Revamp the D-Unit?

Whoever wrote this report - and the media writing about this report - doesn't understand how Chicago works:

• A yearlong review has found that the Chicago Police Department must overhaul the way it investigates homicides, from finding better detectives to keeping better track of their work, if it hopes to improve its dismal clearance rate and reduce violent crime.

We have some damn good detectives in Chicago.

We also have an inordinate amount of slugs, mostly a product of the "merit" system promoting people who never investigated a damn thing. We also have a huge number of supervisors in the D-unit that never spent a day as a detective, telling detectives how to investigate. They must have picked it all up via osmosis or something?

The clearance rate and reduction of violent crime however, are squarely at the feet of Crimesha and her social-justice crew. The D can only present cases to her office for charging and then her office can either move to trial or demand more investigating - which only goes so far.

• The Police Executive Research Forum found some detectives do not even know how many cases they were assigned in the past year. It also found that the department offers nothing to witnesses who feel threatened, does not pay enough attention to shootings that are not fatal and must wait up to a year for crucial DNA test results. And it noted that homicide sergeants and lieutenants are currently not required to have experience investigating homicides.

Well, when you're overworked, undermanned and not tied to a specific investigative specialty, well...it's not exactly easy to remember how many cases you have. We aren't sure exactly what detectives are supposed to do with witnesses who get threatened - Crimesha won't charge intimidation cases. And with so many thousands of non-fatals, those kind of fall by the wayside. DNA? Talk to the underfunded State Crime Lab.

You can go read the entire article at the link up top. It's pretty damning and the City / Department don't know how much time or money it'll cost to fix. When no one is talking dollars and cents, you can bet they don't plan to spend a dime on any meaningful reform.

Looking for a Picture

We heard there are pictures of Special Ed at his press conference mis-characterizing the President's speech as anti-Chicago cop instead of anti-dumbass-Johnson.

We're also told that the exempt staff standing behind him was an embarrassing collection of mismatched uniforms and looking like a recently liberated POW camp. Supposedly, Staples was blinking a coded "SOS" message throughout the event.

Anyone have a photo of the "event"?

You Have GOT to be Kidding?

We're going to need confirmation on this one:

• Rumor: And not a rumor at all. Actually confirmed by a source at City Hall.
  
  A Certain CPD Superintendents personal vehicle is on the Boot List.

Will this be the straw?

Chicago Subcontracting?

Have the unions priced themselves out of certain jobs? It sure looks that way:

• I'm not sure how many are aware of this but apparently Streets and Sans is contracting out street sweeping services to Elgin Sweeping Services Inc. Below are notices at blocks of 6100 W. Gunnison and 4300 N. Austin. More privatization of city jobs under the radar!

There are pictures of the signage (click for larger versions):

Does anyone know if the above addresses are in former-alderasshole Arena's ward? That would be amusing - a progressive socialist eliminating union jobs.

Fake Numbers

Someone e-mailed us:

• Units all across the city were all ordered to rush down to McCormick place today to pick up credential s that they never needed, because they never attended the conference, the question is why?

And here's the answer:

• Was just told that the attendance was 800 persons. shot for setting an attendance record so the push to get people to register is for bragging rights by the mayors office

This also explains the last minute push to have all sorts of units register to attend the IACP Conference - even though the officers were unable to attend due to.....their days off all being canceled.

Can you believe we let these people count votes....and pretend to get honest results?

Oops

Did anyone predict this?

• Mayor Lori Lightfoot campaigned on a promise to raise the boot threshold, stop booting for non-moving violations and eliminate a hefty chunk of red light cameras at 149 intersections if those cameras were used for revenue — not safety. The City Council has already approved the first installment of Lightfoot’s plan to go easier on scofflaws at a first-year cost of $15 million.
  
  Against that backdrop, the latest numbers on booting and ticketing should come as no surprise. Based on the first six months of this year, the city is on a pace to write 13.4% fewer parking tickets; 2.28 million tickets were issued during 2018, compared to 988,404 written through June 30 of this year.
  
  Booting is headed for an 8% decline — from 59,817 during all of 2018 to 27,529 during the first six months of 2019.

Oh yeah - everyone predicted this.

Groot is going to fill those budget holes with what again?

Good Question

A reader far wiser than we:

• Why is the superintendent given a pass on showing his “personal beliefs” but if a regular officer wears anything political, they are suspended? You can’t have it both ways. Either officers are freely allowed to show their political preferences in uniform and on duty or they are not. The superintendent was being political in uniform, on duty, and in front of the whole nation. Suspension coming his way?

Of course not. Three sets of rules:

• one for regular cops
• one for white shirts
• one for connected cops

We suppose there's also the non-existent set for puppets.

You want to know what drives most of the resentment you see here day in and day out? Inequitable treatment under Department Rules, Regulations and policy.

Trump Makes Ed his Bitch

This was amusing, amazing and just an all around joy to watch:

• In a speech to police chiefs from across the country, President Donald Trump on Monday criticized Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson for skipping the event, saying “more than anyone else, this person should be here, because maybe he could learn something.”
  
  Johnson last week said he would not attend the president’s speech at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference at McCormick Place, “because the values of the people of Chicago are more important than anything that he would have to say.”
  
  “That’s a very insulting statement after all I’ve done for the police, and I’ve done more than any other president’s ever done for the police,” Trump said. “Here’s a man that could not bother to show up for a meeting of police chiefs, the most respected people in the country, in his hometown, and with the president of the United States, and you know why. It’s because he’s not doing his job.”

You know, this is exactly why Groot kept Special Ed around - it's hard to buy this sort of blind loyalty.

Special Ed obviously has something to lose - either the Lieutenant Cheating Scandal or his son being eligible for the Sergeants Exam or maybe another spare kidney somewhere. By all reports, Groot has seen the tape and knows exactly what Ed did...and it ain't pretty. But she needed someone to step up and be her bitch, and Ed did it.

Does everyone know who greeted Trump at the airport? It wasn't the governor. It wasn't the mayor. It wasn't a Republican congress person, aldercreature or committee person.

• It was the FOP 7 Lodge President.

While that is a great optic for the police, it speaks volumes about what all-around bitches democrats are. And all-around followers - not a leader among them all.

007 Follies Continue?

We're thinking of bidding to 007, because this sounds entertaining as heck:

• Pussle willingham is at it again. The four time merit hack came into roll call and told us he just talked to the commander, who’s in Virginia for training. Pussel said, according to the commander, we have no idea what we’re in for when comes back from training. He’s been keeping up on everything happening in 007 and the blog.
  
  Well, this should be interesting.

Word of advice to 007 - buy a pocket recorder. He's giving you plenty of notice. You won't be able to use it in any legal proceedings, but if you upload it as a sound file, we'll broadcast it all over creation.

There's a Slam Dunk

The net grows wider:

• State Rep. Luis Arroyo, a Chicago Democrat, has been charged with allegedly offering $2,500 a month in bribes to support electronic sweepstakes-related legislation to a state senator who wore a wire for the feds and secretly recorded conversations, according to a criminal complaint released Monday.
  
  “I’m going to give this you here,” Arroyo allegedly said during a meeting in August with the state senator, identified by a source as Vernon Hills Democrat Terry Link, at a restaurant in Skokie as Arroyo allegedly passed him the first bribe.
  
  “This is, this is, this is the jackpot,” Arroyo said, according to the criminal complaint.

It certainly is, and the fish seem to be getting larger.

