Another Asinine Statement

Can you believe this bullshit from McStreetlightAssassin?

• We’ve reported extensively about Chicago’s problem with gun violence.
  
  Now Chicago police said they have seized more than 6,500 illegal guns this year. That’s 130 illegal weapons each week.
  
  Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy says that’s more than any major city and he says if you can reduce weapons you will reduce crime.
  
  “Carrying a loaded firearm is the gateway crime to committing a murder,” McCarthy said.

Seriously? Does this ass not realize that thousands of police officers carry loaded firearms, not only on duty, but off? Does he know that hundreds of thousands of persons in 49 other states all carry loaded firearms and somehow stop themselves from committing murder on a daily basis?

And not to put to fine a point on it, how many aldercreatures are packing heat right now and manage to keep their greasy little fingers off the triggers? Of course, they're probably committing other forms of graft, corruption and assorted white-collar felonies, but they aren't truly rising to homicide as far as we know.

This tool really needs to stop tonguing Rahm's asshole.

This is Just....Something

It starts out as a tragic story - 17-year mom-to-be found shot in the head. Valiant efforts by the medical personnel save her unborn child, but she succumbs to her wounds.  Then the story takes a turn that just leaves you shaking your head:

• Casara was picked up by the three suspects on Christmas afternoon and told family members she would be right back, authorities said. Casara had arranged to meet a person at 152nd Street and Dorchester Avenue whom the three intended to rob, according to Assistant State's Attorney Christina Kye.
  
  The person drove up, and Casara and Coakley got in the vehicle's back seat, Kye said. The driver ordered Coakley out of the car after exchanging words, Kye said. He got out and tried to open the driver's side door, Kye said.
  
  Coakley and someone else then opened fire on the car as the driver started to drive away and Casara was hit in the head, authorities said. The driver continued his escape, only realizing Casara was still in the car when he and his passenger heard "gurgling" sounds, Kye said.
  
  He dumped the dying Casara a few blocks away and drove to Hammond, Ind., according to Kye.

She was actually setting up a robbery of the dope dealer with her boyfriend and two others. And when the dealer sensed something wasn't right, he fled as the boyfriend and his brother lit up the car, hitting his own girlfriend in the head. She isn't attending parenting classes or attending showers or decorating a nursery - she's out there in the burbs setting up the weed guy to get robbed and manages to catch a bullet while pretty much being a hood rat.

You can't make this shit up.

Oh No! Snow Again?

You'd think it was winter or something:

• A snowstorm moving into the Chicago area just in time for New Year’s Eve could cover us with 3 or more inches of snow, forecasters said.
  
  “There might be slightly lesser amounts in the southern suburbs, but generally speaking, pretty much the metro area is going to end up with 3 to 5 inches,” National Weather Service Meteorologist Gino Izzi said.
  
  The first flakes should arrive early Tuesday evening — possibly in time for the evening commute — and continue through Wednesday morning, the peak period when holiday revelers are venturing outside.
  
  Drivers should be prepared for snow-covered roads, limited visibility and difficult travel, the weather service said.
  

Of course, part of that "difficult travel" is the complete lack of plows and salt trucks clearing streets....until they aren't paying OT to the drivers.

Once Again, Second Class Citizens

There is (or soon will be) not a single person in the State of Illinois who has to register a firearm anymore.

Unless you're a Chicago Police Officer.

Read the linked order here, right on page two:

• H. Sworn members will register all duty and nonduty firearms with the Department.

Once again, we now have less rights than the other citizens of Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. We've been warning guys and gals for years now that something like this was on the horizon. That once Concealed Carry passed, without the support of the FOP, that we as officers would regret it for not supporting something that a majority of the citizens wanted and that the courts were going to grant. In fact, the disgraced ex-president of the FOP publicly berated the blog for daring to support citizen Rights.

Now what? Who speaks up for us? There is no purpose in this rule change aside from screwing with Officers. We'll guarantee Dick Mell isn't going to have to register any of his weapons, the weapons that Shortshanks changed city ordinance to allow for a loophole when Mell forgot to register his guns one year.

This is going to make an interesting Constitutional argument one day. And we predict it's going to cost Chicago taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A Moment of Silence

Did that suck or what?

Final Farewell

At Holy Name Cathedral yesterday:

• Cook County said goodbye Saturday to officer Cuauhtemoc Estrada, the sheriff's investigator and Marine Corps veteran who was shot and killed Dec. 20 while protecting his daughter and her boyfriend from armed robbers.
  
  In Holy Name Cathedral, Estrada was celebrated as a dedicated officer who cared deeply about his family and his community. He died serving both, and law enforcement officials from all over Cook County and beyond filled the pews at the Near North Side church to pay their respects.
  
  “He was just a good, strong person with a lot of love for our family,” said Felipe Gallegos, a nephew, who gave the eulogy. “He'd give out the best helping hand he could give to you.”

RIP Officer.

Gold Coast Wounding

Even the rich liberal elderly aren't safe:

• A 70-year-old man shot during an armed robbery in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood was one of three people shot within 30 minutes Friday and one of at least nine people shot across the city overnight.
  
  The elderly man was in the 1500 block of North Astor Street around 7:30 p.m. Friday when an armed offender robbed the man of his cell phone, police said.
  
  During the course of the robbery, the victim was shot in the foot, according to authorities. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Jose Estrada said.

Any idea when VRI and foot patrols are going to start up there?

Packers Favored

The Packers are badly beat up after last week and their QB is back after more than a few weeks off courtesy of the last time he played the Bears. Vegas still has them favored by 3.

The last time the Bears were 3 point dogs, they lost by 43.

We're sitting this one out.

Progress, Not Success

At least that's what McJersey says, completely disregarding the statistical manipulation:

• Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy checks his cellphone every morning for the latest crime notifications. The news almost always is grim.
  
  Despite averaging 1.1 murders a day, Chicago Police reported a 17 percent decrease in killings from 2012 and the fewest murders in the city since 1965. But McCarthy isn’t celebrating. “This is progress, not success,” he said, “We still have way too much gun violence in this city.”
  
  Despite a drop in murder that has hit nearly a 50-year low, countless family members and friends of the 2013 Chicago murder victims don’t get to reset their losses Jan. 1.

A fifty year low. Sounds impressive. Of course, if you look at a graph, 2013 falls into line with the previous declining totals from 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. 2012 was the aberration.

If you count the "death investigations" that will be reclassified as homicides later next year when no one is looking, you'll have a few more numbers to count. And if you add in the "mutual combatant" numbers, you might even see an upward tick from 2011.

Of course, the real number that matters is the rate of homicides, and seeing as how Chicago was nearly a million persons larger in 1965, one has to think the rate moved downward at all. 400 homicides per 3.5 million looks a lot better than 400 homicides per 2.7 million.

Sgt Exam Part II Restrictions

An unenforceable provision? Or is this really going to be an issue?

• o/t- In reading the notice to report email regarding the Sgt exam did anyone pick up on the exact clothing prohibitions for part two. Aside from the obvious I noticed added restrictions including specifically "Hooded clothing or clothing with pockets of any type are not permitted. These items will NOT be allowed in the testing room. "
  
  I've yet to call on this and I am afraid to assume what clothing this pertains to. Clothing with no pockets, really? What clothing doesn't have pockets? My jock even has a pocket. Wtf? Funny to think of 5000 coppers sitting ass naked taking their Sgt exam. Who the fuck proofreads this shit before sending it out?

Hopefully, there isn't a run on spandex and yoga pants in the hard to fit categories. We'd hate to miss part II of the exam.

Winter Wilding Season

News coverage?

• Off topic, please excuse.
  
  I was at North Riverside Mall theater last night at 600pm,
  
  When the wilding started in the mall. I would have estimated about a 500 hundred Amish thugs fighting and running like savages. Store locked their doors and security waited until about 25 squad cars from the surrounding areas came and cleared the mall.
  
