About That "Extra Thousand" Cops

Slum times carrying water for Groot and Special Ed again:

• An additional 1,000 Chicago Police officers will be deployed every night during Labor Day weekend in an effort to curb the holiday weekend’s gun violence.
  
  CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson announced the department’s anti-violence strategies, which range from increased patrols to a series of pre-emptive raids, during a press conference Friday at police headquarters.

This is in direct contradiction of the article the Slum Times just three days prior:

• “These holidays don’t sneak up on us every year,” Johnson said, explaining the rationale behind the increased presence. “What we do is we look at the successes we made from Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. So we’ll be putting, you know, upwards of 1,000 additional officers out there again in a lot of our challenging areas.”
  
  That will include Cook County Sheriff’s officers, federal partners and Illinois State police, making for a “heavier uniformed presence,” Johnson said during the regular “Accountability Tuesday” press conference to discuss crime statistics from the previous weekend.

So now it's all CPD....forget about those sheriffs, feds and ISP people.

Oh, and about those sheriffs? We got this e-mail from someone on the inside:

• You’d probably be interested to know that in the 015th district, several Cook County Correctional Officers are being sent out from the jail to walk on foot patrol or in a squad to patrol 015 during the day. They have no police powers, no police training, nothing! Body cam and a plastic cheater CPD radio.
  
  They’re part of the Emergency Response Team (“ERT”) under the supervision of juiced-up county hacks Director Richard Brogan, Director Michael Brady, and also Director David Chiko- who happens to conveniently have several lucrative private security contracts- Millennium Park, etc.
  
  Half of the guys they have patrolling aren’t even part of that ERT team- they’re simply juiced up. Talk about putting people in harm’s way. Little to no training, not certified to drive a squad car much less make an arrest, no qualifications and poor backup. Hey Dart, what could possibly go wrong?....
  
  Best part? When the actual Sheriff’s Police Officers do show up, they were told my the top CCSPD brass, namely 1st Deputy Chief Brian White, to “Do not get involved. Don’t do shit. You’re there for a presence, not for productivity.”

So are they just there for the overtime? Because with fake radios and no training, they're walking lawsuits waiting to give away taxpayer money.

Busy Day on the River

So the Marine Unit gets called for a floater in the South Branch. Then they find a second body:

• Two bodies, one of them badly decomposed, were found within about an hour of each other Friday morning in different parts of the South Branch of the Chicago River, according to Chicago police.
  
  The marine unit responded to a call of a body in the water in the 2700 block of South Damen Avenue about 6:40 a.m., according to police. Officers found the body of a Hispanic male of unknown age at 31st Street and Western Avenue, police spokeswoman Karie James said.
  
  As police were leaving the scene about 7:50 a.m., they were alerted to a second body in the water around the 2400 block of South Halsted Street. The body was that of a man, wearing a dark T-shirt and camouflage pants. The body was “badly decomposed,” James said.
  
  Detectives were conducting death investigations.

It's not always Baywatch we suppose.

Late Notice - Ride for Kristine

A few weeks ago, we had a post up for a family member of a CFD member:

• I’m am a CFD Medic. My cousin who is 30, just started her nursing career, was hit by a drunk driver in Antioch on July 28. Repeat dui x 2 offender no license no insurance. She has suffered traumatic injuries, shes now a below knee amputee. She has rods plates etc in her arm and femur. We are doing a go-fund me for her she’s losing her insurance next month. We also have a Motorcycle Ride coming up September 1 in Woodstock to fox lake

The GoFundMe page is here


There's a motorcycle ride this weekend:

Sorry about the late notice, but Sunday is supposed to be a nice day for a ride. And like we said, we have a soft spot in our hearts for nurses.

(comments closed here)

Predict the Mayhem in the "Zone"

Time for the semi-regular, "Predict the Holiday Weekend Body Count Extravaganza!"

Rules are as follows:

• Clock starts ticking at 1700 hours today
• Clock stops at midnight, Monday night - 79 hours later

As usual, only the numbers from HeyJackass.com will be accepted - they are usually finalized around Tuesday morning.

Nice mix of weather on tap - a few warm days, a few rainy cool ones, and the added bonus of settling all summer grudges before school starts on Tuesday. Keep an eye on the west side.

A list of available side wageres is available at our Indiana Sports Book betting locations. We'll set the over/under at eight dead, thirty-seven maimed.

Groot Speech

As Clara Peller once said, "Where's the beef?"

• Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday entered the living rooms of Chicagoans in a televised address to warn of “hard choices” ahead — and revealed the bad-news number all were waiting for: a $838 million deficit.
  
  That was the main reveal in a 26-minute speech in which Lightfoot said no options are off the table to tackle the city’s financial crisis — and that she’d sacrifice herself “politically” to get it right.
  
  “Some of our solutions will be hard. Yes, they may involve putting ourselves at risk. And if it means that I sacrifice myself politically, so be it in pursuit of the right thing,” Lightfoot said at the Harold Washington Library’s Cindy Pritzker auditorium. “We don’t have a moment to lose.”
  
  Lightfoot noticeably pivoted to the state on two key issues: a Chicago casino and pension consolidation — showing her political hand in amping up the pressure for Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state lawmakers to help the city out.

A whole lot of hot air...more like a campaign commercial than a roadmap to solve problems. There weren't many suggestions for "cutting." More about "restructuring" and "hard choices" which we took to mean tax increases.

Self Important Jackass

Looks like we have a new Alderasshole (click for larger version):

Um. Why would police call an aldercreature to tell them about a homicide? So they can show up and do what exactly? Get in the way? By the way, CPIC emails aldercreatures when a shooting occurs - it's part of the written protocol. If your staff is too dumb to figure out how to retrieve e-mails that go out every single time, perhaps you need a new I.T. person?

And a traffic crash? In which no one died and no significant property damage? Who would want to know about that unless there's some axe to grind? By the way, you can buy a cheap scanner online for about $100. Then you can be wired in constantly.

New Dart Scandal

And Dart is throwing everyone he can under the bus to deflect the blame of this one:

• SCC,
  
  So Dart approved a field trip for inmates to Navy Pier earlier this month. Repeat felons met up with family members and were allowed to walk around certain areas without direct supervision, along with tourists and citizens out for a nice day trip, many of who were noticeably shocked at prisoners wandering around in leg irons and handcuffs.
  
  Guess how much extra contraband made it's way into the jail?

Jail isn't supposed to be a nice time. Otherwise people (and folks) might get the idea that it's fun to spend time there.

Field trips? What won't this asshole do next?

School Officer Rules

This waste of manpower continues:

• An agreement that set new ground rules for officers working in Chicago Public Schools was approved Wednesday despite months of public scrutiny and heavy criticism from students and one school board member who voted against the measure.
  
  The plan, known as an intergovernmental agreement, laid out which scenarios should — and which should not — involve Chicago police officers stationed in schools, how the officers are selected for different schools and how a school can remove its officers.
  
  The new rules came after 19 community meetings held at the end of this past school year and over the summer in which CPS and CPD representatives heard concerns and suggestions for reform.
  
  The plan passed 5-1 at the Board of Education’s monthly meeting, but hours earlier a dozen students stood outside CPS headquarters downtown and urged the school district to keep officers out of schools.

Here's an idea:

• Don't put officers where they aren't wanted

CPS administrators don't want us there. The students don't want us there. The schools refuse, time and again, to sign complaints for criminal matters. Teachers refuse to cooperate with investigations. The entire community is sold on this "school-to-prison pipeline" bullshit.

Don't man the schools. Respond only to situations that spiral out-of-control. Do not set foot into schools without a signed invitation from the administration and then only under direct supervision of the Watch/Field Lieutenant.

You want "no-go" zones - you got it.

Good Question

Kass finally getting the spotlight on someone who knows what's what:

• Will Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx — the key player in the Jussie Smollett hate crime hoax fiasco — invoke the Fifth Amendment when questioned by special prosecutor Dan Webb?
  
  “You think she’ll take the Fifth?” retired Judge Sheila O’Brien asked on my podcast, “The Chicago Way.”
  
  Stunning questions are often the simplest. I was stunned to the soles of my shoes.
  
  “That’s my question. Does she take the Fifth? Think of it,” O’Brien said. “You’re Kim Foxx now, and you’re thinking, ‘I’ve got to hire a lawyer.’ The county can’t pay for that, I don’t think. Hope not. You’re her lawyer now. What do you do? She has that right. Do you have her take the Fifth?”
  
