Nice Wednesday

Making up for "no-murder Sunday" we guess:

• Shootings left at least two men dead and nine others wounded between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Wednesday, according to police.
  
  The most recent shooting left one man dead and another wounded in Logan Square, about 6 p.m., in the 3100 block of West Wabansia Avenue. A 25-year-old shot in the head and neck died at Stroger Hospital and another man, 22, is in stable condition with leg, lower back and shoulder wounds. They were in a car when someone on foot shot them and fled, police said.

You know what will solve this? More ISR's!

Pro-Police Rally

Southwest side:

• Two months after nearly 70 men, women and children stood at Archer and Nashville in darkness, rain and near-freezing temperatures—all to show support for Chicago Police officers—those same people and possibly hundreds more are expected to rally at Archer and Harlem at noon Saturday, April 2.
  
  “A turnout of that many people in that kind of weather, on short notice, said a lot about the strong character of our neighborhoods,” said Garfield Ridge Neighborhood Watch President Al Cacciottolo. “If the springtime weather is good and enough people know about this ahead of time, we may get 10 times as many people as before.”
  
  Plans for the 60-minute rally were announced by Cacciottolo at the GRNW’s March meeting, held at St. Jane de Chantal Parish’s Ward Hall. About 50 people attended.

We got this from a bunch of people, including organizers. Good luck and thanks for your support.

Of Course Rahm Likes This Idea

It gives him executive power and relives the legislative body of responsibility:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel should be free to install Eddie Johnson as his permanent police superintendent without the “dog-and-pony show” of a second Police Board search, influential aldermen said Wednesday, and the mayor agreed.
  
  After rejecting the Police Board’s three finalists and anointing Johnson as interim superintendent, Emanuel said he expected the board to take a “normal deep breath” before conducting a second nationwide search as required by an ordinance put in place 50 years ago after the cops-as-robbers scandal in the Summerdale District.
  
  On Wednesday, Emanuel changed his tune.

People who crave power always allow themselves to be persuaded to be given more power. And lick-spittles, brown-nosers and spineless followers (like aldercreatures) crave to be led by a strong-man who relieves them of any responsibility of actually making difficult decisions that might anger contributors.

In the colonial days, they were known as Tories and Americans chased them back to England.

Another "Brilliant" Idea

Since they've failed at every turn, appeal to criminals' basest instincts:

• The odds were good that Lonnie Holmes, 21, would be the next person to kill or be killed in this working-class suburb north of San Francisco.
  
  Four of his cousins had died in shootings. He was a passenger in a car involved in a drive-by shooting, police said. And he was arrested for carrying a loaded gun.
  
  But when Holmes was released from prison last year, officials in this city offered something unusual to try to keep him alive: money. They began paying Holmes as much as $1,000 a month not to commit another gun crime.
  
  Cities across the country, beginning with the District of Columbia, are moving to copy Richmond’s controversial approach because early indications show it has helped reduce homicide rates.

Extended penal facility stays also curb these tendencies. If politicians can run police departments on the cheap, why not prisons? It would make at least as much sense at this crap.

Alstory About to Get Paid

The so-called "wrongful conviction" movement is about to get bitch-slapped:

• A federal judge Tuesday allowed a $40 million lawsuit to proceed against Northwestern University, a former journalism professor and a private detective who are accused of conspiring to frame a man with a double murder.
  
  Alstory Simon spent about 15 years behind bars for the slayings of Jerry Hillard and Marilyn Green. But Simon’s conviction was reversed in 2014 after Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez conducted an investigation that concluded he was railroaded.

And who railroaded him?

• Simon is now suing Northwestern as well as former journalism professor David Protess and private investigator Paul Ciolino.
  
  Protess and Ciolino allegedly fabricated evidence that led to Simon’s conviction and the release of Anthony Porter, who was originally convicted of the 1982 killings.
  
  Northwestern was aware that Protess and Ciolino were using unethical practices to conduct such wrongful conviction investigations, according to Simon’s lawsuit, filed last year.

Unnamed in the lawsuit (as far as we can tell) is ultra-libtard "reporter" Eric Zorn who spent countless hours and barrels of ink railing against the death penalty and the CPD, resulting in the release of God knows how many murderers of women, children and others.

Protess lost his job. We aren't sure if Ciolino lost his license. Zorn should be unemployed along with these other two. Northwestern should be in settlement talks as soon as possible. And they should all be doing the rest of Anthony Porter's time as penance.

Avon Calling!

Oh wait, not Avon....it's the FBI:

• SCC,
  
  Word from a few people that since IPRA got caught calling coppers in so the FBI could attempt to question them, word is now that the feebs are knocking on doors of coppers' houses.
  
  Report FBI visits to the FOP and also to the Department - if you discover or are informed that you are the subject of an outside agency investigation, you are required by order to notify the Department. Don't get hung up ion technicalities. It's only a To-From.

Sound advice.

Um, Bad Idea?

Would it be possible to just put up a sign saying, "Try your luck! Break some windows, win some prizes!" We mean, that's a shady neighborhood as it is - why attract attention to all sorts of unattended cars in an unfenced and poorly lit lot? We're seeing almost monthly notices of lug nuts being loosened on Department vehicles and on our personal cars while parked on Department property. What could possibly happen at Near North?

Manpower Shortage Worsens

Even our impersonators are going to be unavailable for a while:

• A man who embarrassed Chicago police when he posed as an officer at age 14 pleaded guilty Tuesday to his third charge of impersonating an officer and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
  
  Vincent Richardson, 22, pleaded guilty to a felony count of impersonating a police officer.
  
  He was arrested in May 2015 after police pulled over the sport utility vehicle he was driving and found him wearing a "police-style" bulletproof vest and a "replica firearm" in his waistband, according to an arrest report.

Supposedly, this was the only guy doing ISR's in 003. Five or six a night.

Are they still pretending he didn't check out a squad car and drive around for a few hours?

Oh Eddie Eddie Eddie

We guess the honeymoon is over already:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s surprise pick to become the next top cop said Monday that his goal is to restore the public’s trust in the Chicago Police Department while maintaining his independence of City Hall.
  
  “The central challenge facing Chicago is trust,” said Eddie Johnson, later insisting that he has “complete autonomy” to run the department despite City Hall’s recent history of micromanaging it.

And the accompanying picture:

And we had such high hopes for Eddie. Everyone knows that the Superintendent is a figurehead and that City Hall runs the show. When Daley appointed the first outsider in decades to drive the Department into the ground, he installed J-Fled's Chief of Staff to make sure everyone knew Daley was to be kept in the loop for decisions. Rahm is no different. He was standing right there, staring at Johnson's back, probably positioning the knife. You could almost see the telepathic thoughts emanating from Rahm's forehead into Eddie's mouth, making sure he said all the right things.

You don't advance past a rank or two on this department without being someone's guy. And that means that you surrender a lot of so-called autonomy. Rahm picked a guy WHO DIDN'T EVEN APPLY FOR THE JOB! How dumb do you have to be to not think Eddie owes everything to this guy? If he had stood up there and given a speech without once mentioning City Hall, we might have thought that, "He's going to have a chance to change some things. Nothing drastic, but maybe soften up the edges of a very trying time." We'd be okay with that.

But to go up there and declare how independent you are and will be, with the guy who just handed you the job staring at you? Sorry, not buying it. Not buying it at all. Rahm is still running the show and will continue to for a while yet. He's been wounded, and he's playing the black and Hispanic caucuses against each other (see "Claiming a Tie" post below). But he's running the show, have no doubt.

Independent administrators don't have to tell anyone they're independent. It's obvious. But those who aren't, well, they have to tell everyone all the time.

UPDATE: This made us chuckle a bit:

• Emanuel said Johnson will “lead by example,” including his unusual decision to wear a body camera when he’s out on the streets — like his officers will be expected to do. Johnson has also told his command staff that they, too, will be expected to wear the cameras.