  One security guard pointed out a large sign that prohibited teens from under 17 being in the mall without a guardian!
  Like he said, what good a sign if they can't read!
  
  Nothing on an news coverage.

No, there wouldn't be news coverage. Can't let on that there's an issue with that sort of thing.

Money Wasted Again

This is amusing - sort of:

• SCC,
  
  You ain't going to believe this shit.
  
  The department spent who knows how many thousands of dollars installing a brand new set of lock boxes outside of the 011 District lockup. The existing lock boxes inside the sally-port haven't had keys in decades, so they installed these new ones.
  
  There are two sets of keys, one in the door of the box and one in the DSS office. But the MASTER KEYS? The ones that open all 12 boxes? It seems the installers handed those off to the civilian maintenance personnel and they haven't been seen since, running onto a few days now, more than enough time top make any number of copies that can be used to........well, your imagination can run wild with that.
  
  How long until guns start disappearing and if these master keys are keyed to any other stations' lock boxes, someone has just created a pretty big security nightmare.

This was from a week or two ago. Any word if the keys turned up? Or if the Department is going to re-key all the boxes?

Still Remembered

His tour of duty never ended from twenty-five years ago:

• A Chicago police officer who was injured in the line of duty 25 years ago got a special Christmas Day surprise.
  
  Fellow officers stepped away from their own families to honor Officer Bernie Domagala.
  
  "I would like to present to you the Pipes and Drums of the Chicago Police Department," said Officer Steve Martinez.
  
  "Oh my God. It's the Drums, the Chicago Police Department," said Domagala's wife, Denise Domagala.
  
  Domagala's smile said it all – retired officer Bernie Domagala was serenaded with is wife and son by his side.
  
  "This was amazing to have the brotherhood, the police department here to support him. The music was, just always, always touching, said Denise Domagala.
  
  And emotional.

It certainly is. God bless you and your family Officer.

Madigan Patsy Withdraws

Ever wonder why Mike Madigan runs almost unopposed and wins handily all the time? It's because he has his patronage army run around and gather signatures for his hand-picked "republican" opponent, who then doesn't even campaign for office, leaving the path open for Mike to roll up huge margins.

But it seems like his precinct captains outsmarted themselves recently:

• Chicago GOP Victory: Madigan Hand-Picked "Opponent" Withdraws Candidacy.
  
  An hour before Madigan operatives would have been required to testify under oath today, Terrence Goggin, House Speaker Mike Madigan's "Republican" opponent, withdrew his candidacy.
  
  The Chicago Republican Party had challenged Goggin's petitions alleging that they contained several fraudulent signatures. Entire households appeared to have the same handwriting.
  
  The Chicago GOP won the right before a Chicago Board of Elections hearing officer to subpoena Goggin circulators and have them testify under oath about the fraud. Goggin attorney Scott Erdman filed a last-minute motion to quash the subpoenas, but the hearing officer denied the motion. This, apparently, was too much for Mike Madigan, who decided to pull his candidate rather than face such scrutiny.
  
  "He was scared of what his operatives might say under oath," said Chris Cleveland, Vice Chairman of the Chicago GOP. "Why else would he withdraw an hour before the hearing?"
  
  "This isn't over," said Cleveland. "Not only did we find signatures on petitions with similar handwriting, we also found voter registration cards with the same problem. This is a much more serious matter. We're looking into it now."

Voter fraud? In Chicago? Yow.

And the "amusing" fact that no one in the Chicago GOP organization has ever met Goggin, there are no photographs of Goggin in their files, he has run no fundraisers and doesn't seem to do campaign mailings either. It's almost like he was manufactured for the sole purpose of giving Madigan an easy win.

Hide Tommy Hide!

Poor Tommy:

Any media types even going to look into these shenanigans?

Dart Silences Media (UPDATES)

Hey CBS and Mike Krauser? How does it feel to be Dart's bitch? He calls your bosses and you take down an entire article? Did he claim that the threats endangered him and his family, so you caved? Of course, you come from a long line of bullshit artists, like Dan Rather passing off forged documents as "news," so we aren't really surprised.

Thank goodness GoogleCache lives forever. Here's a capture of the article CBS and Dart don't want you to see:

• CLICK HERE

Again, we doubt that Dart was threatened by anyone credible. Ed Burke wasn't, but he still has a gun, too. One set of rules for them, and another for the serfs.

UPDATE: CBS put the article back up around 2:04 this afternoon. They added a paragraph about how Dart has supposedly carried a gun for 7 years, but wouldn't admit it when it was pointed out no one has seen him with a gun during that time frame.

The article also calls Dart a "former lawmaker," meaning he has little (if any) law enforcement experience, but carries a gun simply because he's a sheriff - like an aldercreature who can carry a gun by dint of being an elected official - but possibly without completing the mandatory firearms courses.

And all you peons who want a gun under the Second Amendment and Concealed Carry laws, well, you aren't nearly as qualified as a politician says Dart.

UPDATE II: Guess why the post went back up?

• I called CBS Chicago about this. Seriously. I'm not joking about this. After an awkward pause after my initial question, the guy said "we realized the story was no longer timely and relevant." He stuck to this explanation even after I told him that I know how the Chicago machine works. What a bunch of bullshit!

The leftist media hates getting caught playing footsie with the leftist politicians. It gives them hives.

UPDATE III: Does anyone have a case report specifying the "threats" Dart received? We can't find anything in the Chicago Data Warehouse with Dart listed as victim. And seeing as how the Sheriff's Office is in the 50 W. Washington building, there would most likely be a CPD RD# attached to any threats, correct? Does he reside in the burbs or the city?

Merry Chris....Dude, Where's Your Head?

This one was making the rounds of the roll calls all day:

• Police have launched a homicide investigation after officers found a grisly scene in an apartment in the Northwest Side's Belmont Gardens neighborhood early Christmas morning.
  
  Police were called to the 2500 block of North Kildare Avenue about 2:05 a.m. by someone who reported a homicide, Chicago Police Department News Affairs [...] said.
  
  Officers found a decapitated body in a basement apartment there, police said. The body was that of a 41-year-old adult male, police said.
  
  The Cook County medical examiner's office confirmed the death this morning but listed the man's name and age as unknown.
  
  An 18-year-old was taken into custody outside the building "without incident," [...]. Police also recovered a knife, she said.

A heart-warming Christmas tale for the tavern church ice cream social.

Funny People

Just had to move this one to the main page:

• Jingle bells Chicago style
  
  Blasting through the snow; In a big black escalade
  Shooters on the run; Knowing that they're made
  The witnesses won't sing; They lie all through the night
  Oh what fun this city is; With people full of fright
  
  Oh, crime is down; Crime is down; Crime's down all the way
  Oh what fun that crime is down; That's what our leaders say
  Oh, crime is down; Crime is down; Crime's down all the way
  Oh what fun that crime is down; That's what our leaders say
  
  A day or two ago; I thought I'd take a ride
  And then this great big thug; Was seated by my side
  He took my brand new phone; And hit me in the head
  Our public transportation sucks; I'm lucky I'm not dead
  
  Oh, crime is down; Crime is down; Crime's down all the way
  Oh what fun that crime is down; That's what our leaders say
  Oh, crime is down; Crime is down; Crime's down all the way
  Oh what fun that crime is down; That's what our leaders say
  
  So listen boys and girls; Don't be afraid tonight
  Police will watch your house; Until the morning light
  So if you hear some shots; Gangbangers might get whacked
  Don't be concerned our chopper's up; So Santa won't get jacked!
  
  Oh, crime is down; Crime is down ;Crime's down all the way
  Oh what fun that crime is down; That's what our leaders say
  Oh, crime is down; Crime is down; Crime's down all the way
  Oh what fun that crime is down; That's what our leaders say
  
  Merry Christmas and a safe 2014!
  God Bless you all.
  Retired

Thank you sir.

Sheriff Dart - Hypocrite

What a jackass this guy is:

• It is not unusual for a sheriff to be carrying a gun.  In fact, it would be expected in some places.
  