  According to other lawyers and judges I interviewed, Foxx’s defense attorneys would be sorely tempted to have her take the Fifth, even before a grand jury.

When you get down to the brass tack, this isn't about Smell-it. It's about influence peddling and Mrs. Sparklefarts former Chief of Staff and lawyer/fixer Tina Tchen, not to mention the Family Sparklefarts themselves and their actions behind the scenes.

Our best guess is the Chicago Machine is in the midst of an internecine (look that one up) war between the Old Guard and the Prickwrinkle faction which is currently aligned with the Sparklefarts people.

Manufactured Evidence?

By the Sparkelfarts administration? To achieve a political end?

• The union representing the Chicago Police is demanding that the Department of Justice consider new findings that the Obama Administration relied on manufactured evidence in an investigation of the CPD that led to a consent decree. The consent decree, a court order that forces the overhaul of the department’s policies and practices, went into effect in March of this year.
  
  The FOP Lodge 7 is asking the Trump DOJ to “grant Chicago Police Officers equal treatment under the law,” in an Aug. 21 letter to John Lausch, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. The letter was signed by FOP President Kevin Graham and Second Vice President Martin Preib.
  
  “The Obama investigation was politically motivated, and evidence coming out now surrounding some past murder cases shows that there has been a pattern of trumping up allegations of misconduct against the police,” Preib told Chicago City Wire.
  
  Preib said that Lausch’s office has yet to respond to the letter.

Of course it was a manufactured set of scenarios. Had the city actually fought numerous lawsuits in years past instead of settling, the truth would have come out in so many more cases, blowing holes in the supposed "Innocence Project." They were busy creating narratives - not actually seeking justice, and whoring out journalism students to gain falsified statement. In many of the cited cases, judges refused to grant "certificates of innocence" because those being suit were obviously guilty - far beyond a reasonable doubt - and even Cook County judges weren't completely stupid.

We don't see where this goes though. It's the Illinois States Attorney running the show, not the US Attorney General.

Action, Reaction

NYPD is taking fetal to a whole new level:

• The number of arrests and criminal summonses handled by city cops last week plummeted compared to the same period in 2018 — and law enforcement sources warn it’s the “Pantaleo Effect.’’
  
  Officer Daniel Pantaleo was fired by NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill on Aug. 19 over his role in the fatal takedown of Staten Island cigarette peddler Eric Garner, enraging police officers and their union leaders, who argue the cop was simply doing his job during an arrest.
  
  Police Benevolent Association chief Patrick Lynch responded by angrily telling his members to “proceed with the utmost caution’’ when answering calls — and new statistics obtained by The Post on Monday suggest officers are heeding his warning.
  
  Arrests dropped 27% between Aug. 19 — the day Pantaleo was fired — and Aug. 25 compared to the same period in 2018, with police making 3,508 busts compared to 4,827.
  
  The number of criminal summonses issued fell nearly 29% over the same period, going from 1,655 to 1,181, the figures show.

Hopefully, they take it even further.

And anyone looking for the GoFundMe page for their fired officer, try this link.

Interesting Ad

Springfield Armory is going to roll out something new this September. They've got a countdown clock and everything at this link here. We're imagining it's a new self defense pistol based on the advertising - take a look at this screen shot (click for larger version):

That skyline isn't exactly familiar.....except for that tall black building, dead center of the ad. Whatever they're selling, their message seems pretty clear, and we don't blame them for a second using certain imagery to sell their product.

Labor Day Plan

Flood the Zone! (aka "Same ol' Same 'ol"):

• Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Tuesday she’ll once again “flood the zone” over Labor Day weekend, upping police presence in the city to try to reduce gun violence.
  
  Lightfoot and Chicago Police Department Supt. Eddie Johnson discussed their crime-fighting tactics at City Hall after the mayor’s weekly meeting with CPD brass.
  
  “These holidays don’t sneak up on us every year,” Johnson said, explaining the rationale behind the increased presence. “What we do is we look at the successes we made from Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. So we’ll be putting, you know, upwards of 1,000 additional officers out there again in a lot of our challenging areas.”
  
  That will include Cook County Sheriff’s officers, federal partners and Illinois State police, making for a “heavier uniformed presence,” Johnson said during the regular “Accountability Tuesday” press conference to discuss crime statistics from the previous weekend.

No word yet on where Groot will be spending the holiday. We don't think she has spent a single weekend in the city during her first 100 days.

The Slum Times does the FOP a huge favor before Thursday's "state of the city" address:

• Before discussing the coming weekend, Lightfoot shared bright spots from summer crime stats:
  
  • Murders are down 15 percent from last year — the lowest number the city has seen since 2015.
  
  • Shootings are also down 12 percent since last year — the lowest number the city has seen since 2014.
  
  • The number of shooting victims is 10 percent lower than last year — also the lowest since 2014.
  
  And, Lightfoot said, in the last two months, the city has seen “an acceleration of these declines.” Whether or not that’s because of the policing, or the cooler weather or “dumb luck,” Lightfoot said she and the police department have been “very intentional” about the work they’ve been doing.

We aren't sure, but all of those declines certainly seem to rhyme with the words "16% and a retro check." Hopefully, the FOP is hearing the same tune we are.

Clean Slates

At least as far as Illinois is concerned:

• Tens of thousands of cannabis convictions will be automatically expunged under a partnership between a tech nonprofit and Cook County prosecutors, part of an effort State’s Attorney Kim Foxx characterized as “righting the wrongs of the past.”
  
  Foxx said the collaboration with Code for America would help atone for prosecutors’ role in an overzealous “war on drugs.”
  
  “It is prosecutors who were part of the war on drugs, we were part of a larger ecosystem that believed that in the interest of public safety, that these were convictions that were necessary to gain,” Foxx said at a news conference Tuesday. “In the benefit of hindsight and looking at the impact of the war on drugs, it is also prosecutors who have to be at the table to ensure that we are righting the wrongs of the past.”

Um....dumbass? These were laws. Laws passed by legislatures. Prosecutors, believe it or not, actually are tasked with prosecuting violations of the criminal code. We know that's news to Crimesha, but once upon a time, prosecutors ran for office based on their ability to convict criminals.

Now, we realize attitudes have changed regarding weed use, and it's economically unfeasible to jail everyone, nearly impossible to fine everyone and too much potential profit to be made in weed cultivation, which is the actual driving force behind the legalization push. But that doesn't mean prosecutors were wrong for doing their jobs.

Promotional Exam Coming

Special Ed emerges from his burrow and sees his shado....wait that's something else:

• Dear Members,
  
  I'm pleased to announce that we will soon offer a Sergeant Promotional Exam. Planning and development for this exam has been taking place for the last several months. An official posting for this exam will be coming out in September, with a tentative exam date slated for mid-December 2019. We would like to provide our members who are interested in the rank of Sergeant ample opportunity to prepare.
  
  Thank you for all the hard work you do every day.
  
  As always, stay safe.
  
  Sincerely,
  Groot's Plaything

Remember, Special Ed's kid is already taking one of the spots, so you're going to have to really really study hard to even have a shot. And that's not even taking into consideration the people studying the actual test.

This also means the planned October class of sergeants is likely the last one (or second to last one ) off the list.

City Broke? Not Even Close

Groot better not be crying poor:

• When aldermen rushed to approve a $1.3 billion tax subsidy for the Lincoln Yards megadevelopment in April, the conventional wisdom at City Hall was that then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel wanted the deal done before he left office to burnish his legacy as a leader who made Chicago boom again.
  
  For developer Sterling Bay, there was uncertainty about reopening negotiations with incoming mayor Lori Lightfoot, who had expressed reservations about the deal for months.
  
  But the clock also was ticking for another reason. If Emanuel and Sterling Bay had waited much longer, the development no longer would have qualified for its record-high taxpayer subsidy, a Tribune analysis has found.
  
  To get the money, the area had to meet at least five state standards to be considered “blighted." The city could then designate it as a tax increment financing district. At the time of the vote, the area met the bare minimum.

$1.3 billion - with a B - given away. And Groot about to tell everyone Rahm stuck her with a $1 billion shortfall.

Makes perfect sense.