Check your VRI Check

Remember, swiping isn't attached to payroll.....unless....:

• I was told by two PO's who say they have First Hand Knowledge that the Commander for VRI, "Crystal-King Smith" is "Not Approving Overtime" worked by Any officers who she discovers has either Failed to Swipe Out, or who does so any earlier than 0023 hrs. even though your Sgt. may have already Approved the Overtime...
  
  Apparently some PO's have been affected by this?

You'd have to be a real idiot to be ducking out of a time-and-one-half gig, but you have to love how someone like CKS is suddenly a rule-follower, following rules that aren't even in existence, to the detriment of officers getting paid on time without even a cursory investigation.

Wolf! Wolf!!! Oh, Wait.....

Here's where the rumors started about sergeants having to check Reasonable Articulable Suspicion for each and every street stop:

• In light of a new report from a retired federal judge, the Chicago Police Department has agreed to find new ways to make sure that investigatory street stops by officers adhere to the Fourth Amendment.
  
  After reviewing paperwork on nearly 8,000 street stops conducted by CPD officers in 2017, retired U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys found that there was a “broad-based failure by Department members to accurately report all ISR [investigatory stop report] data.”
  
  For example, if an officer failed to fully describe the Reasonable Articulable Suspicion — “RAS” — that prompted the street stop in their ISR, supervisors would return the report to the officer and allow them to make changes to it, “in contravention of Department Directives … and in violation of the Fourth Amendment’s articulation requirement,” Keys wrote.

This is yet another glaring example of slanted "reporting." The supervisors weren't "allow[ing] them to make changes..." They were being shown the errors they had made in reporting and corrections were made. In more than half of these instances, corrections were made to spelling errors, proper grammatical tenses and subject/verb agreement issues.

Another sizable percentage was clarification of an issue that supervisors spotted in regard to what kind of call the officers were responding to - as in they left out pertinent information, and conscientious supervisors caught the error and had the officers correct it. In other words:

• IT'S A TRAINING ISSUE, NOT AN EFFORT TO CIRCUMVENT THE LAW

There is a learning curve here, and unfortunately, with the recent downgrading of hiring conditions, the CPD isn't exactly populated with scholars of the English language. We make mistakes...and we correct them. As a matter of fact, every single revision to an electronic ISR exists in full form from now until the end of time. Every single revision is there to compare to a previous electronic version. And if someone is making up RAS to stop someone, then it would be obvious...even to a first year law student working part time at the ACLU and someone would be up on charges right now.

But no one is, because once again, it isn't happening.

Welcome to Chicago

When the Chiefs showed up for Saturday events, was the smell of charred car still in the air?

• A woman was killed early Saturday, when an SUV crashed into McCormick Place and caught fire, while apparently racing another car.
  
  Police and fire officials said the dark-colored SUV was speeding north on King Drive when it crashed into the convention center at 2301 S. King Dr. shortly after 5:30 a.m.
  
  The vehicle caught fire after the crash, and the 29-year-old woman inside was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.

At least the neighborhood isn't going out of its way to impress the out of town visitors.

Groot Knows

At some point, these rumors are going to be true:

• Anonymous said...
  
  OT: CONFIRMED from City Hall-Lori saw the body worn camera the day the story of Johnson’s DUI broke. She was shocked because it’s obvious Johnson is a lush but she’s pulling a Rahm move of “I had to let the investigation play out and I didn’t see the video” so she can make Johnson attack Trump. What a petty bitch. Jokes on her-a dozen people or more now have the video, and Johnsons attack on Trump will backfire on Lori. Popcorn time. You an amateur Groot.

There was even a comment that said someone slipped Goudie and a few other media types a copy of the body cam tape.

And it appears that more than a couple of Special Ed's staff are making soft landings in other units.

This is Ironic

Who's writing this script?

• A police chief had her personal items stolen downtown while visiting Chicago for an international police chiefs conference Friday, according to Chicago police sources.
  
  The victim, a 55-year-old woman from Virginia was sitting in an establishment in the 500 block of North Wabash around 6:30 p.m. when she had her personal belongings swiped, Chicago police say.

Not noted in the article is the alerts the chief received on her phone regarding the thousands of dollars in purchases from high-end shops in the neighborhood.

Welcome to Chicago Chief!!

Special Ed Attracts National Eyes

Our friend Jack Dunphy shreds Special Ed on the eve of the IACP Conference:

• So, Eddie Johnson, superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, says he will give it a miss on Monday when President Trump addresses a gathering of police chiefs in the Windy City. “The values of the people of Chicago are more important than anything that he would have to say,” Johnson’s spokesman said in explaining the planned absence.
  
  [...]
  
  Returning now to Eddie Johnson and the state of affairs at the Chicago Police Department. Johnson’s choice to absent himself from President Trump’s speech is being hailed in some quarters as a principled stand against the president’s rhetorical excesses, but in reality, it’s nothing more than a cheap political gesture in a city that voted overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. (It’s interesting to note that the only Chicago neighborhood to vote for Trump in 2016, Mount Greenwood, on the South Side, is among the safest in an otherwise very violent city. Make of that what you will.)
  
  There is also the possibility that Johnson’s snub of the president is an attempt to cloak himself with some cheap grace at a time he may be needing it. At about 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 17, Johnson was found passed out in the driver’s seat of his car while stopped at a Chicago intersection. Johnson attributed his condition to a change in his blood pressure medication, but Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Johnson later admitted to her he had had “a couple of drinks with dinner.”

Go read it all.

Fetal Writ Large

Remember all those people who DIDN'T sign up to be sergeants? They look like the smart ones now:

• A solution for the recent issue of ISR’s being revised multiple times, in violation of the consent decree, has been thrown around — have a Sgt on scene for ALL street stops requiring an ISR. The details are in the preliminary stage, but basically a Sgt would be required to approve probable cause on scene. If everything appears legitimate, they’re on their way. If the reason for the stop is questionable, the stop would be terminated immediately. A sgt would also sign the ISR receipt the same way they’d sign a TSSS card.
  
  This isn’t certain, but just be prepared Sgts. You are going to be responsible for the stops under your command one way or another.

This is a sure-fire way to kill the proactive street stop.

Day Off Canceled

And once again, showing that the Command Staff couldn't plan their way out of a wet paper bag, all regular days off are canceled on Monday...with just under three days notice.

They've known there was going to be a strike for months. They've known Trump was coming for at least two weeks. And no one had a plan? So they screw everyone who actually scheduled things for their day off.

Hey FOP? (and PBPA for that matter). It's time to make this actually painful for the City and their piss poor planning.

• Cancelling a day off ought to be double time, not time-and-one-half;
• 2nd and 3rd watch personnel are all working days at 0500 hours? That a shift of more than two hours for everyone on third watch. There should be an additional penalty for every hour moved;
• Area North Districts have to report to Area North, Area South Central and South Districts to Sox Park. Any bid officer working outside their District of bid ought to be be getting additional premium pay;

The reason the City / Department get away with this crap is that the most they have to pay anyone for fucking up their lives is time-and-one-half. They'd think twice if it was double-time-and-one-half or more. You ever try to find a plumber or an electrician on a Sunday holiday? It's triple time....or more, and something better be on fire before you're hiring them back at $100+ a hour.

Stop taking it in the shorts and look at what the other unions have for their members. And send it all to arbitration with the wage scales and the appropriate penalties for poor management.

