"Merit" Strikes Again

Good to know there are still undeserving morons making rank, throwing their undeserved and unearned weight around, keeping IAD Confidential busy burying the shenanigans of the clouted on a daily basis

• OT but how about the brand new CAPS “merit” Sergeant from 007 who’s nephew was arrested at 31st Street beach with a pistol. Said he had a CCL. Of course that turned out to be a fib! Well it is said that auntie Sergeant stormed the 002nd District Tact office, uncuffed her nephew, and tried to “unarrest” him. Seems that this was not looked upon with favor..... same Sergeant who orders her officers to disarm themselves before getting into an ambulance with a customer, providing security to the CFD. Can’t make this stuff up!

It's time to start blaming their sponsors as well as the "merit" pick. After all, someone thought this person met the unknown and unwritten standards for "meri-clout-orious" promotion and we're pretty sure we could have met (and far exceeded) this obviously low standard.

Here a Law, There a Law

Governor Prickster did more work last week than in many past weeks, signing 130 Bills to make our lives more difficult, more dangerous and more expensive:

• More than 130 bills were signed by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker Friday.

  Pritzker held a bill-signing ceremony for a measure bringing about mandatory supervised release for the state’s criminal justice system. He also announced in a news release he signed a measure prohibiting the use of electronic cigarettes in public spaces.

  Separately, the governor’s office announced he signed another 95 House bills and 39 Senate bills. Some take effect immediately, like House Bill 3751 that allows non-citizens to apply to be a police officer.

We don't recall that citizenship was a requirement for policing, just a Green Card. We're pretty sure we trained and served with a number of immigrants from assorted countries over the years. Can someone refresh our memories?

And get a load of this Bill:

• Also effective immediately, the Illinois State Board of Education is required to adopt a literacy plan

Well, damn! We've seen the literacy rates in CPS and it's a crying shame there wasn't a Law in place to....you know....require teachers to teach reading. What a time to be alive!

And this one:

• House Bill 1199 designates October as Italian-American Heritage Month to be observed throughout the state.

Does that mean that BJ is going to haul the Columbus statue out of hiding and put it back where it belongs in  downtown?

Reminder

The blog rules are short and simple and posted on the right hand side for ease of reading. It appears to be time to remind some of our revitalized trolls to read them, especially the ones about duplicate comments in multiple posts, ALL CAPS, and "if you don't like it, quit" type comments.

Additionally, the following words/phrases are rising to a particularly annoying level and are subject to our Mood-of-the-Day, meaning we may or may not delete them at our whim:

• Cesario;
• calculator;
  
• Sgt F.E.;
• descriptions of Sgt F.E.'s eyeballs;
• comments that have multiple hard returns taking up space

Comments closed here.

3% Risk

Wait, the government lied? Again?

• Joe Biden banked his entire COVID-19 strategy on mass vaccination — so much so that the administration attempted vaccine mandates and even pushed for children, who are largely not at risk from COVID, to get jabbed. He warned about the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” and a “winter of severe illness and death for the unvaccinated” in an effort to scare the public into getting vaccinated, boosted, double-boosted, etc., etc.

  Side effects? Don’t worry about side effects; they’re rare, we were told. Despite concerns about an increased risk of myocarditis, we were assured by public health officials that the risk of the severe heart inflammation was worse from COVID infection than the mRNA COVID vaccines. A CDC study claimed that occurrences of myocarditis from the COVID vaccines amounted to only 0.001% or one out of 100,000 doses. But according to a new Swiss study, it’s nearly 3%… roughly 3,000 times greater than our own federal government claimed.

  That’s a stunning disparity that can’t be dismissed.

But it will be dismissed. Big Pharma got a blanket immunity that Hunter Biden only dreamt of and the FDA is hiding all testing results (what little there was) for the next 75 years, so your great-grand kids will be seeing the Kennedy investigation papers from the CIA long before you see the COVID protocols, and all affected parties will be long dead by then.

Importing Crime

"Migrants" doing the crimes that Chicagoans refuse to do:

• At least three migrants face charges for recent incidents in downtown Chicago, including one accused of threatening passersby with a knife and another arrested for shoplifting twice this month.

  Alejandro Jose Paipa Fernandez, a 25-year-old resident at the Standard Club migrant shelter at 320 South Plymouth, was arrested Sunday evening.

  A Chicago police officer said he was on the block handling a separate incident when people began flagging him down around 6:30 p.m. The passersby directed him to Fernandez, who was waving a knife at pedestrians, according to a CPD arrest report.

Released on ...zero cash bond. Big surprise there.

In fact, if you read the entire linked article (CWB Blog), they report on four different crimes - none of which required anything but a signature for bond. From people whom didn't even have to have a photo ID to cross the border and get a court date from the Border Patrol - a court date you know that none of them are going to show up for.

And now another I-bond in their history.

Park District Scandal

Look! Accountability (on a small scale):

• The Chicago Park District’s inspector general has recommended firing 25 employees caught in an investigation of loans they got from the federal Paycheck Protection Program. 

  In a new report, interim Inspector General Alison Perona said an ongoing investigation by her office has grown from 26 cases involving employees who got the loans to help business owners struggling during the coronavirus pandemic to “sustained findings” against 114 workers as of June 30.

Now do the exempts.

Just out of curiosity, how many inspectors general [corrected] are there in city government? Seems like every bureau has one. Along with full staff and such, we're betting these offices account for tens of millions of taxpayer dollars.

Here We Go Again

Gotta get the voters good and fearful:

• According to the Centers for Disease Control, COVID-19 hospitalizations rose by 10% in the week of July 15, as compared to the previous week, from 6,444 hospitalizations to 7,109.

Fearful of what, we have no idea. COVID ended up being less deadly than the flu and government has already been proven to have overstated COVID deaths by nearly a third. Masks don't work and neither does the "vaccine" and the "boosters" - after all, look at Dick Durbin.

Must be an election coming up.

Video Clips

The 16th and 17th District Police Scannere site has a bunch of interesting material up.

A selection:

• https://twitter.com/CPD1617Scanner/status/1684556745564098562?t=Zzfj3meexxV8o3IpyXB2ag&s=19 (31/Michigan)
  
  https://twitter.com/CPD1617Scanner/status/1684294484207583233?t=LJj85QNha2TsskUrRMFTWw&s=19 (South :Loop)
  
  https://twitter.com/CPD1617Scanner/status/1683978740043333632?t=Kc2RfDN-heWBVTD4FrIbZA&s=19 (Jefferson Park)
  
  https://twitter.com/CPD1617Scanner/status/1668391651323117568?t=Mgd69519xDnznOb0gvSoZw&s=19 (north side)
  

We don't use social media aside from this site, but these are open source clips meaning you don't need the app to view.