Groot Takes on Teachers

This is going to be entertaining - commies versus progressives:

• Chicago Public School teachers are one step closer to a possible strike after rejecting the city's latest contract offer.
  
  CPS increased its offer to teachers after a recommendation from an independent fact finder, but the union rejected the fact finder's report, setting the state for a potential strike if a deal isn't reached in the next 30 days.
  
  Mayor Lori Lightfoot welcomed CPS teachers back to their classrooms Monday, and is hoping they will have a new contract by the time school starts on September 3. The city is sweetening the deal by upping its offer of a 14 percent raise over the next five years to 16 percent.

Coming a few days before Groot's "state of the city" address, the CTU is playing chicken with a weak mayor who is about to break bad news all over Chicagoans.

This might actually work out for the FOP if Groot's speech attempts to blame the police, but here are the teachers turning down 14%. The FOP ought to have a few press releases or such to point out the greedy teachers are turning down a sizable percentage AND still only pay a tiny fraction of what everyone else does to the sickly pensions.

011 Leads Again

You know those "accountability" meetings?

No one is ever held accountable:

• One of two men hit by gunfire Monday afternoon while standing on a sidewalk in the East Garfield Park neighborhood has died, police said.
  
  The men were shot just before 1:30 p.m. in the 3900 block of West Lake Street in East Garfield Park, according to police.
  
  A 25-year-old male suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A 21-year-old man who suffered multiple gunshot wounds also was taken to Stroger, and he was listed in critical condition.

011 is leading the city in homicides by almost 20 dead bodies, pretty much securing the title for a sixth year in a row. Driving this effort is a string of five homicides in five days according to more than a few e-mails.

Is the commander held to account? Is the Area Deputy Chief flooding the District with Special Operations? Targeted Response Units? Is the Superintendent being asked the difficult questions? Isn't someone accountable for the failures to tame the most violent District in the city?

Seeing as how there isn't a single demotion coming over the AdMin fax messages, we're going to guess the answer is "no."

More Crimesha Scandal

Back in 2009, there was a particularly brutal murder on the far south side - Derrion Albert was beaten to death with what appeared to be a length of two-by-six from a sawhorse. What made it especially memorable was the video bystanders took of the gang bangers chasing down and swinging the piece of lumber.

Something like five individuals were charged, all pled or were convicted and four ended up serving prison sentences - where they remain. One, a juvenile, got what amounted to a pass on a Crimesha Foxxx program:

• The family of 16-year-old Derrion Albert wants to know why one of the men convicted in his murder is now free. The 16-year-old Fenger High School honors student was on the way home from school when he was caught in the middle of a gang fight and killed in 2009.
  
  The I-Team has been looking into the Cook County State's Attorney decisions in the wake of the Jussie Smollett case and uncovered that the Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx decided not to pursue a stiff prison sentence for one of the attackers shortly after she took office.
  
  Cook County prosecutors charged four teens involved in the gang melee that led to Albert's death as adults. Three were convicted of murder at trial. One pleaded guilty. All are serving prison sentences.
  
  But one teen - known then as "D.J." - was 14 at the time. Prosecutors say he punched Albert and knocked him down, saying that he signed "his death certificate." Prosecutors decided to charge him as a juvenile in a special kind of case called an Extended Jurisdiction Juvenile prosecution or EJJ.

At the time, Crimesha refused to explain her reasoning to the victim's family.

Guess what "D.J." has been up to lately?

• One of the men convicted in the 2009 murder of 16-year-old Fenger High School honors student Derrion Albert is back in custody on a new gun charge-and now being held without bond-the I-Team has learned.
  
  Sunday afternoon, Chicago police arrested 24-year-old Dionte Johnson in the 10700-block of South Cottage Grove after a foot chase. According to police, officers on patrol saw Johnson "grab at an object in the front of his waistband" and approached him on the 10700-block of South Champlain Avenue. When officers "attempted a protective pat down," Johnson allegedly jumped over a porch railing and ran away from the officers. During the chase, officers say they saw Johnson pull a semi-automatic handgun from the front of his pants and throw the weapon. Officers placed Johnson into custody after the chase and recovered the weapon.

Crimesha's office had another chance in 2016 to jail this asshole on the original 30-year sentence and passed on it again!

• Prosecutors decided to charge him as a juvenile in a special kind of case called an Extended Jurisdiction Juvenile prosecution or EJJ. That means although Johnson was convicted as a juvenile, he was also sentenced to 30 years as an adult on the underlying offense of murder. However, that sentence would be stayed and not enforced unless he was convicted of a new felony after being released from juvenile custody.
  
  In 2015, Dionte Johnson, out of juvenile prison, was arrested and charged with felony aggravated fleeing after a Chicago police chase. Court records obtained by the I-Team show prosecutors filed notice that they were "seeking to revoke stay of his adult sentence." Johnson was convicted of the felony on November 8, 2016. Soon after, the Albert family says they were called to a meeting at the juvenile court building with new State's Attorney Foxx to be told that Cook County prosecutors were no longer seeking to enforce the 30-year sentence. Instead, they asked a judge for probation.

This is who the democratic party supports for reelection.

How Much?

This boggles the mind (story from the CWB blog):

• An armored car driver has been charged with stealing more than a half-million dollars from his North Side employer. In coins.
  
  Managers at Thillens Cagistics called police to the company warehouse at 4242 North Elston on Monday afternoon when an audit revealed that $537,088.22 had gone missing between May 10 and Aug. 18.

Three months and over half-a-million? It makes that recently convicted idiot selling accident info to lawyers for $10 grand over the years look like an even bigger idiot.

It also makes us wonder about Thillens security measures = half-a-million in coins has to weigh many hundreds of pounds at the very least.

This isn't the end of the stupid though:

• Company representatives told investigators that 28-year-old Cameron Bowman of Riverdale stole the money by putting incorrect totals into a computer. While Bowman did not admit to any wrongdoing, police said, he did ask if he could leave and return with the money.
  
  Bowman left for about an hour and came back with a Ziploc bag containing $25,300 in $100 bills, police said.

They let him leave? Alone? And he comes back with 5% of the stolen total and expects a walk? Is this when the police were finally called?

Guess what his bail was?

• Prosecutors charged Bowman with one count of felony theft of more than $500,000. Judge Charles Beach set bail at $30,000, and Bowman went free by posting a 10% deposit bond of $3,000. He is due back in court Monday.

Less than 1% of the total stolen as bail? This guy must have had the biggest shit-eating grin standing in front of the judge.

Rumor is he paid the bail in rolls of dimes and nickels, and Dart was only too happy to accept it.

Another Mass Shooting

Chicago almost got through a weekend without a "mass shooting" as defined by the lib-turds:

• A teen was killed, and three people were wounded in a shooting Sunday in Chatham on the South Side, according to police. They were among a group of 30 to 40 people gathered about 3:33 a.m. in the 8200 block of South Maryland Avenue when shots rang out from an unknown direction, Chicago police said.
  
  Witnesses gave varying and inconsistent accounts of the events leading up to the shooting, police said.
  
  Dontevon Gates, 17, was hit in the neck and back and rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. An autopsy has been scheduled to determine his cause of death.

We're going to take a wild guess at the cause of death and say, "bullet(s) to the neck and back" and try to save Prickwrinkle a couple of bucks from having the M.E.'s office do their regular butchery.

We're also going to wonder aloud at the wisdom of being out in a large group at 0330 hours.

Anyone know what time the anti-gun marches start?

Another Thirty Shot

Almost like clockwork:

• 2:00p Stupidity Tally: 5 killed, 25 wounded
  2018 weekend tally: 4 killed, 29 wounded
  2017 weekend tally: 7 killed, 26 wounded
  2016 weekend tally: 15 killed, 57 wounded
  2015 weekend tally: 6 killed, 30 wounded
  2014 weekend tally: 7 killed, 36 wounded

As you can see (pending last minute changes) crime is once again, down slightly.

All due to the fine work by the police - whom Groot wants to screw over at the bargaining table.

Groot's Survey

Groot wants your opinion before she gives her State of the City address this week.

Here's a link to it.

Did you notice what is featured prominently in almost half of the questions?

• Question #3 - Police Services
• Question #4 - Police Budget - reduce, remain the same, increase
• Question #6 - divide an imaginary $1000 budget among services - #1 slot? Police

Online surveys don't mean much. You can answer it many times from different computers, lie about your zip code, demographics, etc. If you know anything about surveys, you can slant the numbers by phrasing or posing question in a certain manner.