Here's an Idea

Suggested by an e-mailer:

• If it "isn't about the money" as so many of the CTU people claim, how about Groot takes 7% of the proposed 16% and apply it to the pensions that teachers don't pay into? Then they can take 9% raises, similar to what the FOP is about to get.

And as we read in a comment this week, what are Chicago taxpayers getting for the proposed 16%?

• a 16% increase in graduation rates?
• perhaps 16% increases in reading and math scores?

After all, crime has been down by double digits according to Special Ed and Groot. A double-digit raise is the very least FOP should be demanding.

But the CTU? We don't see anything aside from decreases in reading scores, math scores, graduation rates, decreases in students whose families are fleeing the city.

Another Nice Bail by Crimesha

CWB blog covering yet another Cook County failure:

• We’ve shared more than a few outrageous stories about what some people have allegedly done while free on “affordable bail” in Chicago. Few reach the level achieved by 18-year-old Randy Wilson.
  
  Long story short, prosecutors say Wilson shot a teenager while on electronic monitoring for robbery, then went AWOL from the court system, and subsequently threatened another man with a gun before cops caught up with him. Did we mention that when police arrested him for the robbery, he already had an electronic monitoring bracelet on his ankle for yet another case? He did.

Who is doing these "screenings" that allow multiple convicted felons out for mere pennies to wreak havoc on the citizenry?

#1 for Rats...Again

Congratulations Chicago:

• #1 Chicago
• #2 Los Angeles
• #3 New York City
• #4 Washington, DC
• #5 San Francisco

You'd think with all the medieval diseases appearing on the left coast that LA or SanFran would take the top spot. Nope, Chicago for something like the fourth or fifth year in a row. It's a wonder we haven't seen the Plague here more often.

Parking Courtesy is Back?

We had no idea, but in the comment section...

• Read at roll call in a westside district...Please give teachers cars parking courtesy while they're striking! Lol, ain't that some shit!! CPD gets held over the fire for parking in questionable spots while ON DUTY, going to court etc. Yet we're supposed to give "courtesy" to a bunch of whiners who hate the police?? They have some nerve to ask for anything from us, already asking for the World with their contract demands. If I had a ticket book I'd write the bunch of them! Not only are you not getting paid, but now you're gonna Pay!

We couldn't believe Joe Ferguson allowed this, but it must be true, because the commander of 011 put it in the CO book under his signature (click for a larger version):

And now we find out that CTA bus drivers are giving FREE RIDES to any CPS teachers who show up in their Commie Red paraphernalia, cheating taxpayers out of CTA revenues.

Here's some teachers downtown for the march Wednesday:

Beer and Wine counter?

We thought they only drank in the classrooms?

More Fun

But they were really big beers.

Blocking Traffic?

The CTU is making preparations to lose the tenuous support they currently have by inconveniencing thousands of Chicagoans:

• As Chicago Public Schools announced the cancellation of a seventh day of classes, hundreds of striking educators and support staff filled the auditorium at the Chicago Teachers Union’s headquarters Thursday to receive civil disobedience training.
  
  The training session signals that members of the CTU and SEIU Local 73 are planning to escalate their aggressive demonstration efforts — and potentially face arrest. During the presentation, led by an SEIU Healthcare executive and a staffer for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, the strikers were coached on blocking traffic and shutting down building lobbies.

One reader theorizes the teachers are going to assist the anarchists and antifa pussies to block traffic in and around downtown when Trump is here. The Department will probably announce day off cancellations after 1700 hours today.

Special Ed on Tape

The body-cam video from Special Ed's incident is leaking out?

• The video from 9**R clearly shows #FatHeadEd out cold. Takes a minute to get him up and alert. Only the business officer activates his BWC, and truthfully, I don’t believe either officer knows it’s the Superintendent. When #FatHeadEd wakes up, he’s disoriented and has some difficulty pulling his wallet out of his pocket. He rolls down the window about an inch (typical for the #1 law enforcement officer of the City)  to respond to the officers request for his ID (after showing his star). The young officer realizes he’s the Sup, asks if he’s ok and #FatHeadEd replies “yeah”.
  
  Officer walks away and poof #FatHeadEd is gone. CFD was on scene almost immediately. Additional units on scene, including 9** (who followed him to his final destination).
  
  An interesting twist to this debacle is that BIA and the IG waited over 24hrs to attempt to garner the in-car-camera video stored on the cars drives. Somehow, it had all been written over by the time they got to it. I wonder if they got the POD cameras or the restaurant cameras??
  
  [...] The cover up is always worse than the crime #FatHeadEd. So many more questions, than answers!“

If this hit the media, there's no way Ed is employed by 1700 hours the same day, regardless of what convention was coming to town.

No Confidence Vote

Purely symbolic. Groot will keep the Accidental Stuporintendent around to take heat:

• The Board of Directors of the Fraternal Order of Police — the union representing rank-and-file Chicago police officers — issued a vote of no confidence in CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson Wednesday.
  
  The vote came just a day after the union sharply criticized the superintendent’s decision to skip a speech that President Donald Trump is set to deliver at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Chicago on Monday. Johnson said Tuesday that he “will not be attending the presidents’ remarks because the values of the people of Chicago are more important to me than anything that could be said in the speech.”
  
  In a brief statement issued Wednesday, the FOP said: “The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 Board of Directors today issued a vote of no confidence against Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson.”

Remember, the Department is supposed to be non-political in order to fairly enforce all the laws against all sides that may break them.....unless you're in a democrat run shithole and you're a gutless chief who does what he's told.

Proof

Didn't we just say COPA was re-opening past cases?

• A Chicago police officer who fired dozens of times at a fleeing teenager in 2011 should lose his job over the fatal shooting, but will only serve a monthlong suspension, according to a report from the department’s oversight agency that reverses a ruling made by the department two years after the shooting.
  
  Officer Macario Chavez and two fellow officers were cleared of wrongdoing in the shooting death of 19-year-old Calvin Cross after an investigation by the now-defunct Independent Police Review Authority in 2013. Chavez fired a total of 31 shots — 28 from an assault rifle— as he and two partners on a South Side tactical unit chased Cross through a residential neighborhood in West Pullman.
  
  The investigation was reopened in 2016 after a revamp of IPRA amid the fallout of the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald. In June, IPRA’s successor agency, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, ruled Chavez violated department policy by firing multiple shots with a high-powered rifle at Cross as the teen sprinted through a residential neighborhood, and that the final volleys of shots Chavez fired as Cross lay prone on the ground — and perhaps dead— were unjustified.

And we will guarantee they aren't just looking at shootings.

Pay Up Juicy

Good news on the fake outrage front:

• A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the lawsuit against actor Jussie Smollett will not be dismissed.
  
  The suit asks that Smollett reimburse the police department the $130,000 spent on investigating his alleged attack, which he asked to be dismissed because he couldn't have known how much time and money was spent on the investigation.
  
  In January, Smollett claimed that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in Chicago, but the Chicago Police Department is adamant that there is a mountain of evidence that shows Smollett staged the attack with two brothers he knew.
  
  After nearly 1,900 hours of investigation, Smollett was charged with filing a false report. Those charges were dropped in March, despite claims from Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson that Smollett "took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career."

And the "investigation" into Crimesha's misconduct by her political contributor.....well, the less said about that....

Looks like Juicy will be the only one without a chair when the music stops. Better pay up.

Good Question

Always the observant readers:

• Did fauxcahontas visit FOP to show her support for our labor struggle?

Of course not. 

Faster Groot

Where are the promised demotions?