Maybe we'll catch some footage of the 012 Commander  berating his sergeants in public? Or the 025 Commander soliciting input from the watch and then bouncing people off their assignments for daring to speak out of turn? Or the roll calls where Officers are routinely told to "get numbers" for the bosses next meeting lest they be denied time off or furlough extensions or whatever? Maybe even a "secret study group" or two so we can all learn how to qualify for a spot.

Cheating? On an Exam?

Who would have thought something like this could happen in Chicago?

• As things turn out, the internal candidate being pushed by the City Council's black caucus, Deputy Supt. Eugene Williams, was tripped up by an investigation into alleged cheating on the department's lieutenant's exam, top city sources told DNAinfo. Williams couldn't be reached for comment but three people, including the wife of a former first deputy superintendent, were allegedly involved in the incident, the sources say.

This keeps popping up, driven by the statistical unlikelihood of half of the recent Lieutenant promotions being made from HQ, and of that half, an inordinate number of people from one particular Unit (or former members of that Unit) scoring high enough to get promoted - the Unit that would actually investigate any wrongdoing regarding a promotional test - the Internal Affairs Division.

And further clouding the waters, these people who made it by "score" were previously "merit" picks, lending itself to the unlikely scenario of them actually improving their intelligence enough to not only pass the test, but so far outdistance people who so soundly surpassed them on the previous job related exams.

Calling this "statistically unlikely" is us being generous in the extreme.

Claiming a "Tie"

When Rahm publicly cuts off your balls and waves them around for everyone to see, you pretty much only have two courses of action - (A) shut up and lick your wounds or (B) claim that you meant to give Rahm your nuts and you're actually happy that he took them.

The assorted caucuses took Route B:

• The City Council’s Black and Hispanic caucuses on Monday claimed at least partial credit for Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s end-run around the Police Board on the choice of a new top cop and served notice they intend to join forces on other issues to force the weakened mayor’s hand.
  
  Neither caucus endorsed the mayor’s surprise choice of Eddie Johnson, the Chicago Police Department’s African-American chief of patrol who once served as Gresham District commander.
  
  But both the Black and Hispanic caucuses had pressured the mayor to choose someone from inside the CPD to boost police morale and restore community trust shattered by the police shooting of Laquan McDonald.
  
  That allowed Black Caucus Chairman Roderick Sawyer (6th) and Hispanic Caucus Chairman George Cardenas (12th) to claim at least partial credit for the mayor’s surprise decision to drop frontrunner Cedric Alexander, the African-American public safety director of DeKalb County, Ga., in favor of Johnson, an insider.

Riiiight. Rahm picked an insider because you insisted....an insider who didn't even apply for the job and who therefore didn't have anyone in his corner pushing for him.

The only guy pushing for him was...Rahm.

Which means he owes exactly one person...Rahm.

So now the amusing end game because, "Who the hell is going to apply for a done deal?"

• Now that Mayor Rahm Emanuel has gone around his handpicked Police Board to anoint Chicago’s next police superintendent, why even go through the motions of another costly and time-consuming nationwide search?
  
  And even if the mayor’s dissed Police Board appointees agreed to spend more of their time and energy doing a second search to give the mayor legal cover, who would even bother to apply?

Rahm has just destroyed any credibility that the Police Board has and backed them into a corner - Does Lightfoot accept the position of "Rahm's bitch" and conduct the "nationwide search" with the fix so obviously in?

Death Investigation

So there's this:

• I know this isn't the medium to post but yesterday a cfd truck company on a well being check found a male who had been decapitated with a electric chainsaw and he has his hands on the blade like he was trying to block it.he was found on his back so it was obvious he was trying to resist, no mention in the news or blogs but OT was an obvious message to be sent

And the obvious rejoinder:

• It will be ruled a suicide.

Anyone seen Leatherface around?

Almost Junk

Only a matter of time we're guessing:

• Chicago had its credit rating cut to the lowest investment grade by Fitch Ratings after the Illinois Supreme Court tossed out Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan for dealing with the mounting debt to its workers' pension plans.
  
  The two-step downgrade on Monday to BBB-, one rank above junk, affected $9.8 billion of general-obligation bonds and $486 million of debt backed by sales taxes. The company said the outlook is negative, indicating that the rating could be lowered further.
  
  The step follows the March 24 decision by the state's top court to strike down Emanuel's plan, which required the city and employees to boost contributions to the municipal and laborers retirement funds and cut future cost-of-living increases. The court ruled that it violated safeguards to public pensions enshrined in Illinois's constitution, illustrating the difficulty Chicago faces in reducing a $20 billion shortfall in its retirement funds.

If only someone would tell Rahm to stop spending money on the unnecessary trinkets and excess construction while concentrating on vital infrastructure and broadening the actual tax base, things might start to bend upward....or at least slow the descent.

No Murders?

Did the "revrunds" get their Easter wish?

We predicted two and five. We had the five at last count:

• Two boys were among five people who were wounded Sunday afternoon in shootings on the West and South sides, authorities said.
  
  The latest shooting happened about 4:45 p.m. at a stop sign in the city's Austin neighborhood, said [...], a Chicago police spokesman.

Ban Stop Signs Now!

In any event, "no murder" days aren't that rare at all. HeyJackass.com points out that we've already had twenty-two homicide-free days in 2016.

But Chicago hasn't had a "say without a shooting" in thirteen months.

The Incredible Shrinking....

Tax Base!

• By almost every metric, Illinois' population is sharply declining, largely because residents are fleeing the state. The Tribune surveyed dozens of former residents who've left within the last five years, and each offered their own list of reasons for doing so. Common reasons include high taxes, the state budget stalemate, crime, the unemployment rate and the weather. Census data released Thursday suggest the root of the problem is in the Chicago metropolitan area, which in 2015 saw its first population decline since at least 1990.
  
  Chicago's metropolitan statistical area, defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, includes the city and suburbs and extends into Wisconsin and Indiana.
  
  The Chicago area lost an estimated 6,263 residents in 2015 — the greatest loss of any metropolitan area in the country. That puts the region's population at 9.5 million.

While 6,000 might be a drop in the bucket, it's indicative of a larger trend. And every deluge begins with a trickle. Politicians in Detroit didn't put it together (the regularly high tax increases plus the shrinking population) until it was far too late for any meaningful recovery.

Don't believe us though - here's Chicago Magazine:

• We don’t yet have Census Bureau numbers for Chicago itself, but the raw population decline in the metropolitan statistical area (which stretches from Wisconsin to Indiana) and Cook County are dramatic: “Cook, Ill., had the largest numeric decline among counties at 10,488 people,” the Census Bureau reported. “The next largest decline belonged to Wayne, Mich., at 6,673.”
  
  Wayne County is where Detroit is.

And at this point, Wayne County has far less to lose than Cook does, but they're still a strong second place. Chew on that for a while.

Rahm Lied Again?

Darn those manpower numbers:

• 44th Ward Alderman Tom Tunney’s latest newsletter has an update on the long-promised filling of 25 police officer vacancies in the 19th district. The update came in a phone call from a top executive police executive:
  

  [He] called to let us know that April police officer transfers to the 19th District will be effective on March 27th. His staff committed to getting our office the official transfer information, as well as the total number of officers in the 19th District since October 2015 next week. We will share all documentation from the Chicago Police Department when it is received.

  There’s no need for you to wait until Tom gets the manpower information. We have it for you already.

You can read the linked article for the actual numbers (they're down), but the bottom line is Tunney sold his constituents a $589 million tax increase for less protection and more crime.

Until Rahm starts hiring like the Department did nearly thirty years years ago, expect more of the same.

Wait.....Who?

Hispanic caucus angry about no qualified individuals?

Black caucus making noise about hearings and the "revrunds" screeching?

White caucus all up in....oh wait....never mind.

Shit just got real.....real interesting:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel has asked Eddie Johnson, the Chicago Police Department’s African-American chief of patrol, to become the city’s next top cop in an unprecedented end-run around the Chicago Police Board aimed at boosting cops’ morale and restoring the community’s trust.
  