How Much???

Who in the Hell was watching the henhouse?

• The state of Illinois improperly paid out billions of unemployment tax dollars during the COVID-19 pandemic, with tens of millions going to people who were either dead or in prison, according to a newly released audit.

  The Illinois auditor general on Wednesday published a report that showed how the state agency that distributes unemployment benefits issued "overpayments" to the tune of $5.2 billion in fraudulent or excessive claims from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2022. The report is the fullest accounting yet of the large-scale fraud and overpayments that occurred in Illinois during the pandemic.

  Of the $5.2 billion, the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) overpaid by about $2 billion for regular unemployment insurance and by $3.2 billion for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) put in place following the outbreak of COVID.

The trail of responsibility runs up to the governor's office, but you won't see a single bureaucrat take any of the blame.

Upcoming Chaplain Events

There's a Memorial Mass for Officer Ella French:

• Memorial Service marking the two-year anniversary
  of PO Ella French's death:
  
  Date: Monday, 07 AUG
  Time 11:00 a.m.
  Location: Gold Star Families Memorial and Park
  Luncheon: To follow at FOP Hall

And also a screening of the documentary Sabbath:

In these near-godless times, the Chaplains are working their hardest for us.

Keep up on their website at this link.

Dick Strikes Again

Here's Dick "turban" Durbin, posing with a member of the "immigrant" community earlier in July....you know, the illegals camping out in police stations and blue states all over the US:

Here's the same "immigrant"  a few days later:

 

The story:

• It’s been two weeks since a Springfield woman was stabbed to death and the suspect in her murder is still on the run.

  25-year-old Gabriel Calixto-Pichardo is accused of killing Emma Shafer, his ex-girlfriend, at her apartment the night of July 11. He was charged by the Sangamon County State’s Attorney two days later with first-degree murder and aggravated domestic battery.

  Authorities said Calixto-Pichardo left the area before they found Shafer’s body. As a result, the U.S. Marshals Service is now involved in the manhunt.

So far, no comment from Dick.

Truth? What Truth?

The Contrarian expounds on the ongoing non-scandal of unsubstantiated allegations against a 010 District officer and the near-continuous leaks from COPA to Chicago media that result in big headlines.....and nonexistent retractions:

• On Thursday, July 6, Chicago Tribune reporter Sam Charles published an article claiming the City of Chicago’s police oversight agency, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), was investigating allegations that a police officer had engaged in a sexual relationship with an underage migrant woman sheltering at the Chicago Police Department’s 10^th District.

  “For months, migrants bused to Chicago from Texas have found themselves housed in Chicago police stations in difficult circumstances, leaving city and state leaders stunned Friday by allegations that officers at one of the police facilities may have had sexual contact with at least one of those seeking shelter there.”‍

  ‍Salivating at the opportunity to bludgeon Chicago police, nearly every media outlet jumped on the story in both print coverage and social media blasts. Clearly, every detail of the allegations and investigation by COPA would be pored over by Chicago’s legion of self-described “investigative reporters.” Over the course of the next few days, however, the “investigative” aspect of the case proved somewhat lacking, culminating in a bizarre press conference in which the chief administrator of COPA, Andrea Kersten, revealed the agency she oversees was having trouble finding any victims.

The Contrarian (Martin Preib) also hits on the media's disinterest in other sex crimes perpetrated by non-police. Persons convicted in court, then "cleared" by media pressure for no apparent reason, then denied certificates of evidence due to overwhelming evidence against them....that Crimesha's office ignored/buried/discounted.

The mainstream media continues to work against anything resembling impartial reporting.

Subcontracting Background Checks

Remember when they used to send actual detectives to do background checks? They came to your house/apartment, interviewed you, ran through your application step-by-step? Not so much any more:

• Kentech appears to have farmed out some of it's background check stuff to a call center overseas or something. Got a call about one of my Marines who listed me as a supervisor. Couldn't pronounce anything properly, couldn't comprehend the idea of the military reserve not being a full time job, (and kept calling it a company). And I had to explain twice to her that the candidate and I, do in fact, have the same first name Michael. Literally spelled it phonetically because she was surprised we had same common first name. Definitely wasn't a retired detective
• I spoke to him (the candidate) and he said he does have an investigator, so this call center is only doing some of the work apparently

This might explain how a bunch of stuff is slipping through the cracks.

Judicial Overreach

So at Branch 43/44 the other day, the judge confiscated three phones from officers attending court and held the phones until 1600 hours. 

No bail was set for the phones. 

Now, if the officers were playing Candy Crush or talking on the phones or texting with the annoying notification chimes, yeah, the judge is right to be a bit irritated. And he should correct the officers behavior in his courtroom. But if our wives or children were trying to get in contact with us in an emergency, we'd be more than a little angry at the judge.

We'd hardly care, except the judge spent the day granting every single defense motion or continuance, while denying the State the same courtesy. Just what you'd expect from a libtarded former public defender. This is a daily occurrence from what we're told. 

At the very least, if we had to hang around waiting for our property, you can bet that we're getting paid for every minute we spent there.

Once Again....

Ban Guns is the cry from the left.

Enforce existing gun laws is the retort from the right.

And once again....:

• A federal judge in Indianapolis has given probation to a straw purchaser tracked down by law enforcement because he bought one of the guns used in the brutal 2021 murder of 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams in a Chicago McDonald’s drive-thru lane.

  Straw purchasers use their relatively clean criminal records to buy firearms for people who can’t legally buy them.

  Eric Keys Jr., 25, admitted to federal agents that he’d purchased a Glock .40-caliber pistol that was later used to kill Jaslyn on April 18, 2021. He said he bought it for himself but sold it to someone he identified as “D.” Keys also said “D” gave him $750 to buy a Taurus 9 mm pistol.

Of course, when the president's son can get away with lying on a Form 4473, why shouldn't a straw purchaser get probation from a Sparklefarts judicial appointee?

Twelve Counts

Remember, don't demonize the po' chilluns:

• We’ve learned a little more about the four robbery suspects that Illinois State Police and Chicago cops arrested after the group’s getaway car crashed on Tuesday morning on the Eisenhower Expressway west of downtown.

  The first thing we’ve learned is that charges have only been filed against one of the four people. Another thing we’ve learned is that the one who did get charged is just 14 years old.

  Chicago police said the boy is charged with 12 counts of armed robbery with a firearm for a 45-minute crime spree he participated in before getting arrested.

Anyone know what mayor BJ is claiming this child has been deprived of?

A good old fashioned ass-whuppin' is in the cards, right?