  But when Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart recently started carrying one on his belt, it was a bit unusual. So WBBM [...] asked him about it.
  
  Dart – a former state lawmaker known for policy as much as anything else — said he’s been getting some unwanted attention, unfortunately.
  
  The sheriff has had his life threatened.
  
  “It’s been impressed upon me that I have five little kids, and I need to be around a bit,” Dart says. “So, I can’t just cavalierly just blow everything off.”
  
  “It’s a little bit of a wake-up call, unfortunately,” he added. “I have no delusions of my abilities.”
  
  The gun goes with the job, he says.

Really? "...no delusions of [your] abilities"? So a gun is an equalizer? You're going to use it to protect yourself and your loved ones should some of these "threats" manifest themselves in some way, shape or form? But regular citizens shouldn't be able to have that same protection, many of whom don't have drivers or bodyguards and happen to work in/travel through/reside in neighborhoods that are far less safe than anything Dart has experienced. What makes you so special Tommy?

Not that we believe there has been a threat - this stinks of Ed Burke Disease. Have you ever carried one before Tommy? You disgust us - one set of rules for you, one for all the unconnected people.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of our readers. As always, if you are lucky enough to have the day off, enjoy the blessings of the day. If you are working, be safe and make it home to enjoy an off-hour dinner, presents and the company of those who missed you while you were away.

Light posting as usual.

The Lists

30 Sergeants to start on 30 December:

• Alvarez, A 009
• Alvarez, R 012
• Anderson, M 116
• Davis, M 006
• Delaney, A 022
• Doherty R 620
• Durst, D 019
• Elizondo, X 193
• Forberg, B 620
• Gonzalez, L 015
• Gutierrez, F 010
• Hindman, D 124
• Iza, D 017
• Joyce, E 019
• Kasput, M 006
• Kennedy, S 121
• Konagel, C 022
• Kontil, P 020/211
• Martin, C 620
• McCarthy, J 114/541
• Mullins, J 608
• Olson, K 610/606
• Pellonari, R 059
• Smith, J 312
• Uldrych (Kane), M 001
• Vanek, A 018
• Vanek, M 393
• Vanthof, S 025
• Williams, S 004/124
• Young, A 610

And 16 Lieutenants starting on  06 January:

• Betz, D 193
• Cline, M 193
• Clucas Jr, W 024
• Fine, M 020
• Gyrion, K 001
• Hanna, G 120
• Helwink-Masters, D 015
• Johnson, K 123
• Jozefowicz, H 012
• Kennedy, T 001
• Partipilo, M 124
• Roman, M 189
• Sam, C 051
• Simon, D 022
• Vucko, J 009
• Wiberg, W 018

Congratulations.

Suspect Apprehended

Up in Cheese-land:

• A suspect in a string of weekend carjackings, including one that ended in a crash that killed an 11-year-old boy, was arrested this morning after U.S. marshals in SUVs pinned him in at a McDonald's drive-thru in Milwaukee, authorities said.
  
  Rockie Douglas, 34, was waiting for food at the McDonald's on the northwest side of the city when deputy marshals pulled in front and back of him around 11:30 a.m., according to Ed Farrell, supervisory inspector of the task force. A woman in the car with him was not injured.
  
  "He attempted to use the female passenger as a human shield, briefly," said Douglas Bachert, supervisory deputy U.S. marshal in Milwaukee.

Nice job.

Promotions on a Tuesday?

Rumors of a list coming over the fax machines. 

Sergeants and Lieutenants.

Merry Christmas indeed.

Funeral Arrangements

Services are as follows:

• WAKE: Friday,27DEC2013
  1500hrs-2100hrs
  Russo's Chapel (4500 Roosevelt, Hillside, Il)
  
  Mass: Saturday, 28DEC2013
  1000 hrs
  Holy Name Cathedral
  (735 N. State St.)

In the meantime, no bail for the accused assholes. Lengthy records as speculated. Plenty of evidence recovered, footprints in the snow leading to the subjects and a decent video tape of the incident. It should be a slam dunk conviction, but that's not much comfort to the family this Christmas season.

Ex-Comptroller Pleads Guilty

And no one in Rahm's administration managed to see this on the horizon:

• Former City of Chicago Comptroller Amer Ahmad pleaded guilty Monday to being part of a large kickback and money-laundering scheme when he was Ohio’s deputy state treasurer — crimes for which he’ll face up to 15 years in prison.
  
  Ahmad also agreed pay $3.2 million in restitution, according to his plea agreement, which he entered during a 45-minute hearing in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.
  
  Ahmad, 38, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and bribery for using his Ohio government position to secure “lucrative state business” for his high school classmate and financial adviser, Douglas Hampton, “in exchange for payments” to himself and others, according to his plea agreement.
  
  Those crimes occurred before Ahmad joined Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration in April 2011. An investigation by an outside law firm hired by City Hall to review Ahmad’s conduct here revealed no criminal wrongdoing by Ahmad or his staff.

It's not like this investigation just "popped up" out of nowhere. We suppose everyone in Rahm's cabinet just assumed what Ahmad was doing was business-as-usual in Chicago, so how could it be wrong anywhere else.

21 Shot Since Friday

Nice to see the weather isn't hampering the bloodletting leading up to Christmas:

• Four men were killed and at least 17 other people were injured in shootings across the city since Friday afternoon.
  
  The most recent fatal shooting happened about midnight Monday in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood on the South Side.

Easily maintaining the rate of over one person killed per day in December.

Police Shooting

Two teens shot in Roseland by police:

• Two teenage boys were shot during an exchange of gunfire with Chicago Police on Sunday evening in the Roseland neighborhood, authorities said.
  
  Police released few details about the shooting about 5:05 p.m. near 95th and La Salle. The teens were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

"...exchange of gunfire..." That would seem to imply that the assailants were armed and firing at police, right? Momma doesn't seem to care about that part though:

• Sandra Collins said at the scene that police shot her son, who is a student at Kennedy King College.
  
  “I’m not saying my son was the best, but he was the best to me, and the police shot him down in cold blood. My tears are so dried up,” she said.

"...in cold blood..."? He was shooting a gun at police officers, you ignorant bitch. In some countries, he'd simply disappear and society would be better for it. But we happen to be a country of laws, so that doesn't go on here. Sister is ignorant along the lines of mommy dearest:

• Her daughter Gabriella Collins, 28, said she and her mother had tried in vain to get information from police at the scene.
  
  “Where’s the answers? They’re hurrying up to get their stories straight,” Gabriella Collins said.
  
  “Someone needs to explain. Somebody shot my brother,” she said. “Where’s my brother? Where’s my brother?”

Your brother was attempting to murder a number of police officers. He's lucky he isn't at the morgue. And the media gives these people a forum to spout their ignorance and bullshit for all the rest of the ignorant populace to read.

Manhunt for a Carjacker/Killer

This one has a bad feeling around it - be very aware if you run across this asshole:

• A manhunt was underway Sunday night for a suspect who police say carjacked three vehicles over the weekend, with one leading to a crash on the South Side that killed an 11-year-old boy.
  
  The Illinois State Police said they were working with Chicago police and federal law enforcement officials in the search for 34-year-old Rockie Douglas, last known to live in Beach Park.
  
  Douglas' carjackings began around 11:20 a.m. Friday, State Police said, when he forced a driver out of a green minivan in the 800 block of West Irving Park Road. The next day around noon, officers attempted to pull Douglas over in the first stolen vehicle, which police say he crashed into a Chevy Suburban in the 5500 block of South Halsted.
  
  That crash killed 11-year-old Donovan Turnage and injured his father. Douglas fled and carjacked another vehicle nearby. That vehicle broke down on a ramp from Interstate 294 to westbound Interstate 88, police said. A concerned motorist tried to help Douglas, police said, who then forced his way into that person's vehicle, a 2007 Honda Accord. Douglas may be driving that light blue, 4-door Honda bearing Illinois license plate X144777, Chicago Police said in a news release.
  