  Sources told the Chicago Sun-Times that Emanuel offered the $260,044-a-year post to Johnson before rejecting the Police Board’s three recommended finalists to replace Supt. Garry McCarthy, dumped by Emanuel amid public outrage over the video released in November showing a white cop shooting and killing black teenager Laquan McDonald.

Anyone who saw the video released by De-Escalante last month attempting to explain away the 76-box ISR report and the ACLU flyer saw Eddie Johnson looking steamily outraged that he was be forced to sit and listen to this clap-trap from 18 inches away. you could see it on his face he thought it was a bullshit move.

And anyone who went to the CompStat meeting a few weeks ago, heard Eddie Johnson call out all the other exempts for failing to lead and pretty much being wusses.

So what does this mean for the Department? We imagine DeEscalante is on his way out. There might be (should be) a lot of sudden turnover at upper levels. The "revrunds" and the Black caucus have been hamstrung by Rahm. Lori Lightfoot has been made to look bad. Rahm is obviously trying to get the cops on his side by picking someone who has a modicum of respect from the rank-and-file and who was actually the police during his career.

Interesting times ahead.

Now the Black Caucus is Pissed

Rahm can't win - which is actually amusing:

• Members of the City Council’s Black Caucus threatened Thursday to withhold their votes to ratify Chicago’s next police superintendent if they’re not allowed to question all three finalists before Mayor Rahm Emanuel makes his pick.
  
  Normally aldermen get to question and confirm the new superintendent only after the mayor makes his pick. But Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th), chairman of the City Council’s Black Caucus, said these are not normal times.

They aren't normal? And here we were thinking it was:

• As of Thursday, 132 murders, nearly double last year;
• 111 of them unsolved;
• 32 innies and 100 outies;

And the racial breakdown as follows:

• Asian - 1
• Black - 95
• Black Hispanic - 1
• White - 6
• White Hispanic - 29

None of those numbers are "spin" - those are cold hard facts. Seems perfectly normal, but you go right on and tell us when the body count reaches "normal" there Roderick.

Full Speed Ahead

Just a day away from "No Murder Sunday" and the crowd is anticipating a helluva show:

• Nine people, including a 13-year-old boy, were wounded Friday in four shootings on the West, South and Far South sides, police said.

And the temps never got near 50 degrees.

Insignificant

Extremely Insignificant:

• The police blotter . . .
  
  It’s not a slam dunk, yet.
  
  Sneed hears Mayor Rahm Emanuel is between a rock and a hard place trying to decide who gets the nod as the city’s next top cop.
  
  Sneed hears Emanuel, who still could toss out the list of three recommendations for the job and pick someone else, has been unnerved by negative police blog comments about contestant Deputy Police Supt. Gene Williams — as well as the very public mouth of frequent CNN commentator Cedric Alexander, the contestant who is public safety director of DeKalb County, Georgia.
  
  Will he pick a new name out of the hat?
  
  P.S. The Sun-Times first reported last month Alexander had emerged as a front-runner for the vacancy last December when Emanuel fired Police Supt. Garry McCarthy.

Golly.

IPRA Re-opening Cases

What could possibly happen?

• It's been 100 days since Sharon Fairley, a former federal prosecutor, was appointed to head the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA).
  
  Mayor Rahm Emanuel appointed her in December amid the protests that began with the release of the shooting video of Laquan McDonald. Wednesday Fairley announced a number of new reforms for the agency.
  
  Fairley has been spotted on scene at recent incidents in which police officers fired weapons. She introduced her team of investigators, attorneys and community liaisons at a press conference, as well as announcing changes to how the agency reviews allegations of police misconduct.

And what else?

• A team of former prosecutors, some from the Chicago area and some from other parts of the country will randomly select 20 to 40 cases to review. While they are all closed, Fairley says she will make changes or take action if there is cause.

Witch hunt and show trials.

Um, What Now?

This is a convoluted mess:

• The handgun used to shoot three Chicago Police officers last week on the West Side was owned by a former Chicago cop who recently worked for the Lake County sheriff’s office, law enforcement sources said Thursday.
  
  Lamar Harris, 29, a convicted felon, shot and wounded the three Chicago officers on March 14 during a narcotics investigation. Harris was killed when at least one of the officers returned fire. Chicago detectives have been investigating the ownership history of the gun Harris used.

And the report further says that the officer may have worked in Harrison? This is beyond a "hairball" and rapidly approaching "clusterfuck."

Still Killing Crime

Only now, 311 is helping:

• An Ashland Avenue salon is among the latest victims of burglaries that have failed to slow in Lakeview, despite official reassurances.
  
  A lone burglar struck Chicago Lashes, 3530 N. Ashland Ave., around 4:30 a.m. Saturday, its general manager said.
  
  The burglar took less than minute to break the front-door lock, grab the cash register, look around the salon and stop by the front desk one last time to grab a mini iPad before running out again, surveillance video footage shows.
  
  In that time, a security alarm rings out within seconds, triggering an alert to the salon owners, said James Nemecek, the salon manager.
  
  Police didn't show early Saturday, so the salon called 311 the next day to file a police report, Nemecek said.
  
  "We were surprised by how little help [the city] offered us," Nemecek said. The responder told them there was "no point" in filing a police report so long after the crime, he said. Discouraged, they didn't bother.
  
  An officer was never dispatched to handle the report, meaning Nemecek's call was not handled by the Chicago Police Department, said Sgt. Bob Kane, a police spokesman. The department has no record of the incident at Chicago Lashes, he said.

Obviously, a burglary occurred - there's video of it and property is missing. But thanks to the wonderful 311 system, discouraging people making reports means that an index crime won't appear in the stats and Rahm will be spared the humiliation of Chicago being labeled the "Burglary Capital" of the nation, along with "Most Grandmas Shot Capital" and "Most 9-year-olds Executed" and the "More Lead in the Air Than the Water in Flint" titles.

Oh, and the title of "Murder Mayor."

RIP Officer

Officer Anthony Letizia passed the other day, shortly after the tremendous assist by various police organizations, chaplains and Major League Baseball to complete a lifetime wish - to visit every major league ballpark.

Obituary and Service information is here.

This Sounds Familiar

Didn't we just hear this a day ago? A few days ago? Months ago?

Oh yeah - because we've been writing about it for years now:

• At a Wednesday news conference, Chicago police officials expressed frustration that someone with Harviley's violent record was out of prison at all — calling the justice system "broken."
  
  Harviley was paroled from state prison on New Year's Eve after serving four years of a nine-year sentence for a 2011 carjacking, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections website.
  
  Chief of Detectives Eugene Roy said Wednesday that the officer was returning home from studying for an exam to become a detective when he was attacked.
  
  In a statement, interim police Superintendent John Escalante called the allegations against Harviley "reprehensible."
  "The fact that a convicted felon and gun offender is yet again out on early release to torment communities is representative of the types of individuals who are overwhelmingly driving the recent spike in violence," Escalante said. "Time and time again, CPD officers risk their lives to hold repeated gun offenders accountable and we will stop at nothing to continue that promise, but more needs to happen to change the culture of violence and increase accountability."

Gee, it's good to see that the Command staff has finally discovered that insignificant blog that has been saying the system is broken and hardened criminals have been being paroled and released back into the communities where they rape, rob, shoot and murder on a daily basis for years now.

Welcome to the party.

What Matters Again?

Won't somebody think of the children???

• Four people were shot and wounded Wednesday afternoon outside a day care center on Chicago's South Side, police said.
  
  Police said the shootings took place in the 5400-block of S. Loomis around 2:15 p.m. At least eight shots were fired between two cars on the street in front of the day care.
  
  Stray bullets blew out a window in the front door of the day care and several penetrated a wall and entered a room where children ranging from six months to six years old were taking a nap, according to a daycare worker. No children were injured; approximately 60 were in the building at the time of the shooting.