This is the group of armed robbers that Crimesha's office refused to charge. CWB leading the way on the reporting again.

Nice Vaccine Dick

Dick "turban" Durban, the US senator from Illinois who once compared American Troops to nazis, has tested positive for COVID:

• Sen. Dick Durbin has tested positive for COVID. He was supposed to join Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Cecerra, who is in Chicago Monday for a round of meetings on health care.

  Durbin tweeted he is "disappointed to have to miss critical work on the Senate's [defense authorization act] this week in Washington." He said he is quarantining based on CDC guidelines.

  Durbin tested positive for COVID-19 back in July of 2022.

SeeBS TV notes that Dick was COVID positive last July. 

SeeBS doesn't note that  Dick also tested positive in March of this year:

• Democratic U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin – one of the most vociferous advocates of the COVID-19 vaccine and subsequent booster shots – has tested positive for coronavirus for the third time in a year and is self-isolating once again.

  ...

  Durbin was a strong advocate of vaccine mandates during the pandemic, admitting that he would vote in favor of forcing the jab if President Biden pushed for mandates. He has also regularly attacked the unvaccinated as “risking the lives of their fellow Americans.”

So the "vaccine" Dick wanted (and probably still wants) to force on everyone has worked so well, Dick has only caught COVID three times in a single twelve month span.

Do yourself a favor and don't be like Dick.

Well This Was Unexpected

Who could have predicted this?

• A group of fed-up residents in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago spoke out on Tuesday to demand the police investigate an incident where residents were allegedly assaulted and had car windows broken by illegal immigrants who are staying at the repurposed Wadsworth School building turned migrant shelter.

  According to Fox 32, a video was shared on Facebook that showed residents being assaulted by illegal immigrants and breaking car windows, and those who were attacked claimed they can identify their attackers.

  In a press conference CEO of Chicago Against Violence Andre Smith said, "I'm asking and calling for the federal judge to speed up the process of the asylees. There's no way they should be able to take Woodlawn, this community, under house arrest and make residents afraid to even come out and enjoy this sunshine and this fresh air like we do."

  Residents of the Woodlawn neighborhood have been critical of city officials' decision to convert the Wadsworth school into a migrant shelter since it was made without their input in February.

Really? Having entire populations of people who don't look like you, don't speak like you, don't have the same work ethic or traditions that you do, don't care for and maintain their property in the manner that you do ....suddenly forced into your neighborhood without any input from the established residents?

Where have we heard that before? 

We know one of the cures though - stop voting for politicians who don't give a shit about you or your neighborhood, but live only in furtherance of the "narrative."

Impersonator?

There's a video floating around of an individual walking behind some cops wearing what looks like a vest and a holstered weapon. He's also throwing up gang signs. 

We can't tell if this is another impersonator like the goof from 003 a few years back who had a vest cover stuffed with newspapers spent the night riding along with another officer, doing traffic stops (yeah, we know IAD lied about the whole thing)  or if this another one of Groot's "be the change" hires.

Anyone know for sure? If it's an actual cop, he needs to be fired. If it's an impersonator, officers need to be aware there's someone carrying a pistol directly behind them.

Retaining Data...Forever

The observant reader knows about the CPD Document Number at the bottom of all official forms. Those numbers correspond to a Retention Schedule available in the Automated Orders on the Intra/Internet. The Retention Schedule shows how long a document must be kept until it is eligible for destruction. These range from every thirty days, ninety days, annually, every two years, etc. TRR's didn't have a Retention Date for a long time and might still not (gotta keep it around for lawsuits!)

It's a very involved process involving State Law, shipping some stuff of for incineration and other stuff off for long term storage (think Iron Mountain warehouses). You don't just throw this stuff in dumpsters. However, the Department has been keeping ALL paperwork for the past fifteen or twenty years. It's a monstrous amount of paperwork and if you talk to your Unit Secretary, they'll tell you of closets and storerooms filled beyond capacity and the struggles to ship this stuff offsite.

Now we have video - pods, body cams, car cameras, and more. The State Law says it shall be erased after a certain amount of time if it isn't related to an open investigation. But we have it on good authority that the Department hasn't erased a single second of video since implementation. Everything is an "open investigation" as IAD and COPA go over videos looking for Administrative Charges can be filed against officers for an assortment of low level infractions.

Data itself is cheap, but data storage isn't cheap at all. The world passed gigabytes years ago and terabytes are pretty much yesterday's news. Petabytes are certainly worth discussing and guess how much it costs to store?

• 1PB on premises (estimated) for 5 years
• System Hardware - $500,000
• Maintenance - $375,000
• Storage Software - included
• Facilities - $60,000
• Admin Support - $375,000
• Grand Total - $1,310,000

Now that's a total worth talking about, especially with the number of cameras going up every single day, meaning the amount of data generated is also skyrocketing. A real investigative reporter might want to see which aldercreature or connected relative has a data storage company specializing in police videos.

Training Schedules

Anyone know why downtown won't let the Districts handle scheduling for all this training?

• Dear SCC,

  Any way you can raise the issue about training scheduling?

  I work days. Twice already this year, I've been sent to training on afternoons. Funnily enough, another guy on third watch has been sent to training on days!

  To top it all off, the day watch ended up short a second car because of no manpower.
  

We know everyone is feeling the imaginary heat from the Consent Decree people about getting all the training in. Downtown is always scheduling people on their days off or when they're on furlo, meaning the District has to scramble to find a warm body to send out. The switching shifts thing is just them showing they don't really give a shit about you, your family or your off-time.

If the Consent Decree people actually cared about training, they'd approve the proposed training schedules in the Fall so we could train all winter and early spring before the bleeding days of summer approached. As it is, they don't approve anything until March/April, then the Department has to try to cram 12 months of training opportunities into eight months. And god help you if you're on midnights.

Officer Shot

Injury described as "not life threatening:"

• A Chicago police officer was shot in the hand during an exchange of gunfire on the city's South Side on Monday.

  The incident happened in the 5600 block of South Shields in the Englewood neighborhood. The officer had non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to the University of Chicago Hospital.

  Two other officers were taken to the hospital as a precaution.

  Police were expected to give a news conference later on Monday with more details.

Hand injuries can be career-threatening though. 

Best wishes for a speedy and full recovery to the Officer

"Do Not Call" List Made Public

No idea why this was released, except that Crimesha needs to embarrass this Department and suburban departments for daring to call out her incompetency and making it difficult for her to run again:

• Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx has released a list of more than 170 names of law enforcement officers on her office’s "Do Not Call" list.

  As in, do not call to the witness stand for the prosecution.

  All 174 officers seen as problematic for the prosecution because of their backgrounds, Foxx says.