  Douglas, whom police said had displayed a blue steel handgun during at least one of the carjackings and is wanted in a series of crimes from Chicago into Wisconsin, was last seen fleeing in the Honda westbound on I-88. Douglas is a white man, standing about 6-foot-3 and weighing about 275 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. His last known address was in the 12700 block of Major Avenue in Beach Park.

Most likely, he's still on the move headed west, but who knows with a nut-job like this? He looking at never being free again, so what does he have to lose. Be careful.

Suspects in Custody for CCSO Murder

Good news:

• Several suspects were in custody Sunday morning in connection with the shooting death of an off-duty sheriff’s officer, authorities confirmed.
  
  No charges had been filed as of 7 p.m. Sunday and few details were available about the arrests in the fatal shooting of Cuauhtemoc Estrada, who was gunned down outside a family holiday party Friday night while trying to stop an attempted armed robbery in Bellwood.

We'll post details at some point. We certainly hope that this isn't another case of people who should be in prison somehow being paroled.

Also, we'll try to get funeral arrangements when available.

Philly by 3

7:00 PM game tonight. Bears hold their own destiny.

Detroit is a heavy favorite against the Giants, so unless the Lions stumble, the Bears have to keep their one game lead by winning.

Mr. 10g will have advice in the comment section at some point.

Motiveless Murder

We'd say we were surprised, but we'd be lying:

• Egged on by others, a teen fatally shot a man Thursday afternoon on the South Side after demanding to know where he was from, prosecutors said today.
  
  Iman Frison, 18, was ordered held without bail Saturday in connection with the slaying of Andre Hunter, 19, about 2:40 p.m. Thursday in the Winneconna Parkway neighborhood.
  
  While walking home from school near the 7700 block of South Stewart Avenue, Hunter and a witness were approached from behind by Frison, said Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Jacqueline Kwilos. Frison pointed a revolver at Hunter's chest and asked him where he and the witness were from, Kwilos said.
  
  After Hunter moved the gun out of his way, other people surrounding Frison encouraged him to shoot Hunter, Kwilos said. Frison shot Hunter five times, including three times after the victim had fallen and the gun had jammed, Kwilos said.
  
  
• Cook County Judge James Brown shook his head as Kwilos detailed the shooting in Saturday's bond hearing.
  
  "So the motive of the shooting was no motive?" Brown asked Kwilos. "He just shot him to shoot him?"

Pretty much Judge. Are you new here? It's getting pretty much to be a rite of passage in some parts.

Nobody Recalls

Something stills smells rotten:

• As an unconscious David Koschman was being rushed to a hospital, a nephew of Mayor Richard M. Daley was rushing with friends to a closed River North bar where prosecutors believe his friends “concocted their stories” about the violent confrontation that would cost Koschman his life.
  
  Daley nephew Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko, Bridget Higgins McCarthy, her husband Kevin McCarthy and Craig Denham took cabs to the Pepper Canister, an Irish pub at 509 N. Wells St. where they’d been drinking earlier that night in April 2004.
  
  The bar — owned at the time by a politically connected couple — was already closed for the night. But somebody let in Vanecko and his friends after hours on April 25, 2004. How long they stayed there hasn’t been disclosed.
  
  Vanecko’s friends told a grand jury they didn’t recall any discussion at the Pepper Canister about the confrontation that had just occurred oustide the late-night bars along Division Street where Vanecko allegedly punched Koschman in the head, according to court filings last week by Dan K. Webb, the court-appointed special prosecutor in the case.
  
  Webb doesn’t believe them.

No shit Webb. No one believes anything connected with this story.

Unfortunately, someone is going to be left holding the bag and we just don't see Webb having enough to make it stick to a member of the Daley clan.

Car Chase Casualty

11-year-old kid:

• An 11-year-old South Side boy, on his way to get a Christmas haircut with his father and older brother, was killed Saturday when a carjacked vehicle being chased by the police crashed into them in Englewood.
  
  “He took our angel from us,” Annette Turnage, 51, said of the carjacker, who got away.
  
  
• Around 12:30 p.m. Saturday, officers on patrol saw an armed carjacking in the 5000 block of South Princeton Avenue and drove off after the stolen vehicle, until it crashed into the Turnages’ Suburban near Garfield Boulevard and Halsted Street, according to the police.

Hopefully, this guy is apprehended for the murder. Expect blame to be laid at the Department's doorstep shortly.

CCSO Killed Off Duty

Attempting to break up an armed robbery off duty:

• An off-duty Cook County sheriff's investigator was fatally shot while breaking up an armed robbery outside a family holiday party Friday night in west suburban Bellwood, police said.
  
  Authorities said Cuauhtemoc Estrada, a 50-year-old former Marine, had been attending a family gathering at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall, which is located on 30th Street of St. Charles Road.
  
  Shortly after 7:30 p.m. he stepped outside and witnessed an armed robbery taking place in the building's parking lot, said Andre Harvey, Bellwood's director of public safety.
  
  The sheriff's officer attempted to intervene and was shot in the chest while reaching for his weapon, Harvey said at the scene early this morning, as investigators remained on the street collecting evidence.

Sympathies to his family and coworkers. RIP Officer.

Wrong Victim

Most robbers who are good at their "trade" know how to pick a victim. They feel them out, follow them for a bit, see how they react to various stimuli. Riding up on a bike leaves you open to all sorts of bad outcomes. This is one of those times, though it could have been worse....for the robber that is:

• A man was taken into custody after trying to rob an off-duty Chicago police officer at knifepoint early this morning, authorities said.
  
  About 12:30 a.m., the 20-year-old man bicycled toward the officer as he was walking in the 1700 block of West Diversey Parkway, Police News Affairs Officer Amina Greer said. Displaying a knife, the suspect announced a robbery, according to police.
  
  The off-duty officer announced his office and took his assailant into custody "without incident," Greer said.

We guess having to go into lockup and ask for a change of underwear qualifies as "without incident." Nicely played Officer.

Crystal Ball Unit's New Job

Someone was wondering a few weeks ago about where the Golden Boy's unit ended up after Rahm decided to forgo crime prediction and just go with straight-up statistical manipulation instead. They found new jobs working with the animal kingdom:

• The Chicago Police Department has used predictive analytics to determine where to position officers to prevent retaliatory shootings.
  
  Why not do the same to prevent four-legged criminals — rats — from “establishing a colony”?
  
  Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration is doing just that, armed with a $1 million prize from a philanthropic organization formed by retiring New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to help cities devise new ways — through savvy use of loads of data — to deliver old services.
  
  The city’s Department of Innovation and Technology has identified 31 city service requests not directly related to rat sightings that trigger rodent control complaints.

So things have finally come full circle in a twisted sort of way:

• Goldstein invents a restaurant reservation system (Open Table or something), then joins the Police Department;
• The Golden Boy translates a year on the street into an Assistant Deputy Superintendent spot and brings Open Table to the Police Department to create the Crystal Ball Unit to predict crime (predicting exactly zero crimes in the process);
• Goldstein leaves and the Crystal Ball Unit falls into disfavor as it's just easier to lie to everyone about the crime rate - the media is too dumb and in Rahm's pocket to ask the intelligent questions anyway;
• The Open Table program finds a new home predicting rat infestations, who like to hang out at restaurants with very few Open Tables anyway, assisted by the original program.

It's a stretch to connect the dots, but it works for us. Predicting crime is pretty much impossible and the CBU people proved time and time again for over a year. Predicting a rat infestation located around a fixed place of business with less-than-sanitary conditions is a slam dunk.

397, We Have 397. Do We Hear 398?

As predicted here months ago, but let's be realistic - did anyone really bet against this?

• Last month on the train ride home from prison, Shermain Miles said she was done with booze — done with the old life of petty crime.
  
  Old habits apparently die hard.
  
  The woman who has racked up a near-record 396 arrests picked up one more this week when she was hauled off an Edgewater street for a host of alleged offenses, including misdemeanor battery, theft, reckless conduct and drinking in public.
  