Well, you know, you have all these targets in one place at one time - it's only natural to want to wipe out the entire hit list in one go....and if they happen to be standing in front of a day care center, well that's just too damn bad for anyone down range.

BGA Sues CPD Again

For something that probably doesn't exist:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel has said he supports a new policy requiring that videos of fatal shootings by Chicago police be publicly released relatively soon after the incidents.
  
  But the Emanuel administration is stonewalling a Better Government Association request for footage from the past five years, so the BGA is suing the Chicago Police Department – again.
  
  Under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act – the state law known as FOIA that guarantees public access to public records within no more than 10 business days – the BGA asked the police department for copies of records and videos of officer-involved fatal shootings since 2011.

We don't know if Andy Shaw and the BGTA have been watching too many episodes of "COPS," but most police shootings in Chicago don't happen in front of a CPD camera. Part of the reason is traffic stops are way down from years past. But the other part is most shootings are dynamic situations that occurred away from the car - domestic calls, gun calls, foot chases, etc.

Everyone knew that the McDonald tape existed. That's why it was the subject of lawsuits and motions and suppressed by Rahm. We can't think of any other recent shooting that would have any similar footage. Most shooting "footage" would probably just be video of cars racing to the scene of a shooting. If that's the bulk of it, by all means, send it over to the BGA and have them watch it for hours. Lord knows there isn't any other political hanky-panky going on that might actually be located and brought to the attention of tax payers so they can vote some of these thieves out of office. Or the feds so they can indict some of the corrupt politicos.

One Day Strike Coming

01 April....kind of apropos if you think about it:

• The Chicago Teachers Union voted Wednesday evening to approve a one-day “showdown” strike on April 1 — which will include a massive downtown rally — to bring attention to ongoing contract negotiations and the state’s education funding crisis.
  
  “I think it’ll be a clear message. Based on the current organizing, we’ll shut this city down,” Tammie Vinson, a special education teacher at Oscar DePriest Elementary School said after the vote at the International Operating Engineers Hall.

You know what would also send a message? Rahm firing each and every teacher that walks out - not that we'd ever wish evil upon a group of people that sent pizzas to Ferguson along with a few bus-loads of supporters, is teaching anti-police classes and garners support from assholes who batter police during so-called "peaceful" protests.

"No Murder Sunday" Coming

Waaaaay back in January, we covered the coalition that is calling for a "no murder" day - Easter Sunday to be exact.

Waaaaay back in January, Chicago was in the midst of doubling the previous year's homicide totals, and it hasn't seemed to slow down yet.

We predicted the following:

• We will arbitrarily set the over/under for Easter Sunday at 5 wounded, 2 dead. Place your bets at the window. The line may be adjusted for the weather as 27 March approaches.

Sunday is predicted as "light rain" and about 46 degrees. On Tuesday, there were 2 killed and 5 wounded. Given those totals, we'll let the prediction stand.

Shots Fired at Police

West side:

• One person was in custody Tuesday night after someone fired shots at police who were investigating a homicide from earlier in the day in the West Garfield Park neighborhood, authorities said.
  
  Shots were fired at police near 4100 W. West End Ave. about 5:45 p.m., said [...], a police spokesman. Some of the officers who were attacked were detectives who were investigating the fatal shooting of a 24-year-old man Tuesday morning near Keeler Avenue and Madison Street.
  
  Officers were fired upon but did not return fire, with a police vehicle being hit, [a police spokesman] said.
  
  Police were investigating whether the officers were targeted because they were police officers, [a police spokesman] said.

Gee, you mean there might be some other explanation for shooting at the cops? Something acceptable? We mean, it's daylight, someone got killed nearby, detectives are investigating....it would be hard to mistake anyone on scene for rival gang bangers.

If our calculations are correct, this is about a mile or so from where the three tact guys got shot the other night. Be careful out there.

And Yet Again....

...another felon on parole, with a gun, attacking police:

• The man suspected of shooting an off-duty Chicago cop earlier this week on the Far South Side is a convicted carjacker who was paroled from prison less than four months ago, prompting interim Police Supt. John Escalante to call for more “accountability” for such violent criminals.
  [...]
  In 2012, Harviley, who has a tattoo that says “Live Strong Die Hard,” was sentenced to nine years in state prison for aggravated vehicular hijacking. He received credit for about a year and a half that he spent in the Cook County Jail and was paroled on Dec. 31.

Let's see....

• 2012 + 9 years = 2021...but there he is, out and around.

But Illinois' Parole Board keeps releasing violent felons onto Chicago streets, over and over and over, with zero accountability. And with Prickwrinkle and Dart emptying Cook County Jail, it's going to be an ugly summer.

Another Quarter Billion

Rahm borrows again:

• A potential year-end budget shortfall has forced Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration to borrow $220 million in yet another sign of the city's precarious pension funding status.
  
  The city drew the money down from its $900 million line of short-term credit, which is akin to putting the tab on a credit card. The loan carries an interest rate of about 3 percent.
  
  The money is not due to police and fire pension funds until the end of the year. But the city had to borrow the money to meet a March 1 deadline for having the cash in its treasury, Budget Director Alexandra Holt said. "State law requires that we deposit the money with the treasurer to demonstrate we have the money available if it's needed," she said.
  
  The city is required to raise enough money through property taxes to make the police and fire pension contributions, which increased dramatically this year, to start closing a combined $12.2 billion shortfall in the two pension funds. If the city doesn't expect to raise enough from property taxes, it must deposit the anticipated shortfall by March 1.

But hey, Rahm can keep announcing "rails to trails" at how many millions of dollars per mile of prime mugging real estate?

Tourists Say, "DUCK!!!"

Death by a thousand cuts:

• Charges have been filed against two men who were pulled over after shots were fired from their Jeep at another vehicle in Grant Park over the weekend, police said.
  
  David Calvin, 20, and Kevin Billingslea, 27, are charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm at an occupied vehicle, according to a statement from police. Calvin and Billingslea appeared in court for a bond hearing Monday, with Calvin ordered held in lieu of $150,000 bail, and Billingslea held in lieu of $100,000 bail, according to Cook County Jail records.
  
  No injuries were reported when the shots were fired around 2 p.m. Saturday in the 200 block of East Balbo Avenue, police said.

Okay, maybe not a thousand cuts, but a thousand bullets.

Charges for Two Assailants

And one of them was on....parole!

• A man who was shot by an off-duty Chicago police officer after attacking the officer with a bat as well as a 17-year-old boy the officer had stopped on the street have both been charged with attacking the officer, police said Monday.
  
  Anthony Castaneda, 32, is charged with felony aggravated battery of an officer and aggravated battery using a deadly weapon, and the 17-year-old is cited as a juvenile with misdemeanor assault of an officer and misdemeanor marijuana possession, according to a police news release. Castaneda hit the officer with a baseball bat about 10:30 p.m. Saturday in the 2600 block of North Monitor Avenue after the officer, who was off-duty, stopped the boy — a relative of Castaneda's — on the street, police said in a news release Sunday.
  
  [...] Castaneda is on parole in a 2007 kidnapping case, according to state and court records. In that incident, he kidnapped someone from a home in the 4900 block of West Nelson Street about 4 a.m., according to police records. He was sentenced to at least nine years in prison after pleading guilty in the case, according to court records.

Nice job to all the investigators putting this one together quickly.

100 Year Sentence

100 years for supplying a gun:

• Donnell Flora rolled his wheelchair into a Cook County courtroom Monday, wearing a gray jailhouse jumpsuit and with a Bible resting in his lap.
  
  Flora was paralyzed from the waist down in a shooting in 2010, an experience prosecutors argued should have given the 27-year-old the wisdom to counsel his teenage niece as her rivalry with another girl flared up into threats and violence.

The judge made some interesting comments during sentencing:

• “There are no excuses or rationalization for giving a child a gun to take to a ridiculous fight about a boy,” Judge Thaddeus Wilson growled at Flora from the bench.
  