• Anonymous said...Hey SCC - 025 correspondents here. You should know Escamerit is going bat-shit crazy the last couple days. Apparently no one explained to him what a hostile work environment is. He spent all of yesterday calling people into his office, screaming at them, and then throwing them out of his office. Tuesday his secretary was seen running out the back door with tears in her eyes. The place is ready to explode. He has no friends left and is taking it out on all of us! Hey Mayor Lightfoot - can you please get this clown out of here!

And it must be nice to be connected - The Wod is telling everyone he'll be reinstated before Thanksgiving after drag racing across Indiana.

No Shame

Here's why Groot is keeping Special Ed around - there isn't a pander he won't do:

• Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson will be hosting the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in town next week, but he’s going to skip President Donald Trump’s speech, according to a spokesman.
  
  “While the superintendent is looking forward to leading the International Chiefs of Police Conference and he’s looking forward to participating in discussions about making our communities safer, he will not be attending the speech of the president because the values of the people of Chicago are more important to him than anything the president has to say,” police spokesman Anthony [Google-me] told the Tribune on Tuesday.

And what exactly would those values be?

• averaging five hundred homicides a year?
• averaging nearly three thousand shootings?
• abandoning the Rule of Law, particularly border security?
• driving drunk with a transplanted kidney?
• an aldermanic incarceration rate that rivals any kleptocracy?

"Jump Ed!" says Groot.

"How high mayor?" replies Special Ed.

Look Who's Marching with CTU

CTU and communist Sharkey are marching downtown later today. They're welcoming some organization called "Re-imagine Chicago" which appears to be another progressive commie front group. These are supposed to be our friends? (click for larger version):

That's just page one of five - we aren't giving them a platform.

Get a load of these paragraphs:

• No investment in policing, including an academy to better train the police;
•  eliminate "incentives" to ticket and arrest (we have those?)
• a board of elected mopes with no idea how to police running the department
• all sorts of money for those released from prison
• anti-ICE crap
• weed for everyone!

Wow. Seems like just the thing school teachers would be supporting and advocating for.

You know what Groot? Hold the line. There's no money? Start closing under enrolled schools and make them contribute to their pensions. And if they don't come to work, fire them. You'll cut costs overnight.

An Ignorant Teacher

This is what's teaching Chicago's bleak future (click for larger version - yes, we have spies in the CTU Facebook pages):

The ignorance here is astounding and the hostility toward anything related to Law and Order is pathetic.

Sgt Exam Deadline Extension?

The city can't get people to take the entrance exam. We heard the next test didn't even top 1,000 applicants which is why they keep extending the sign-up deadlines.

Now we're hearing the Sergeant promotional exam isn't attracting much interest and the sign-up has been extended two more weeks? Can anyone confirm?

Guilty

Once again, a "merit" promotee caught in a scandal:

• That call became a crucial piece of evidence in a trial that ended Tuesday with the conviction of the two Chicago police officers, who were accused of using bogus information to secure search warrants used to then steal cash and drugs.
  
  Both officers faced five counts each — including conspiracy, theft and obstruction of justice charges — and jurors found them guilty across the board after a trial that lasted roughly two weeks. Salgado was also convicted of lying to the FBI.
  
  The jury deliberated for roughly five hours Tuesday. Each officer potentially faces several years in prison, and sentencing has been set for Jan. 23.

You can read it at the link up top. We don't need to publish their names here.

Some obscene percentage of "merit" appointees have been jailed or fired over the past few decades. There's usually a reason they can't pass the test high enough to get promoted - they're just not that smart. Yet they still get made, get spots, and then think they're smarter than people who have been catching dumb criminals for years and end up embarrassing the rest of us.

Fergie to Complete Cover-Up

Or have Special Ed fired - whatever Groot tells him to do:

• The investigation into CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson stemming from his being found slumped behind the wheel of his car last week is now in the hands of the city inspector general, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday.
  
  Lightfoot was asked about the status of Chicago’s top cop after an unrelated news conference in the Austin neighborhood.
  
  Johnson asked the department’s Bureau of Internal Affairs to open its own investigation into the incident, which occurred early Thursday.
  
  Reporters asked Lightfoot about that investigation, and whether she had concluded it was time for Johnson — who was appointed by her predecessor, Rahm Emanuel — to go.
  
  Citing that ongoing investigation, Lightfoot declined further comment.

And curiously, the story has changed again:

• Police and Chicago Fire Department personnel responded to the scene, and Johnson was able to drive himself home, according to police.

So now Fire was there - something that we didn't read anywhere until just now.

Left unanswered - is Special Ed still going to give a speech at the IACP convention next weekend while being investigated? Is he going to oversee security arrangements for the President? Does he have more answers than questions concerning certain phone calls made from Department phones and the person assigned to that phone?

Nice Weekend Groot

The temperature rises above 55 degrees for a minutes and mayhem erupts across the city:

• Shootings across the city of Chicago this past weekend left four people dead and at least another 37 people wounded.
  
  According to Chicago Police Department Spokesperson Anthony [Google-me], this has been the city's most violent weekend since Labor Day weekend.

We blame the teachers strike for not keeping the little scamps occupied with homework.

Ethics Test Answers

Ask and you shall receive:

• Part 1 - no, yes, yes
• Part 2 - no, yes, yes, yes
• Part 3 - no, yes, no
• Part 4 - no, yes, yes

Cheating lieutenants, drunk superintendents, corrupt aldercreatures wearing wires.

And here, you can get the answer to a test no one can fail and full of rules no one ever follows.

Coming Soon?

We think we covered this three years ago - but it's timely in a way:

• The Civilian Complaint Review Board is so anti-cop that it is now accusing highly decorated officers of misconduct — even when no complaints are filed against them, police sources told The Post.
  
  NYPD Lt. Richard Vetrano and Detective Thomas Woods were subjected to an administrative trial after a bystander at a traffic stop sent the CCRB video of a 2014 incident — in which even the couple involved repeatedly refused to file a complaint.
  
  The CCRB still undertook a probe and ruled the stop improper, citing a lack of reasonable suspicion, the sources said.
  
  “The result is two highly decorated cops — a detective and a lieutenant — were given charges by [the] CCRB,” a source said.
  
  Another source said, “The fact that both occupants had no interest in making a complaint didn’t seem to deter them.”

We've already seen COPA opening up closed shootings, looking for something to hang coppers with (but never the shootings where certain exempt members clearly violated Use of Force directives). Now we're hearing they're going over body camera footage, hoping to find even a single violation to hammer cops - also without a complainant - making it a Disciplinary issue instead of a Training issue. Watch yourselves.

Dumbass

This takes a certain amount of stupidity:

• A would-be robber who was wounded by a security guard at a Southwest Side Taco Bell over the weekend had been trying to rob the business with an unloaded handgun when the security officer stepped in, authorities said.
  
  Authorities were called to the fast-food restaurant in the 7900 block of South Western Avenue in the Wrightwood neighborhood on the city’s South Side about 9:50 p.m. Saturday. There, a 26-year-old man had been shot by a 33-year-old security guard, according to police spokeswoman Karie James.
  
  Officials said the 26-year-old “announced a robbery” before the security guard opened fire, hitting the 26-year-old in the right arm. The man was transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where his condition had been stabilized, police said in their initial news release.
  
  In front of a Cook County judge Sunday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, prosecutors said Antonio Brickell tried robbing the business with a 9 mm handgun that wasn’t loaded with a magazine.

