And There it Is

Let's see how this plays out...or is "reform" just another word-fart blowing out of Rahm's ass?

• Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson has launched an investigation involving his fiancée, Lt. Nakia Fenner. Johnson asked investigators to determine whether Fenner inappropriately intervened in her son’s traffic offense.
  
  It’s the second time Lt. Fenner has been investigated.
  
  The first time involved a cheating accusation on the lieutenant’s test.

Second time?? Oh no, far from it. People don't develop habits like this overnight. There's an entire CR history available if you know where to look.

Tribune story here. They use buzzwords like "integrity" and "standards" in their story, so expectations are not high that anything will actually be done.

The Reader Flubs It

Unless it's Joravsky writing about Rahm and Shortshanks shenanigans, this free paper is just birdcage liner. They purport to have read the entire DOJ report, which we did over the course of two days, and they found 40 "shocking things" that their low-info readers can regurgitate into talking points. Look at this first one

• 1 - In the recorded use-of-force incidents for which race was indicated between January 2011 and April 2016, 76 percent of the cases involved black citizens. African-Americans were the subject of 80 percent of cops' firearm use and 81 percent of their Taser use. 

Golly, that's horrible! In a city that's 33% black, 30% white, 30% Latino and 7% other, then the police should use force against 33% blacks, 30% whites, 30% Latinos and 7% other.

Except there's this:

Golly, golly. It seems that blacks made up 76% of crime victims. And seeing as how something like 99% of those victims were shot in their own neighborhoods where the racial make-up is pretty homogeneous across the board (most segregated city you know), it would seem that nearly 80% of the actual offenders were likely.....black.

That isn't racist - that's statistics. And that is exactly the flaw in the entire report. It doesn't take into consideration the number of crimes committed by a certain group. Or that in certain neighborhoods, stopping 30% white people would take approximately 12 years hassling pfather pfleger 24/7/365....before and after Mass.

After that first bullshit paragraph, we put The Reader in the birdcage where it belongs. No link - you can google the crap if you need it.

Changing the Stats Again

So the weekend was a mess as usual.

HeyJackass.com had the carnage at 4 and 24, bringing the January total to 53 with a day to go.

But Channel 7 lists 3 and 24 for some reason.

The Rumor Mill starts churning:

• Why did they change the 0110 on Grand to 141A? Things that make you go hmmmm

 And the "Death Investigation" thing seems to be going full steam:

• Just a FYI look under report # JA125217.  Dude was killed by stabbing, by girlfriends ex. Happened Saturday into Sunday [last] weekend.

And Rahm still can't keep it under 50.

Revisiting the "Consent Decree"?

Police unions across the country know which way the wind is blowing:

• Steve Loomis, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, had a blunt message for Donald Trump during a meeting in September: court-ordered reforms aimed at curbing police abuses in the midwestern city are not working.
  
  Loomis and two other attendees said Trump seemed receptive to Loomis's concerns that federally monitored police reforms introduced during the Obama administration in some cities in response to complaints of police bias and abuse are ineffective and impose an onerous burden on police forces.
  
  Trump, Loomis said, was “taken aback by the waste of money” when the union chief told him that federal monitors overseeing his city’s police department earned $250 an hour - a standard salary for the position.
  
  "I think he’s going to have a more sensible approach to rising crime rates," Loomis said of now President Trump. "What I got from the meeting was that Donald Trump is going be a very strong supporter of law and order."

Interesting times ahead. The CPD is in desperate need of reform, but from the top-down more so than the bottom-up. If you don't believe us, just look at what happened in the Deuce this weekend.

Sandi Claims Harassment

But then, what else would she claim?

• Former alderman Sandi Jackson is accusing her estranged husband Jesse Jackson Jr. of harassment, declaring that the former congressman has engaged “in an unlawful and far-ranging fishing expedition for information.”
  
  The court filing is the latest salvo in the couple’s increasingly bitter divorce battle. Last week, former congressman Jackson filed a series of subpoenas, seeking depositions, documents, and photos from former police superintendent Garry McCarthy and two others.
  
  “The subpoenas were filed in the public court file and immediately posted in online news articles,” Sandi Jackson’s attorney said. “The issuance and filing in the public record of unwarranted subpoenas full of unsupported innuendo can serve no constructive purpose to the parties, or their children.”

To be fair, it gives us something "constructive" to post about when the picking are thin...like tonight.

Retiree Health Care

We got this in an e-mail. Apologies for the length, but it applies to a lot of our readers:

• Hello SCC
  
  I took the 55 and out. I originally was set to go 01 Jan 17 and can prove same. Last day would of been 31 Dec 2016
  
  So in September 2015 I called Greg Bella regarding new info I heard. Retire on or before 31 Dec 2016 and you will not be put into the new 2 Tier Insurance System taking effect 01 Jan 2017.
  
  So thats what I did, I took cell phone pics of all my screen at work on the city computer when filling out retirement papers.
  
  So now I learn that we were all put into a 2 tier insurance system. I call benefits and they confirm it. I call Greg Bella who stated this was the first he heard about it. I then explained to Greg our September 2015 conversation. Greg was quiet. I said to Greg I can prove that we were told of this. Then Greg said well come in and we will talk. I declined.
  
  I call the pension board and Carol states that I was in deed supposed to be in the same insurance plan that I retired with.
  
  So now I am asking around on the blog, facebook word of mouth.... I have 10 people who contacted me and all said the same thing... " I retired because I was told I would stay in the same insurance plan. Many are fighting Cancer, still in treatment... many have pain management issues. All say the same. I can't see the same doctor anymore. One went on to say, If I get sick and call an ambulance I cannot go to Christ hospital. Its only 2 minutes away. The new 2 Tier plan will pay only at I believe 60% vs the 90% coverage we used to have.
  
  Now had I known I wasnt staying in the same insurance plan, I would of stayed until 01 Jan 2017 and got my vaca, bf & p days plus another 2% on my pension.
  
  Is this post worthy. I am trying to get other officers to contact me to put together an "unfair labor practice complaint....
  
  We sure could use the blogs help. Please feel free to post my name and cell... Greg Giuliani 773 750 6646

 It certainly looks like the City pulled a fast one, thereby screwing retirees. If you're one of them, give Greg a call.

The Unspoken Tragedy

This only makes the news semi-regularly, but it was mentioned in the DOJ report of all places:

• Buried among the facts and figures in the Justice Department’s recent book-length report on the failings of the Chicago Police Department was a telling statistic: The rate of suicide among CPD officers is 60 percent higher than other departments across the U.S.
  
  Among the ranks of the nearly 10,000 patrol officers of the CPD, an average of three officers will take their own lives each year, according to life insurance claims information from the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, the union representing the bulk of the department’s sworn officers.
  
  In the past decade, 13 officers have been killed in the line of duty. Nearly twice as many officers died by their own hand during the same span.

We've mentioned it on more than a few occasions, let people know that Peer Support is available, encouraged officers to keep an eye on their co-workers, especially when they know that something heavy is going on in their lives. Oftentimes, it isn't enough.

Please, if you're in a dark place and it looks bad, call someone - Peer Support, the Chaplains, a partner, a friend. One of the hardest parts about being a cop, the person people turn to for help, is realizing or admitting that we might need help, too.

OT Plan Failing

Rahm pulled out all the stops so January 2017 wouldn't surpass January 2016, thereby giving Trump more ammo to hammer Rahm.

HeyJackass says Chicago hit 50 dead with 48 hours to spare, matching last year's total:

• January to Date
  
  Shot and Killed: 48
  Shot and Wounded: 240
  Total Shot: 288
  Total Homicides: 50

On a brighter note, thanks for the extra car payment Rahm.

Wow...Just Wow

Didn't a bunch of cops and supervisors just get suspended for this crap with a CFD boss?

• Anonymous said...
  
  Well maybe [Special Ed's] fiancé was busy getting her son out of trouble with the police.
  He was caught not stopping at stop signs driving crazy, and when stopped the odor of weed came from his car,
  And he was suspended!!!!!! Damn!!!!!! Wtf!!!'n and got a play!!! Damn!!!!
  And the cops with the fireman got stripped!!!! Damn!!!
  