  Miles, 52, was ordered held in lieu of $10,000 bail when she appeared at the Belmont and Western courthouse on Friday.
  
  “It’s sad,” remarked Ald. James Cappleman (46th), a Miles victim in August 2012.

Sad? Why? It's expected and not just by us. Anyone with half a brain, even a quarter brain, knew exactly how this was going to go. We'll even predict it's going to end one of two ways:

• dead at Stroger Hospital, ravaged by disease, overdose or liver failure;
• dead on the streets from someone she pisses off.

Either way, she'll be a burden on the taxpaying public until the final curtain falls.

On the bright side, she might get to assault a second aldercreature if she's lucky.

Meanwhile, CPS Burns More Money

Lost in the shuffle of the FOP drama:

• Chicago Public Schools has more than tripled how much it’s willing to pay to have the closed school buildings emptied and boarded up.
  
  The Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday unanimously approved to pay Global Workplace Solutions up to $30.9 million.
  
  The initial April contract with Ohio-based GWS was $8.9 million. CPS’ board later approved to more than double the contract to $18.9 million.

An Ohio company? As someone pointed out in the comments, no one from Chicago was qualified to board up schools, secure the premises and conduct an inventory of the property? Or is this another connected company that's going to subcontract the work out to Chicago people while adding in their own 10% (or more) fees to line their pockets?

Wasn't that corrupt comptroller guy from Ohio? Is this part of some more weird Chicago-Ohio connection that is coming to light? We seem to recall some other company from Ohio getting Chicago business, too. Anyone else remember the same thing?

UPDATE: The body snatchers are from Ohio - duh. We missed the completely obvious one. Sorry about that.

Meanwhile, Drama Continues

Some people have a hard time letting go:

• The games continue!
  
  At about noon today 911 was called to remove a suspended FOP president from the FOP hall.
  
  Ref. event 1335306013. Criminal Trespass in progress.

UPDATE: Event number corrected.

Meanwhile, Killings Continue

If we aren't averaging over a killing a day for December, we'd be surprised:

• Three people, including a 74-year-old man, were shot to death within three hours on the South and Southwest sides in Chicago overnight, according to authorities. Adding to the toll are two teens who died Wednesday after being shot earlier in the week.

We also heard that persons who were shot in a previous calendar year and expire after a long hospital stay are no longer being counted in the current years homicide totals. They are instead being counted for the year they were injured.

So the Department will go back and change the totals from previous years when no one from the media is looking, even if it's years ago? Is this a change from years past? Because that would save McCarthy a handful of homicides a year.

Any detectives care to comment?

Weather Made Rahm Look Good?

Didn't McCompStat spend all of last year claiming the weather had nothing to do with crime numbers?

• After a disastrous 2012 that saw Chicago garner national attention for its violence, homicides and shootings declined by double digits in 2013, the best numbers in half a century, according to the police department.
  
  On Thursday, in the waning days of the year, homicides hit a symbolic mark of 400, but that was still a far cry from the more than 500 recorded in all of last year, only the second time that milestone had been reached in the last decade.
  
  While criminologists say it's difficult to pinpoint the precise reasons for the decline, veteran high-ranking Chicago police officials interviewed by the Tribune credited the department's flooding the most dangerous neighborhoods with hundreds of extra cops. But that success came at a steep price, nearly $100 million in overtime pay, triple the amount budgeted for 2013 by the city.
  
  Among a myriad other likely contributing factors were Superintendent Garry McCarthy's insistence on accountability from his commanders, innovative attempts at preventing retaliatory shootings and, yes, the harsher winter weather in early 2013 compared with unseasonably warm temperatures a year earlier, police officials said.

Golly, once again, the street coppers are correct and the eggheads have o idea what's going on. Imagine that.

You have to be a Tribune "member" to read the rest of the article.

Embarrassing

Everyone covers the recent debacle at FOP:

• Trib
• Times
• Channel 2
• Channel 5
• Channel 7
• Channel 9

The State lodge officially removed Shields from office this afternoon:

• The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police has suspended the president of the union representing Chicago Police officers — and prohibited Mike Shields from negotiating with the city — after accusing him of violating his oath of office and branding him a “dictator.”
  
  The extraordinary step by State FOP President Ted Street was announced at a general membership meeting Tuesday night where a Monroe District beat car was called to “police the police” amid fears it could get ugly.
  
  Street’s power play comes just two days after Shields leveled the explosive charge that the last two police contracts dictated by an independent arbitrator were “fixed” in the city’s favor and that the recent sergeants’ contract arbitration may also have been rigged.
  
  That was the final straw, but not the only reason Street triggered a disciplinary process that will culminate in an investigation by a five-member committee and a hearing before the State FOP’s 30-member board, where Shields will have the opportunity to present a defense.

The FOP (sans Shields) released a statement on their website:

• As many of you are aware, this past Monday Lodge President Michael K. Shields publicly accused respected arbitrators, City and FOP labor lawyers, and present and former Lodge officials of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud during past contract negotiations. Due to the recent actions of President Shields, Illinois State FOP Lodge President Ted Street was forced to suspend President Shields’, “membership rights, duties and authority and therefore is suspended as President of Chicago FOP Lodge #7,” pending a hearing before the State Lodge Board of Trustees. Based on the FOP Lodge 7 by-laws, First Vice President William Dougherty will be the Acting President of the Lodge until the next Board of Directors meeting.
  
  The remaining Field Representatives would like to publicly extend a deep apology to those who were named in the Chicago Sun-Times article. Lastly, to our members, we want you to know that we are deeply saddened by these recent turns of events and understand the present “crisis in confidence” the members have in their Union. Based on your dedication and duty to the welfare our City, your wage and work conditions must be our number one priority. With that in mind, we promise that our commitment to you will not change in the remaining months before the Lodge election. Any and all press inquiries should be directed to the Lodge’s media consultant Patrick Camden.

"Crisis in confidence" is putting it mildly.

Everyone on the Board of Directors failed us. Everyone was so busy keeping their job that they forgot to do their job. The "retro letter" scandal was just the most visible fuck-up and when we told the truth about it over a year ago, we were lambasted by many of those expressing shock and dismay today. It is our studied opinion that too many of the current Board let a megalomaniac run unchecked for too many years for the sake of political gain and 10,000-plus coppers along with 6,000-plus retirees paid the price. This is not easily forgiven or forgotten.

Where's the Dump?

So after being removed from office, stripped of all responsibility, and declared a member "not in good standing," where does the no-longer-president serve out his time?Can we assume his detail is canceled? 

The District vacancies closed three days ago and watch bids were posted two weeks ago. Does the Department return him to his previous spot or will he be traveling to the nether regions of Chicago?

ADM Moves HQ to Chicago

And they are going to do it without any financial "incentives:"

• Archer Daniels Midland, unable to secure the special tax incentives it sought from Illinois legislators, nonetheless announced Wednesday that it will go forward with its plan to move its world headquarters to Chicago from Decatur, Ill.
  
  The agriculture giant said it plans to locate 50 to 75 executives in Chicago to a site that has not yet been selected. That's down from the 100 jobs the company originally cited in its bid to win Springfield approval for special payroll tax incentives worth up to $30 million over 20 years.
  
  “While we considered other global hubs, Chicago emerged as the best location to provide efficient access to global markets while maintaining our close connections with U.S. farmers, customers and operations,” said ADM Chairman and CEO Patricia Woertz said in a statement Wednesday morning. “Chicago also provides an environment where we can attract and retain employees with diverse skills, and where their family members can find ample career opportunities."

But there is still another apple waiting in the wings to be awarded to some state. A state that might be persuaded to come up with an attractive tax package:

• Additionally, a technology center staffed by 100 new employees that was part of ADM's public bid no longer is tied to the headquarters change. The company said it will continue to consider potential locations for the IT center in several states and expects to make a decision by mid-year 2014.