Good thing he wasn't an actual police officer or he'd be expected to have his x-ray vision operating to see the lack of a magazine and use his magical mind powers to make the previously convicted felon either flee or surrender.

For God's Sake, Slow Down

A few posts down, we apologized (again) to 011 for jinxing them over homicide numbers.

This however, is inexcusable:

• Two Chicago police officers and two paramedics were hurt when a police cruiser slammed into an ambulance Saturday night as authorities were responding to a shooting that left three teenagers wounded at a party in Homan Square.

By order and training, you are supposed to clear intersections before going through them - even with a green light, because some other emergency vehicle might be approaching. Like an ambulance heading to your shooting:

(photo via sun times)

So now the shooting scene is short an ambulance AND four more ambulances have to be pulled from everywhere else for two injured cops and two paramedics, not to mention the District is now stretched to the breaking point covering a shooting and accident scene.

This is dumb. And what's even dumber is we're told that 011 leads the city in preventable crashes that result in totaled squad cars - eighteen already this year. Now you're upgrading to ambulances? Have you guys and girls not seen exactly what is happening to cops at IAD, COPA, the Police Board, in Court? Thank god there wasn't a patient in the ambulance.

Slow the Hell down. Groot will have you walking....and winter is coming. And get well soon.

HQ Disaster in the Making

With the upcoming "purge" of HQ personnel, we get word of some disturbing changes that Groot seems to have (A) overlooked or (B) just doesn't care about:

• One of the civilians being trained at HQ to handle incoming subpoenas is coming directly from COPA. She has zero knowledge of police work or police databases, yet is expected to be able to fulfill incoming subpoenas from experienced (and heavy) law firms with three days training.
  
  Previously, officers underwent six months of training and had to complete a probationary period. The amount of personal information contained in some of these files (TRR, IODs, Log Numbers, Personnel Jackets, previous lawsuits, settlements, etc.) is incredible and it's running through a civilian who usually wouldn't have access to any of it unless as a sworn officer.

While we're all for civilianizing scut-work, there is extensive information that should be seen only by properly vetted sworn members, subject to Department discipline and a chain-of-command.

Is the Legal Department aware? The FOP?

The only sure way to (partially) prevent sensitive information from leaking out is to make sure your name appears on as little paperwork as possible.

More Photoshop Fun

More fun at the expense of the Accidental Supernintendo:

We aren't sure which of these is Special Ed's kindey-destroyer of choice:

Special Ed can't follow doctor instructions following a transplanted kidney, but he's flawless when Groot tells him to jump.

McCarthy was an ass, but he was an outsider who might be excused for some of his transgressions.We certainly weren't shy about lambasting him.

Ed doesn't get that play.

Gee, What Could it Be?

Talk about ignoring the elephant in the room:

• Walgreens is closing its store in the South Side’s Calumet Heights neighborhood next month as it shutters 200 stores nationwide, officials confirmed. Customers, including frustrated residents, learned of the impending closure from employees last week. The store, 2011 E. 95th St., is set to close Nov. 11.
  
  Residents frustrated over the closing of their neighborhood Walgreens will have a chance to sound off at a community meeting called by Ald. Greg Mitchell (7th) at 6 p.m. Thursday at his 7th Ward service office, 2249 E. 95th St.
  
  [...]
  
  “Why is it always stores in black neighborhoods that are closing? You’re not going to see stores close like this in Lincoln Park,” said Alcaraz, who has lived in the neighborhood for more than a decade. “We live in an area that’s aging out. There are a lot of seniors that depend on their prescriptions. This is unacceptable.”

Well ma'am, you see, there's this thing called "profit" that regulates a lot of business decisions. Stores that make money for the corporation tend to remain open. People shop there, appreciate the way they're treated by staff, spend hard earned money there, and generally engender goodwill toward a store that is responsive to their needs.

Then there's another thing called "loss." Stores that experience a lot of inventory "shrinkage" or see extraordinary amounts of shoplifting - shoplifting un-prosecuted by the State and unpunished by the Courts - well, companies don't like that cutting into the bottom line. So they tend to keep less expensive merchandise around (because it might walk away), hire security guards (increasing overhead) and as a last resort, close stores that are "under-performing."

It's really quite simple.

Take That 016!

Once again 011, we apologize.

Two more homicides last night brings the monthly total to 5, tying 016 for their worst month in decades, probably in recorded history.

In the meantime, you'd think that Groot would fire a guy on the verge of having double any other District's shooting/killing numbers. Whatever they're doing there isn't working.

The Plot Thickens

These comments are tracking with some deep background stuff we located:

• Anonymous said...I heard the caller was another F/1 Officer who was another one of Robin Robinson’s merit picks who was upset she didn’t make Sgt on this past list
• Anonymous said...Nobody has mentioned anything about the witness who called this in

We can tell you here, exclusively, that the original PCAD record shows the call of a "Man Slumped Over the Wheel" was made from a City-owned cell phone. In fact, it's a cell phone assigned to the Chicago Police Department.

Oops.

That means someone somewhere either (A) has it in for Special Ed or (B) this is some hinkey bullshit to further tarnish the Department. In any event, Special Ed has lost the confidence of everyone he is supposed to be leading.

So Special Ed Lied, Repeatedly

And Groot of all people threw him under the bus:

• Mayor Lori Lightfoot says CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson had 'a couple of drinks' before medical episode

This after Special Ed spent part of the day telling the press that he was insisting IAD (staffed by his people and a hotbed of exam cheaters) would be conducting an investigation that had pretty much no evidence to go on (due to his misconduct). But don't worry, everything would be on the up-and-up, right after IAD spent Friday night going over body cameras and in-car cameras without any sort of oversight.

Groot blew that narrative out of the water. At that point, Special Ed should have resigned. But Groot is playing games Saturday, probably needing something to distract from the teachers:

• The city’s top cop remains under scrutiny two days after he was found at a stoplight slumped over in his vehicle.
  
  He had no scheduled public events Saturday.
  
  But the mayor was out and she says Superintendent Eddie Johnson will remain in his job while the investigation is carried out.

Sorry Groot - Special Ed lost any legitimate authority to lead when he lied so blatantly that you had to go out and correct the record, probably because you saw the video (or videos) that gave lie to everything Ed said.

He trick bagged you, plain and simple. And you couldn't afford the media stumbling upon a video that wasn't under your control, tarnishing your "reformer" image, so carefully cultivated during the election, and so clearly falling apart.

Our deep sources say that you asked for his resignation Saturday morning via Maurice. Time to follow through.

Contrast / Compare

Who is more valued?

Seems like CPD produces a better product across the board.

UPDATE: As someone helpfully reminded us, add 365 days to that total for the PBPA contract.

Photoshop Fun

Keep them coming:

Nice shorts Ed:

Just how big were those "couple" drinks?

Buh-Bye Now Ed

You tool.

He was Intoxicated!

So to that unpublished buttwipe complaining that he worked in 009 and why didn't we publish his comment claiming there was no supervision on scene, Special Ed was having a "medical incident" and we were just stirring the pot, you want to apologize now or later?

• Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson admitted to Mayor Lori Lightfoot that he had “a couple of drinks” Wednesday night before he fell asleep in his car after pulling over when he felt ill, the mayor told the Chicago Sun-Times on Friday.
  
  The new detail came a day after Johnson went public about the incident and called for an investigation on himself by the department’s Bureau of Internal Affairs.
  
  In remarks to reporters Thursday night, Johnson blamed the incident on his failure to take his blood pressure medication.