  
• How about this to make everyone feel great!!! Sups fiancé was seen getting her 21 year old son from a certain police district, after he was observed not stopping at stop signs, when pulled over the odor of weed comes from the car and .... Hold it ... Hold it.... Was suspended!!!!
  Damn!!!! Was allowed to call his mommy and got a play!!!!
  Wtf when the cops with that fireman shit was suspended!!!
  He guys you should grieve your suspension!!! Wtf!!! She cheats on a test then her kid gets a fucking play!!!

In fact, didn't some commander lose his spot years back for getting his car out of impound after his son was caught with a gun in it, and he bullied the 019 (?) desk into giving back the car?

We didn't know the "Bad Old Days" were back and everyone was getting a play. All those cops who just got suspended better be raising Holy Hell over this obvious double standard.

Cheating and corrupt - sounds like a shoe in for promotion again.

The Caring City

Never let it be said Chicago didn't have a heart...or a kidney:

Word is a team of CPD doctors arrived within minutes, knocked this citizen out, and took the kidney. The subject later woke up in his bathtub, packed in ice.

Another Shooting Video

And amazingly, it shows Officers running toward gunfire:

• Newly released video shows Chicago police officers running toward a suspect, then ducking behind fences and crouching on porches as more than 25 shots are fired between police and a man believed to have just shot his pregnant girlfriend on the West Side in November.
  
  "He's down, he's down, he's down," an officer yells after the exchange of gunfire with Richard Grimes, 33, in the 4500 block of West Washington Boulevard close to midnight on Nov. 27.
  
  Other officers start shouting it as they rush toward the gangway where Grimes was shot.
  
  The videos, much of it from body cameras, were released Friday by the Independent Police Review Authority as it continues to investigate the shooting. None of the footage shows the shooting itself, though some of it is from cameras worn by officers running to the scene, then checking on their partners.

This was a desperate individual who had just shot his pregnant girlfriend, killing the baby, and he probably would have done anything to get away. Heck, he did do anything, shooting at police, and he's currently rotting in Hell. An excellent job when it happened, and now that the video has been released, an even better job by the involved officers.

Great Plan!

Rahm is blowing his wad early on trying to keep crime stats down:

• [....] Now, hundreds of additional Chicago police officers assigned to tactical, gang, saturation and mission teams have had their regular days off canceled from Friday through Sunday, according to police sources familiar with the change that was announced during a meeting at police headquarters. The city's beat officers also were given the option of earning overtime by working weekend days off, the sources said.
  
  Adding so many officers to the street on their day off is more typical during hot summer months or special occasions such as when the president is visiting the city; is unusual for a cold-weather month such as January. This month has been marked by weekends with dozens of shootings, including 54 people shot last weekend alone.

So it's looking for a very long (and profitable) year for tact, gang, sat and mission teams. Hope you guys and gals didn't have any weekend plans, like birthdays, baptisms, weddings, or just a night out this summer. We also heard and witnessed dozens of officers sitting around over the wee hours because there weren't any cars available for them to patrol.

We took it upon ourselves to call a few Area garages to see the availability of a pool car. Once the one guy answering the phone stopped laughing, he told us there hasn't been an available pool car citywide since mid-December.

So yet another brilliant effort from HQ falls flat due to chronic mismanagement and failure to actually prepare for a short-notice event.

So...Barb? Or Fred?

Special Ed suffered an episode yesterday. The stories were running fast and furious before settling on a reaction to heart medications. But then it was revealed he was on the kidney transplant list:

• Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson on Friday confirmed he is on the waiting list for a kidney transplant.
  
  The operation, not yet scheduled, would require him to be off work for three to five weeks, Johnson said. His need for a kidney transplant was first reported by the Sun-Times.
  
  “I do not require dialysis, nor do I have diabetes,” Johnson said, adding that until he gets the transplant, “with the blessing of my doctors,” he will stay on the job.

It's been obvious for months that Special Ed isn't actually running the Department - Rahm is, despite all of Ed's protestations to the contrary. Ed is the accidental superintendent. He never applied for the job and was put in to appease a certain voting block. And he's been miserable ever since - endless protests, being forced to consort with Jamal, the DOJ report, the cheating scandal being used to control him, health issues, and pretty much taking the fall for Rahm's inability to run a police department. This is the perfect opportunity for him to "resign" for health reasons and walk away.

So who does Rahm pick next? The aldercreatures are going to demand another black supernintendo, seeing as how there were three white guys in a row. Rahm needs to pander for a while yet.So who's up? Rahm wants to be a pioneer. That points at Barb West. She's run a few different districts, served at all levels of IAD, Bureau Chief, and her most recent bureau absorbed the bullshit spot that was created for Granny Clampett. She's tied in with the west side reverends and Jason Ervin, so she's got the political pedigree.

On the other hand, there's Fred Waller. The same sort of district command history, Bureau stuff, a general reputation as capable, but wired-in hard. If we recall, he was a lieutenant for all of six weeks or so before being rocketed up to Commander and it's been smooth sailing since.

In the meantime, while Special Ed is a convenient target for our pointed criticisms of the Department, we will send our wishes for a speedy recovery.

OT Weekend

Rumor is that Rahm is desperate to keep the January homicide numbers from breaking last year's totals:

• Anonymous said...
  
  The city is tying anything to try to stop TRUMP from sending the Feds. All weekend days off are cancelled for Area North Sat and Gangs to try to stop the shootings. Waste of money not going to work. I'll take the money but hire more Police

So once again, overtime is used to paper over a manpower shortage which of course, has nothing to do with a homicide rate spiking to numbers unseen in nearly 20 years.

Happy Anniversary

HeyJackass.com celebrated 4 years in business yesterday:

• It was on this date four years ago that we launched an idea based on the “Chicago values” we were told so much about during that violent, Chick-fil-A chicken sammich-infused summer of 2012. Since we were never told exactly what those values were, we assumed that it must be murder, crime and mayhem.
  
  Since then we’ve recorded over 2,200 homicides, nearly 11,000 shot and wounded, dozens and dozens of “death investigations” along with hundreds of people who caught one in the ass.
  
  As always, thanks to everyone who has visited, emailed, followed, linked, liked and donated helping make this idea a very minor success.
  
  Here’s to four more years.
  – The HeyJackass Crew

Cheers to you Friends.

Rahm to Spend Money

For nonsense as usual:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel acknowledged Wednesday that only 25,300 of the 155,000 eligible Chicago homeowners applied for his $20 million property tax rebate and sought after-the-fact City Council approval to spend $16 million of the leftover money.
  
  Some of the mayor’s chosen projects were already known and announced: speeding distribution of body cameras to Chicago Police officers, cybersecurity training at City Colleges, renovating vacant homes in depressed neighborhoods, and providing legal assistance for immigrants threatened with deportation.
  
  A budget amendment introduced at the City Council meeting Wednesday also includes some new goodies aimed at appeasing aldermen angered by Emanuel’s decision to spend the leftovers without Council authorization.

Appeasing aldercreatures? How about appeasing tax payers?

• Among the additions to the laundry list:
  
  
• $1.1 million for “crime-fighting intel centers” in the 7th and 11th police districts “to inform officers of current crime conditions and responses”
• $500,000 to plant 1,000 trees, 20 in each of the 50 wards
• $1.8 million to support afterschool athletics programs for CPS students “and other afterschool programs” that operate in Chicago Public Schools
• $3.5 million for “park infrastructure improvements to ensure Chicago’s youth continue to have a variety of safe spaces for positive recreational opportunities”
• $1 million to create a small-business incubator on the West Side
• $1 million toward a South Side call center “to create jobs and job training opportunities”

"crime-fighting intel centers? What the hell is that?

1,000 trees? 20 per ward? The aldercreatures must be pleased!

How about a refund? We'd like our $5 back at the very least.

Where's Garry?

Awfully quiet since the Sandi Jackson subpoena. Which makes the timing of this job offering suspicious:

• Sneed hears there may be a move afoot to urge President Donald Trump to appoint Chicago’s former top cop Garry McCarthy as U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Illinois.
  
  “It would be a way to draw a line in the sand for eviscerating Chicago as a murder capital,” said a top Illinois Republican leader who tells Sneed he personally talked to McCarthy about the U.S. Marshal’s job last month.
  
  “The Democrats who control Chicago have failed miserably to stem the violence,” the source said.

So appoint a guy, who was chosen by democrats to mask a manpower shortage, not to mention two Consent Decrees in his background, to "draw a line"? We have our doubts.