The list is covered in infamous names, more than a few who were (or are currently) in prison. The vast majority of others have sustained Rule 14 violations, resigned under investigation or retired under duress and aren't carrying retirement credentials.

Again, there's not much reason beyond personal animus that this would even have been put out there - we haven't seen one in nearly three decades with the Department, and we're actually surprised it doesn't include dead officers from the 60s, 70s and 80s the way those old CR lists IAD used to put out.

Just remember Crimesha isn't your friend.

Upcoming Court Appearance

We would have thought this case was a slam dunk months ago, given the body camera footage, squad car camera footage, pod camera footage and bystander videos in existence, but somehow Crimesha's office has fucked it up nine ways to Sunday and this offender is out wandering around after:

• firing a gun at people
• crashing into a parked AT&T truck
• assaulting and battering the driver
• attempting to break into and steal other cars
• assaulting and committing battery on a responding officer
• stealing his squad car
• running over said officer with the squad car
• crashing into another car
• crashing into five additional cars before fleeing on foot
  

But somehow, she is wandering the streets, free as a bird, awaiting a court hearing on 02 August to determine her "competency" to stand trial. We don't know about you, but it feels like Crimesha and her office are trying to run out the clock until the officer or someone doesn't show up at court, then they'll dismiss the whole thing.

The officer is asking for a little support. We know the FOP has been making appearances with him, but it never hurts to ask for a few more friendly faces in court.

If anyone knows the Courtroom and the judge hearing the case, post it in the comments. And if you happen to be at 26/Cal on 02 August, after you sign in and check into your courtroom, swing by this one.

Shortages Continue

Up north, the 16th and 17th District Chicago Police Scanner twitter account cites the following:

• Through calls of catalytic converter thefts, robberies and backlogs, this was the manpower in the 16th district last night. Beats 1611, 1612, 1623 & 1632 don't have any officers assigned to their areas. Beats 1624 &. 1631 only had one officer assigned. A total of 14 officers available to respond to calls.

They also have a picture of the worksheets up (redacted)L

 

We used to ask people to send us copies of the sheets in an effort to provoke the media into actually covering the manpower shortages. Didn't work to any great extent, but it was an honest effort.

New Strategy!!! (UPDATE)

You know it must be true because an aldercreature said it:

• At least five people were robbed during a midday robbery spree yesterday, with victims reporting holdups from ucktown and Humboldt Park to Ravenswood. And three people were robbed at gunpoint during a single incident in Lakeview early Saturday.

  But one alderman is assuring his constituents that Chicago police have a “concrete and collaborative plan” to address the city’s ongoing robbery problem, as police say just one roving band of criminals may be responsible for more than 60 holdups.

  ...

  Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st), whose ward includes some of the areas hardest hit by robberies in recent months, addressed the crime pattern in an emailed newsletter on Friday evening. “It has been a challenging week in the 1st Ward and surrounding communities as a series of robberies has rocked the peace of our neighborhoods and left many feeling scared, angry, and anxious,” wrote La Spata, who represents parts of Logan Square, Wicker Park, and West Town.

  “I spoke with the 14th district commander yesterday around this issue to amplify our concerns. While I cannot share their specific strategies publicly – and consequently jeopardize their chance of success – please know that the 12th, 14th, and 25th districts have a concrete and collaborative plan for addressing this issue,” the alderman continued.

For those new to Chicago, the words "...I cannot share..." means the aldercreature doesn't have diddly-shit and the Department has no fucking idea what they're going to do since Crimesha won't prosecute crime and Evans won't jail offenders and Dart can't even keep track of the thousands released on electronic monitoring.

However, via our Department spies and plugged in readership, we can exclusively reveal the Department's newest and bestest strategy EVER! This will guarantee a crime reduction virtually overnight:

• MUST CREDIT SCC

  The Department, using creative accounting and some of those 1505 funds, will rent a Frito Lay delivery van.

  Captain JF will be coaxed out of retirement using a combination of cigars and fine spirits along with that south side Sergeant DS. Both will be dressed as delivery guys and sent to the armed robbery hot spots.

  CFD will be called solely as a courtesy before all formal notifications are completed.

No more repeat offenders.

You younger kids can have some of the old timers explain this proven crime fighting technique. We can only imagine the COPA faces after one of these callouts.

UPDATE: Alternate new strategy - let the police pursue and apprehend, like 1299 did the other night. Officers captured all five offenders. Of course, Crimesha refused to approve charges on four of the five, labeling them CI, while the fifth individual charged was a juvenile....and he was home before the officers were.

Hats off to 1299 for overriding the sergeant. That took some large balls.

Disease Vectors

Leaving aside the bed bugs, lice, chicken pox, measles and general smell of multiple unwashed human bodies living in close quarters, now there's another worry:

• The illegal immigrants, all under 18 years of age, were released to family members or other responsible adults despite having latent tuberculosis infection, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said in a recent disclosure.

  The dates of each release were not clear. HHS officials notified state officials from June 1, 2022, to May 31, 2023, of the tuberculosis-positive youth over a web-based system operated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Aurora Miranda-Maese, an HHS official, told a court in the report.

  The CDC, which is part of HHS, declined to comment. HHS did not respond to requests for comment.

Yet another reason that unscreened and undocumented persons shouldn't be anywhere near a police station.

And another reason Exposure Reports should be completed as a matter of routine each and every single day any officer works the desk...or has anything resembling lengthy contact with the station lobby and the officers working there.

Great Look BJ

Parking Garage Crime turns into Lobby Crime Scene:

• Crime scene was draped across the entrance of a downtown Chicago hotel Friday night after a man shot nearby ran inside and collapsed in the lobby. The 40-year-old victim was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

  Police responded to the Virgin Hotel, 203 North Wabash, around 11:40 p.m. after a Chicago Fire Department unit handling a call of a man with breathing difficulties in the lobby realized that he had been shot.

  Investigators determined that the shooting occurred around the corner near the entrance to a parking garage at 60 East Lake Street. According to CPD, the man was on the sidewalk when shots were fired around 11:29 p.m. One round struck the man in the abdomen, and he ran into the Virgin Hotel, then collapsed, according to police.

  Officials have not publicly identified the victim, but CWBChicago has learned that he has a lengthy arrest history, including one for assault at the Virgin Hotel in October.

No idea what type of business the Virgin Hotel does, but having a lobby covered crime scene tape cannot make the management feel good.

Lobby Crime

Even the police stations aren't safe?

• An Indiana man faces misdemeanor charges for allegedly stealing phones from migrants living in the lobby of a Chicago police station.