You figure that ADM wasn't about to have it's entire corporate executive board uproot families from established homes, but holding the prospect of a creating jobs that Illinois sorely needs over politicians...well, that's a different story.

An Amusing Take

No reason, not police related, just an off-beat take on something that pops up whenever left-leaning, socialist, Occupy, Marxist, re-distribution-ist liberals peek in:

• In 2012 the CEO of Walmart made $20.7 million. Walmart has about 2 million employees (as far as I can tell, this is only counting the employees in the American stores). So, if you divided the CEO’s entire pay among the employees they’d each get $10.35 more per year- that’s not quite 20 cents per week; a half a cent per hour for full time employees. Woohoo.
  
  Now, look at a paystub and see how much the various governments” steal from every paycheck, and then tell me who the real parasite is.

Again, it's just an alternative way of looking at something that is used as a straw-man by people who don't understand numbers. Or economics. Or capitalism.

Another New Cutoff Score

The consensus seems to be that the passing score is 55. We only know for certain that everyone who took the test here are moving on to Part 2.

A couple of comments are making noise about different passing scores for different folks.  We're pretty sure they're trolls just having troll-fun, but just in case:

• If you have a letter that shows you (or someone else) failing the test, and you have a copy of someone else's letter that shows them passing with a lower score, send us a picture/copy/.jpg of the letters and we'll make a post out of it.

Other than that, contact the union if there's a question - oh, wait, they're all busy trying to save their jobs, running for election, holding press conferences.

The Fallout at FOP

A number of the individuals accused by the now-suspended president of the Lodge held a press conference and asked that he step down and apologize:

• Fraternal Order of Police representatives are calling on their president to resign.
  
  Union leaders took the unusual step of calling a news conference tonight asking their boss to step down and apologize for his actions.
  
  This comes after FOP president Mike Shields made explosive allegations that the last two police contracts dictated by an independent arbitrator were fixed in favor of the city, and that the recent sergeants contract may have been rigged.
  
  In a letter to the city’s inspector general, Shields accuses union rivals of making backroom deals.
  
  The group says if Shields refuses to resign, their board will take action against him.

They come off as being calm while the president comes off as a lunatic - did anyone catch his picture on the NBC site?

Dude has Crazy Eyes.

So the State Lodge has stepped into the fray and no dobut the phone lines to DC are burning up to the National Lodge. We imagine they want to settle this quickly, but members need to insist it be done thoroughly. The damage from the past 24-to-48 hours is going to hang around, not just for this contract negotiating and this election, but for a number of years.

One has to wonder what drove this train wreck off the cliff. A deliberate effort at sabotage not sending the original letter and then lying about it for over a year? Office politics gone wild? Allegations by secretaries and legal secretaries of malfeasance, harassment and downright incompetence? Maybe even an attempt to bankrupt the Lodge in payouts for libel?

Rahm, Your Superintendent - WOOF!

An instant classic:

Thanks to a reader for this one.

Dart's Stupidity Continues

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has decided that the Concealed Carry Law is going to be completely unworkable because, get this, he doesn't have enough power to deny people permits to carry:

• Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart on Tuesday took aim at the state's concealed carry law that takes effect next month, calling it a “monstrosity” that is “fraught with problems and holes” and vowing to object to permits being issued to those arrested even once in the last seven years for domestic violence, gun possession or gang crimes.
  
  Dart wouldn't rule out going to court to seek an injunction to block what he called an “absolutely absurd” approval process, saying the law will result in permits being issued to people who shouldn't have them.
  
  “This is not something I'm going to blindly go along with, saying, ‘All right, they've done it again to us in Springfield, another law that doesn't make any sense and we're just going to stand back and do it,'” Dart told reporters at the sheriff's police headquarters in Maywood.

The Illinois State Police has a system in place....:

• The law tasks Illinois State Police with overseeing the permit process but gives county sheriffs, state's attorneys, local police and the attorney general's office the power to object to a permit being issued. When objections are made, a review board will decide if the permits will be issued.

....but that's not good enough for Tom "I know better than you what's good for you" Dart. And don't even get him started on the "mental health" exceptions he wants to carve out:

• He said the screening for mentally ill applicants is also woefully inadequate and flags only those who have been committed to a hospital for psychiatric treatment or been found by a physician to be a danger to themselves.

Um....what other methods are there? ESP? Maybe complaints by an ex-wife or husband?  Anyone the sheriff thinks might be unstable without a shred of proof whatsoever?

Dart bitches a lot but seems to have no solutions except more government intrusion and Big Brother-type solutions. No thanks.

What a Crock

Here's a ridiculous puff piece making the rounds of the left-wing media:

• The FBI has helped to disrupt or prevent nearly 150 shootings and violent attacks this year, in part by steering potential gunmen toward mental health professionals.
  There have been hundreds of these disruptions since 2011, Attorney General Eric Holder told an audience of police chiefs in October, touting the behind-the-scenes work of a small FBI unit based out of Quantico, Va. In most cases, the FBI has helped potential offenders get access to mental health care.

And just how do they come up with this number? Easy, they made it up.

There is no way to gauge how many shootings the feebs have "prevented." There is no set of indicators that point to any individual as a "shooter." There are warning signs in some people, behaviors that might lead one to believe they have the "potential" to harm themselves or others, but most people displaying those behaviors do not end up shooting up offices, school or public places.

We're going to claim that we, personally, have prevented about 25,000 shootings by merely noting that no shootings have taken place in our presence over the past decade. We use a 10-year measurement because some poor bastard did manage to get lit up as we rolled up to an in-progress call, but since then, we've been batting 1.000. Perfection!

We'll also note that the feebs have completely missed all the warning signs of Sandy Hook, Aurora, the DC/Navy Yard shooting along with a few dozen others in recent years. With a miserable track record like that and a sizable body count to hang on their blown calls, we can see why they'd want to make shit up for Holder's/Obama's political agenda.

FOP Meeting Tonight (UPDATES!)

Fireworks? Riots? Gunfire?

Tune in and find out later. We might be a little late posting because.....well, take a guess.

UPDATE: Shields was served with papers by the State Lodge and suspended from all duties for the time being?

UPDATE: TrueNewsUSA has a report from the fray and access to a computer.

UPDATE: 012 District called for a Disturbance at the Hall - Event #12815 if you want to look it up. The humorous part of it all - Caller States "Please Hurry" Weapons/Drugs on scene? Unknown.

UPDATE: Shields still in office? The "suspension" might be a misinterpretation of events on the ground. No idea who's in charge. Press conference scheduled.

BOOM! FOP Contracts Fixed?

The final act of a desperate president? Or a revelation that finally sees the light of day after years of malfeasance?

• Fighting for survival, Fraternal Order of Police President Mike Shields is making an explosive allegation: that the last two police contracts dictated by an independent arbitrator were “fixed” and that the recent sergeants’ contract may also have been “rigged.”
  
  Shields leveled the stunning charges Monday in a letter to Inspector General Joe Ferguson, demanding an investigation. A copy was delivered to FOP board members, including a handful of potential rivals whom Shields is now accusing of being in cahoots with the city.
  
  “I was advised by the organization’s general counsel Paul Geiger that the last two arbitrations involving the City of Chicago were . . . fixed,” Shields wrote in the letter to the inspector general, obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
  
  “Specifically, Mr. Geiger informed me that past president Mark Donahue, current and past First Vice-President Bill Dougherty, current and past Financial-Secretary Rich Aguilar and past Third Vice-President Greg Bella had entered into ‘pre-determined’ and backroom deal’ arbitrations — which included precise, agreed-to findings and language — with the city and an arbitrator.
  
  “Mr. Geiger further explained that this tainted process was used in order to give Donahue, Dougherty, Aguilar and Bella political cover against FOP members’ potential accusations that the FOP leadership had ‘sold out’ to the city.”
  

We have no idea what's going on over there on Washington Blvd. and neither do a lot of people.

We're going to have to call for the State and National Lodges to come in and take over until such time as an investigation is completed and certain people end up deposed and maybe before a Court.