You aren't the only cop working in 009 - we passed through a time or two and know lots of people there. People we trust way more than you. And they state unequivocally that Special Ed was toasty....to say the least. Did Special Ed have a gun on him? There would seem to be a Rule violation there to say the least.

By the way, how big of an asshole do you have to be to get a kidney from your own son (placing his future health in a precarious state), then jeopardize the transplanted organ's continued function by mixing drinks with medication?

The over/under on Ed's continued employment is now Tuesday of next week. Place your bets.

MEGA!!!

Perhaps as a final act of contrition as he heads out the door, Special Ed could make a change on the south side:

We can name a few hundred cops who'd appreciate the effort.

Ignoramus

Does anyone at Media Affairs own a dictionary? Because this is about the stupidest statement we've ever read:

• An electronic message board along Lake Shore Drive near Soldier Field was changed overnight to read, "Kill cops," according to Chicago police.
  
  The vandalism was reported about 6:20 a.m. Friday, but police spokeswoman Karie James said it was not known how long it had been up. The sign had been altered manually by a keyboard, not hacked electronically, she said.
  
  “Several inappropriate messages” may have been displayed, but the police were called after the “Kill cops” message appeared, according to police spokeswoman Sally Bown.
  
  “It’s just awful,” Bown said. “It’s extremely harmful to our officers and it’s not funny."
  
  [...]
  
  “It could just be really serendipitous,” she said. “Until they find somebody, it’s pure speculation.”

Um, what? Seriously, what the actual fuck?

• ser·en·dip·i·tous
  
  adjective: serendipitous
  
  occurring or discovered by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

So are you saying that it was beneficial that some asshole changed the sign to say "Kill cops"? Or it was a happy expression?

It is said that most newspapers in the world are written at a fifth-grade level. It would seem our spokespeople are hired at a second or third grade level.

You Are Not Protected

FOP says what we've been saying for a while now (click for larger version):

Slow your roll - this is what the politicians want.

Give it to them, good and hard.

Independent Media Questions

Obviously, no one can count on the local media actually exploring the myriad of Rule violations that seem to have occurred the other night, but some independent media have noticed the obvious double-standard:

Let's be honest - the chances of an actual "evaluation" of Special Ed isn't likely - at least not on a voluntary basis.

Slow Your Roll

We're more than a little disgusted with the media reports tonight.

The Police Board, in the most blatant version of Monday Morning Quarterbacking, decided that...

• being called to the scene of a violent mental and
• reacting within the bounds of training and 
• within existing Use of Force models and
• accidentally shooting a bystander who was hidden from view

...is grounds for firing.

Guess who isn't responding promptly to calls for service from here on out? 

• Robbery in progress? Hope you've got insurance
• Burglary? Same thing
• Person with a gun? If we take our time, maybe they'll be gone
• Violent mental? Good luck - we'll be there - eventually

It's easier to do the paper on a Aggravated Battery or Homicide than it is to spend four years waiting to be second guessed by assholes who have never done the job.

We're done for tonight, we are that disgusted with what Chicago has become.

We're Just Saying....

There are more holes in Special Ed's story than you can shake a stick at:

• he experienced a medical episode, but following a nap, he drove himself home?
• since when does a sergeant, lieutenant, captain and commander show up for a non-ambulance medical "emergency"?
• No one did Special Ed a favor and drove him home?
• IAD is going to run an investigation? The same IAD that had six sergeants all score in the top ten and make the first class of lying lieutenants? The same IAD than ran an illegal First Amendment investigation of this site? The same IAD that covered up the shooting of a special needs child by a sergeant? We could go on for days.....
• And "complete investigation" would require an Administrative blow - how is that going to happen now?
• Why are there two sergeants and half-a-dozen investigators at the IAD Confidential this very moment combing through 009 District body cameras? You think we didn't notice?

And about that video. This is double trouble. If the video exists, it should be FOIAed and released immediately. If it doesn't exist (or has been removed as we suspect), then the 009 midnight guys are in the trick bag for "not having their cameras activated."

Begining of the End?

So a beat car in 009 late last night responds to a call of a "Man Slumped Over the Wheel."

No big deal, right?

Except they had to call their sergeant.

And then a lieutenant got notified.

Then the shit hit the fan.

Finally, the commander got called out.

And a "medical emergency" was decided to be the excuse used to obscure the fact that someone with more than three stars on his collar was "incapacitated" on the public way in a running vehicle.

Anyone hear of any "hospital runs" last night?


Body cams were running for quite a bit of the stop.

Is body cam footage FOIA-able?

Groot, did you get a call?

Tribune already has it.

Well Lookie Here

Did anyone see this coming? We mean besides us, the readers, law enforcement across the nation and those who watched exactly what was happening in California when they decriminalized so-called "low level" crimes:

• Last Wednesday, Area North detectives issued a community alert about a robbery pattern in Logan Square. Chicago police release similar warnings dozens of times every month.
  
  But the Logan Square warning was unique. An armed man, police said, had shoplifted from the exact same Walgreen’s location and then threatened store employees with a weapon three separate times in three weeks.
  
  [...]
  
  These incidents are not isolated.
  
  A CWBChicago examination of Chicago Police Department data found that retail theft cases are up sharply in recent years across the city and in its busiest shopping corridors.
  
  The increase comes as Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx makes a public effort to back away from retail theft prosecutions. Attorneys in Foxx’s office are instructed to not pursue felony charges against shoplifting suspects unless the value of the pilfered merchandise exceeds $1,000. That’s three times the $300 felony threshold set by state law.
  
  Since Foxx was elected in March 2016, retail theft reports are up 20% across the city. Along the posh Rush Street shopping district, reported incidents have more than doubled. And on State Street, famed in movie and song for its shopping opportunities, retail theft cases are up 32%.

Remember, this is Crimesha rewriting the law, a law passed by the legislature, because she (and Prickwrinkle and the Soros crowd) know better than all you peons and the lawmakers you choose to support. She could have gone down to Springfield and lobbied for a change in the law, but she didn't - she just took those duties upon herself.

And now businesses and taxpayers are paying the price.

Seventy-two Arests

And speaking of the armed robber a Bostonian had to disarm on the CTA the other day:

• Did anyone in media did any homework on that guy? Arrested 72 times, multiple convictions including resisting police. If that’s not enough, just few weeks ago he was arrested for... waiting for it - Robbery ! Who let that shithead out on bond?
  
  Now you can go and dig deeper

Gee whiz. Yet another repeat offender dodging jail time AND getting out on minimal bond AND managing to circumvent gun laws AND disobeying all those fancy No Gun signs. Someone ought to ask Prickwrinkle and Crimesha and Groot how this could happen.

Unqualified SWAT?

You would think that this was important, especially for the coppers who would be responding to a shit-hits-the-fan type incident:

• OT: I got a friend on the SWAT team and please listen to this. The guys started complaining trough email that they haven’t trained in OVER A YEAR and that it is a big officer safety issue for swat and patrol as well. They are not meeting their training standards and the guys performance dropped dramatically. They are not even qualified with their rifles. It is supposed to be biannually and they haven’t even qualified once this year. Here is the KICKER:::::: Their boss told everyone that all emails sent trough department email have to be approved by a sergeant. The reason is because they are Discoverable and inflammatory to the department. This is so f....d up.

So now you need the approval of a sergeant to complain to higher-ups about how taxpayers are being fucked out of even a reasonably trained police force. Makes perfect sense.