  Two migrants saw 64-year-old Alan Roberson enter the station at 1453 South Blue Island last Saturday and watched as he stole two phones that other migrants had left charging in the lobby, a Chicago police report said.

  Chicago police arrested Roberson when he returned to the station later that day.

  He is charged with two counts of misdemeanor theft and obstruction of identification for allegedly giving cops a fake name and birthdate when they arrested him. Last Wednesday, Roberson was arrested on a narcotics charge on the Far North Side under the name Alan Clifford.

Poor illegal undocumented immigrants. First they're the victims of non-existent sex attacks, now they're getting robbed of their free Obama-phones...or Biden-phones...or whatever they're calling these "free" phones they all have, paid for by the American taxpayers.

Here Comes the Heat!

Seriously, it's summer time:

• Chicago has had its fair share of tornadoes, severe storms and wildfire smoke this summer, but the region has managed to avoid many heat headlines so far.

  That might not last much longer, according to NBC 5 Storm Team [...].

  The intense “heat dome” across the south and southwest will begin migrating to the north and east next week.  This will bring the second stretch of days in the 90s this summer for the Chicago area, and maybe the hottest days of 2023 so far.

  While it doesn’t look like next week will break record highs, the added humidity could be dangerous.

Memories of 1995 and hundreds of dead bodies stacking up at the morgue rise to the surface. Perhaps the body-snatchers will put up extra shifts because no one is going to want to pay the wagon crews D-3 (or E-3) scale.

In any event, stay hydrated and cool if you can. We're all wearing an extra twenty pounds of kevlar and equipment, so take it easy.

Perhaps we'll post an over/under for the later portion of the week when the crime numbers climb.

Shooting at Bambulances

The a$$holes continue to proliferate across the city:

• A man who fired a gun at an ambulance carrying a 79-year-old patient in Logan Square on Wednesday night has been arrested, police said.

  The man, 39, was in a white Acura in the 2600 block of North Hamlin Avenue about 9:30 p.m. when he began honking his horn and screaming at the Chicago Fire Department ambulance to get out of his way, according to police.

  As paramedics were working on the patient inside the ambulance, they heard someone banging on the outside, trying to open the doors. Then they heard something that sounded like fireworks as the man fired several shots into the back doors of the ambulance, according to a police report.

And guess what else? Go on, you suspect it already!

• The River Grove man, who does not have a valid firearm owner identification card or concealed carry license, was on parole for an aggravated battery with a firearm conviction, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records.
  

Kwame Strikes Again!

A few years ago, this was unthinkable. Now, we're closer to having "no-go" areas in Chicago than anyone ever thought possible....just like France. And we all know how that's been going for the past month or so.

Swing and a Miss

The head of COPA is sad....so sad she looks like she has a mouthful of $hit:

Turns out there isn't a victim in the 010 non-scandal. So they've started asking questions in other Districts, desperately trying to find a "victim" so the "narrative" can continue and the "defund" movement can have another fundraiser without resorting to bake sales. 019, 018 and a couple other spots are their current targets.

Meanwhile, there are active prostitution rings being run out of CPD facilities.....no, not Chicago Police, but Chicago Park Districts. There's also a significant prostitution presence at the tent campground in 012, not to mention this spot at The Inn of Chicago....even the aldercreature knows about it!

And there's this:

• Five people have been charged with multiple felonies in relation to human trafficking for the purposes of prostitution in Kane County, officials said Thursday.

  St. Charles Police Chief James Keegan said his department launched a human trafficking investigation after they discovered a brothel operating on the Near West Side of St. Charles in early spring 2023.

  ...

  Police said the women were all victims of human trafficking. All are over the age of 18, with their ages ranging from their early 20s to their early 30s. Police said none of the victims are minors. They are all from different parts of South America, police said.

See that second paragraph? COPA thought it was the Near West Side of Chicago and started spreading rumors, notifying their foot soldiers and paying the rent-a-protestors to show up at Marquette Ogden.

Driving Out All Business

Now that Chicago has all but killed the big tax-revenue-generators downtown, it's time to start picking on the little mom-and-pop joints:

• The tables at Bella Notte Ristorante were set with white tablecloths, plates and silverware Tuesday afternoon, looking as if the place was ready for a lunch crowd. But one glance at the bar, and guests would see bottles of wine and liquor being inventoried.

  The Aguirre family has decided to close its beloved Chicago restaurant, at 1374 W. Grand Ave., just a few weeks before what would have been its 28th anniversary and move to Downers Grove.

  ...

  “Our sign permit expired in November. It’s $75 for the permit but the city fined us $1,000. Same for our awning permit,” Aguirre said Tuesday. “The light on the exit light was out. Instead of letting us repair it on the spot, they wrote us up and gave us a fine. They aren’t business friendly at all. In all, we have $21,000 in fines from the city.”

Later in the article, it says the Department of Public Health didn't have anything to do with these fines. The Department of Buildings though.....they aren't answering the phones. 

It's going to be great to see BJ's progressive agenda run out of money in short order. It's going to be less funny when he stops paying overtime to man the beat cars.

Off Duty Killed

Why?

• An off-duty Chicago police officer has died, after crashing an ATV in the West Ridge neighborhood Tuesday evening. Police said, around 5:45 p.m., a 29-year-old man was driving an ATV east on the 2500 block of West Bryn Mawr Avenue, when he tried to go around a Honda SUV, and slammed into it.

  The off-duty officer was taken to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition, and later died of his injuries. Police said they are investigating the crash.

  According to the Illinois Farm Bureau, it's illegal to operate ATVs on city streets.

There's a reason the Department got rid of the four-wheelers years ago - they're horrible street vehicles. 

That's also why there's an order in effect forbidding chasing these vehicles.

And yes, we know.

UPDATE: A lot of people know.

Homicide Rate vs Actual Numbers

Someone posted this in a comment section, and since we are a comment driven blog, we decided to make a post about it. It's an older article, around 2022, but it appears to be updated occasionally, outlining America's "deadliest cities."  Sounds scary, so we read it. It's mostly pictures and numbers (which we like) and it categorized cities by homicide rates (which we don't like). 

We like numbers. Numbers are usually our friends, We use numbers when we gamble (toothpicks only!) and when we calculate overtime checks. But some people - reporters mostly - abuse numbers and use them for nefarious purposes....misrepresenting things. 

Like this....the top three deadliest cities of 2019 (by rate - per 100K) were #3 Birmingham @ 50.62, #2 Baltimore @ 58.27 and St. Louis @ 64.54. Peoria makes an appearance as the 15th deadliest city, with a rate of 22.53. Chicago doesn't appear until #28 with a rate of 18.26 per 100K. Seems like St Louis is a bad place to be, around three times more deadly than Chicago.

