no black jurors? The prosecution peremptorily bumped a male black juror from the pool - because he watched Fox News! This was revealed on CNN last night.

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    SCC, OMG!!!!

    Someone want to break the news to this dumbass?
    • Anonymous said...

      Hey SCC you sound STUPID by keeping referring to Felony Murder. Did I miss something? Is there Misdemeanor MURDER? OMG!!!!!!!!

      7/16/2013 08:51:00 PM
    You know that excessive use of exclamation points is the sign of a sick mind, right? And terminal stupidity. Asshat. Now go get your ILCS book so we can slap you around with it.

    UPDATE: Help out this senile old man too:
    • Revolversaurus Rex said...

      Can someone help out an old wheel gun dinosaur? Where are misdemeanor homocides being handled? And someone please- whats the ILCS Ch. for that. Can it be handled with an ANOV?
    The young and the old, neither with any ambition or desire to actually learn the job.

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    Tuesday, July 16, 2013

    All Wilding Charges Dropped

    Anyone remember this story?  We wrote about it back on 31 March:
    • Right in the heart of the tourist area. Estimates of up to crowds of 400.  The radio is squawking about State and Chicago, Huron, Ohio, Orleans. Wagons have been called in from at least 4 districts. The Mounted Unit has been clearing streets and breaking up crowds of "youths" for the past few hours.
    Dozens of arrests.  We wrote about it a day later:
    •  All the local media outlets had to cover it - there were too many witnesses downtown to brush it under the carpet the way they did the entire summer of 2011 and early part of 2012. The Channel 2 website had over 3,500 comments at last count. National headlines were made everywhere.

      We particularly enjoyed the comment by the woman who said she pays $17,000 a year in property taxes. You're getting ripped off lady. And Rahm? This is the sort of person who can afford to leave the city when it gets this bad. We're sure there are thousands more. You're going to be remembered as Mayor Murder - and the victim will be the City of Chicago
    • Alderman Brendan Reilly wants help to protect the marquee Chicago neighborhood he serves as a legislator from wild teens.

      Reilly, who's 42nd Ward encompasses the Magnificent Mile where hundreds of teens ran roughshod on Saturday night harrassing subway riders and making shoppers and tourists uncomfortable, said in a statement Monday that he wants a meeting with Police Superintendant Garry McCarthy to discuss future precautions.
    Over the three posts, three days, we had something like 800 comments. A whole boatload of interest in this one. We thought everyone would like to hear how the entire incident ended - here's an e-mail we got this weekend:
    • All 8 girls arrested in the March 30 wildings charged with battery and robbery had their cases dropped by the state this week.

    • Eleven females were arrested—10 juveniles and one adult—and charged with battery. Two of the teens also were charged with strong-armed robbery.

      Not sure why state dropped case, lead asa in there is pretty good and the judge in there is usually pretty tough

      This is case where all the girls met up from social media and they were from all over the city
    Welcome to justice Cook County style. Not a consequence of any sort. And what did all the little darlings learn exactly? They learned not to get caught next time...and there will be a next time. Maybe even this weekend.

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    $500 Grand for Felony Murder?

    • A Chicago man with four prior felony convictions and a suspended driver’s license was ordered held on $500,000 bond Monday, charged in the death of a Northwest Side woman killed when the man’s car slammed into hers.

      Prosecutors said James Brown, 34, was drunk when he shot a man who he had been arguing with late Saturday night, July 13, in the 100 block of S. Springfield. Police nearby heard the shots fired, and saw Brown leaving the scene at a high rate of speed. As they were pursuing him, Brown allegedly ran a red light at the intersection of Pulaski Road and Chicago Avenue, hitting Marisol Mercado’s car. She died from injuries suffered in the accident.