Dear 011, We're Sorry

The other day, we teasingly said that 016 had surpassed 011 in October homicides after the slaughter on Irving Park Road. The totals were around five-to-one.

It seems the denizens of 011 took offense at that and have started up the recently dormant killing machine with two in two days, closing the gap and letting the world know just who are the baddest of the bad.

So to the men and women in 011, we apologize if anything we said in jest increased your workload during what was a promisingly slow October leading into winter.

Seventy is still well within reach - we're just saying.

Hire This Guy

Bulletproof? Or just balls made of brass?

• Boston man Jean-Paul LaPierre, who caught a Blue Line train Sunday morning to the Chicago Marathon, said he didn’t hesitate to act when he heard someone was robbing people on the train.
  
  “I don’t like people that strike fear in people like that,” he said. “I don’t like bullies.”
  
  A man boarded the train about 5:50 a.m. and showed a handgun to passengers while demanding their money in the 5800 block of North Cumberland Avenue, Chicago police said.
  
  “He was very quietly robbing people,” LaPierre said. “I went up front and said to him, give me the gun and we started fighting for the gun.”

It must have been a fake gun, because the CTA has all those signs up that don't allow guns.

But regardless, this guy was in town to run the marathon, turns around and solves crime, takes a gun off the street and seems is a likeable person. Groot could do worse.

More Corruption Probes

Are there going to be a bunch of Illinois democrats and business people headed to jail finally?

• Exelon Utilities CEO Anne Pramaggiore abruptly retired Tuesday amid a wide-ranging federal investigation that includes the company’s lobbying activities at the Illinois State Capitol.
  
  The announcement of Pramaggiore’s retirement came less than a week after Exelon and ComEd acknowledged they had received a second subpoena in the probe. Authorities were looking for “communications” between the companies and state Sen. Martin Sandoval, a Chicago Democrat whose home and offices were raided by FBI agents last month.
  
  In addition, the Illinois Senate was served with a search warrant late last month. The lengthy list of things authorities searched for included “items related to ComEd, Exelon, any employee, officer or representative of any of those businesses, Exelon Official A, Exelon Official B, Exelon Official C, Exelon Official D, and/or any issue supported by any of those businesses or individuals, including, but not limited to, rate increases.”

Just a cursory reading of the article hints at the names Quinn, Zalewski ... and Madigan.

Hi Varrick!

So Varrick Douglas (we think he's the commander of Area South) showed up in 007 the other night and he had a message for the boys and girls in Englewood:

• Stop writing to the blog
• you're hurting Rod's feelings
• "You don't know how good you have it here."

Seriously? In Englewood? With a nut that yells at officers, belittles supervisors, orders people to skip blue cards and write movers to drive numbers (a quota by any other name) and he's telling people how "good they have it"?

How about this instead:

• You guys and gals in Englewood don't know how good everyone else has it NOT being in Englewood working for someone who thinks supervising by intimidation actually works in what's considered one of the three or four worst Districts in the Department.

And Varrick - did you think to maybe ask some of the cops in 007 what exactly was going on with Rod? Or you're just reflexively closing ranks behind another undeserving member of the command staff who makes you all look like idiots?

Never mind. Don't answer that. We've seen the press conferences. You're following the lead of Special Ed.

Keep in touch Englewood.

Scooter Program

This traffic disaster is coming to an end - temporarily:

• The four-month electric scooter pilot in Chicago, both celebrated and reviled by residents, comes to an end Tuesday.
  
  As of last week, people had taken 772,450 rides on electric scooters, according to the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. That’s about 7,000 trips a day. The city’s goal for the program was to determine if scooters would improve transportation access, reduce single-occupancy car use and provide a way to get to and from public transit.
  
  Was it a success? It depends on how you measure it, and whom you ask.

It also depends on the ER visits and how many scooters ended up chopped up for scrap, liberated from GPS for personal use and in the river just for giggles.

The city is deciding if it should roll out a permanent program next year. See if you can spot the connected company that's sure to win some sort of "contract:"

• The city issued 39 citations to scooter companies, for problems ranging from not having a working front light to not responding to complaints. Of the 10 companies, only Lyft, which operates the city’s Divvy bike share system, received no citations. Lime was cited just once. Bird and Chicago-based VeoRide had the most, with seven each.

We're surprised Groot didn't have Special Ed or Special Fred try some sort of Scooter Patrol downtown to supplement or replace the bike units.

School Strike This Week?

The way we're hearing it is as follows:

• The theater continues as seen in this weekend's news articles:
  
  
• Mayor Lori Lightfoot, in a video posted to Twitter Monday afternoon, said she hoped the two sides could use Monday’s negotiations to “build on the progress that we’ve made and come together for the good of our teachers, our students and our city.”
  
  Her message struck a conciliatory tone following a rocky 24 hours over the weekend that saw the two sides attack each other after an “angry” bargaining session Friday, then regroup for a “productive” meeting Saturday.

• The teachers walk out Thursday, just to prove they can do it. Why have a vote unless you can flex that muscle?
• After marching Thursday and Friday, "progress" happens Friday/Saturday and everyone goes back to school Monday.

We actually know some teachers, and they are not happen with the "social justice" stunts being pulled in their names. They're not prepared to lose a full paycheck and delay summer plans over this nonsense and they've told Sharkey's people that. We'll see in short order.

In the meantime, Escamerit's 025 Day Care Pilot Program is filling up fast! Only a few spots remain and if construction starts on reopening Area 5, there might be last-minute overbooking possibilities.

LAZ Assholes

Nothing like generating more useless paperwork, keeping cops off the street:

• LAZ has no respect for CPD. Wrote tickets on uc cars working marathon even after I politely spoke with her and asked not to write them. I even pointed out the placards. Total disregard. She couldn't write fast enough and refused to wait for our bosses to contact her bosses.

Leaving aside the fact that the Department probably shouldn't be burning undercover cars at a public event like the Marathon, the orders clearly stated that anyone utilizing an issued placard could park off route as on-duty police. But because LAZ has a quota and no actual sense, they write the ticket and run away.

How about locking them up for jaywalking?

Fetal Robots

California of course:

• Leave it to California to introduce a policing “innovation” that makes Barney Fife look like Judge Dredd.
  
  When the Huntington Park Police Force rolled out “HP Robocop” in June of this year, it was heralded as a major step for public safety for its supposed ability to keep an extra pair of eyes on patrol without taking an officer off assignment.
  
  “This is a big accomplishment for our city and introducing HP RoboCop shows innovation and the incorporation of new technology,” Mayor Karina Macias said at the robot’s introduction.

But....:

• RoboCop recently got its first test in the realities of policing, and the machine definitely didn’t live up to its imposing name. According to NBC News, when a fight broke out in Salt Lake Park, a bystander rushed to RoboCop and pushed the robot’s call button. Nothing happened.
  
  “I was pushing the button but it said, ‘step out of the way,’” Cogo Guebara said. “It just kept ringing and ringing, and I kept pushing and pushing.”
  
  The woman figured it needed to scan a face, possibly a deterrent to prank alerts, and positioned herself in front of the robot’s camera to no effect. A woman with Guebara then used a cell phone to call 911, and first responders arrived 15 minutes later. By then, the fight had already ended and one woman was bleeding from a wound on her head. Despite the chaos, RoboCop continued to follow its pre-determined route.

In the robot's defense, once it's internal GPS discovered it was in California, it kind of gave up caring.

Special Ed Hems, Haws

Have we got a spy in the administration?