By placing the "police" question at the top of almost half the questions, does anyone else get the impression that the Department is going to be front-and-center of Groot's budget address? Kind of like the rumors we posted last week?

Listen closely to the chatter this week.

Stay Aware

Yet another off-duty shooting:

• An off-duty police officer was involved in a shootout in the city's Burnside neighborhood early Saturday morning.
  
  Police said the officer parked his car at about 2:35 a.m. in the 9100 block of S. Ellis Ave, two blocks from the Cottage Grove green line stop.
  
  Three men exited two different vehicles and approached him.
  
  At least one of them pointed a gun at the officer. The officer showed the men his weapon, and one of the men started shooting.
  
  The officer shot back at the men. No one was struck or wounded.
  
  A bystander who did not want to share their name said they heard around 50 shots and immediately dialed 911.

It's almost like there aren't any consequences for shooting at cops....oh wait, there aren't.

(As usual, all comments regarding a perceived lack of marksmanship will be deleted.)

How Many I-bonds?

The Crime in Wrigleyville and Boystown blog is still the only place to get consistent stories about how broken the Cook County system is:

• Hard to believe it’s almost Labor Day. It’s been a busy year. Particularly so for 20-year-old Austin Corrado of Rogers Park.
  
  So far this year, he’s been charged with felony burglary, released on a recognizance bond, charged with criminal damage to property and assault, released on another recognizance bond, charged with battery, released on a third recognizance bond, charged with battery and obstruction of identification, released on a fourth recognizance bond, and pleaded guilty to battery in exchange for a sentence of six months court supervision. And that was all before the Fourth of July.
  
  He’s currently in jail, accused of robbing a 12-year-old and burglarizing a home. Both of those crimes allegedly occurred while he was free on multiple recognizance bonds—including one for felony residential burglary—according to court records.

Hop over the the link up top and check out the mug shots. When we worked the desk, there was a charge - Violation of Bail Bond - that required an appearance before a judge...no ifs ands or buts. You saw a judge, period. And Evans, abetted by Prickwrinkle and Crimesha, is allowing judges to free repeat criminals on I-Bonds.

But remember, the police are the problem.

Burke Unemployed?

What was the severance package?

• Embattled Ald. Edward Burke is no longer a partner at the downtown law firm where he did property tax appeal work for a long list of influential businesses and where federal authorities allege he tried to strong-arm people into becoming clients in exchange for help at City Hall, records show.
  
  According to paperwork the Klafter & Burke law firm filed with Secretary of State Jesse White’s office in April, Burke dissociated from his partnership in the firm. That leaves Burke’s daughter, Jennifer, and two others as partners in the firm, according to the documents.
  
  Reached by phone earlier this month, the alderman declined to discuss his relationship with the firm. Representatives of the firm could not be reached for comment.

Does this "dissociation" mean that Burke is seeing the writing on the wall and he's trying to protect the firm? The feds have him dead-bang on the wire? We can all hope so.

Consent Decree Dead

Killed by none other than Lightgroot:

• Days before she’s scheduled to give a speech on Chicago’s massive budget deficit, Mayor Lori Lightfoot has imposed a hiring freeze across all departments and positions in city government, including police.
  
  The administration announced the move in a memo earlier this week from Budget Director Susie Park to all city commissioners and department heads. In an interview, Park told the Tribune there are about 3,000 vacancies citywide affected by the freeze.

Has anyone here sat down and read the Consent Decree? Has Groot even read it?

Has anyone been at Roll Calls where the Consent Decree people give their little speech outlining all the hiring and promotions that are required to be undertaken by a Department under a Consent Decree? They're talking 300 new sergeants at a minimum to properly supervise, along with 50-to-80 lieutenants. This is the time to be studying for the next test, because the classes are going to be coming quickly in order to meet the Consent Decree requirements - requirements overseen and enforced by a judge.

Unless Groot refuses to hire. Then what?

The last hiring freeze was about 12 years ago and if you remember, it gave rise to all sorts of shortages, promotional lists that stayed up for nine years, Department wide burnout, unmanned cars over all watches, and led directly to the closing of three Districts and two Areas after McCompStat arrived - due to staffing shortages. It impacted training across the board and (in our opinion) led to a breakdown of institutional knowledge. The burnout we observed was worrisome. It was also the subject of countless articles and critiques here.

No manpower means no Consent Decree. The Department would be incapable of meeting many of the "requirements" and cannot properly Patrol, Serve and Protect the citizenry.

ISP Killed Serving Warrant

Another Line of Duty death:

• An Illinois State Police trooper has died from gunshot wounds suffered while executing a search warrant in East St. Louis. Illinois State Police Acting Director Brendan Kelly says 33-year-old Trooper Nicholas Hopkins, a 10-year veteran, died in St. Louis University Hospital.
  
  Hopkins, of Waterloo, was wounded early Friday during an exchange of gunfire while serving the warrant at an East St. Louis home. After the shooting, police surrounded the home and arrested at least two people. Authorities say efforts to apprehend another suspect continue. Police didn't say if anyone else was shot, nor have they revealed the issues addressed in the search warrant.
  
  Waterloo Mayor Tom Smith says Hopkins was married and the father of four-year-old twins and an infant daughter.

Deepest condolences to his wife, children, friends and the Illinois State Police family.

Godspeed Trooper.

This Guy Again?

The Jussie Smell-it case lives!

• He has plumbed the secrets of the Iran-Contra affair and questioned sitting presidents under oath. He has led investigations that have sent cops, judges and city employees to prison in a sprawling corruption case.
  
  Now, legendary Chicago lawyer Dan Webb will again take up the role of special prosecutor, this time to examine whether a television actor clumsily staged a hate crime attack, then got a sweetheart deal from prosecutors.
  
  Cook County Judge Michael Toomin on Friday appointed Webb and his powerhouse law firm, Winston & Strawn, to probe State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s controversial handling of criminal charges against Jussie Smollett, duties that could lead to new charges against the “Empire” actor and have considerable impact on Foxx’s bid for a second term.

Webb has quite the reputation to anyone who follows Chicago politics, and Toomin appears to have given him wide leeway in what and who he can investigate, including the ability to level new charges related to the staged crime. But those would be State charges, and that might endanger Prickwrinkle's State's Attorney.

One has to wonder why Smell-it hasn't been indicted on Federal charges for the stunt with the powder through the mail yet.

This Again?

Listen up Brainiacs - if you think you've stumbled across an easy was to make money, trust us - someone has done it long before you "discovered" it.....and someone at IAD has a file on it.

• A veteran Chicago police officer pleaded guilty Thursday to taking thousands of dollars in bribes from the owner of a west suburban attorney referral service in exchange for exclusive information about crash victims and their insurance carriers.
  
  Milot Cadichon, 47, pleaded guilty to one count of bribery before U.S. District Judge Robert Dow, admitting in a plea agreement with prosecutors to accepting at least $10,000 in kickbacks dating back to 2015.
  
  Cadichon faces up to about three years in prison based on preliminary sentencing guidelines, although his attorneys are free to argue for probation. He was stripped of his police powers after he was charged in 2018.

Three years.....for $10,000.....over years. You could have done VRI once a month and you'd still have freedom and a pension.

What's This Scandal?

Gee, another exempt member in hot water?

• Area North Commander is about to get served with subpoena to be deposed as a witness, soon to be offender, in an investigation involving a subordinate accussed by a high ranking state employee of misconduct. The Commander will have to tell the truth cuz word is the subordinate has proof (video,audio, date, time stamps,names of everyone who "investigated" the alleged misconduct. Turns out the State was already working with this subordinate on a sexual harassment case against the state employee.Looks like she (state employee) is caught dirty in all sorts of ways. Problem is she dragged Area North detectives into her lies. Expect a few Sgts, the retiring Lt, and a few detectives who knew of this to be deposed in the pending lawsuit. DCFS is about to be rocked with a big scandal. Expect shit to roll soon. RC won't survive this unscathed.

Amazing that the unclouted have to pay the price for all these assholes time and time again.