UPDATE: By the way, this stink is going to go back years. We recall rumors of crazy shit going on when Nolan was in charge and how he ended up with a County job paying six-figures after his tenure. If you have lists of the trustees going back three or more elections, it might be good to keep them around just for a list of people to vote against. Something like this doesn't appear overnight - it breeds over years.

Rahm - Crime Fighter!

You'd think that Rahm (and Garry) put on capes this past year and ran around in a super-powered automobile and were throwing the handcuffs on everyone who looked at them cross-eyed:

• With the year coming to a close, Mayor Rahm Emanuel sought Monday to highlight a drop in the city's violent crime numbers compared with last year's spike in homicides and shootings that left Chicago with more killings than any other U.S. city.
  But even as the mayor and police Superintendent Garry McCarthy pointed to a set of statistics to support their contention that the city's crime-fighting strategy is working, Emanuel acknowledged that the improved numbers are not enough to make residents in some crime-ridden neighborhoods feel safe.
  During a news conference at a Bridgeport police station, Emanuel returned to a well-worn anecdote of a mother who stopped him to say that increased police foot patrols in her neighborhood made her feel comfortable enough to allow her child to walk to school.
  When pressed if that encounter represented a belief on his part that people in violent neighborhoods feel safer, Emanuel said, "We're not going to rest until people feel the reality of these numbers."

So...crime is down, some people feel safer in the hood, kids are walking to school in these "Safe Passage" zones, and Rahm wants to spread the good vibes all over Chicago because, you know, there are some spots that just aren't getting the "crime is down" message.

So why is Rahm fucking with the police, the very people who have made it possible for him to go out and tell these tales of crime reduction, lowered homicides, fewer shootings, less maimings, and safety, sunshine and unicorns for all the peoples? Why are we going on a second year without a contract? Why is Rahm dangling the "missed letter = no retro" over all of our heads? Why was he actively attempting to tie our pension alterations to the bill muscled through Springfield? And why is he openly stating he is going to use the Springfield "reform" as a road map to reduce our pensions?

We didn't see him out here in the real world. He wasn't doing anything except reducing the numbers of police on the force and watching the homicide number skyrocket last year. Now he's claiming credit for everything good that happened?

Unless all of this is just numbers manipulation and CompStat is nothing more than a statistical smoke screen to hide the real numbers?

Could that really happen?

Abandon Ship!

Anyone know if this is true?

• Hey SCC,
  
  Word down south here is that almost 60 people from midnights in 007 put in PAR forms to leave. Who is going to man the cars for Ric Flair........I mean Deputy Chief Leo?

There are a few Districts that don't have 60 people on the first watch and 007 is looking at losing a sizable percentage? Who the heck is the Lieutenant there that this kind of mass movement is even attempted?

New Cut Off Score

Word in the comment sections is a few mid-to-high 40's are passing, so we've gone from an initial estimate of 51 all the way down to 46 or 45 as a "passing" grade.

That's just embarrassing.

Operation Santa

Tis the season:

• Over the weekend, Operation Santa, a program of the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, delivered toys, books and gift cards to 35 children of officers who died or were severely injured while on duty.
  
  In the program now in its seventh year, Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive at the families’ homes in a limo and police officers dressed as elves accompany them in a motorcade. At least a dozen uniformed police officers joined the effort, helping to carry the boxes of gifts and stockings filled with knickknacks such as mugs and Rubik’s Cubes.
  
  The nonprofit organization helps the families year-round with expenses but puts particular emphasis on letting them know they haven’t forgotten them around the holidays, said Phil Cline, executive director of the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation.
  
  “It’s tough for the family, especially (because) their loved one was taken at the prime of their life,” said Cline, a former Chicago police superintendent. “We want them to know they can lean on the Memorial Foundation to help them through these times.”

Always remembered.

Look! Crime is Down (Like It Was Before)

Thank goodness we have Yale scholars around to tell us what's what in terms of crime rates:

• Chicago is on track to have one of its lowest crime rates in decades, but some neighborhoods on the South and West sides seem stuck in time with persistently high violence rates — an inequality that demands attention, according to a new Yale University study.
  
  Professor Andrew Papachristos also found a greater proportion of murders in the city involve street gang members since the mid-1990s. Murders among rival gangs are on the decrease, but killings among factions within the same gang are on the rise, he wrote.
  
  Mayor Rahm Emanuel pointed to the positive news in the report, saying the drop in crime isn’t a one-year blip, but something historic.
  
  “This is not just 2013 against 2012,” the mayor said. “This is 2013 against the last 40 years. That is what is significant.”

Big Deal. Chicago is returning to the downward slope that it had been tracking on until Rahm and McCompStat decided to start a "Let's See What Happens if We Try To Do Less With More" strategy that blew up in their faces, resulting in a step-up of hiring numbers and an overtime surge that continues to this day. Rahm wants credit for returning to the status quo and just forget about all those dead people in 2012. That would be a drag on any future Senate or White House campaigns.

Nice Weekend

Keeping December rolling:

• Two men are dead and at least 16 other people were wounded in shootings across Chicago since Friday afternoon.
  
  A 26-year-old man was shot and killed early Saturday in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side.
  
  Deangelo Shelton was standing in the vestibule of an apartment with a 25-year-old man in the 300 block of North Central Avenue about 1:25 a.m. when an unknown suspect entered with several other people and opened fire on the two men before running away, according to police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

Poor guy - out minding his own business at 1:25 in the morning in someone else's vestibule.

What is this world coming to?

Stats Are Political (Duh)

Police Limit

Political number counting? Who'd think of such a thing?

Fleecing the Membership

Our oldest blogging friend Rue St. Michel has a largish post up about the problems the FOP is going through. He lays the blame squarely at the feet of the current regime and cites examples throughout:

• We FOP Lodge 7 members can agree on one thing: Mike Shields sucks.
  
  He makes over $200,000 per year. For some perspective, in 2010 we contributed $1.6 million in dues to the FOP and what did we get for our dues money?
  
  Utter incompetence, malfeasance, skullduggery and a president with the leadership skills of a toddler.

The entire article is an easy read with links to back up his opinions. We can't say we disagree with any of it. Hop on over and give him a read and start thinking about who we need to lead the FOP in the near future.

Al Gore Wrong Again

Every-so-often, we like to throw these posts up because we like the popping noise liberals heads make when they read 'em:

• Al Gore predicted the North Polar Ice Cap would be completely ice free in five years. Gore made the prediction to a German audience in 2008. He told them that “the entire North ‘polarized’ cap will disappear in 5 years.”

That was five years ago yesterday. Our Canadian Correspondent Nanook reports that Santa is safe and expected to begin his annual trek in about a week-and-a-half.

Also yesterday, 2,000 weather records were broken across the United States for cold and/or snow.

And it snowed for the first time in 112 years in Egypt.

Heads to begin exploding in 3....2....1....

Cut Off Score

According to the comments in yesterday's post, the cut off for passing appears to be somewhere around 51 or 52.  Not the worst passing grade we've heard of in a Chicago promotional exam, but nearly.

Best and the Brightest you know.

Dad of the Year

People wouldn't believe it if you told them about this, but it's in the paper, so maybe they would this time:

• A man who prosecutors say evaded police in August by placing two toddlers in the middle of a busy West Humboldt Park street was ordered held on $100,000 bail Saturday.
  
  Prosecutors said Lance Harris, 25, was holding a 3-year-old’s hand and carrying a 2-year-old while walking along the 1200 block of North Pulaski Road on Aug. 19. When police officers recognized Harris and approached to arrest him on a warrant, he put the children in the street. As Harris escaped, the children were just 40 or so feet from a CTA bus and a dump truck on the arterial road, prosecutors said.
  
  The children apparently weren’t injured, and officers caught up to Harris on Thursday when he was arrested on two felony charges of child endangerment.

These aren't kids to this asshole - they're props. Something to use as cover. And if the cover is blown, run and leave them behind, tying up who knows how many officers to transport, babysit, and hunt down a "responsible" relative to come get the kids. Ridiculous.