  “Children in this city are dying by the hundreds because adults fail to and/or refuse to be adults.”

The ASA chimed in, too:

• Noting that Flora had stepped into a role as surrogate dad to his niece after the girl’s father had been killed, Assistant State’s Attorney Athena Farmakis said Endia’s shooting represents a “total breakdown of the family hierarchy.”
  
  “Many men who have injuries from a gunshot wound, they change themselves,” Assistant State’s Attorney Athena Farmakis said. “Donnell Flora made choices totally opposite that."

Golly. Family structure, personal responsibility. Who knew that there were so many Republicans on the bench and in the States Attorney's office?

Now start handing out these sentences every single day and you might see some real changes.

Another Off Duty Wounded

Robbery attempt:

• An off-duty Chicago police officer exchanged gunfire with two armed robbers early Monday after one of the gunmen told the other to shoot the cop, authorities said.
  
  The officer, 49, was hit in the leg, and one of the robbers may also have been wounded in the shootout, according to interim police Superintendent John Escalante.
  
  Detectives were questioning a person who showed up at Little Company of Mary Hospital shortly after the shooting with a gunshot wound, Escalante said. Due to the timing, police believe he may be the person shot by the officer.
  
  The officer was parking his car near his home in the 10100 block of South Green Street in the Washington Heights neighborhood around 2:20 a.m. when the two gunmen walked up on either side and announced a robbery....

Best wishes for a speedy recovery Officer.

Suburban Officer Shot

Still in critical (but stable) condition:

• The Park Forest Police Department posted a powerful note to the people they serve Sunday following the shooting of one of their officers.
  
  Officer Tim Jones was critically injured early Saturday, and the man accused of shooting him is dead, after an exchange of gunfire in the south suburb.
  
  Park Forest police said Sunday Jones remained in critical but stable condition.
  
  "A Park Forest Police Officer is with him and his family 24 hours a day. That's the thing about this job: When tragedy strikes, it's not just a job, it's family," a Facebook post said.

Prayers for the wounded officer.

Off Duty Shooting

Again, a baseball bat is a deadly weapon:

• An off-duty police officer shot an attacker armed with a bat Saturday night, according to Chicago Police.
  
  The incident occurred at approximately 10:30 p.m. near the intersection of Schubert Ave. and Monitor Ave. in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood on the city's Northwest Side.
  
  According to a release from the Chicago Police Department, a 37-year-old off-duty officer was walking on Schubert Ave when he "encountered an aggressive male subject holding his waistband area."
  
  The officer announced himself and was in the midst of conducting a pat down when the man called out to family members. At that time, a 32-year-old man came outside from a nearby residence and approached the officer, holding a baseball bat.
  
  Police say the officer again identified himself, but the man continued towards him and hit him multiple times in the upper body with the baseball bat.

We, along with others, certainly hope that the Officer didn't hesitate because of the other recent bat incident. The Officer took a number of hits to the body/arm before firing.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Final Wish

Just out of reach, until...:

• The good earth. To Chicago police Officer Anthony Letizia, it’s an eight- inch-by-eight-inch piece of sod, a patch of baseball field he planned to visit before he died.
  
  An avid Cubs fan, Letizia, 32, now in the final days of hospice care because of a deadly brain cancer, had thought he’d lost his lifetime goal of visiting the country’s 30 professional baseball parks.
  
  He and his wife, Sarah, a White Sox fan, had only succeeded in visiting 29.
  
  Last Monday, the 30^th ballpark came to him.

Read it all.

More Money Spent

That Rahm keeps finding dollars:

• Chicago is getting another public trail, this time on the city's Lower West Side, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Sunday.
  
  The path and promenade, to be called "Paseo," will stretch about four miles along a "largely abandoned BNSF Railway" between the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods, according to a Sunday news release.
  
  Emanuel joined city planners and aldermen Sunday afternoon to announce the project at Paseo Community Garden, 944 W. 21st St.

It's like a miracle he can find money constantly while pleading "broke" every time some other obligation comes up.

Maybe it Won't be Gene?

Everyone knows that Rahm at his base level is a suckass.

Maybe the Atlanta guy is in?

Um, What Now?

Have the readers heard about this bullshit?

• Faith leaders from across Chicago will launch a litany of protests and vigils at all 25 police district stations in Chicago as a part of a "Palm Sunday Takeover" on March 20.
  
  The protesting churches are calling for an end to police brutality along with the passage of the FAIR COPS ordinance, which stands for the Freedom through Accountability Investigation and Reform for Community Oversight of Policing Services.

Gee, we have 25 Districts again? Who knew??? And your end to so called "police brutality," happened about two-and-a-half months ago with the ACLU taking over - street stops are down 90+%, meaning statistically, there is no more brutality.

• Michelle Page, who works with the Community Renewal Society, plans to protest on Palm Sunday. She says that she was so afraid of the violence in Chicago that she sent her 23-year-old son Patrick to take a job at a resort in Utah.
  
  "He doesn't understand the fear is real. I was constantly living in fear. I gave him a car and I wouldn't let him drive it," Page said. "I'm in fear of the police and the gangs. I didn’t want him to be a Blair Holt or a Trayvon Martin."

Does someone want to inform this dumbass Michelle Page that Blair Holt was the son of a Chicago Police Officer who died blocking a bullet on a CTA bus fired by a gang banger? And Trayvon Martin was a thug, killed by a civilian with a Concealed Carry permit as Trayvon bashed the victim's head into the pavement?

And while we're at it, see if she knows anything about the one-hundred-thirty-plus homicides in Chicago that weren't committed by the police. And then ask her why three officers are currently recovering from gunshot wounds on the west side inflicted by....a convicted felon with a gun.

Can you believe they allow people like this speak in public and vote?

Poor Guy

We wrote about that ridiculous CHA program a few days ago, then this happens:

• The owner of a luxury high-rise apartment complex in the West Loop is suing to evict a wheelchair-bound tenant, subsidized by the Chicago Housing Authority, who allegedly shot and killed another tenant while the man was on a stationary bike in the building’s gym.
  
  And the CHA says it “has begun the process of terminating” the financial assistance — worth $22,608 a year — that Reggie L. Daniel has been receiving so he could live in the one-bedroom apartment on the 15th floor at Alta at K Station, 555 W. Kinzie.

So what's this poor guy going to do for housing if he loses his voucher? Though we suppose he won't have to worry about it for 10 or 20 years.

Oh wait.....Cook County.....we forgot.....probably only 6 years.

Hispanic Caucus is Pissed

You knew this was coming as soon as you saw the list of three:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel was urged Friday to reject all three finalists for police superintendent and order the Police Board to conduct a second search that produces a list that includes a Hispanic, preferably Interim Superintendent John Escalante.
  
  The City Council’s Hispanic Caucus is furious that Escalante, who has been holding down the fort since Dec. 1, when Emanuel fired his only Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, did not make the final cut.

Not only is he a great dancer, but Mr. Six is presiding over the biggest increase of shootings and homicides in a decade, so why not give him the top spot? Plus, he says all the right things about the ACLU not getting copies of every single ISR report (bwahaha!!!) and he threatened all the right people about numbers being down.

• “We’re tired of Latinos being used for interims. They are very entitled to be the leaders,” said Ald. Millie Santiago (31st).

That's why you got the Fire Department Millie. Pay attention.

Then there's this ignoramus:

• Cardenas said Escalante took the reins of the Police Department during a crisis amid the fallout from the Laquan McDonald shooting scandal, has performed admirably, and should stay.
  
  “He should be afforded the opportunity to continue his efforts as the first Latino in the history of the Chicago Police Department to be permanently appointed superintendent,” he said.

So evidently, Matt Rodriguez wasn't authentically Hispanic, but rather a misnamed Pole. He did hang out with a lot of Italians for some reason.

IPRA Stalking Horse

So what's the story behind this one?