More Smart Phone Uses

This is just funny:

• Anonymous said...But wait, there's more. The Samsung smartphone can be used as a Beat Tag, flashlight, ice scraper, Sap, alarm clock, Beat Book substitute, CAPS compensator, overtime calculator, time due applicator, furlough predictor, seniority arbitrator, rumor spreadicator, lunch time congregator, desk run order confirmator, end-of-shift station orbit indicator, after-work stop coordinator..... It just won't recognize a bad guy when it runs in to one. Just like it's papa, Jonathan Lewin! ......woops...did I say that?

Not only that, if you stick it in a sock, it makes one helluva sap.

California Again

Once again, redefining stupid:

• Crime-ridden San Francisco has introduced new sanitized language for criminals, getting rid of words such as “offender” and “addict” while changing “convicted felon” to “justice-involved person.”
  
  The Board of Supervisors adopted the changes last month even as the city reels from one of the highest crime rates in the country and staggering inequality exemplified by pervasive homelessness alongside Silicon Valley wealth.
  
  The local officials say the new language will help change people’s views about those who commit crimes.

Change people's views? That's what they're concerned about?

• According to the San Francisco Chronicle, from now on a convicted felon or an offender released from custody will be known as a “formerly incarcerated person,” or a “justice-involved” person or just a “returning resident.”
  
  A juvenile “delinquent” will now be called a “young person with justice system involvement,” or a “young person impacted by the juvenile justice system.”
  
  And drug addicts or substance abusers, meanwhile, will become “a person with a history of substance use.”

Wow. Just wow.

PDT's On the Way Out?

Experiments are underway:

• The Chicago Police Department is replacing the bulky, outdated computers that sit in department vehicles with new smartphone technology in one of the city’s most violence-plagued districts, officials announced Wednesday.
  
  The new technology will be installed by the end of the year in department vehicles in the Harrison Police District on the city’s West Side as part of a pilot program.
  
  Officers in the district will be able to quickly access data from police surveillance cameras, ShotSpotter technology, which tracks gunfire, intelligence from district data centers, information from license plate readers and other intelligence on a Samsung phone, police officials said. The officers can use the programs on the phone outside of the vehicle, then dock it into a screen with a keyboard installed into the car to be used to file reports and access the technology on a larger screen. They can also dock the phone into desktops at the district and other vehicles.

Granted, the PDT's are large and bulky. But they have a couple things going for them:

• you can see the screen without glasses
• you can rest a six-pack on the closed lid
• you aren't going to damage the whole system by docking and undocking multiple times a shift

Let's face it - coppers aren't gentle with equipment. But we'll have to see.

Let us know.

Police Shooting (UPDATE)

Details scant at the moment:

• An Chicago police officer shot a burglary suspect who possibly fled the scene Wednesday afternoon in the Hyde Park neighborhood, officials said.
  
  The officer spotted a burglary in process in the 5100 block of South Ingleside Avenue and fired shots at the assailant, head police spokesman Anthony [Google-me] tweeted.
  
  Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said no paramedics have responded in the area for a gunshot victim.
  
  A source said the robber fled the scene in a vehicle.

Some great reporting there by the Trib. The Sun Times isn't much better. Is there's some sort of blood trail?

UPDATE: No one hit?

Media Silence

Anyone know where Zorn, Glanton, Mope-rah and all the media's thug apologists are?

• Chicago police are questioning a homeowner who shot an intruder outside his West Side home. It happened at about 5 a.m. in the 2900 block of West Walnut.
  
  Police said the homeowner spotted the man in his backyard and shot him in the thigh. The wounded man was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he's listed in good condition.
  
  Police said the homeowner, who is a 54-year-old man, has a concealed carry license.

We can hardly wait for soy-beta-cuck Zorn to render a legal opinion on this one.

CHA Sign

Why would anyone want to save this relic of a failed urban policy?

• A dirty and dented historic Chicago Housing Authority sign — possibly one of the last remnants of one of the country’s most infamous public housing projects — was put in storage on Wednesday, with no immediate plans for its restoration or display after years of neglect.
  
  The sign has sat outside the sole remaining building from the Jane Addams Homes in Little Italy for at least two years, behind a chainlink fence but unprotected from the elements. The CHA donated the building to the National Public Housing Museum in 2008.
  
  Neither the museum nor the CHA could say how the sign — which was covered in dirt, twigs and rocks — ended up at Jane Addams. Neither have plans to repair it.

It's a sizable chunk of metal:

• The sign has a diameter of 12 feet and weighs approximately 200 pounds. It features the CHA’s old emblem — a handshake in front of a rising sun above a housing development — with the latin phrase “Ad Meliorem Vitam” (“a better life”) flowing inside a ribbon at the bottom. The year 1937 is listed in large numerals across the top.

Two-hundred pounds of steel scraps out at about $20 for the whole thing. We propose it go directly to the Pension Fund.

Soy Beta Cuck-Boy Speaks (Post #20,000)

Noted serial liar and slanderer Zorn demonstrates once again what a pussy he actually is:

• I can put myself in the position of the homeowner in Old Mill Creek, startled at a little past 1 a.m. on Aug. 13 by the sounds of six strangers in his driveway evidently attempting to break into his car.
  
  He went out onto his porch and brought along a small-caliber revolver.

Last we had heard, the homeowner had a .357. That is anything but a "small" revolver. The recoil alone would probably dislocate Zorn's girlish shoulders and the noise would loosen his bladder instantly.

• I don’t own a gun, but I probably would if I lived in Old Mill Creek, which isn’t a suburb so much as a lightly populated portion of horse country in Lake County just south of the Illinois-Wisconsin border.

Zorn own a gun? We'll take "Things that Would Never Happen" for $500 Alex.

• From the safety and literal and emotional distance of my position at the keyboard in my office in the light of day, my conclusion is that he was not justified in using deadly force against people who at the time were some 40 feet away, according to law enforcement officials.

That's why you're a newspaper "writer" and not an actual lawyer Eric, and a terrible arm-chair quarterback (that's a football player who throws a ball.)

Zorn goes on even more about gun owner's responsibilities, never once touching on the criminals responsibility to not touch/damage/take/trespass on shit that isn't theirs, and then he quotes another Soy Beta Cuck-boy from Northwestern University’s Center on Wrongful Convictions - those paragons of virtue who employed a serial fabulist for years.

No links for this asshole.

UPDATE: This post marks our 20,000th effort since May of 2005. Our thanks to everyone who has been here through thick and thin. We couldn't do it without the readers. Stay safe.

Hypocrite Much Groot?

Behold! The leader of Chicago!

• Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is enjoying a late summer vacation with her family in Maine. Normally that wouldn’t be newsworthy, except for the fact the mayor previously ordered police brass to cancel summer travel plans, and blasted the department’s No. 2 in command for failing to do so.
  
  In June, Mayor Lightfoot called it “incredibly disappointing” when she learned Chicago Police First Deputy Supt. Anthony Riccio had failed to follow her directive to command staff to cancel travel plans and remain in Chicago to combat a surge in summer violence. “The exempts have to set the example. And the example of doing something the mayor has directed them not to do is highly problematic,” Lightfoot said in June.
  
  Lightfoot’s weeklong vacation comes as violence — often fueled by warm weather and school vacations — continues to plague the city. This past weekend, three people were murdered and 22 people were injured in shootings. Before she left town, Lightfoot spoke about her desire for people to know she’s on the job and concerned about crime.

But not so concerned as to stick around and actually attempt to do something about it. No, that's for peons like Riccio (Riccio Riccio Riccio) and Supernintendo "How High Mayor Groot?" Special Ed Johnson.

FOP, you taking notes? Especially with the Time Due restrictions put in place (again!) for the Labor Day weekend.

The tone-deafness here is incredible.

A What Now?

Only in 011 (as far as we can tell):

• SCC,
  
  Once again the west side comes through. About a week ago, the second watch got a call of a Disturbance at a gas station. A disturbed individual was waving something around, pointing it at people and threatening to blow the place up. When officers arrived, they found he had an honest-to-god flame thrower. He keep lighting the ignition source and waving it around before cops managed to convince him to put the damn thing down.
  
  Did you know flame throwers are completely legal to own in all 50 states? Tesla sells them, the same guy who's going to tunnel from downtown to O'Hare one of these days.

We hadn't heard about this, but a quick check of arrests shows there was a guy arrested for Disorderly Conduct and a flame thrower was inventoried. We're going to call the Range tomorrow and see if this falls under "Auxiliary Weapons" and go qualify next week.