But by the numbers, St Louis had 194 homicides in 2019. Baltimore had 348. Birmingham had 115.

Peoria had 25...and that was a record. Broken two years later when they hit 26. We have Districts that do that inside of three months.

Chicago's numbers for 2019 (via HeyJackass.com) were 521. In 2020 we scored 798. 856 in 2021 and 737 in 2022. We're almost at 350 as we type this halfway through the year. 

Homicide rates are what politicians brag about when they're losing the war on crime and they're stuck in a spiral they can't pull out of.

Some National Headlines

As long time readers know, we used to touch on national headlines now and again because....well, because it was interesting. Nowadays, national headlines are polarizing in the extreme as the former Republic destroys itself from within, marxists and progressives and democrats (but we repeat ourselves) bringing their police state dreams to fruition. Here are some things that are going to affect you, not so much as cops, but as private citizens.

All those "migrants"? (see the "quotes" around the word "migrant"? that means we know they aren't migrants, but rather illegal invaders) They aren't showing up for their asylum hearings:

• Immigration and Customs Enforcement failed to deliver immigration court summonses to more than 80% of illegal immigrants caught and released under the Biden administration’s “parole” program just before the end of the Title 42 pandemic border policy, according to statistics that the government submitted to a federal judge.

  The migrants were released on “parole” and given 60 days to check in with ICE.

  More than 40% of the migrants never checked in at all. Of the rest, ICE failed to issue a notice to appear — the immigration summons — in more than two-thirds of the cases.

And oil prices? They're set to go high and remain high - forever:

• I was thinking of Presidentish Joe Biden on Sunday when I was filling my Jeep’s smallish 15-gallon gas tank to the tune of $50 when it still had a couple of gallons left. Remember (because maybe he doesn’t) when Biden was emptying our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to force down gas prices in time for the midterms, promising to fill ‘er back up once prices dropped low enough?

  Yeah, about that. The SPR is probably never going to be refilled, according to one expert, and maybe not even for the reason that first popped into your mind.

And in the "too little, too late" category:

• The Biden administration has taken steps to permanently block China's Wuhan Institute of Virology from receiving funding from the U.S. government after a review found the facility non-compliant with federal regulations.

  According to a Tuesday report from Bloomberg, the United States notified the institute of the decision to suspend funding on Monday and reportedly outlined in a memo plans to block the institute from receiving any potential future support.

Well, that's a relief! Next time a manufactured virus developed via gain-of-function research is loosed upon the world, you can rest assured that it was developed solely by the ChiComs. We'll sleep better at night now.

So....No Scandal?

That scandal that wasn't.....still isn't:

• While hundreds of migrants remain at Chicago police stations, the 10th District in North Lawndale has been quiet. Asylum-seekers were cleared out after an allegation of sexual misconduct was reported to the Civilian of Police Accountability, known as COPA, on July 6.

  "The allegation involved a specific officer, accused him of sexual contact with an unidentified underage female migrant, and indicated several other unidentified officers from 10th District may also have engaged in similar misconduct," said COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten.

  After an almost two-week investigation, Kersten said, so far, the allegations are unsubstantiated.

  "To be very clear, we have not identified any individual migrant claiming to have direct knowledge or be the victim of any form of sexual misconduct by a member of the Chicago Police Department," Kersten said.

You'll recall that back on 09 July, we received information that this entire incident was the falsified construction of a vengeful ex against a police officer. That isn't to say that COPA shouldn't investigate wrongdoing, but shows beyond any scintilla of doubt that the Sworn Affidavit provided necessary protections to Officers' due process rights.

Now it appears that a couple of media outlets ran with this allegation AND posted the officer's name somewhere in their reporting. Bad idea. Kyle Rittenhouse received a number of seven-figure settlements from media outlets for broadcasting his name after he defended himself. Nicholas Sandman received a couple of rumored eight-figure settlements.

This officer might be in line for a big payday eventually. Too bad the ex isn't in line for a few years in prison.

Cash Bail Ending

Releasing criminals willy-nilly has worked so well across Illinois that the Illinois Supreme Court dismissed the appeals of nearly 100 county States Attorneys and decided the voters deserve to get what they voted for - good and hard:

• The Illinois Supreme Court has upheld a state law ending cash bail across the state, giving courts two more months before they must implement the change.

  Illinois will now be the first state to fully abolish cash bail.

  In a 5-2 ruling Tuesday morning, the state's highest court overturned a ruling by a Kankakee County judge that the law ending cash bail was unconstitutional. The end to cash bail will now go into effect across the entire state on Sept. 18, according to the Illinois Supreme Court ruling.

  "The Illinois Constitution of 1970 does not mandate that monetary bail is the only means to ensure criminal defendants appear for trials or the only means to protect the public. Our constitution creates a balance between the individual rights of defendants and the individual rights of crime victims. The Act's pretrial release provisions set forth procedures commensurate with that balance," Justice Mary Jane Theis wrote in the ruling.

In this entire case, the legislature, Crimesha and that other asshole from Lake County, claim that offenders are also victims, and therefore have equal rights as those upon whom they committed crimes:

• "It means no disruptions with your job or education, no disruptions with your health," said Illinois state Rep. Justin Slaughter (D-Chicago). "If you're a mother or a father, it means no disruptions with your parenting situation."

Maybe if you have responsibilities like those of a parent, you should think beyond the insulated bubble of selfishness and maybe not commit crimes that might land you in jail awaiting trial? 

Sometimes, the only thing keeping a particular asshole in line was the threat of bail revocation. If it was that big of a deal, how about advocating bail reform instead of bail abolition?

Strap in for more mayhem.

Alert Groot!

CWB at it again, committing actual journalism:

• Garrett McLinn, the Chicago Public Schools teacher charged with stalking Mayor Lori Lightfoot earlier this year, is back in custody after taking a little unauthorized break from his electronic monitoring regimen.

  Washington state officials located McLinn last month on the San Juan Islands, nestled in the Salish Sea just shy of the Canadian border. The area looks beautiful if you’re looking for a summer getaway and, you know, you’re not under court order to be on electronic monitoring in Logan Square.

  Cook County sheriff’s investigators brought McLinn back to Chicago on Friday evening. During a bail hearing Saturday, prosecutors said McLinn tossed his electronic monitoring bracelet into a river somewhere along the way. Officially, he’s accused in court records of cutting the ankle monitor off in Missoula, Montana

Anyone notify Groot? The Harvard switchboard might have her contact info.

Maybe the Park Ridge Police Department, too?