• Couple of cops get called down to IPRA. Luckily, they told FOP and had a lawyer accompany them down there. They arrive and IPRA says "We don't have any questions for you, but these gentlemen do." The gentlemen turn out to be FBI agents. The FOP lawyer refused to let the officers speak and everyone left. So now IPRA is fronting for FBI interrogations, probably hoping to sit in on the questioning so they can Rule 14 everyone?

We'll take this as proof positive of at last one on-going federal investigation, but be aware that if you get called to IPRA, it might not be IPRA doing the questioning.

St. Patrick's Day Massacre

All those precious flowers of Irish ancestry:

• Fifteen people were injured, one fatally, in shootings and a stabbing Thursday across the city, according to police.

Isn't it about time someone did something about all of those St Patrick's Day parades and out-of-control celebrations?

Sentencing.....Again

And not just here:

• California communities may be feeling the fallout from a controversial measure that reduced penalties for a range of crimes, as law enforcement report an uptick in everything from robberies to auto theft – and point the finger squarely at what’s known as Prop 47.
  
  The measure was approved at the ballot box in 2014 and downgraded many nonviolent offenses like property crimes and simple drug offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, part of an effort to reduce prison over-crowding in the state.
  
  But as the measure has been implemented, several police departments have reported a spike in shop-lifting and auto theft, among other crimes, and in part blame Prop 47.

How big of an increase?

• Recent press reports show that in San Francisco, robberies are up 23 percent; in Los Angeles, violent crimes are up 20 percent; and in Sacramento, homicides are up 23 percent.

But hey, prisons are emptying, so everything must be great!

Meanwhile, Rahm blames Cook County judges for the uptick in crime due to lax sentencing. Anyone want to guess what the spike will be should Foxx win the general election?

Live Where?

An interesting pre-election story:

• In the months leading up to filing day, Chicago lawyer Travis Richardson did a variety of things to run for Cook County judge.
  
  Renting a house in the Brainerd neighborhood, he changed his driver’s license as well as auto and voter registrations to reflect the place he now called home — about a mile and a half from his Beverly house for the past 14 years, a residence he still owned and where the rest of his family still lived.
  
  But when an elections official asked late last year whether Richardson had talked with his wife about selling their Beverly home, Richardson said “no,” an answer that briefly appeared to jeopardize the lawyer’s candidacy.
  
  The hearing officer, who was considering whether Richardson was eligible to run following challenges to his nominating paperwork, said the “no” answer was a “crucial problem” and recommended the lawyer’s name be removed from the March 15 primary ballot because he questioned whether the candidate truly intended to leave the home he owned and where his family remained. Richardson was not divorced, separated or estranged from his wife, the hearing officer wrote.

Seems like a lot of people don't want to live in certain parts of Chicago for some reason.

The Three Future Fall Guys/Gals

And the countdown begins:

• Two outsiders and a high-ranking veteran of the Chicago Police Department were announced Thursday as finalists for the city's next police superintendent.
  
  In making the announcement, Lori Lightfoot, head of the Chicago Police Board, called it a historic moment for the Police Department, saying, "Things have to change from the inside out."
  
  Two African-American men and a white woman were selected. They are:
  
  •Cedric Alexander, the public safety director of DeKalb County in Georgia who has a doctorate in clinical psychology and has 39 years in law enforcement, including as police chief in Rochester, N.Y.
  
  •Anne Kirkpatrick, who was police chief in Spokane, Wash., for six years, holds a law degree and is an instructor at the FBI Leadership Academy.
  
  •Chicago Deputy Police Superintendent Eugene Williams, who has 36 years with Chicago police, 15 years on the command staff, including his current position as head of the Bureau of Support Services, which oversees the department's administrative activities.

Let us be among the first to welcome Supernintendo Gene Williams to the post. Of course, he'll be mandatory retirement age later this year, but will retain the spot as civilian due to his close ties to various political and religious based organizations.

Police Shooting Update

We heard the scanner traffic played at roll call earlier. That dispatcher sucked. We understand being flustered by the chaos of a police shooting and the screaming going on, but to get an address wrong four times? Someone needs to go to a slower zone and learn the job before being thrown into the fire.

The scanner had a time clock attached to it - almost nine minutes to get an ambulance there.Not a calm nine minutes of waiting.

A pet peeve of ours, and evidently, many of our readers. The coppers wounds were described as "not life threatening" or "officers are expected to recover" or even "minor" in some media outlets. Points of order:

• One officer was struck in the vest, twice. Blunt trauma like that can result in an interruption of the heart rhythm. People have died from being punched in the chest or tackled or struck with a baseball. It's life threatening. Period.
• One officer was struck in the leg. It might not kill you, but damage like that can leave you with a permanent limp, multiple surgeries, months of physical therapy. It might not be "life threatening," but it is certainly "life altering."
• One officer was struck below the vest. The bullet actually traveled through his body and had to be extricated via an extensive surgical procedure. The concern now is a resultant infection due to the nature of the wound. That is definitely "life threatening" and the acting Superintendent's statement to the contrary is a disservice to the pain and suffering the officer, his family and co-workers are currently undergoing.

Describing these wounds are anything but "life threatening" also will come into play in any future lawsuit as a plaintiff attorney will undoubtedly claim that the lack of a "life-threatening injury" means the police must have overreacted.

Protest Video Links

Here are some links to the UIC protest videos some people sent us:

Link #1

Link #2

We are amused how the "protesters" are blocking an ambulance and claim, "There ain't no one in it." as if that justifies them stopping it from moving. Too bad if it was going to the latest scene of some 14 year old shot. We guess his life doesn't matter?

90-Day Details

What's with the middle-of-the-police-period details of new sergeants to the west and south sides?

Speaking of that, what's with half-a-dozen or so new lieutenants being detailed to the same places? Eight lieutenants per district where there are only seven available slots? We haven't seen that in years.

They seem to have pulled a largish number of white shirts from the "quiet" districts and detailed them to the killing fields. Is this some type of "smoke-and-mirror" thing to fool the Department of Justice into thinking there's adequate supervision on the streets?

MAP #381 Statement

(Very long post - sorry about that)

We have received from sources the letter that MAP #381 (Metropolitan Alliance of Police, representing the UIC rank-and-file) sent to the Chief of the UIC Police and the UIC Board regarding the unbelievable orders given by the UIC police brass to not arrest, to actively release arrestees, and pretty much stand-down, giving the Trump protesters what we'll refer to as "room to destroy."

• Date: 14 Mar 2016
  To: Chief Booker
  From: MAP 381
  Subj: Safety Issues at the University of Illinois at Chicago Police Department
  
  We’d like to begin by thanking you for taking the time to read our letter. We chose to draft this letter in order to address an issue that has been brought to our attention due the Donald Trump rally here on campus. We feel it is important that you be made aware of our concerns regarding some of your decisions and actions with respect to this event. More specifically, we are very concerned by the lack of preparation for and questionable decisions made during this event which expresses to us a complete disregard for our safety.
  
  We believe it's fair to say this event would have been strategically challenging for even the most highly regarded security experts. For this reason, planning for an event like this normally begins immediately after it is booked and always includes properly training and preparing the security/police personnel for the event specific concerns. It also includes having a contingency plan in place in case there is a riot or complete turmoil. This could be something as simple as making sure riot gear is on scene so that it is readily available in the event it is needed.  For some reason, none of this took place. For this event, the only guidance and instruction we received before it was the following:
  
  We were ordered to leave our O.C. Spray, a tool we have trained extensively with and that is extremely useful in crowd control situations, in our lockers. This order left us with our baton and handgun as the only tools available to us.
  
  We were ordered to leave our dark colored gloves in our lockers because they looked too aggressive. This meant our hands were left uncovered, much more easily cut/scraped, and exposed to any number of various fluids (blood, spit, etc.). We were not offered or supplied with any alternatives such as latex gloves which were readily available at the hospital or our station.
  