NYPD Demoralized

And rightfully so:

• New York City police officers are demoralized after the city’s termination of Daniel Pantaleo, the police officer involved in the 2014 death of Eric Garner, said former New York City Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik in a Monday interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight with host Rebecca Mansour and Joel Pollak.
  
  “I’m disappointed in the decision,” stated Kerik. “It’s not the decision I would have made. I’m disturbed, more so, by the commissioner’s comments surrounding his decision. If it was him, and he was in that position, he may have made a similar mistake. He would have told Garner, ‘Don’t do it. Don’t resist arrest.'”
  
  Kerik added, “This was a lawful arrest. How much backup do you need? You had three or four cops there. You need more than three or four cops to make one arrest? I don’t think so.”
  
  Kerik rejected characterizations of the maneuver used by Pantaleo on Garner as a “chokehold.”

Someone who claims they "can't breathe" eleven times is by definition, breathing.

And the autopsy said "heart attack."

And simply complying with lawful police orders regarding an infraction that New York City legislators thought was serious enough to pass a law against it, would have prevented all of this.

But Sparklefarts and Holder had to have their war against the police.

Did She Get Her Shots?

Who knows what diseases she might have caught - is there a GoFundMe page?

• A University of Chicago student was attacked early Monday by a man who shoved her to the ground and tried to sexually assault her, but she fought back by biting him and he ran off, Chicago and University police said.
  
  About 12:10 a.m. Monday Chicago police were called to the 5600 block of South Drexel Avenue, said police spokeswoman [...]. A 21-year-old student was walking there “when she was physically grabbed from behind and restrained forcefully,” [...].
  
  The alert states the student “was approached from behind by an unknown suspect who placed his arm around her torso, pushed her to the ground and attempted to place his hand up her skirt.” As he reached for her, the woman bit the man on the arm and he ran off, north on Drexel.

Good job Miss.

Groot's State of the City

Either someone has a lot of time on their hands or Groot has one Hell of a leak in her administration:

• Anonymous said...Oh boy, just got the low down on Lightfoots plans for her speech on 28th. The focus of the speech will be the greedy police pensions bankrupting the city and the need for 8-10% property tax increases to offset the unbridled greed of a racist FOP and CPD. 0 accountability against any other city agency, no police contract expected through possibly her whole first term. Expect her to further villify the police even more to insure another term for Kim Foxx. Those around are shocked by her absolute hatred of the police and her lack of a realistic grasp of the actual problem. This Mayor and her speech will be the death of what's left of the middle class and business in Chicago.

• Anonymous said...Word out of a closed door City Hall meeting is Lightfoot wants no new police contract in her first term. She’s fighting with the bean counters over raising taxes by a whooping 10% which they rightfully insist will cause a tidal wave of middle class homeowners out. Her reply was to, “Tell the FOP to pound sand” and blame them for the pension crisis. It was quit testy and expect more defections soon from her inner circle.

• Anonymous said...Invest in U Haul stock the Mayor is preparing her final draft of her doomsday speech and it includes a whooping 10% homeowners tax! Her closest allies were shocked and furious and the villain of this, the EVIL racist FOP. Expect the tenuous Patrick Murray City Counsel confrontations to re-emerge on the local news days before the speech, and production of commercials portraying her as a reformist fighting the racist Trump loving FOP are in production as we speak. It’s a sickness and sign of a real racist.

Nine more days until we all see what's what. And if Groot is properly appreciative of all of the massive reductions in crime we keep hearing about.

Changes on Tap?

These seem very specific, even if they don't have names attached yet:

• Soon to come:
  
  Chief of Admin to First Deputy
  Chief of Det to to Chief of Admin
  Chief of OCD to Chief of IAD
  Area North D/C to Chief of OCD
  004 D/C to Narcotics
  Narcotics to D/c of OCD
  OCD D/C to D/c of Patrol
  022nd D/C to Area Central Det.
  Captain to 022

We'd plug in the names, but we're away from the Intranet at the moment.

CCSPD Officer Killed

Helping a stalled motorist on the highway:

• An off-duty Cook County sheriff’s police officer was killed in a crash while helping a driver who got stuck on a bridge Sunday in Morris, about 25 miles southwest of Joliet.
  
  Officer Ronald Prohaska pulled over about 4 p.m. to help a motorist whose vehicle had stalled on the southbound incline of the Division Street Bridge over the Illinois River in Morris, according to a statement from Morris police.
  
  A third southbound vehicle hit the stalled vehicle while Prohaska was working on the engine compartment, police said. All three vehicles “sustained major crash and fire damage.”
  
  Multiple people were taken from the scene to Morris Hospital, according to police. Prohaska was airlifted to Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, where he died from his injuries.

Deepest condolences to his family and co-workers.

Area West Rumors

So is there finally going to be an Area West again?

• Rumor is, many more Detectives being made to staff an Area to handle the west side again. And to relieve Area South of the burden. Mayor little foot is behind this.
  
  Exempt and Supervisors are lining up for the highly favored assignments. Because Areas don't have biddable Supervisors. EVER! Lots of patronage spots to be given away here

And a possible twist?

• Civilian Director as a "experiment"?

Sounds great!

Bill Conway for CCSA

Even though the regular democrats endorsed Crimesha, there's still a primary opponent:

• SCC, Bill Conway has announced he’s running for CCSA. He has our backs and is not a machine politician. Former ASA, and Lt in the US Navy. Need to get all unions to back him and get the word out!
• Bill Conway is a solid guy. As solid as they get but I’m sure some laptop warriors here will find some knit picky thing to get hung up on and bitch. No candidate is perfect but Conway comes pretty close. Don’t let what you here in the campaign sway you. Every politician has to say certain things, especially in crook county. But look deeper and see the things he has done and the choices he made. That tells you tons more about a person than speeches and political advertising.

There's still no copyright paperwork securing the "I'm Not Kim Foxx" slogan.

It's a winning issue for sure, no matter who runs on it.

Support for Philly Shooter?

It's amazing what people (or folks) will march for:

• Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross wasn't happy about a protest planned for Friday night in support of a man accused of shooting six cops earlier this week — but told KYW-TV that police will be present.
  Ditch the fake news
  
  "Sadly, we do have to be there," Ross added to the station. "I don't understand it. There's certain marches I do understand; this is definitely not one of them."
  
  Organizers told the station they expect between 200 and 300 people to attend the North Philadelphia protest on behalf of Maurice Hill, who finally surrendered to police after nearly a seven-hour standoff Wednesday in the city's Nicetown-Tioga section.
  
  All six officers who were shot sustained injuries that weren't life threatening and were released from the hospital the same day, KYW reported.

But if some "community" member lights up a barbecue, wings grandma, three cousins and kills an eight-year-old, you can bet there isn't going to be shit done about it.

Another 30 Casualty Weekend

One short as of the Air and Water Show, but we're sure someone got popped afterwards somewhere:

• 8:00p Stupidity Tally: 5 killed, 24 wounded
  2018 weekend tally: 9 killed, 52 wounded
  2017 weekend tally: 9 killed, 55 wounded
  2016 weekend tally: 9 killed, 49 wounded
  2015 weekend tally: 7 killed, 35 wounded
  2014 weekend tally: 8 killed, 44 wounded

Crime IS down a bit, not that thirty shot is anything to celebrate.

Blowing it - Sports Book

Indiana set to capitalize on Illinois incompetence again:

• Thousands of Bears fans will make their way to Soldier Field Sept. 5 to witness the team’s latest grudge match against the Green Bay Packers.
  
  But instead of trying to score tickets or plunking down on the couch to watch on TV, it’s a safe bet that scores of additional die-hards will trek a mile across the Indiana border to the Horseshoe Hammond Casino, where they’ll be able to put down the Chicago area’s first-ever legal wagers on the nearly century-old rivalry.
  
  While the Illinois Gaming Board scrambles to draft regulations on sports betting — not to mention a mountain of additional legal wrangling sprung from the state’s mammoth gambling expansion — executives at the Indiana casino that’s just a 25-minute drive from the Loop plan to announce Monday their new sports book will launch Sept. 4, a day ahead of the NFL kickoff.

Hell, if we're in Indiana betting on any sports, we might as well stick around and gamble at their casino, too.

Blowing It - Casino

Even airport slots won't save the budget:

• Despite issuing a dismal financial forecast that has put a potential Chicago casino on standby, a state-hired consultant determined slot machines at O’Hare and Midway airports could take off for city coffers.
  