Chewie vs Rahm II

Not surprising:

• Vanquished mayoral challenger Jesus “Chuy” Garcia sounded Thursday like he’s itching for a 2019 rematch, blasting Mayor Rahm Emanuel for everything from taxes, schools and crime to his handling of the Laquan McDonald shooting video.
  
  Garcia argued that Emanuel wears the jacket for the 60 percent surge in homicides and shootings because he relied on overtime — to the tune of $116.1 million a year — to mask a dangerous manpower shortage that has mushroomed on his watch.
  
  When Garcia dared to suggest that Emanuel honor his broken 2011 promise to hire 1,000 additional officers, the mayor dismissed the idea as unaffordable.
  
  “He said the proposal was fairy dust. Two years later, he says we’re gonna do it. Why did it take so long? Because it was something that I put forth? It really wasn’t because he had said he would do it four years prior to the last election. It’s now been six years,” Garcia said.

So is Chewie being Prickwrinkle's stalking horse this time? Or is there a third challenger to be announced?

Game, Set, Match

The President rips Chicago for violence. Chicago's response? More violence, proving his point:

• A mass shooting at a memorial in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood on the South Side left six people — including a 12-year-old girl — wounded Wednesday night, officials said.
  
  About 8:15 p.m., officers responding to a calls of shots fired found the victims inside a restaurant in the 500 block of East 75th Street, according to Chicago Police.

How does that crow taste Rahm? Better get used to the taste - you're going to be eating a lot of it....well, that, or shit.

Quotas to Cost New York

A timely story coming out of New York:

• New York City has agreed to pay up to $75 million to settle a federal class-action lawsuit that accused its Police Department of issuing hundreds of thousands of criminal summonses that were later found to be without legal justification, according to a signed copy of the proposed deal filed on Monday.
  
  The summonses had been issued for typically minor offenses, like disorderly conduct, trespassing and drinking in public — quality-of-life concerns that had been a major theme of policing in New York for two decades or so.
  
  Lawyers for the plaintiffs had asserted that the summonses were part of a policy that was “selectively and disproportionately enforced in minority communities.” That claim was also a focus of earlier lawsuits that had challenged the department’s policing philosophy that relied on stop, question and frisk encounters.

So pretty much like our ANOV's, pushed by McCompStat and others to justify their existence. In fact, the DOJ report and the ACLU agreement bring this up. Quotas lead to bad results - everyone knows this.....except this goof:

• Lieutenant [W] in the 20th district has been pressuring his midnight police officers to bring in activity, a quota, which is illegal.
  
  His threats are to break up partners and make officers' lives miserable. He is pulling officers aside privately and telling them how many blue cards he wants. That is a quota. He is telling the officers they won't be able to work CHA or CTA if they, "don't bring in enough numbers." He is threatening to ship officers out to other districts for 3 months if they don't bring in enough activity.
  
  Quotas are illegal. [W], it is only a matter of time until someone records you doing this and sends the recordings out to the media. Some media outlets will care. Someone will make it their mission to make sure the word gets out about your threats.
  
  Lt. [W], you should be ashamed of yourself given you know the hostile climate towards officers because of the ACLU and the new states attorney, Kim Foxx.

Somebody up north might want to see if Lt [W] on midnights has a spare $75 million lying around to cover the eventual judgement he is steering the City toward. Not to mention that the FOP should be seeking witnesses to this unlawful coercion in order to make an unknown number of officers richer by tens of thousands of dollars.

He isn't the only one. How many other asshats with visions of a gold star in their future are willing to play this losing game?

Help Wanted - Dallas

The Dallas PD is in town recruiting again:

• The Dallas Police Department has come to Chicago, looking to recruit some of the 300 new police officers the organization wants to hire this year.
  
  [...] Senior Corporal Ray Milburn said the recent Dallas officer deaths and general climate for police has not scared people from applying this year.
  
  “It was very similar to the World Trade Center on 9/11 when the military had an influx of people,” he said.
  
  “The thing that I ask [people] is that if their mom, their grandma, their kids needed an officer, who would they want to come answer that call? It’s a career, it’s a job, and you got to have a passion for wanting to do this,” he said.
  
  Corporal Milburn said the Dallas PD is looking for more diversity, especially women. He also acknowledged the department chose to recruit in Chicago because of the city’s diversity. About a hundred Dallas officers hired in the last five years came from Illinois as well.

The window closed for yesterday, but a quick google search will bring up application procedures.

Fix It or Else

The President, who doesn't live here, takes more of an interest in Chicago than the previous guy, who did live here:

• “If Chicago doesn’t fix the horrible ‘carnage’ going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!”

Special Ed found this "concerning"

• Many took it to mean that he would send in the National Guard, something Johnson said he opposed. The superintendent was not sure what authority the troops would have, but he didn't think they would have the power to make arrests.
  
  "They're not trained for this type of action," he said.

Very good Ed. They are a war-machine. They are trained to remove obstacles, seize territory, dispatch resistance and operate under the conventions of war. They would also answer to civilian authority, and as people in power have obviously read the DOJ report, no one is about to trust you, your "merit" picks, your cheaters or anyone associated with you, with any sort of real authority over military troops. It wouldn't be prudent.

The other lib-turds chimed in with uninformed muttering:

• “For my communities, it would be an actual bloodbath,” said Ald. Toni Foulkes (16th), whose South Side ward includes crime-ridden Englewood.
  
  “Look at what happened during the Boston Marathon, the curfews. We don’t know what will happen. When African-Americans think about the National Guard, we think about the prejudices and things like that.”
  
  Ald. Ray Lopez (15th), whose ward includes gang-infested Brighton Park, called Trump’s threat to “send in the Feds” more of the same “political bluster” from the new president.
  
  “The National Guard is using a hammer to kill a fly. We don’t need tanks rolling down Ashland Avenue. I don’t need tanks rolling down Archer Avenue,” Lopez said.

Hopefully, the President is talking about an anti-corruption task force. Someone who can reign in the political element that has been running roughshod over Illinois taxpayers for generations. And maybe some Federal prosecutors who believe in the "Project Exile" philosophy regarding gun crimes - 10 years in the Federal Penitentiary system far from home for gun offenders.

Federal gun prosecutions dried up under Sparklefarts. Almost no one went to Federal prison. Hopefully that's about to change.

Rahm to Lose More Money

And hopefully, his chances at re-election:

• Chicago will remain a sanctuary city — in spite of President Donald Trump’s renewed threat to cut off federal funding to cities where undocumented immigrants can live without fear of police harassment, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Wednesday.
  
  “I want to be clear: We’re gonna stay a sanctuary city. There is no stranger among us. We welcome people — whether you’re from Poland or Pakistan, whether you’re from Ireland or India or Israel and whether you’re from Mexico or Moldovia where my grandfather came from. You are welcome in Chicago as you pursue the American dream,” the mayor said.

And how exactly did your grandparents arrive there Rahm-ster? Legally? Though normal channels? Waiting their turn like everyone else? They did, didn't they?

But Rahm (and Hillary and democrats in general) is missing the bigger picture - the picture that gave the nation Trump. People outside of the 8 or 9 major metropolitan areas that voted for Hillary got a president who is listening to them and not to the Rahm's. Trump is going to hold "sanctuary" cities feet to the fire and the only way for them to continue onward is to (A) cave to the Federal Rule of Law or (B) raise taxes to cover services for people who shouldn't be here in the first place. And the (B) option is going to push a lot of middle-of-the-road types directly into the "Reagan democrat" column - people willing to vote their pocketbooks because the left has saddled them with an unworkable system.

In fact, if Trump really wants to kick Rahm and others right in the balls, co-opt the black churches. Point out that illegals drive down wages for entry level jobs that Pfleger and Sharpton and Jackson have been begging for in their communities. It fits in perfectly with the Inaugural message - these under-served communities are Americans, are they not? They want good paying jobs, right? A shot at success?

Pardon Our Laughter, But...

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA:

• A man whose drug-related prison sentence was commuted in November by President Barack Obama has been fatally shot at a federal halfway house in Michigan after two men with assault-style rifles sought him out, police said.
  
  Two men wearing masks went into Bannum Place in Saginaw on Monday night with plans to kill 31-year-old Damarlon Thomas, a former Saginaw gang member. Lt. David Kaiser said Thomas was shot several times by one of the men as some of the roughly two dozen people at the home were held at gunpoint.
  
  “One person watched over a group of them while another subject located the victim and executed him,” Kaiser told The Saginaw News. “They were looking for this person.”