Business As Usual

What business, we aren't exactly sure:

• Two Chicago men were shot while working as “peacekeepers” in Little Village over the weekend, including one who was shot in the leg, right next to the electronic monitoring bracelet he was wearing for a pending felony gun case. The men were shot about a block from where another peacekeeper allegedly helped beat and rob a motorist in May.

  Chicago police had their hands full in Little Village on Friday night, especially considering that a group of peacekeepers was on the street, preventing violence.

  First, two men were shot in the 2100 block of South Fairfield just after 10 p.m. While officers were working the crime scene, they reported hearing more than 20 rounds fired nearby. And residents reported gunfire in the 2600 block of West 21st Street around the same time. A Jeep Wrangler sped from the intersection and crashed. No arrests were made.

  About 30 minutes later, at about 11:13 p.m., the peacekeepers were shot in the 2600 block of West 23rd Place.

We guess "peacekeepers" are just slightly mobile targets.

Media Joke

Remember when Walter Jacobson would go undercover, pretending to live on the street, and perhaps expose some shenanigans or shady dealing in town? Imagine if someone went undercover...or even just did some FOIA work on City Hall spending:

• The Mayors press conference costs are out of control. Large tents with heating and cooling, stages, drapery, large TV monitors, etc. The tents are rented and cots are min $20.000 per. Do a FOIA for marquee, drapery kings, Rent com, Kamal tech and dont forget the same city laborer who makes around 50K a year in overtime 

What if they asked a few questions, made a few phone calls? Might they bring even a whiff of legitimacy to politics and reporting? 

Probably not.

"First, We Kill All the Lawyers"

Ah Shakespeare, you wise old playwright:

• Chicago police officers have made over 2.5 million investigatory stops and pat-downs over the last decade, many done to enforce the city’s anti-gang and drug loitering ordinance.

  In 2015, a class-action lawsuit accused the city of conducting unconstitutional stops “without reasonable suspicion” in violation of the U.S. Civil Rights Act.

  On Monday, the City Council’s Finance Committee agreed to settle that case for nearly $5 million, with all but $112,500 of that money going to attorneys’ fees.

  Deputy Corporation Counsel Jennifer Bagby recommended that settlement after months of litigation, negotiation and mediation by a retired federal judge.

  Those talks managed to narrow the case — from 35 named plaintiffs to just five

Just in percentage terms, that's two-and-one-quarter percent going to identifiable plaintiffs. The rest goes to lawyers.

Remember back when J-Fledgar (Jody Weis) was supernintendo? And he decided to fight nuisance lawsuits like this. And Corp Counsel actually started winning them?

Yeah, the trail lawyers association put all their money into backing Rahm, who promptly had Corp Counsel start settling and surrendering millions of dollars to the lawyers, who then increased political contributions to sitting politicos and judges and others.

Taxpayers got fleeced....again.

Is There a List?

A list of "migrant" centers that is. We're curious after this latest announcement:

• Chicago announced a new response to the influx of migrants in Chicago on Monday -- a "welcome center" inside a high school on the Northwest Side.

  The announcement factors into Mayor Brandon Johnson's plan for hundreds of migrant families.

  Four classrooms at Roberto Clemente Community Academy High School are being used as the city's first-of-its-kind welcome center for migrant families with school-age kids in Ukrainian Village.

We're wondering about crimes and crime rates around these "centers." We know that the 010 is experiencing a huge uptick in prostitution complaints in the area of Piotrowski Park. 

We also know that tens of dozens of "migrants" have been shipped out of 012 to south side locations....and then the "migrants" return to 012 because they "were treated better" in CPD stations than the neighborhoods. 

Amusingly, the "migrants" in 012 have set up a campground in the parks around the station and have already divided themselves into people and folk factions and war is brewing. Oh, and the prostitution complaints in the surrounding neighborhood are spiraling upward as well.

2014 - 2022 Shootings

An amusing someone sent us - eight years worth of shootings (click to enlarge):

But hey, we all know exactly who and where the problems are.

Fifth Floor Redecorating

From our spies:

• City of Chicago carpenters and painters are repainting and refurnishing the mayors office this weekend.  They are removing all the old furniture and putting it in storage over at the AIS building on 39th. The mayors office ordered new office furniture from Ikea and wayfair

Everyone knows the real reasons though:

1. the paint is to cover up any microphones and camera lenses that were missed in the initial search following inauguration; 
2. the old furniture had too many transmitters hidden in the frames dating back at least three administrations;
3. Groot-funk

WE suppose the office was overdue for a little updating. Four years is along time for furniture and paint jobs to last. We redo the house almost every six months lately.

ISP Shortages

From the comments, a hint that the Illinois State Police are as shorthanded as any other department:

• They have forced Troopers from Joliet District 5 and Elgin District 2 into Chicago which has failed and destroyed morale. Naming the blunder Troop 3. Some Troopers driving over 2 hours to get to work. Now the Tollway Troopers District 15 which patrols state line to state line will be forced into Chicago Jan 1, 2024 causing some Troopers to drive in from further distances and expanding an even larger area of patrol that can not already be covered.

If you have any portion of the Chicago expressway systems running through your District, give the troopers a hand on traffic stops and such. Their backup might be tens of miles away.

Highways are mini-Chiraqs all over the state and the media never says a word.

The New Media

We don't know if or how the CWB blog is making money to support their operations, but those folks over there are earning it this summer. Some of their headlines from over the weekend:

• Off-duty cop robbed in River North, woman carjacked in Lincoln Park, construction crew targeted in Logan Square as holdup wave rolls on

• Man fatally stabbed on Uptown street corner Saturday evening

• Man shot while riding bike after ‘at least’ 50 rounds are fired on Near North Side

• Crowd ‘kinda stomped’ suspected gunman after overnight shooting near South Loop nightclub

• Driver carjacked on Andersonville, Uptown border as hijacking cases uptick in July

Their coverage has expanded far beyond the Wrigleyville/Boystown area and they aren't shying away from providing readers with accurate descriptions of offenders, areas to be extra careful in and not shying away from outlining the failures of Crimesha/Prickwrinkle/Evans/Dart enablers.

They are beating the crap out of the mainstream media seven days a week and they deserve a whole lot more credit than we could give them.

Get Guns, Get Trouble

Just a reminder to anyone reading - this isn't the 80's anymore. It's not the 90's either:

• During his tumultuous stint as Chicago’s top cop, former police Supt. David Brown often touted the importance of taking guns off the streets.

  “Each gun recovered, regardless of how, is a potential life saved,” Brown said at a news conference at police headquarters in June 2022.

  Under his watch, the number of gun recoveries jumped as police leaders sought to tamp down spiking violent crime, with cops from the Calumet District helping to lead the charge.