Bears by One

Last week, they rolled the Cowboys.

This week, Cutler returns.

Place your 10 G's at your own risk.

Scores Arriving

Check the mailbox people - post results here and brag or bitch about it.

Open post for test result stuff - we may or may not delete off topic threads depending on how interesting they are.

Movement is a Good Thing

This list looks more like a spastic bowel:

• 001 - 10 openings
• 002 - 04
• 003 - 10
• 004 - 10
• 005 - 10
• 006 - 05
• 007 - 04
• 008 - 10
• 009 - 10
• 010 - 10
• 011 - 10
• 012 - 04
• 014 - 05
• 015 - 05
• 016 - 05
• 017 - 05
• 018 - 10
• 019 - 08
• 020 - 10
• 022 - 15
• 024 - 04
• 025 - 05

One-hundred-sixty-nine openings in all 22 Districts.

After all the watches have been balanced, Day-off groups settled and furloughs picked, now they do the biggest Bid Opening List in years.

What the hell?

Cops Rescue Man in Chicago River

Literally, within seconds of death:

• The man poking his head out of the water had one hand on the dock, but he was losing his grip after several minutes in the Chicago River this morning, large ice chunks floating feet away.
  
  Kneeling above him was Officer Wayne Kramer, who had sprinted down a flight of stairs after hearing the man's screams from his squad car on the lower level of Lake Shore Drive.
  
  A former lifeguard, Kramer had one arm around the man as he called to his partner, Officer Fred Estrada, who was parking the squad car and calling for an ambulance.
  
  “I said, Fred, I can’t get this guy up by myself,” said Kramer, 47.
  
  Estrada and a bystander stooped next to Kramer on the four-foot-wide dock, trying to wrestle the man out of the water without getting pulled in.
  
  “By the time we dragged him out of the water, we couldn’t even get him to use his legs or his hands,” Kramer said.

The man remains in critical condition. Very well done Officers.

New FOP Book Out

First, why did they get rid of the blank pages for notes near the back of the book? We used to keep all sorts of handy items there. Now we're going to have to carry a loose piece of paper that will get lost and crumpled up.

Second, now we have a handy list of everyone that should be voted out of the office next year.

Suburban Cop Shot

Very bad scene in Arlington Heights overnight:

• An Arlington Heights police officer has been shot in a domestic dispute this evening that has become a hostage situation, authorities said.
  
  The officer was in critical condition at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, although his condition was believed to have been stabilized, an Arlington Heights police commander said in a news conference at the scene. The officer is a man, Mayor Thomas Hayes said.
  
  The officer was shot in the neck when police first responded to a call of a man with a gun about 6:50 p.m. in the 1900 block of Windham Court in the northwest suburb, Cmdr. Andrew Whowell said in a news conference just before 9 p.m. The man has one woman in the townhome, and she is being considered a hostage, he said.
  
  The officer was the first to try to enter the townhome and was shot while going in, Whowell said.
  
  "Responding officers that were with him were able to pull him out of the residence, to safety," Whowell said, adding that police have identified the gunman, but were not immediately releasing that information.

Prayers for the wounded Officer.

UPDATE: Officer is listed in stable condition and headed to surgery.

UPDATE: Subject may be in custody.

UPDATE: Subject is wounded and in custody. No word on the Officer in surgery yet.

Dead Robber Shot Harvey Cop

From a few weeks back:

• A parolee shot dead by a South Side store owner during an alleged attempted robbery Tuesday evening was a prime suspect in a shooting that wounded a south suburban Harvey police last month, authorities said.
  
  Harvey detectives were searching for Demarcus Brandon for nearly three weeks after receiving information that he was may have been the gunman who wounded Harvey police Officer Robert Rolfe in November, Harvey police announced Thursday.
  
  On Tuesday, Brandon tried to rob a cell phone store in the 1700 block of East 87th Street at gunpoint, authorities said. The store’s owner, armed with a handgun himself, shot and killed him, authorities said.

And from our comment section:

• On the scene that night, have to say that was one of better crime scenes! Dude still wearing mask with gun next to him- eyes open but nobody home.

As we say, good riddance to bad rubbish.

Now how about some answers from Quinn, IDOC and the Parole Board?

Bobby, Where's That Million?

Funny how money disappears a million dollars at a time around these parts. CeaseFire, Blago's church scandal, Bobby Rush pretending that technology can exist in Englewood:

• In 2000, in the midst of a bruising but ultimately victorious Democratic primary battle against then-state Sen. Barack Obama, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) launched the Rebirth of Englewood Community Development Corp.
  
  Funded with a $1 million grant from telecommunications giant SBC and the promise of another $175,000 from Congress, the not-for-profit agency’s aim was to help revive the violence-plagued South Side neighborhood, Rush said.
  
  A key element of that, Rush and SBC said, would be the creation of the Bobby L. Rush Center for Community Technology.

And how did that work out?

• More than a decade later, though, there’s no technology center. And it’s unclear what happened to the money.
  
  “Every penny of that money went toward programs for the Englewood community,” Rush said in an interview.
  
  But the congressman said he doesn’t know exactly where the money went. He said he didn’t run the day-to-day operation and doesn’t have records of how the money was spent.

Of course there isn't - Englewood devours money like a junkie whore snorts blow. No one will ever know where the million went. SBC (now AT and T) isn't looking for it, Congressional oversight of the taxpayer $175,000 is non-existent and Obama isn't going to look for skeletons in the closets of his political masters.

Another Parolee?

It's looking more and more like the store owner did society a favor by blasting this jagoff:

• A South Side store owner fatally shot a man who attempted to rob the business Tuesday evening.
  
  Authorities said 25-year-old Demarcus Brandon entered a cell phone store in the 1700 block of East 87th Street and tried to rob the business at gunpoint about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
  
  The store owner, who also had a handgun, fatally shot the would-be robber, authorities said.
  
  Brandon, of the of 120 block of East 140th Court in Riverdale, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
  
  The store owner was not injured, police said.
  
  Brandon was paroled from the Shawnee Correctional Center in July for armed robbery, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records.
  
  Brandon had been serving two concurrent sentences of three years and 13 years, according to prison records. He was serving 13 years for armed robbery with a firearm and three years for having a rifle with a barrel shorter than 16 inches or shotgun with a barrel shorter than 18 inches, prison records said.

Gee, sentence to 13 years, he's only 25, how many years did he actually serve on the armed robbery conviction?

That "Wall of Fame - Quinn Division" is getting awfully crowded.

Less Lineups

We suppose it's a time-saver, but will it improve the dismal clearance rate?

• For more than a century, the lineup has been a vital tool for police detectives in solving crime.
  
  The image of six people with somewhat similar features standing side by side as an eyewitness or crime victim peers at them from behind one-way glass has taken on iconic status, becoming a staple of police dramas on TV and in movies.
  
  But after discovering that most other big-city departments use lineups far less frequently, Chicago police last month began a pilot program on the South Side to reduce their reliance on them. Officials said the traditional lineup is often too time-consuming to set up and can even be counterproductive.

Technology has also been a killer for lineups:

• Adding to the push to reduce reliance on lineups is the difficulty in finding stand-ins. Years ago the department could usually find all the "fillers" they needed for lineups from the detainees in its station lockups, according to Escalante. Many were waiting for hours for their criminal histories to be verified before their release on minor arrests, but technological advances have sped up that process to the point that stations have few people in custody, he said.
  
  Consequently, Escalante said, detectives often have to find fillers by traveling to different lockups in the city — which can take hours. "That adds up in terms of overtime, and it keeps detectives away from investigating other cases," Escalante said.
  
  Detectives became so desperate at one point that they started raiding the police academy to use recruits as fillers. But that soon came to a halt because it pulled them from their training, Escalante said.

Again, it appears to be another case of "doing more (lineups) with less (detectives).

The main question should be "what is this going to do to the clearance rate?"