Remember, this was one of the supposedly "non-violent drug offenders" who were unjustly incarcerated due to Bill Clinton's disparate sentencing:

• Thomas had been sentenced to 19 years in prison in 2008 on a cocaine charge, but with the commutation the sentence was to expire in March. He was arrested as part of “Operation Sunset,” a federal investigation that effectively dismantled the “Sunny Side Gang” in Saginaw.

A quick google search reveals the Sunny Side Gang involved in everything from drugs to guns to murder, dozens of murders throughout Saginaw. And while the worse year in Saginaw pales to a single bad month in Englewood or Harrison, a targeted hit like this is only a hint at the mayhem to come when old scores are settled up or someone decides he's going to put the old crew back together.

Anyone in Gang Intelligence get a list of Chicago idiots headed back to town?

And Speaking of Rental Cars....

Rahm just lost another revenue stream:

• The city of Chicago cannot require car rental businesses located outside city limits to collect city taxes on rental cars leased by Chicago city residents, the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled, striking down as unconstitutional a city ordinance seeking to slap a tax on cars rented within three miles of Chicago city limits.
  
  On Jan. 20, the state Supreme Court overturned the decision of a state appeals court, which had declared the city had the power under the Illinois state constitution to demand the tax, even though the rental transactions took place entirely outside of Chicago city limits.
  
  The Supreme Court justices, however, said the tax represents an attempt to improperly stretch the city’s “extraterritorial” taxing power beyond the limits allowed under the state constitution’s language governing home rule cities.
  
  “… The conclusive presumption of taxability based on residency has nothing to do with use of the rental vehicles, as there is no evidence of where the vehicle was in fact driven,” the state Supreme Court justices wrote. “Absent an actual connection to Chicago, the City’s tax … amounts to a tax on transactions that take place wholly outside Chicago’s borders.”
  
  Justice Rita B. Garman authored the unanimous opinion.

Government overreach slapped back by the Illinois Supreme Court - it's like a miracle.

Rental Cars?

What happened to the 400 cars Dean negotiated?

• Area north will be using enterprise Rent-A-Car. They are taking the fusions for the watch. How is that going to work driving a rental car with no lights or sirens or government plates on the west side. Wasn't a fusion shot at a couple months ago? The gang bangers didn't think it was the police driving because the car didn't have a front plate. The city can't buy new cars but how much is it going to cost for a short lease/ long rental?

Are these cars for the D-unit? Bosses? Teams? The watch?

No sirens or lightbars or wigwags? No cages? No GPS?

No :::gasp::: cameras????

Get off Johnson's Johnson!

Have some self respect Frank and Fran:

• Police Supt. Eddie Johnson is shining the light on a merit-promotion process condemned by officers interviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice as a “reward for cronyism” and clout.
  
  Following the Justice Department’s demand for increased “transparency” around the merit promotion process, Johnson plans to return to a reform imposed, then rescinded, a few years ago.
  
  [...]
  
  “CPD will be identifying those individuals who received a merit-based promotion — not just for sergeant but for all going forward. And we will identify who the nominating members are,” said Chicago Police Department spokesman [...].
  
  “This is part of the superintendent’s effort to be more transparent — not only externally but internally as well. He made the decision following an email request that came in from rank-and-file officers last month.”

And as we said, not good enough. And the FOP agrees....sort of:

• Fraternal Order of Police President Dean Angelo was not impressed with Johnson’s decision to once again identify officers promoted on the basis of merit as well as their “nominators.”
  
  “That kind of blew up in their face because it turned out to be the driver” of department brass who got the promotion, Angelo said.
  
  “It’s going to do what it did last time. It will ostracize individuals who are meritoriously promoted.”
  
  Angelo said merit promotions — 20 percent for detectives and 30 percent for all other ranks — should be used to reward acts of heroism on the job.

The driver turned out to have been ineligible. He's now suing for the unjustified promotion, wasting untold tens-of-thousand in taxpayer money. And heroic acts aren't exactly a precursor to decent leadership skills - it can be a factor, but the sole determinant? A certain SOS copper now serving time won the highest award for Valor once - that doesn't make him qualified to be a "merit" promotee.

And Deano says it ostracizes individuals - individuals like whom, dare we ask?

What is needed, as we've stated before, is a list of qualifications and accomplishments that all cops can strive toward in order to receive an actual nod based on merit, not "merit." House mice, side pieces, pincushions and drivers need not apply.

Shooters Work OT

Final tally - about 7 and 48, including some Monday morning mayhem:

• Six people were killed and at least 47 others were wounded in shootings across the city between Friday evening and Monday morning, according to Chicago police.
  
  The weekend's latest homicide happened at 1:54 a.m. Monday outside Spencer Elementary Technology Academy in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side. Officers responded to a call of a person shot and found the woman, thought to be 25 years old, lying on the sidewalk in the 5000-block of West Maypole, police said. She was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office did not provide information on the fatality.

That must have been an educational moment for the children.

Newsradio 780 had a quote from Rahm when he was questioned about the 2017 murder / maiming totals already being 5% higher than the same time last year. Rahm said it was "unacceptable."

If it was unacceptable, it wouldn't be happening. But it is happening, so it must therefore be acceptable.

Special Ed was heard to whisper, "The word is 'concerning' you idiot."

Good Point

From the comments:

• ...we can't accept a free coffee, but we can accept a free house....?

Hey Loretta, you want to check in here..... hey, where did Loretta go?

Free Houses!!!

A new take on an old idea - you can own a house in one of the city's up-and-coming garden spots:

• A new proposal that will be introduced to the Cook County Board Monday would offer homes to City workers in what Commissioner Richard Boykin describes as "endangered communities."
  
  Called the "Neighborhood Revitalization Act," Boykin's plan would offer a free home to first responders, police, fire fighters, teachers, and paramedics and EMTs in the communities where they work. If the worker agrees to live in the residence for five years, he or she will be given the property.
  
  Boykin said the plan could help clean up and diversify Chicago communities in need on the South and West sides.
  
  "These are the communities where we’ve seen a lot of gun violence, we’ve seen a lot unemployment and of course poverty. We’ve got to rebuild these communities," Boykin said. "If you have a policeman who lives on your block we believe that the chances for an individual dealing drugs go down, diminish greatly."

Sure, because this worked so well in the 1980's and 90's. Living on your own, no radio, no backup, your kids being pointed out as coming-and-going from "that cop's house." Your spouse, too. Not too many yard parties or barbecues on the 4th of July weekend in your future.

Why don't Cook County Commissioners or Aldercreatures ever live on these blocks?

Golf Outing Debt?

Someone said the FOP Golf Outing lost $25,000?

The FOP said they're "investigating" at last week's meeting.

How does a well attended golf outing lose money?

Bold Statement?

Pandering more likely:

• Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson made a bold statement on Saturday about the thousands of officers under his command.
  
  Superintendent Johnson attends community meetings multiple times during the week. Saturday morning was no exception, though he made some bold statements acknowledging the problems within his department.
  
  “Majority of officers out there that work every day are trying to do their job correctly and professionally. The ones that do not, that is my challenge to get rid of them,” Johnson said. “Do we have those type of officers? Yes. Is there racism? Yes, but we cannot fix that until we start to acknowledge.”

Are there bad actors on the job? Yes.

Are there procedures in place to "get rid" of them? Well....it depends. Is there video? Audio? Are there witnesses? What exactly was said? Who is his/her political patron? Was it said on or off duty? Like we said - procedures.

Great Idea You Idiot

Amazingly, this guy breathes on his own:

• An influential alderman is demanding that Mayor Rahm Emanuel relax police hiring standards before the April 1 and 2 police exam to attract more minorities at a time of high crime and deep distrust.
  
  Earlier this week, Emanuel acknowledged that he would have to work “double hard” to convince minorities to apply and “show the Police Department is a different police department” than the one the U.S. Justice Department has condemned as biased.
  
  Now, Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) is pronouncing the unprecedented minority outreach campaign as doomed to failure without immediate changes to the hiring process itself.

Just when the DOJ (and Rahm supposedly) want a smarter, more legally oriented, by-the-book police force, this moron wants standards lowered. Makes perfect sense.

Once Again, Parole = Death

A couple of days ago, this guy appeared in the HeyJackass.com stats:

• Marlon Pollard of north suburban Evanston man was shot to death early Monday in a drive-by in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood.
  