  We were told not to place our hands on anyone. Even when escorting out hostile attendees, we were advised to not make physical contact with them. This is contrary to our Controlled F.O.R.C.E. training which the department has invested a significant amount of money and time training us on. More importantly, it placed officers in a situation where they had to choose between their safety and following an order.
  
  We were given specific instructions on how to arrest someone, if we had to. We were told to have the hired security company ask troublemakers to leave first. If that did not work, Trump staffers were to then ask. If that did not work, we were to then ask them to leave. If they still refused, then we were to ask them to leave again and inform them that their failure to do so would constitute criminal trespass and they would be arrested. This was the only plan given to us and we followed these instructions as given. As a result, we arrested three individuals. Unfortunately, you later decided that you wanted no arrests and ordered that we release any and all arrestees. This created significant issues of liability for us (which are addressed below).
  
  While we find what we received before the event unacceptable, what happened during the event is equally as troubling. You, our leader, stayed far away from the actual event and never once thanked any officers for their hard work and effort, while CPD Commissioner Escalante was on scene assisting his officers, shaking their hands, and thanking them. However, at 8:40pm, you found the time to give a public statement about the event indicating that there was an orderly exit from the pavilion with no arrests or injuries. Putting aside that this statement is false, it was given at a time when we were radioing in an emergency situation to UICPD Dispatch and requesting any available additional units come to our aid. Unfortunately, there were no additional UICPD units available. This was due to the establishment of arrest teams and that caused what little manpower we had to be spread even thinner. We feel it is important to note that these “arrest teams” proved to be pointless as you later ordered all arrests be voided and arrestees released without ever informing us why. Additionally, at least eight of our specialty officers were ordered to be in plainclothes, when only two were requested by the secret service, thereby unnecessarily placing them in increased danger as combatants inside the event could not easily identify them as police officers. We feel that, at every single turn, what we, your officers, needed to perform our job safely and to the best of our abilities was disregarded and ignored. By allowing this, it also placed each and every attendee, student, and VIP in unnecessary danger as we could not provide the appropriate level of protection and safety they deserved. All of this is unacceptable.
  
  Still, there is another issue to address. It wasn't just our physical safety that was disregarded at this event; it was our economic security as well. We executed the arrest plan (described above) exactly as it was given to us. As a result, there were three arrests each of which was performed on signed complaints from victims. This means that several officers placed their hands on people, took away freedoms, and transported people from one place to another in accordance with the law. Then, you later ordered that each of these three people be let go. If there was a reason, it was not shared with us so that we could document it in the appropriate report and explain to each complainant why we were disregarding their signed complaints. As a result, any officer involved in the arrests of these individuals is now exposed to the possibility of a lawsuit for doing exactly what they were told to do.
  
  We hope it is understood that this email is not meant to be malicious and it is not an attack on you. It is an explanation of our frustration and concerns which came about as a result of what we believe is the constant disregard for our safety and security. It is also meant to create dialogue and give you an opportunity to respond to our concerns while having a better understanding of them. We hope this prompts a desire in you to explain to us what it is that we are missing. As always, we appreciate you taking our concerns in to consideration and for taking the time to understand what they are. We look forward to hearing from you and will be anxiously awaiting your response.
  
  Respectfully,
  MAP 381 Executive Board
  

It sure sounds like the Chief pretty much sold his officers out and compromised the safety of everyone in the area, including citizens attending a political rally and the CPD and ISP contingents that were stuck with his bad decisions. This level of incompetence is unacceptable from someone tasked with maintaining order and public safety. We would hope that he is sent packing in short order.

Prickwrinkle Takes the Reins

"King" Rahm is dead, Long live Queen "Toni"

• Amid outrage over the response to the Laquan McDonald shooting and other cases involving police, Cook County voters ousted two-term state’s attorney Anita Alvarez on Tuesday.
  
  With 95 percent of precincts reporting, former prosecutor Kim Foxx had won 58 percent of the votes in the Democratic primary after campaigning on a promise to restore trust in the criminal justice system, which she said had been broken by Alvarez.

If you haven't gotten the message, this ought to be loud and clear.

Next stop, Baltimore.

Followed by Detroit.

And if we're really unlucky, Mogadishu.

Cook County "Justice"

Does anyone ever do any serious time in Cook County?

• Three Chicago police officers were shot Monday night by a reputed gang member who had been arrested more than 40 times since the 2000s for offenses ranging from drug dealing to violence against law enforcement, police said.
  
  The officers fatally shot 29-year-old Lamar Harris during a brief gun battle when they chased him into a dark courtyard outside an apartment building in the West Side's Homan Square neighborhood, police said. The officers had been investigating Harris, a reputed member of the Vice Lords, for "possible narcotics activity" when the shooting occurred shortly before 10 p.m., authorities said.
  
  [...]
  
  Harris' criminal history includes 43 arrests going back to at least 2004, including five felony and two misdemeanor convictions, according to police and court records. His most recent felony conviction was in January 2012 for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and resisting a peace officer causing injury. Records show he was sentenced to four years in prison in that case.
  
  That incident happened in July 2010 in the 5600 block of West Chicago Avenue after officers responded to a call of a "man with a gun," police said. Harris, stopped by officers because he matched the gunman's description, pushed one officer backward and struck another in the head while trying to flee, police said.
  
  While officers attempted to arrest him, Harris reached for his waistband and a handgun fell from his waist, police said. The officers recovered the gun and found marijuana in Harris' possession, police said.

All by the ripe old age of twenty-nine. And again, five different felony convictions, all precluding him from possessing a gun, but there he is lying dead on the pavement with a gun. Good riddance.

This is Normal?

Anyone know where people (or folks) get this idea?

• MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Relatives of a 17-year-old are angry the teenager was shot and killed by a homeowner who police say was protecting her property.
  
  The sister of the teen who died identified him as Trevon Johnson. She said he was a student at D. A. Dorsey Technical College.
  
  “I don’t care if she have her gun license or any of that. That is way beyond the law… way beyond,” said Johnson’s cousin Nautika Harris. “He was not supposed to die like this. He had a future ahead of him. Trevon had goals… he was a funny guy, very big on education, loved learning.”

And what was this particular altar boy's future full of?

• Relatives said they don’t believe Johnson stole anything from the home but detectives would not confirm that.
  
  “You have to look at it from every child’s point of view that was raised in the hood,” said Harris. “You have to understand… how he gonna get his money to have clothes to go to school? You have to look at it from his point-of-view.”

Well Sis, he could have gotten a job...flipping burgers, cold-calling magazine subscriptions, slinging dope, though the last two are usually performance-based with lousy hours. But getting a job might involve effort. We imagine the story will turn out to be he was just in the house picking up decorating tips.

We could have suggested the Keesing Bandit for that...and all that "gun play" would have been completely consensual.

Radio Security

If you have a $30 scanner you can listen to CPD radio traffic on twelve different zones, six different citywides, and if you know a Radio Shack geek, you can find the other frequencies set aside for other traffic.

For $80, you can buy a transceiver and broadcast on those frequencies. The FCC might catch you or they might not, depending on weather or not you move around when their triangulation attempts kick into gear.

In the meantime, this happens:

• Interim Police Supt. John Escalante has ordered an investigation into “absolutely unacceptable” racial slurs broadcast on a police frequency that was recorded and circulated online, a spokesman said.

 Of course it's unacceptable. But was it the police?

• But late Monday, a spokeswoman for the Office of Emergency Management and Communications said the broadcast doesn’t appear to have been made with the use of a “city-programmed” radio.

We won't go into the particulars, but everyone on the job knows that there are certain identifier codes that are transmitted with CPD-issued radios. This is how they know this isn't a Department issued radio. But that didn't stop this nonsense:

• Activist Will Calloway and reporter Brandon Smith, who pursued the legal case that got the Laquan McDonald video released, spoke out against police racism outside City Hall Monday.
  
  "I think it speaks for itself," Calloway said, citing the recording as proof of "systemic racism that's going on and that's present in the Police Department."