• “It’s a fact, Eddie Johnson was to be fired on Friday morning by the Mayor. He convinced LL/Claussen to give him till Tuesday to rally the Black Caucus in order to keep his job. He meets with them individually and promises various promotions on top of the disastrous promotions already made. His argument to the Black Caucus is “I’ve promoted more blacks than any other Superintendent in the history of CPD...you wanna reverse that...?”. Hence this mornings impromptu press conference with the BC (and Irving as their mouthpiece).”

It certainly is suspicious how quickly the Caucus reversed it's calls from "Special Ed betrayed the community" to "Well, you know, maybe we ought to rethink this thing."

• Flanked by several African American Chicago aldermen supporting him, Supt. Eddie Johnson went on the defense Saturday morning at a news conference to respond to an inspector general’s report released this week noting he was among police brass who viewed video of the Laquan McDonald shooting and did not object to it.
  
  Johnson said that he did not see the video until two weeks after the fatal incident and that as a deputy chief of patrol at the time, he was not involved in any decisions about disciplinary action following uses of force.

And once again, Ed is lying. They brought a special laptop out from Lewin's IT people and everyone watched the available videos on scene. But the media won't report that for some reason.

Meal Train

Helping a fellow cop:

• On October 10, Tyler and Emma received the devastating news that Tyler has Stage 3 Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Because it’s an aggressive form, he has begun 96 continuous hours of chemotherapy. He’ll have two weeks off, before another 96 hours, then two weeks off. This excruciating process will go on for the next four months.
  
  Any help with meals, childcare, groceries, and housekeeping will be much needed and greatly appreciated.

(comments closed here)

Restricted Time Due?

Better get your days in soon:

• President Donald Trump, who has been attacking Chicago’s handling of crime for years, plans to make his first visit to Chicago as president on Oct. 28 for a high-dollar fundraiser and possibly a speech to a national convention of police chiefs.
  
  Trump hits the city for a lunch co-hosted by Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts, chairman of the combined fundraising efforts for the Trump 2020 campaign and the Republican National Committee. As of Friday, a source said the location has not been finalized; one possibility is Trump International Hotel & Tower, 401 N. Wabash Ave., or another downtown venue. Wrigley Field has been ruled out as a venue.

This is NOT an emergency. It's a pre-planned event. So you can bet the City is going to violate the Contract once again, attempting to cancel everyone's days off or limiting Time Due.

Saturday Promotions

Six Lieutenants and fifty-six Sergeants or so.

016 Out of Control (UPDATES)

As of a month or so ago, 016 and 020 were the only two Districts without a single homicide in 2019. Now 016 is up to something like four or five, rivaling 011 for the worst September/October citywide. Things like this aren't helping:

• A suspect is in custody Saturday in connection with a shooting that killed one person and wounded four others at an apartment in Dunning on the Northwest Side, police said.
  
  About 5:30 p.m., the five people at an apartment complex in the 6700 block of West Irving Park Road, according to preliminary information from Chicago police.
  
  Four adults were taken to hospitals in serious-to-critical condition and a fifth adult was pronounced dead at the scene, a Chicago Fire spokesman said.

Domestic related? Dope house?

We haven't seen the words "mass shooting" yet.

UPDATE: Four dead (fifth is looking poorly), vaulting 016 into the October homicide lead and the Homicide Hall of Fame. We can't remember the last quadruple homicide off the tops of our heads, it's been so long.

UPDATE: All five?

This Goof Again?

Ed, put a leash on this dumbass before he gets cops sued and costs taxpayers money:

• Rod at it again. Came into roll call screaming about making traffic stops and not writing movers. He threw a fit and said if you pull over anyone, you ticket them! No of and or buts. Forget the blue cards! It’s against the law not to write them! ...then he stormed out of roll call. 

He's exposing cops to monetary judgements and taxpayers to one Hell of an EEOC beef at some point. Perhaps he needs to be moved to somewhere he doesn't have contact with actual human beings, seeing as he can't relate to them.

We will pay 100 toothpicks to whoever can get him on video.

This Goof Again?

She didn't listen to a judge? Who would have thought that?

• A woman identified by police as a “habitual stowaway” was arrested Friday night while attempting to get around a TSA checkpoint at O’Hare International Airport.
  
  Marilyn Hartman, 67, was charged Saturday with a felony count of criminal trespass to a registered area at an airport, Chicago police said.
  
  Hartman was taken into custody at O’Hare around 10 p.m. Friday after TSA officials spotted her “moving TSA lane dividers in an attempt to circumvent security,” Chicago police said. She was already on probation for a 2018 incident in which she snuck onto a London-bound flight from O’Hare.
  
  Friday’s arrest is the latest in at least a dozen such incidents in which Hartman has attempted to sneak through airport security. When she was released from custody in January 2019, a Cook County judge repeatedly warned her to stay from O’Hare and Midway airports.

How about letting her on a nonstop flight to Kabul? She'll be someone else's problem then.

Remember to Swipe!

Don't be caught dirty.... like these units (click for larger version):

Seems like some serious non-compliance going on there.

Why is that?

Reorganization Coverage

Here's the media coverage of the re-organization that's going to be sweeping away the questionable decisions of the McCarthy era:

• Mayor Lori Lightfoot will reopen two old detective bureaus and put 151 cops back on the street under a reorganization plan that includes the creation of a new department to merge operations currently done by the Chicago police and fire departments and the city’s 911 center.
  
  Lightfoot Budget Director Susie Park said Chicago police, fire and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications each currently do their own payroll, information technology work and human resources, but those functions would be consolidated under a new Office of Public Safety Administration.
  
  Currently, the city has three detective regions known as Area North, Area South and Area Central. Lightfoot will reopen the Harrison Area on the West Side and Grand Central Area on the Northwest Side in an attempt to increase collaboration by detectives and patrol officers, the mayor’s office said.

Fun times on tap!

Let the Sucking-Up Begin

Forty-four captains before the end of the year?

Looks like the rumor of one per watch is coming true.

Keep your eyes on Wheezie.

Everything Old.... (UPDATE)

....is new again:

• Area 4 and Area 5 to be re-opened by May 2020

There's more, but info is still coming in.

UPDATE:

• Alongside the Chicago Fire Department and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, we are beginning the process of modernizing our administrative support and information technology functions under the City's new Office of Public Safety Administration.
  
  The Office of Public Safety Administration will integrate the administrative units of CPD, CFD and OEMC into a streamlined division, better supporting the needs of our city's first responders. All administrative functions will be transferred to a new unit designed to bring finance, HR, IT and other administrative functions into a more efficient unit.
  
  The units that will be affected are as follows: Finance Division, Human Resources Division, Timekeeping Unit-Headquarters, Medical Section, Grant Section, Information Services, Information and Strategic Services, General Support, Police Documents, Equipment and Supply Section and Facilities Management Division.

And here's the real kick in the balls:

• All personnel will remain in place until the Office of Public Safety Administration is fully operational. There will be opportunities to find reassignments based upon operational needs in accordance with the applicable collective bargaining agreements, as well as duty status of affected members. We are working with labor affairs and Bureau leadership to ensure an efficient transition for affected members.
  
  The transition of sworn officers and uniform personnel back to the streets will take place over the next six months, with expected launch of the new agency on or before May 1, 2020. The primary locations of the new agency will be located at Public Safety Headquarters, 3510 S. Michigan Ave and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications at 1411 W. Madison.

A whole lot of phone calls are being made right now. And SOB stories being fine tuned.