  The 36-year-old Pollard was standing outside about 1:10 a.m. in the 2200 block of West Chicago Avenue, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Someone in a black SUV nearby opened fire, striking him in the abdomen, face and left leg, according to police.
  
  Pollard was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died less than an hour later at 2:05 a.m., authorities said. He lived in the 1400 block of Darrow Avenue in Evanston.

Suburban guy, in the city for a good time, shot and died. Then we got a note that told us the shooter stood over Marlon and pretty much obliterated his head at close range, leading us to assume it was a targeted killing.

Then we ran Marlon's name through the publicly accessible inmate data search and found the following:

• OFFENSE: 2ND DEGREE MURDER/PROVOCATION
  CUSTODY DATE: 09/14/2008
  SENTENCE: 15 Years 0 Months 0 Days

2008 plus 15 years equals 2023.

But of course, IDOC still has the day-for-day credit, so a murderer can serve less time than Blago and be released onto the streets of Chicago when he can become yet another murder statistic. Is anyone every going to hold the Department of Corrections and the Legislature responsible for this nonsense or are they just going to go along with the Prickwrinkle school of non-thought.

Transparency?

This might be interesting - Special Ed sent out a letter:

• I have previously announced to you that we will be hiring and promoting additional officers, sergeants, lieutenants, and FTOs to provide you with the support you need in the field. To make good on that commitment, we will be promoting over one hundred new sergeants in early February.
  
  Currently, merit interviews are underway and, in order to be more transparent to you, we will identify those sergeants promoted under the merit process as well as their nominators.

That's half the battle. The other half is listing what makes/constitutes a "merit" pick. If everyone had a clue as to what the path was, we'd almost call it semi-legit.

The bosses girlfriends, ex-partner's, their spawn and connected folks having the answers still makes it illegitimate.

Accountability?

Six cops taking time for that CFD DUI:

• Six Chicago Police officers have been suspended for giving the third-highest ranking member of the Chicago Fire Department favored treatment after the fire deputy crashed his city-owned SUV near Lake Shore Drive in Lincoln Park.
  
  Police Supt. Eddie Johnson suspended all six officers for “improper processing and reporting procedures” in connection with the April 20, 2016 crash involving former Deputy Fire Commissioner John McNicholas.

Three of the six are listed as supervisors, so "accountability" seems to be the new watchword.

No idea if this applies to shoplifting detectives or exam cheaters though.

Connected Lawyer Leaving

The guy who recommended sitting on the McDonald video is leaving:

• ...Patton's six-year tenure as the city's top lawyer was not without controversy.
  
  Patton recommended not releasing the video of a police officer fatally shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times, saying at the time its release would compromise the ongoing investigation into the teen's death.
  
  The graphic video set off a wave of protests that eventually toppled former Police Supt. Garry McCarthy and sparked the federal investigation.
  
  In addition, a federal judge ruled in January 2016 that an attorney for the city intentionally concealed evidence during the civil trial of two officers who shot and killed a man in 2011 during a traffic stop.
  
  The judge overturned a jury verdict that cleared the officers of wrongdoing, and harshly criticized the city for concealing evidence from the the victim's family.
  
  In December, the City Council agreed to pay $2.34 million to settle the case.
  
  The case prompted city officials to hire former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb to conduct an independent investigation of whether the Patton-led Law Department routinely concealed evidence or engaged in misconduct.

Rahm already has another fall guy lined up for the spot.

Light Posting

Taking it very easy today, watching some news, catching up on some chores, visiting a few old friends over some prune juice that we haven't seen in a while.

Posting will be light. Comments might be delayed. We may have some commentary sometime after the festivities in Washington.

Open post for now.

(Yes, we heard about the TrueNews site being locked down by blogger, so you can stop with the snide comments. We explained ourselves to TN via email and he agreed that our actions were logical in light of the circumstances. What came down yesterday was unexpected by both of us and reinforced our opinions that since there isn't any help coming from Washington under this administration, then Rahm is likely to turn his attention on annoyances closer to home.)

Rahm Loses Again

The Second Amendment will not be denied:

• People younger than 18 have a Second Amendment right to target practice, with adult supervision. Broad bans on the location of firing ranges are unconstitutional. On these points, all three judges of a 7th Circuit panel agree, in the newly decided Ezell II.
  
  Released Wednesday, Ezell II held that:
  
  Chicago may not prohibit all persons under 18 from entering licensed firing ranges.
  Chicago may not constrict firing ranges to a tiny sliver of the city.
  
  The opinion of the court was written by Judge Diane Sykes, joined by Judge Michael Kanne. Judge Ilana Rovner concurred in part and dissented in part. She agreed with the above two points but construed them more narrowly than did the majority.

And no doubt, Rahm will be sending another chunk of taxpayer money to Alan Gura and David Sigale, who represented the plaintiffs in this case, for yet another classic overreach.

Blago to Rot

You run up against the Machine, exposing shady Illinois Combine practices, publicly dissing your father-in-law, nearly unseating president-elect Sparklefarts, you get put in a corner:

• President Barack Obama made his final grants of clemency on Thursday with less than a day left in office, and imprisoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was not on the list.
  
  Blagojevich was handed a 14-year sentence on corruption charges, with one of the most sensational being his attempt to “sell” the U.S. Senate seat that then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama was vacating after being elected president in November 2008.
  
  The Justice Department earlier confirmed that Blagojevich, in year four of his imprisonment, filed a request to have his sentence commuted. He was arrested in December 2008, a few weeks after the presidential election.
  
  The former governor, 60, is not due to get out of prison until 2024.

.....and you will sit in that corner until you are n o longer a threat to the legacy of Sparklefarts and various statutes of limitations have expired for others.

We've seen murderers kill, get arrested, stand trial, serve prison time, be released and end up laid out on a slab at the morgue in less time than Blago will be serving.

Is it Getting Hot in Here?

On page 131, there is an extensive footnote. It reads as follows:

• The City Inspector General is also currently investigating allegations that three recently promoted lieutenants were coached by a high ranking official who helped develop the August 2015 lieutenant exam. Although the investigation is ongoing, allegations of improper exam procedures make CPD officers doubt the fairness of the exam process.

Nearly five entire pages (129 to 134) are devoted to some of the promotional exam problems of recent years. We've gone back decades to point out other instances of...

• entire tact teams getting promoted together,
• a Subject Matter Expert having both his administrative sergeants score #1 and 2 on the exam,
• the same SME's replacement sergeant scoring #1 on the next exam,
• husband/wife teams scoring exactly the same and being promoted together,
• other secret study groups that have amazingly high scorers,
• off calendar alternative test sites proctored by a SME producing top "scores"

...and all sorts of other statistical anomalies that pop up with extraordinary regularity on the CPD. Now the DOJ has taken a passing interest in its report - which the alternative media has picked up on:

• Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson is probing allegations three police lieutenants cheated on the August 2015 promotion exam, according to the Department of Justice's investigation into the Chicago Police Department.
  
  The city watchdog's investigation — based on claims first reported by DNAinfo in April — focuses on allegations that now-retired Chicago Deputy Police Supt. Eugene Williams shared privileged information in a study group about the most recent test used to promote sergeants to lieutenants.
  
  That study group included a number of people, including Lt. Maryet Hall, who is married to former First Deputy Police Supt. Al Wysinger, who was the department's No. 2 cop until he retired in 2015; Lt. Nakia Fenner, Supt. Eddie Johnson's fianceé; and Lt. Davina Ward, according to documents obtained by DNAinfo.

Remember, these are three people who had to be given "merit" promotions to sergeant. Not only that, they are three of six people connected directly to IAD who were promoted in the first class - as statistically impossible as any of the other scenarios we've listed. And then you have Special Ed telling everyone how many study groups his squeeze attended while she told people she didn't attend even a single group.

And they're all eligible for the Captain posts coming out shortly.

Is anyone noticing how something like 95% of the Captain and exempt staff have at least one "merit" bump in their career? And over 80% have two? And these people pick the next generation of "merit" promotees. And this habit of giving away "merit" spots to people who can't pass the test and the level, and don't know the job they're promoted to, might have a detrimental effect on how things like discipline are handled? Or investigations? Or instruction?

Exactly those things cited throughout the DOJ Report.

Strike Now Garry

Seriously.