  In a brief analysis tucked at the bottom of its highly anticipated 50-page feasibility report on the prospects of a city gambling house, Union Gaming Analytics estimated that installing 500 slots at Chicago’s busy transit hubs could pull in nearly $37 million from globetrotting gamblers each year. That would out-earn the notorious slots located in terminals in Las Vegas and Reno, the only airports in the United States where travelers currently can take a spin, according to the study released Tuesday.
  
  But potential airport winnings will be moot if Mayor Lori Lightfoot and state lawmakers don’t alter the casino’s 72% effective tax rate under Illinois’ sweeping gambling expansion, a levy the consulting firm deemed too “onerous” to draw any developers to the table. Slots placed at the airport would be run by the operator of the Chicago mega-casino and count against the 4,000 gaming positions allotted to them.

These people could fuck up a one car funeral.

No Bulletproof Glass

How much could it possibly cost to equip police stations with Lexan or something similar?

• No one was hurt Friday after a bullet pierced a window of a police station in the Austin neighborhood when multiple people in a dispute fired shots at each other.
  
  Two males were in custody after their group of four argued with a concealed carry license holder and one of them fired shots, CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
  
  The concealed carry holder took out their own gun and returned fire, he said.
  
  The shooting happened about 7:45 p.m. near the Austin 15th District police station in the 5700 block of West Madison Street, police said. A bullet had pierced a window of the station but did not strike anyone.

Of course, supplying police stations with anything that might make them more resistant to attacks....or stray rounds, is too much to ask. Kind of like how all the new stations were built with glass enclosed lobbies that will be abattoirs should someone ever set off a IED nearby.

The Machine Endorsed Whom?

Seriously?

• The Cook County Democratic Party is standing behind State's Attorney Kim Foxx in the lead up to the 2020 primary, despite the firestorm of criticism she's received after dropping charges against Jussie Smollett.
  
  The Smollett case will certainly be a campaign issue, and Foxx had to answer questions about her decision on Friday. But the current state's attorney secured her party's endorsement heading into next year's primary.

So competency isn't an issue for the slating committee.

There's already at least one democratic candidate attempting to pr3imary her and a bunch of Republicans seeking support. They can come close to winning with the slogan, "I'm not Kim Foxx." A halfway decent push and they could unseat her.

Dindu Nuffin

The ignorance on display is once again, amazing:

• Tyiesha Annan sounded tired, but mostly angry, as she talked about her 14-year-old son and the questions she has for the homeowner in Lake County who shot and killed him, telling police he fired his gun to scare the boy and five other teens off his property.
  
  “Why would you just come out shooting?” Annan asked. “Two things are for certain. He shot him in the head. You knew what you were doing when you shot my baby in the head.”

And what's the second thing? We guess counting isn't momma's strong suit.

• “He was a lovable child. I only had two kids, he was my youngest,’’ Annan said. “I’m the type of mother. ... I’m overprotective. I don’t let him go nowhere."

Except for that time he went to Lake County, right?

• But about a week ago she allowed Ja’quan to stay with his cousins near Washington Park on the South Side even though they have had run-ins with the law. “My nephews, they steal cars sometimes,” she said. “Yes, they were wrong for being in a stolen car, but he was wrong for pulling the trigger."

So you know your nephews steal cars, and you let sonny hang out with them? And what about the knife? You let sonny hand out with armed felons? Armed felons with assorted felony charges in their backgrounds that you just admitted you knew about?

• Annan said she has talked to her sister, the mother of some of the teens, and was told the last thing Ja’quan said was “I loved you." Annan added, "He loved his cousins.”

"I love you for taking me miles outside of Chicago, in a hot car, attempting to steal another car at knife point and getting me killed over a car we had no right to possess." Is that what he meant?

And this is just the topper:

• "How are they taking the man’s car when they were already in a stolen car?” Annan asked.

And the Tribune gives this "mother" a platform to spout her bullshit ghetto logic. We're over here just wishing the homeowner had gotten a few more of them.

Guilty

Great job by the prosecution making sure the jurors understood EXACTLY what this asshole was being charged and tried for:

• A Cook County jury on Friday evening convicted a homeless man who’d defended himself against first-degree murder and aggravated battery charges in the slaying of an off-duty Chicago police officer.
  
  Prosecutors alleged that Jovan Battle, 32, pointed the gunman to a car on March 23, leading him to open fire and fatally shooting Officer John Rivera and wounding one of three friends with him.
  
  “But for this guy, this wouldn’t happen,” Assistant State’s Attorney Patrick Morley told jurors earlier Friday in closing arguments. “ … He’s the glue that made it all happen.”
  
  Jurors took little more than two hours before finding Battle guilty on all counts: first-degree murder, aggravated battery, and three counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm. He faces a sentence of up to 150 years in prison.

And he better be serving all 150 years.

Low Bails - Again

Kass is taking a page out of the CWB blog and questioning low bails for particularly violent crimes:

• Even in a city numbed by never-ending murders and shootings, every so often a crime story breaks through and grabs your attention. Like what happened the other night in the far north suburbs, the old man with a gun, a 14-year-old shot dead, a high-speed chase and now five other teens charged with murder.
  
  But there are many other crimes that don’t break through. Like the young teacher who was stalked and robbed in Lincoln Park last week at one o’clock in the afternoon as she walked to school. She was almost dragged into an alley but fought her robber off, then was slammed violently to the ground. Her alleged attacker reportedly told police he’d hoped to steal her phone and make $100.
  
  And, as Chicago political irony would have it, that’s all he had to put up to walk free on bond on a robbery charge. One hundred bucks, cheap at the price.

This story repeats itself dozens of times a week and could benefit from the attention that Kass could bring to it. Look at this article from the CWB blog about assorted gun offenders (we'll sample a bit - go read it all at the link):

• A North Side man posted just $500 to get out of jail after police allegedly found five six firearms, explosive bullets, a silencer, and anabolic steroids during a raid last week.
  
  [...] Judge Arthur Willis set bail at $5,000 and Mather went free by posting a 10% deposit bond of $500.
• A man who was charged with six felony gun counts in connection with an incident outside a River North nightclub last autumn has reached a sweet plea deal.
  
  [...] Sam Jimenez Jr approached a group of people outside a nightclub on the 300 block of West Huron and struck a man in the face with a handgun on Halloween night. During a struggle for control of the gun, Jimenez “discharged the weapon several times,” the CPD statement said. [...]
  
  [...] But prosecutors this month reached a plea agreement with the 22-year-old in which he pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of reckless conduct. Prosecutors dropped all of the weapons charges, and Judge Earl Hoffenberg sentenced Jimenez to a year of court supervision.
• An Elgin man who was charged with bringing a loaded handgun to North Avenue Beach on Memorial Day weekend last year has also reached a favorable plea agreement with prosecutors.
  
  [William] Cage was charged with two felony counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. But prosecutors agreed to drop both felony counts and allowed him to plead guilty to one misdemeanor charge of carrying a firearm. Judge Mary Margaret Brosnahan approved the deal and sentenced Cage to a year of misdemeanor probation and 30 hours of community service.

It certainly pays to be a gun offender in Cook County at the mercy of bought-and-paid for Crimesha Foxxx.

Nice Family There Toni

"Do you know who I am?"

• The condominium complex at Hyde Park and Cornell is older than some neighboring buildings, but “when the sun sets and casts a glow across the warm red brick and the wind rustles the ivy leaves, this is a place of old-world luxury and charm,” according to promotional materials that boldly assert:
  
  “This is the place to live.”
  
  Apparently not for much longer, though, for Kyle Preckwinkle, son of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who has been residing there with his wife and their kids in a unit owned by his politician-mother. He’s supposed to be on his way out after more run-ins with police at the building, including over gunshots allegedly fired from his balcony, and a lawsuit to evict the family.

Guns? But Toni hates guns. Or is this one of those "Guns for me (and mine) but not for thee" deals?

• Kyle Preckwinkle, 38, since has been charged with misdemeanor assault for a May 3 incident involving another confrontation with the same neighbor. According to court records, while the neighbor was walking up the stairs to his third-floor unit, Kyle Preckwinkle stopped him to complain about “banging noises” and asked “who was in his apartment.”
  