Really moron? We just explained how with $80 and some spare time, you can commit all sorts of mischief. We haven't even touched on the real damage someone with a real agenda could do....someone like....

But that wouldn't be possible - someone with a vested interest in maintaining high tensions to provoke incidents and provide "proof" of some practice, to spend $80 to make potentially millions.

Today's Left

Just a thought on the Trump-capades at UIC the other day.

You know who all those protesters reminded us of? This guy:

There's the intolerant left today.

Three Officers Shot

Breaking news tonight:

• Three Chicago Police officers were shot but were expected to survive their wounds and an attacker was shot to death in the Homan Square neighborhood Monday night while a woman who was with him was in custody, police said.

Updates as they become available.

UPDATE: One PO shot in the vest, one PO shot in the leg, one PO shot in the torso. No word on surgery, treatment, etc.

UPDATE: Check any of the media sites on the right - they all have what we have at the moment.

UPDATE: Moving this post to the top of the page for the day. Other stories posted below this one.

DOJ Ride-Alongs

Hey, the PAX 501 released by Mr Six says the DOJ is doing ride-alongs this week - Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

What Districts were they going to?

Anyone want to tell us what they asked? What they observed? What they have decided the problem is? When are they going to "fix" it?

Morale Survey Released!

Not here though:

• The vast majority of NYPD officers who answered a new survey hate their jobs and believe they were a lot safer before Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton took office, according to a new survey by the city’s police union.
  
  The polling of more than 6,000 of the NYPD’s roughly 24,000 rank-and-file revealed a resounding lack of passion for the job, with cops on average rating morale at just 2.49 on a scale of 1 to 10.
  
  “The results of this survey prove what we’ve been hearing time and time again from members over the past two years — the job is more difficult than ever, the dangers are greater, and morale is extremely low,” said Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.
  
  Roughly 87 percent of cops said the Big Apple has become “less safe” since the new administration took over at the beginning of 2014, with 55 percent of those respondents describing New York City as “a lot less safe.”

We can only wonder what a survey of the CPD would reveal, especially with the homicide numbers skyrocketing, morons running the organization into the ground and the ACLU redecorating the room. Too bad they never released J-Fledger's survey.

Where Are the Three Names?

So who is the Police Board sending to be the next sacrificial....we mean Super-dooper-nintendo? Aren't they up against a deadline?

Rent is How Much?

Once again, why government is broke:

• After buying a home in Barrington Hills, Chaoshan Lai and his wife couldn’t unload the 15-year-old townhouse that they’d bought for $935,000 in Central Station, a taxpayer-subsidized development in the South Loop where former Mayor Richard M. Daley lived for years.
  
  Lai couldn’t even find anyone to rent the townhouse on South Prairie Avenue — until he got a call in 2013 about a woman who’d gotten a “housing choice voucher,” from the Chicago Housing Authority through a program that had long been called Section 8.
  
  Lai says the woman wanted to lease his three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath home, which has a library and is within walking distance of Soldier Field and the lakefront.
  
  “I said, ‘You probably cannot afford the rent,’ ” Lai recalls. “But they said they have a special program in the ‘opportunity area’ that pays much better. I said, ‘Let’s give it a shot.’ ”
  
  It ended up being a good deal for Lai. Since June 1, 2013, he’s collected more than $100,000 from the CHA, which administers public housing in Chicago for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The CHA pays him $3,911 a month in federal funds to lease his townhouse to the woman and three others in her household, including a child under the age of 6, records show.

Most coppers probably have a mortgage that is half of that $3,911 per month and they don't have a swanky million dollar Central Station townhouse. But the CHA is burning through $47 million A MONTH to subsidize this crazy type of crap.

Nothing like making it big.....without having to earn any of it.

Here's a Dumb Idea (UPDATE)

Hopefully, this is just a "demo" model and not something being actually sold:

That is a Glock Model 41 disguised as a Nintendo system gun. We used one like 20 years ago to play "Duck Hunt."

UPDATE: Another look - the Glock and the Nintendo:

Protest Video

Here's a link someone sent us of the "peaceful" protests.

Click Here.

It goes to a Facebook page, and you need an account to see it, so we can't. But if you're on social media,. perhaps you can spread it around. It's supposed to be 10 minutes long and shows most of what the media won't.

Scorched Earth

Ah, crime in Chicago:

• In the latest in a series of retaliatory shootings amid a South Side gang war, the father of Tyshawn Lee has been charged with shooting the girlfriend of one of the men in custody for the killing of his 9-year-old son, authorities said Sunday.
  
  A spokeswoman for the Cook County state's attorney's office confirmed that Pierre Stokes, 25, was charged with three counts of aggravated battery with a firearm and one count of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon for shooting a woman and two men at 5:45 Tuesday in the 7900 block of South Ashland Avenue.
  
  Law enforcement sources identified the woman as the girlfriend of Corey Morgan, who is in custody awaiting trial in connection with Tyshawn's killing. About three weeks before Tyshawn was lured from a Dawes Park play lot and executed, Morgan's brother was killed and mother wounded as part of a long-running gang feud, police have said.

Amazing how these felons keep getting guns, but if a law-abiding type wants a gun, it's mounds of paperwork and days of waiting. And these folks (or people) certainly aren't using them for self defense, but rather offense. And the deliberate targeting of non-combatants in the never ending ghetto thug life drama? No one seems bothered by that as long as those darn police are still employed.

Did You Spring Ahead?

If you didn't, you are now late for work.

Open post.

More "Protests"

Oh wait....our bad. There were exactly zero protests over this:

• Four men were killed and at least 12 other people have been wounded since late Friday morning in shootings across the city.

Just minorities killing minorities. No need to protest that, not when there are Trump rallies to riot at and ambulances to block and suburbanites to assault and highways to shut down.

Vote for This Guy

Will the media touch this one?

He's running for aldercreature

As a "pastor" and an "anti-violence" type.

Steal a flag, then punch the guy trying to get his property back.

Yup, makes perfect sense.

Detroit is only a few votes away.

Questions About Last Night

The post right below this one is filling up rapidly with comments, so we're starting a new thread:

First up, who was in charge? As far as we can tell, there was pretty much zero in terms of a unified Command Post.

Second, who wrote this plan? We've seen and heard reports that UIC was woefully unprepared for this. They had their own people and Monterey Security inside. The Secret Service had a presence, but they're restricted to dignitary protection. The ISP had a squad there. And CPD. So where were the people geared up for a riot? For NATO we had an entire strike force geared up and ready to go. We had the Mounted Unit up and running. Tens of dozens of bikes. Did no one see this coming?

Third, who evacuated the Pavilion, putting a few thousand people out on the street as targets? A bad decision, probably by the UIC people attempting to "protect" the building. Same with not securing the parking structure, leading to many confrontations and property damage in the lots. Dumb move.

Fourth......ah fuck it. There are a million "after action" questions that need to be asked and answered. Who gave up the expressway? Who let them block ambulances? Why did they not assemble citywide Incident Teams as soon as they knew the rally was canceled? Tact Teams? We even heard Mass Arrest kits weren't available and only one transport wagon on scene in case arrests were made.

Who ever drew up this order failed miserably. Whatever the Intelligence Section was doing wasn't nearly enough. The On Scene Incident Commander failed to anticipate even the best case scenario and every other appointee showed how incompetent they really were by not ordering up more reinforcements and more units on stand-by. McJerseyShore promoted people who owed him, people who were frightened of losing their posts if they didn't produce his numbers. And without the blustering New York loudmouth, they were reduced to phoning their clout to ask what they should do...but their clout was busy phoning their clout...and their clout was busy sleeping.

And so the scene was lost. And the streets. And 290.

We certainly hope that LOTS of ISR reports were generated by all the useless gold stars who might have seen the tiniest sliver of what the streets have become. After all, the ACLU was right there in the mix, making sure "protesters" didn't have their rights violated.