You might as well just come out and tell everyone who saw the video and when they saw it. Point out the cover-up didn't come from your office - its came from City Hall and the Department of Law. You have a limited window as the DOJ report is making you a hot commodity. Scandal-fatigue might close that window quickly.

You destroy Rahm's political future, so the country can thank you.

You dent the Machine / Illinois Combine politically, for which Chicago may thank you.

You forever destroy the idea of bringing in an outsider to Chicago, for which we might actually thank you.

What have you got to lose?

(PS - Don't hold your breath on that last "thank you")

Charges

Earlier this week, this story broke:

• A Chicago Police officer who was also employed as a security guard at a high school has been charged with having a sexual relationship with an underage girl who attended the school...

In this day, in this age, at this time, this is any kind of intelligent thinking how?

And then this disaster yesterday:

• A veteran Chicago Police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man on the Northwest Side earlier this year has been charged with first-degree murder.

News accounts hint at a previous history of the cop and deceased, which again begs the question - in this day, in this age, at this time, how is this remotely any kind logical decision making?

And the media is already using this as another broad-brush to paint the Department with the "out-of-control" label despite these two being 0.00016 of the Department. But that brush only paints one direction.

Prickwrinkle Sounds Off

Once again, showing a concerted effort to direct the spotlight anywhere but at her office:

• Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Wednesday stopped short of throwing the shortcomings of the Chicago Police Department at the feet of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, but said she wished he had done more, and done it sooner.
  
  [...] “I hope going forward he is aggressive in his efforts to improve the quality of policing in our communities, particularly black and brown neighborhoods,” she said.
  
  Preckwinkle drew from her experience previously serving as 4th ward alderman to praise the vast majority of Chicago’s police officers — before slamming the department as a whole.
  
  “What I found is that 95 percent of our officers are good and decent people who work very hard every day at a very difficult job, but it’s been obvious to me since I moved to Chicago in the 1960s that there’s a pervasive racism that afflicts the department institutionally and too many of its officers individually and the report confirms this.”

A report built on a foundation so shaky, that Rahm had to have a trained reporter take a gratuitous swipe at an insignificant blog and some other minions chopped McCarthy off at the knees for daring to stand up for the Department. Might as well have Toni, who emptied the jail of so many inmates that the homicide numbers ended up nearly 300 bodies higher and an extra thousand-plus people are walking around with additional holes in their bodies, in on the game.

Of course, she's slightly insulated by having Dart do the dirty hands-on stuff, but attacks on the jail staff are up double and triple digit percentages. Sheriffs are being injured and maimed at an unheard of pace. For all intents and purposes, the inmates are running portions of the jail.

And in the middle of all this, Rahm is trying to boost minority hiring:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel acknowledged Wednesday that he will have to “work double hard” to convince minorities to apply for the April 1-2 police exam because of the U.S. Justice Department’s scathing indictment of the Chicago Police Department.
  
  The report portrayed a biased police department stuck in the Stone Age—from training that relies on 35-year-old videos to outdated pursuit tactics that imperil suspects, officers and innocent bystanders.
  
  It laid bare years of civil rights violations by officers accused of verbally abusing minorities, shooting at people who pose no threat and Tasering others, simply because they refused to follow verbal commands.
  
  On Wednesday, Emanuel acknowledged that his unprecedented minority outreach campaign aimed at diversifying the police department at a time of high crime and deep distrust just got more difficult.
  
  Blacks and Hispanics may not want to join a department branded as having such significant racial bias.

Again, an unproven and statistically unlikely "bias" as Heather MacDonald demonstrated using actual numbers the way numbers are supposed to be used.

There's still a lot of mileage in this DOJ report. Rahm, Toni and other bad actors are going to drive it until the wheels fall off. The trouble is, that day is coming sooner than they think.

Remember Who the Problem Is

Police are the problem:

• A man left a baby inside a car after stealing items from a FedEx truck Wednesday in the Fuller Park neighborhood, police said.
  
  The delivery driver was eating in a Wendy's restaurant about 10 a.m. when at least one person broke into the truck parked outside, took several FedEx boxes and placed them on the roof of a building near the eatery, 242 W. Garfield Blvd., police said.
  
  A passerby spotted the thief or thieves and called police with a description of the car the thief fled in and officers spotted it near the 5300 block of South Princeton Avenue.
  
  As officers tried to stop the car, the driver stopped and fled on foot. Officers gave chase and arrested him but when they went up to his car, they spotted a 1-year-old in the back seat, police said.

Those darn police, breaking into trucks that aren't theirs and leaving babies behind.

And these police:

• When Donnell Flora went to trial last year over the 2014 murder of 14-year-old Endia Martin, his lawyers blamed Vandetta Redwood for handing the murder weapon over to the accused teenage shooter.
  
  Now that Redwood is on trial, her lawyers have pointed the finger right back at Flora.
  
  The second trial over Martin’s high-profile slaying in the Back of the Yards began in earnest Wednesday at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse, where Redwood, 35, has been charged with handing a .38 special caliber revolver to her 14-year-old cousin in the midst of a chaotic street fight, along with a simple instruction: “Shoot that bitch.”

Supplying guns to 14-year-old children to kill supposed romantic rivals.

And these police, too:

• A former investigator for the soon-to-be-abolished Independent Police Review Authority was accused Wednesday of leaking a confidential IPRA memo about the agency’s investigation of a high-ranking Chicago Police official, who sources identified as Glenn Evans.
  
  The explosive information about a much-maligned agency accused by the U.S. Justice Department of failing to adequately investigate police misconduct and covering for wayward officers is contained in Inspector General Joe Ferguson’s quarterly report.
  
  The report does not identify the police official under investigation. But City Hall sources identified the target of the investigation as Lt. Glenn Evans.

But hey, fix the police and everything else will be fine.

Train Runs Over Garry

Um, what now?

• Former Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy has been subpoenaed in the Jesse Jackson Jr. divorce case.
  
  The former Congressman and his wife, former Ald. Sandi Jackson, are in the middle of a nasty divorce. The subpoena asks McCarthy to turn over a wealth of information pertaining to a relationship to Sandi — dating back to 2012.
  
  It demands McCarthy turn over records of cash, checks, or property given to Ms. Jackson, including attorney’s fees, groceries, rent or clothing. The subpoena also asks the former superintendent to produce documents detailing what he received from her.
  
  Additionally, Jesse Jackson’s attorneys are seeking social media correspondence, photos, videos, emails and texts between McCarthy and Ms. Jackson.
  
  In response to the subpoena, McCarthy tells CBS 2: “I’m not going to comment on anything that stupid.”

So right after Garry starts vocally defending the Department and pointing fingers at Rahm and Rahm's law department, this comes out? Is someone sending Garry a message? This might have been fodder to keep Garry in line when he was in charge, or perhaps to dissuade him from running for some sort of office in the near future.

Garry Jumps on the Train

Now McCompStat is ripping the statistical methodology:

• Former Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy is offering additional criticism about the federal report released last week that slams the Chicago Police Department for pervasive civil-rights violations.
  
  Where to begin?
  
  “It speaks in broad-brush terms. It really lacks specificity,” McCarthy tells CBS 2...
  
  [...]
  
  If crime did decrease under McCarthy, was it at the expense of the civil rights of minorities, as the feds say?
  
  McCarthy says the data he saw as superintendent doesn’t back up the DOJ’s claims that minorities were disproportionately targeted by Chicago police.
  
  “It shows very clearly that our stops comport almost exactly with where, when and who civilian victims of crime were reporting,” he says.
  
  McCarthy adds: “Just to put it in perspective, us stopping 32 percent white folks in Englewood, which is 97 percent African-American and our most violent community, is not going to reduce crime there.”

He also points fingers at the Law Office:

• As for suggestions of police cover-ups in high-profile cases like the Laquan McDonald shooting, which spurred the DOJ investigation, McCarthy pointed toward the city’s corporation counsel.
  
  “It was the corporation counsel of the city of Chicago who a made a deal with the attorneys for the family of Laquan McDonald. Gave them $5 million without filing a lawsuit as long as they don’t release the video,” he says.

So how long until Rahm throws Steve Patton under the proverbial bus?