      Prosecutors said Brown was arguing with the first victim when he left and returned a short time later with a gun. He shot several times in the direction of the victim, hitting him twice in the leg, Cook County State’s Attorney spokesperson Tandra Simonton said.
    And guess what else? He was drunk!
    • Brown has felony convictions dating back to 1998; twice for possession of a controlled substance, once for possession of a stolen motor vehicle and burglary, and once for possession of a firearm, Simonton said. He was taken to John H. Stroger Hospital of Cook County after the accident, and his blood showed a Blood Alcohol Content level of .190, more than twice the legal limit, she said.

      He is charged with felony murder, aggravated battery, and aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol causing great bodily harm. Judge Laura S. Sullivan ordered him held on $500,000 bond.

    And all of that merits half-a-million. Even the felony murder charge. A-fucking-mazing.

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    Start Thinking Like a Cop

    We've been weeding through the comments and we've been taking a bunch of crap out of the Zimmerman post, the usual accusation of Klan affiliations, the lib-tards who have gotten all of their info from Lame Stream Media sources, rather than the trial, the racists celebrating for the what can only be described as the wrong reasons.Everyone is entitled to an opinion. You aren't entitled to our forum and you aren't entitled to your own facts, and what some are claiming as "fact" is anything but.

    Here's something that everyone with an opinion should be aware of:
    • Once Martin confronted Zimmerman, he wasn't the "victim" of stalking or assault or profiling or whatever. And once he placed hands on Zimmerman, he became an assailant. And the rules for dealing with assailants are very different, not only for cops, but for non-law enforcement persons, too.
    We're sure we'll get the usual, "Zimmerman swung first," or "Zimmerman provoked..." or other suppositions. The fact is, no one knows. And if no one knows, Reasonable Doubt is present and a conviction is technically impossible.

    Here's another Florida case that just ended a few months ago involving a "Stand Your Ground" defense that failed:
    • Last Friday, Jacksonville mother Marissa Alexander was sentenced by a Florida judge to 20 years in prison for firing what she says was a "warning shot" into the wall after a physical altercation with her husband, Rico Gray.

      The case has set off yet another controversy involving the state's "stand your ground" law, which is under intense scrutiny after the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in February. Critics, including Congresswoman Corrine Brown (D-Fla.), are crying foul.

      How, they ask, could a 31-year-old woman in a relationship with a man who had a history of domestic violence, and whose actions did not result in any physical injury, be sentenced to two decades in prison while George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed Martin, is out on bail?
    Well, first up, she violated an Order of Protection by going to the home. Second, when she escaped to the garage, she gave up the claim of "standing her ground." Third, she returned into the residence with a gun to confront her abuser. That isn't a "victim" under any state law we are aware of - that is an assailant. The jury didn't buy it either, handing down a conviction in 15 minutes.

    Zimmerman lawfully carried a weapon. He exhibited questionable judgement, chose not to wait for police and disregarded advice from a police dispatcher (advice he was under zero obligation to obey in any event). He probably thought he had an edge with a gun. He needed that edge shortly thereafter to bail himself out of trouble when his quarry turned into a violent assailant that broke his nose and proceeded to bash his head into the sidewalk numerous times (we don't know where certain comments are getting 20-30 times. We imagine they're making it up because no one has ever claimed that.)

    The usual suspects are starting with their bullshit. Jesse claims injustice because it wasn't a jury of Martin's peers, but last time we checked, it was the accused who got the trial, not the victim. Obama is using this to try to kick start gun control again, rather than thug-control and supporting the jury system or mentioning a word about Chicago's senior citizen community getting lit up on weekends.

    In any event, that line that someone crosses to become an assailant took place and arguing over who crossed it first is an exercise in futility. The armed/unarmed argument is nonsense, too. We can name half-a-dozen people who died at the hands of unarmed assailants, including an off-duty Chicago cop working mall security in Norridge and a kid on Rush Street who ran into the mayor's nephew. Zimmerman made a few questionable choices, Martin made at least one particularly bad choice. Everything else is just pandering to the grievance mongers.

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