  The neighbor said, “That is none of your business,” and continued to his condo, according to the records, which say Kyle Preckwinkle soon began banging on his door and yelling, “Open the door mother-----,” and approaching the neighbor “in an aggressive manner” when he did.
  
  The neighbor was “in fear of receiving a battery,” so Kyle Preckwinkle was charged, records show.

If we recall, that one disappeared after a short while.

• Two days after that incident, the police again were called to the building, this time over a report of possible gunshots coming from Kyle Preckwinkle’s front balcony, according to records and witnesses.
  
  Officers swarmed the area, combing the outside of the building for shell casings but not finding any, according to witnesses.
  
  A neighbor says he heard Kyle Preckwinkle yell to his wife at one point after the police arrived, “Get the camera, they’ve got guns on me,” and, “Do you know who I am?”

We know one thing for sure Kyle - you're an entitled asshole.

ISP Shot, Wounded

Serving a Search Warrant:

• An Illinois State Police officer was shot by a person now in custody after the officer tried to serve a search warrant for a home in Wheeling, officials said.
  
  The shots were fired during the execution of an arrest and search warrant in a home near East Manchester Drive and Park Avenue around 6:30 p.m., authorities said.
  
  The officer, 32, is a five-year veteran and was taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.
  
  A suspect is in custody, they said, and was wanted for forcible detention, aggravated assault to a police officer and aggravated unlawful restraint stemming from a state police traffic stop on I-294 around 1:30 a.m. Thursday morning.

Best wishes to the Trooper on a speedy recovery.

Well Said

Bravo Sir:

• Statement by United States Attorney William M. McSwain on the Shooting of Six Philadelphia Police Officers
  
  What I witnessed last night was true heroism by the Philadelphia police. But the crisis was precipitated by a stunning disrespect for law enforcement --a disrespect so flagrant and so reckless that the suspect immediately opened fire on every single officer within shooting distance. Only by the grace of God did they survive.
  
  Where does such disrespect come from?
  
  There is a new culture of disrespect for law enforcement in this City that is promoted and championed by District Attorney Larry Krasner -- and I am fed up with it.
  
  It started with chants at the DA's victory party -- chants of "F*** the police" and "No good cops in a racist system."
  
  [We’ve] now endured over a year and a half of the worst kinds of slander against law enforcement -- the DA routinely calls police and prosecutors corrupt and racist, even "war criminals" that he compares to Nazis.
  
  This vile rhetoric puts our police in danger. It disgraces the Office of the District Attorney. And it harms the good people in the City of Philadelphia and rewards the wicked.
  
  The alleged shooter last night, Maurice Hill, is a previously convicted felon with a long rap sheet. We have plenty of criminal laws in this City -- but what we don't have is robust enforcement by the District Attorney. Instead, among other things, we have diversionary programs for gun offenses, the routine downgrading of charges for violent crime, and entire sections of the criminal code that are ignored.
  
  The criminal laws in this City -- and especially the existing gun laws and drug laws -- should be aggressively enforced in order to protect the public and the police. My Office is doing all that we can. We have prosecuted 70% more violent crime cases this year than we did last year, in response to the District Attorney's lawlessness. But it is now time for the District Attorney and his enablers to stop making excuses for criminals. It is time for accountability. It is time to support law enforcement and to put the good people of this City first.
  
  The U.S. Attorney's Office, in conjunction with the Philadelphia police and our federal partners, is investigating the horrible events of last night and we are considering all options at our disposal. We will do everything that we can to support our brothers and sisters in the Philadelphia Police Department and ensure justice is done.
  
  To the officers involved last night -- those who were wounded and those who rushed to defend them--– and to their families, I say thank you. The whole City thanks you. We owe you more than we can ever repay.

The District Attorney he directly criticizes is Larry Krasner, another George Soros plants. Like Crimesha Foxxx. And it's about time someone started calling out these "progressive" lawyers who are nothing but plants, put in place to dismantle the Criminal Justice system from within and endanger not only police lives, but the lives of all decent citizens stuck in these democrat-run shitholes.

Wheels Coming Off the Groot Train?

Not even 100 days in and Groot's people are flailing:

• Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s communications director has resigned less than three months into the administration, making her the first high-ranking City Hall departure of Lightfoot’s term. After Lightfoot won the April 2 election, she chose Marielle Sainvilus to be her transition team’s communications director.
  
  A former Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman under Mayor Rahm Emanuel and University of Chicago director of public affairs, Sainvilus kept the communications director role at City Hall.
  
  [...] The administration’s press team has been criticized by some local media outlets for not being quick enough in responding to reporters’ inquiries.

That's because there is no coherent message. Groot was a shallow candidate, which we thought was an asset, because a weak mayor / strong city council would be a good dynamic after years of strong(er) mayors.

But then the federal indictments started dropping, aldercreatures were wearing wires or getting caught on wires, resigning and snitching at an unprecedented rate, and suddenly, a weak mayor with no message and a city council hunkered in their bunkers was in play.

It hasn't ended, not by any stretch.

Why?

Destruction for destruction's sake:

• A man was taken into custody after multiple cars were damaged in Chicago's Loop just blocks from the parking garages where dozens of vehicles were also vandalized this week, Chicago police said.
  
  According to authorities, a man who witnesses reported was throwing rocks in the 0-100 block of South Wells was taken into custody for questioning Thursday morning.
  
  The man was described by police as a "person of interest," but authorities said it was "too preliminary" to determine if he was connected to the similar vandalisms at area parking garages.
  
  Witnesses reported the man at the scene Thursday appeared to be the same man seen in surveillance images released by police in connection with the parking garage incidents.

Nothing was ever taken from the over fifty cars damaged over the course of the past week. Nothing at all. Just some asshole wandering around heaving concrete chunks into windows.

Who does this? Let's just say no one should be surprised. Any guesses what he might have done if he had run into a car owner and he had a pocket full of concrete chunks?

Anyone know if Eric Holder is in town to have that discussion he was so eager to have back during the Sparklefarts days? And how long until Crimesha cuts him loose?

More Felony Murder Charges

Lake County ain't fucking around:

• Teens from Chicago charged with murder after a 14-year-old was shot and killed by a homeowner with a gun told investigators they were in Lake County to commit burglaries and had stolen vehicles in the past, law enforcement officials said Wednesday.
  
  Five Chicago teens, including four juveniles charged as adults, face charges after the fatal shooting at the home of a 75-year-old licensed gun owner who heard people on his property after 1 a.m. Tuesday and thought they were trying to steal his Audi, according to authorities.
  
  Illinois law allows for authorities to charge suspects with murder if someone dies during the commission of another serious crime.

The contrast between this and Crimesha's and Toni's "restorative justice" couldn't be more plain and we have to say, we like what we see. Sadly, the media, even in Lake County is already agitating for a change in the Felony Murder rule because these poor scamps, who had already stolen the car they arrived in, which (by the way) was filled with the proceeds from an unknown number of other burglaries, were just about to turn their lives around, were probably altar boys at Sabina's, and were actually on their way to patent a cure for cancer they had just discovered.

Hilarious

Great thinking on the fly:

Since the city doesn't supply crime scene markers, might as well use the neighborhood detritus until the ET's show up.

Trial Continues

This is, without a doubt, the fastest we've ever seen a murder case go to trial:

• Jovan Battle rose Tuesday from an otherwise empty defense table, rubbed his hands together briskly and fixed a determined gaze on the 12 jurors who will decide his fate.
  
  “I, as a human being, am on trial for first-degree murder,” he announced before gesturing toward the four prosecutors across the courtroom with carts full of documents and papers piled high on their table. “What you’ll come to find out in the stacks of paper that these soulless individuals gave me (is) that I’ve been falsely prosecuted.”
  
  So began Battle’s opening volley in a likely challenging effort to represent himself without a lawyer in the slaying of off-duty Chicago police Officer John Rivera, 23, and the wounding of the officer’s friend while they enjoyed a night out in the River North entertainment area.
  
  [...]
  
  After a court-ordered mental health examination found him fit to stand trial, Battle insisted on not only defending himself but also demanding a speedy trial, leaving prosecutors scrambling in recent weeks to prepare for a trial that normally wouldn’t take place for many months, if not years.

Officer Rivera was killed in one of the worst cases of mistaken identity in Chicago history and this mutt is the one who directed the killers to Rivera. We just hope that his questionable mental status doesn't merit an appeal later.