"Statistical Evidence Not Required"

Once again, Heather MacDonald completely destroys the anti-police narrative within the DOJ report:

• The most important statement in the Justice Department’s damning report on the Chicago Police Department has nothing to do with police behavior. Released on Friday, the report found the Chicago police guilty of a “pattern or practice” of unconstitutional force. But it turns out that the Justice Department has no standard for what constitutes a “pattern or practice” (the phrase comes from a 1994 federal statute) of unconstitutional police conduct. “Statistical evidence is not required” for a “pattern or practice” finding, the DOJ lawyers announce, citing unrelated court precedent. Nor is there “a specific number of incidents” required to constitute a “pattern or practice,” they proclaim.
  
  Having cleared themselves of any obligation to provide “a specific number of [unconstitutional] incidents” or a statistical benchmark for evaluating them, the DOJ attorneys proceed to ignore any further obligation of transparency. The reader never learns how many incidents of allegedly unconstitutional behavior the Justice Department found, nor how those incidents compare with the universe of police-civilian contacts conducted by the Chicago Police Department. No clue is provided regarding why the DOJ lawyers concluded that the alleged abuses reached the mysterious threshold for constituting a pattern or practice. Instead, the report uses waffle words like “several,” “often,” or “many” as a substitute for actual quantification. This vacuum of information hasn’t stopped the mainstream media from trumpeting the report as yet another exposé of abusive, racist policing. EXCESSIVE FORCE IS RIFE IN CHICAGO, U.S. REVIEW FINDS, read the headline on the New York Times’s front-page story, which went on to note that the excessive force was “chiefly aimed at African-Americans and Latinos.”

Then MacDonald goes on to expound on the point we brought up yesterday (and the point that the Sun Times "reporter" referenced in the post directly below completely missed), and she does it so much better than we were able to:

• The report does disclose that the DOJ attorneys reviewed 425 incidents of less-than-lethal force between January 2011 and April 2016. But what proportion of total force incidents those 425 events represent or how many of those 425 incidents the federal lawyers found unconstitutional isn’t revealed. As to how many stops and arrests were made over that same time period that didn’t involve the use of force, the reader can only guess.
  
  We also learn that the federal civil rights team identified 203 officer-involved shootings between January 1, 2011, and March 21, 2016. How many of those were bad shootings? Fifteen? One hundred? The reader is left in the dark. The massive New York Police Department averaged 48 shootings a year from 2005 to 2015. The per-capita rate of officer shootings in the NYPD is therefore much lower than in the Chicago Police Department, which is about a third the size. But Chicago’s crime rate is much higher than New York’s; CPD officers confront many more armed and resisting suspects. It would have been useful to know how the ratio of officer-involved shootings to criminal shootings in Chicago compares to other cities. We don’t even learn how many of those 203 officer-involved shootings in Chicago were lethal.

We've bought a number of MacDonald's books, and it might behoove members of the so-called media to read her work, which is painstakingly footnoted, precise and (dare we say it) unbiased. Numbers are tortured so often to make them say things that don't stand up to rigorous academic scrutiny - it happens on both sides of the political divide. But when you have someone strip them down and explain the meaning and logical conclusions behind the numbers as MacDonald does, you'd have to be a moron (or a member of the press....but we repeat ourselves) to see anything but a half-assed hit job by an Administration on the way out.

Fourth Estate Follies

So someone who can't even be bothered to do their own research into substantive allegations made by this blog and its readers, decides that the police should just lay back and enjoy being lectured by our betters:

• Judging by their responses in social media, many of the city’s police officers were totally unmoved by the findings of the federal government’s investigation into the Chicago Police Department.
  
  In the posts and comment sections of the Second City Cop blog, you won’t find any serious discussion of the many disturbing incidents or the systemic, dysfunctional practices detailed by the feds last week.

Sure you will. We've only just started critiquing the report. It takes time to read through 166 pages if you want to make sense of it, unlike many "journalists" who read the executive summary, skip entire sections, and accept everything the government feeds them like the good little mushrooms they are.

When you have to live under it, you take your time.

• There was nearly unanimous scorn for a report that anonymous commenters dismissed as a “scam,” a “crock of s—” and “garbage” that was produced “for the sole purpose of advancing an agenda.”
  
  One Second City Cop commenter pointed out that the head of the U.S. Department of Justice division that conducted the investigation here had been “legal council” [sic] for the NAACP.
  
  “Bias everywhere!!!” that commenter concluded.

You think this DOJ lawyer was appointed to be fair? That she didn't bring innate biases to her work? Seriously? What makes her so different from us, seeing as how we (the police) bring every bias under the sun to our jobs - it says so in the report. Oh, right, leftists can't be biased, only the conservatives, right leaning, police types. Leftists are as pure as the driven snow. Judging by the report, "bias" is a very real explanation for the sloppy research and questionable conclusions.

• You see, it’s the cops who are the victims here, despite the DOJ’s allegations that the department regularly violates constitutional rights.

No where have we personally posted that cops are the "victims." And this "journalist" even states in that sentence that these are "allegations." LAst time we checked, "allegations" mean there is no definitive proof. So why can't cops feel a little picked on? After all, there weren't dozens of journalists killed in the US last year.

• Others consoled fellow officers by looking ahead to the inauguration of a new sheriff in D.C. on Friday, exactly one week after the report on the CPD was made public.
  
  They ain’t afraid of no feds. And why should they be? President-elect Donald Trump has picked an attorney general who shares their bedrock belief that they’ve been unfairly maligned after all the racially charged disputes across the country during the past couple years.

Have you tried that line of reasoning on Darren Wilson lately? He was cleared by the local, state and Obama's own Department of Justice, yet still can't find work. "Maligned" is by far the least of crimes committed by press. Same thing in Baltimore.

• “Hopefully the DOJ run by adults under Trump will re-examine the report,” one commenter said on Second City Cop.
  
  The officer who authors the blog alleged the Justice Department sought to get information only from “people with ingrained prejudices against the police, people with histories versus the police, people whose livelihood relies on suing the police — people with axes to grind.”

We're pretty sick of this mope about now. But yeah, god forbid we ever demand a fair shake, an unbiased investigation without the stink of a political rush job before Administration changes, a report that properly samples the community, that doesn't properly document or cite where information is coming from.

But then when you work for a paper that endorsed Hillary Clinton, carried water for Shortshanks, then Rahm, failed to cover real verifiable corruption at the City, County, State and Federal levels, that regularly writes love letters to president Sparklefarts, well, why would the cops expect anything resembling legit reporting from them.

This is exactly how they got Trump.

Look Who Grew a Set

Aldercreatures demanding accountability?

• As the U.S. Justice Department asks Chicago to address deep flaws in police officers' use of force, a group of aldermen is accusing Mayor Rahm Emanuel's Law Department of enabling the misconduct and is asking federal authorities to investigate.
  
  The City Council's Progressive Caucus sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch last week, asking her to launch a federal review of the Law Department's federal civil rights litigation division, which has been sanctioned eight times during Emanuel's tenure for withholding possible evidence in police misconduct lawsuits, which it defends.
  
  "It looks as if the cover-up extends not only to leadership of the Police Department but to the corporation counsel and our lawyers as well," Ald. Roderick Sawyer, 6th, said in an interview. "I don't want that to happen."

Of course, there's no danger in asking Lynch to launch an investigation since she's gone this Friday. Having balls would be writing to Jeff Sessions to come into Chicago and investigate Rahm's Law Department, which has a checkered history of concealing evidence, suppressing videos and approving settlements prior to lawsuits even being filed.

Procedural Justice Attendees

The brass is starting to attend this class finally:

• Hey SCC,
  
  
  The Superintendent,  Robin Robinson, and several other high ranking members of the CPD are at the academy today for the 8 hour PJ class. 

They've been preaching it for so long without actually attending the class? You think they would have been the first in line since they're the "leaders."

• The shitter of it is that police hater Jamal Green is also in attendance today. Sad when a man who has battered police officers on more than one occasion is now sitting in a class with officers. 

Word is he complained to Special Ed the whole time about the numerous felonies he's been battling in the courts. If he wouldn't attack the police, there would be less felonies to face.

DOJ Report

So we're about two-thirds of the way through, but far enough along to have drawn certain conclusions and formed opinions. This was put together by a politicized Department and an obviously partisan Administration for the sole purpose of advancing an agenda. That Hillary lost lent an unseemly speed to the conclusion and de-legitimizes many of the supposed "findings."

Evidence of haste can be found almost immediately:

• Page 2, paragraph 3: 60 ride-alongs

Given that there are 279 police beats, three watches, that's 837 potential ride-alongs. Not to mention rapid response, traffic, 06, tact, saturation, gang enforcement, boats, horses, god knows how many administrative and undercover beats, there's probably nearly 1,200 potential ride-alongs in a 24 hour period. The DOJ claims they spent "300 person-days" here, that's 360,000 opportunities to ride-along.

• .016% - sixteen thousandths of one percent

We've taken a few math courses in our time and this isn't even close to what would be considered a valid statistical representation. There's more:

• 340 individual CPD members (out of a supposed 12,000 - 2.8%)
• 1,000 community members (.037% of 2.7 million)
• 90 community organizations (out of ?); are any citizens listed above part of this group?
• "family members of individuals who were killed by CPD officers" (how many were justifiable shootings?); and again, are these persons from either of the previous groups?
• "local researchers, academics, and lawyers who have studied CPD extensively for decades (gee, lets guess - Futterman, Ayers, Loevy, Protess - how close were we?)

In other words, people with ingrained prejudices against the police, people with histories versus the police, people whose livelihood relies on suing the police - people with axes to grind. How many of these "interviewees" fit into one or more of those categories? How many were selected at random, or did they all volunteer to come forward with their stories? We know that certain retirees who left or resigned under investigation were all to eager to sit with the DOJ to air their supposed "grievances."

More importantly, how many of these stories fall outside the supposed window of 2011 to 2016? Some? Many? All? We don't know because in every single example cited throughout the report, no dates are given. Some of these stories could be ten or twenty years old. Maybe more, seeing as how they bring up Burge who has been gone for almost 25 years now.

A slapdash report like this, with minimal footnotes and references, calls into question the validity of the rest of the "conclusions" if they're based on faulty metrics. But don't expect a lazy media in thrall to Rahm and his cronies to take any serious look behind the curtain.

Off Duty Shooting

After being shot at, returns fire and wounds the assailant:

• A person was shot when an off-duty Chicago Police sergeant returned fire during a shooting Sunday evening in the Albany Park neighborhood.
  
  The Town Hall District sergeant was walking with several friends about 7:30 p.m. in the 4500 block of North Kedzie when a group of people in a dark-colored vehicle pulled up and instigated an argument, according to a statement from Chicago Police.
  
  The vehicle then pulled into a nearby business parking lot and turned around toward the sergeant and his friends to continue arguing, police said. Someone inside the vehicle brandished a gun and opened fire at the sergeant and the people he was with. The sergeant returned fire at the vehicle, which drove away.
  
  A short time later, a male showed up at Swedish Covenant Hospital with a gunshot wound to his head, police said. Investigators suspected he was involved in the shooting with the off-duty officer and searched the area around the hospital. A weapon was found in the hospital’s parking lot.

Good shot as he winged the assailant who had been firing at himself and his friends. Watch yourselves out there.

An Interesting Turn

So the ACLU wants all government cameras off for the Inauguration:

• Civil rights groups are concerned that the police will violate their rights during the Inauguration protests so they intend to record their behavior. Meanwhile, the ACLU is demanding that the police turn off their body worn cameras during the events.
  
  D.C. Police say their policy is to only record when there is a police activity and they do not consider monitoring protests an activity.
  
  “We are concerned what they will do with the data,” says Monica Hopkins-Maxwell of the District of Columbia ACLU.
  
  Ironically, at the same time the ACLU demands that the police not record their activities, they have launched a new app called “Mobile Justice” that encourages others to record law enforcement.

In light of the potential for directed disruption (leftists), terrorism (local and international), and 'protests' that morph into something more sinister, we'd think the every camera in the nation ought to be turned on this Friday.

We're In

All in, both feet, no argument:

• Crime has taken over America’s inner-city communities. With sky-high murder rates and racial tensions worse than at any time in recent memory, many are beginning to wonder what can be done to make our communities safe again.
  
  Black Lives matter has an answer. They want to take police out of the communities altogether.
  
  It would certainly put an end to the officer-involved shootings that have enraged the black community. Without police officers, criminals would be free to shoot and kill whoever they want — and Black Lives Matter never seems to mind when a young black man is shot and killed by one of their own

And the Department could redirect those resources. Sounds like a win for everyone - under-served communities get more police, less payouts due to less confrontations so taxpayers win, less wear and tear on equipment since there will be less chases, funeral directors will experience a giant upswing in business....oh wait.

Messy Weekend - Police Shooting, Too

It's a holiday weekend don't you know:

• Twenty-four people have been shot across the city over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend, leaving seven dead, according to Chicago Police.
  
  Shortly after midnight on Sunday on the West Side, Chicago Police officers chased and shot an armed man several times in the East Garfield Park neighborhood, police said. Officers suspect he was involved in another shooting. Police found a 51-year-old woman shot in the chest and another woman who might have been injured in the initial shooting. The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating the incident.

The subject had just shot three other other people before being stopped by responding officers. No cops hurt, weapon recovered, and the Department of "Justice" far far away from there. According to HeyJackass.com, the west side has accounted for 5 of the deaths and 15 of the wounded.

Initial Impressions

We continue to plow through the DOJ "Report" this weekend between jobs and deciding where lunch is going to be. We'll probably be addressing a bunch of items during the week.

However, how is it possible to take any of this seriously when there are so many factual errors and disguised half-truths?

Page 1, paragraph 4:

• "...and the resignation of Chicago's police superintendent."

McCarthy was fired. Google it. He refused to resign and Rahm canned him after pledging to have his back not even 24-hours before.

Page 2, paragraph 3:

• "In addition to speaking with the Superintendent..."

Which one? The guy running the show then? The DOJ says they couldn't find him - perhaps they forgot to ask the media who seems to have his direct number and calendar since he's never lacking for a quote. The current accidental Superintendent? He was one of the guys signing off on the McDonald shooting, was appointed to a job he never sought and is compromised by his bed mate's testing habits. How about the "Acting Supe," De-Escalante, who was "running things" when the DOJ arrived? No where to be heard from.

Page 16, paragraph 5:

• The City is racially diverse: 33% of current residents are black, 32% are white, 29% are Latino, and 8% identify as Asian or multi-racial.

First of all, that's 102%.

Second, whites are the minority.

Oops. That kind of throws a wrench in the assumptions of the entire report. But hey, Lynch and Gupta and Obama wanted a certain result and they got it.

And again, look in our right-hand column of links right below the pictures - the one labeled "Problems Facing the Department." It's like Lynch stole stuff we've been writing about for a decade now, and we're Libertarian-Republicans.

Charity Hockey Game

As die hard hockey fans, we seldom miss these fundraisers:

• The Chicago Police Department and Chicago Fire Department will face off in a charity hockey game Jan. 22. The game will be played from 6:50-8:30 p.m. at the Morgan Park Sports Center, at 11505 S. Western Ave. Tickets cost $10. Children 10 and younger can attend the rivalry game for free, according to Adam Katz, a police detective and hockey player who is among the organizers of the game.
  
  Proceeds from the event will be donated to Salute Inc., a charity that provides financial support to returning military men and women. Katz expects the game to raise about $10,000 for the Arlington Heights-based organization.

Good luck CPD.

And Once Again...

Four years ago we wrote about this:

• A veteran Chicago police detective has been relieved of police powers after she was charged with misdemeanor theft for trying to take about $200 worth of vitamins from a Lake View grocery on Friday afternoon, according to police and law enforcement sources.
  
  Law enforcement sources identified the female detective as [CH], a 12-year-veteran, who was arrested about 2 p.m. Friday after allegedly stealing the vitamins from the Whole Foods at 3300 N. Ashland Ave., the sources said.

At the time, there was no DOJ report outlining disparate disciplinary outcomes for connected people who managed to evade consequences for their illegal actions. Reading over the comments, people were sure she'd be fired.

Today, this arrived in the comment sections:

• [CH], 45, XXXX W. Belmont Avenue, Chicago, IL was arrested on December 24, 2016 at 12:59 pm for theft of goods. A deputy responded to a complaint of shoplifting at a store in Bayou Vista. The deputy spoke with store security and learned that [H] was seen placing reading glasses into a book sack she was carrying. [H] was released on a summons to appear in court on March 8, 2017.

Any bets if she keeps her job this time with that DOJ report floating around? Special Ed and Rahm made all sorts of appropriately conciliatory noises for the media. What kind of noises are they going to make about the two-and-three tiers of discipline the Department operates under?