  How exactly a group of those officers recovered at least five guns is now being investigated by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the city’s police oversight agency. In one case, a suspicious seizure was flagged by the FBI.

We told people this years ago, after assorted tact team scandals and after citywide units were being investigated and disbanded - gun numbers, no matter how well intentioned and no matter how many bosses were pushing for it, would only end in heartbreak and a trip to 219 S. Dearborn.

This is just another example in a long history of examples.

PPP Fraud Update

Frank Main is still writing for the Slum Times?

• Five Cook County employees defrauded the federal COVID-19 relief program of more than $240,000, falsely claiming they owned companies that struggled during the pandemic, the county inspector general’s office said in a report Friday.

  Over the past year, 20 other county workers also were suspected of defrauding the federal Paycheck Protection Program, accoring to interim Inspector General Steven Cyranoski. They include three high-ranking county officials, including one in the county’s human resources office, a payroll supervisor in the comptroller’s office and a director in the health department, according to Cyranoski.

  In five quarterly reports since July 2022, Cyranoski said his investigators found county workers were suspected of stealing more than $700,000 in PPP money.

  He recommended that each be fired. All have been fired or resigned or are in the process of being terminated, Cyranoski said. None was identified in his reports by name.
  

So the Cook county Inspector General is going after the fraudsters, but he won't name them? We guess that's in case those people need other County jobs. After all, Friends of Prickwrinkle need to be taken care of - those votes won't generate themselves.

Lists

From a couple people - sergeants first:

 

Then lieutenants:

 

And captains:

 

Promotions

They made sergeants, lieutenants and captains last night. Congrats to those making it by score.

We always wondered why an interim supernintendo had a chance to make "merit" people, but thinking it through, he'll be gone by the time they graduate and the entire "merit" structure is already in place, so this is "merit" taking care of "merit" in the long run....and the rot grows ever deeper in the Department administration. Plus, mayor BJ gets a chance to take pictures with a graduating class of supervisors and give a speech about "re-imagining policing" and all that.

Beck had the right idea, getting rid of  "merit" while he was here. It has truly ruined the Department.

(someone got the lists? send em this way)

See Ya Gramps!

The Slum Times published this picture of a broken down old scam artist:

But we prefer to remember him like this - much more appropriate:

Sitting at the feet of the guys who were really calling the shots on his little rackets while they got their percentage up front.....kind of like the "Big Guy" sitting in the White House nowadays.

We guess Jesse will get the last laugh though. He stayed out of prison and managed to avoid getting extra holes in his body.

Housekeeping

We've been trying to check the links and such in the right hand column for a couple days now, weeding out dead links and altering a few to reflect updated internet addresses. 

If you click on a dead link or know of any updated addresses, let us know. If you think there's something that ops should be aware of, send the link to our email or put it in the comments and we'll try to get it in shortly.

Light posting tonight, so treat this as an open post.

Arena Lied?

Well, he's a democrat for one. With "progressive" communist leanings for another. And he was an aldercreature for a time until he pissed off even the liberals on the northwest side.

That's a trifecta of a lying piece-of-$hit right there.

Back in the day (a few years ago) Arena was advocating changing the Jefferson Park neighborhood from a predominantly working-class ethnic enclave into something more resembling a place that middle-class people would want to move out of. He held community meetings advocating the building of a giant apartment complex reminiscent of the project buildings that Shortshanks had just spent years emptying and tearing down.

This structure was to be built across the street from 016, but not to worry! Arena promised everyone in meetings, in hearings, in newsletters and on social media that residents would be CAREFULLY SCREENED to keep out the riffraff. In fact, a largish number of apartments would be set aside specifically for hard-up veterans, and you wouldn't want to be against veterans, would you?

Someone want to explain this?

 That's three offenders with violent tendencies all housed in the same apartment at the aforementioned 5150 building. Any guesses as to what type of screening they might have gone through? And what are the chances that they'll be evicted from this new-and-improved project building they are operating out of? 

No doubt they'll be committing more crimes and making working citizens' lives miserable for the foreseeable future. One can only hope they work their way over to where Arena lives and makes sure he experiences some of "careful screening" he promised residents of the northwest side.

And no doubt he'll be having a minion or two (like Leslie Perkins) file CR complaints against the blog the way he did in the past and against coppers who dared to call out his bullshit at the community meetings.

"Re-envision" Polcing

Not only is Chicago a national punchline where violence is concerned, it's a national joke to the people who pay attention to politics:

• Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has pledged to doom his city with reforms that will “re-envision the role of a police officer.”

  Oh, boy, are the voters of this once great city about to get what they voted for.

  It’s now obvious that the people of Chicago believed former Mayor Lori Lightfoot was too heavy on criminals, even as violent crime exploded over the last few years. Murder is up 19 percent, robbery is up 23 percent, theft is up 45 percent, and car theft is up 235 percent (not a typo).

  Overall, serious crime in Chicago is up a whopping 88 percent (not a typo) in just two years.

If you read the entire article, there are links to the "transition report" that outlines "progressive" policy changes whereby unarmed untrained city employees will be sent to non-violent calls. 

We can hardly wait for this and will arbitrarily set the over/under for a "non-violent" event going "violent" and resulting in the maiming, shooting or killing of a social worker at seventy-two hours from start date.

Detroit Sex Scandal

Detroit seems like a fun place to be:

• A member of the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners who was caught in a car with a prostitute by law enforcement is claiming that the incident is a "big misunderstanding."

  Wayne County Sheriff’s Office deputies say they found Bryan Ferguson in his car at about 7:15 a.m. Wednesday in Detroit engaging in a sex act with a prostitute, the Detroit Free Press reported. Undercover narcotics officers were in the area at that time and saw Ferguson with a woman who was known to them.

  Ferguson has denied the allegations as a "big misunderstanding."

Golly. Here in Chicago, you just drive home drunk and get a knob-job from a subordinate looking to make rank. In Detroit, you must have to hitch your wagon to one of a number of commissioners and hope they've got enough pull to promote you AND you have to compete with the street walkers.

And there are still 400+ Chicago Public School sex scandals unaddressed by the local "reporters."

An Actual Sex Scandal

Involving a school employee of all people:

• A security guard at at Farragut Career Academy in Little Village has been charged in the sexual assault of a 15-year-old student.

  Romel Campoverde, 43, met the girl during her first year at the school while he was employed by Chicago Public Schools as a security guard and gave her his Snapchat username, Cook County prosecutors said in court Wednesday.

So that means there are only something like 469 other cases with actual victims, named offenders. case reports and finalized investigations to catch up on. 

When can we expect the Karen-Brigade to show up in front of Farragut with their signs and their painting anti-CPS chalk drawings on the windows and sidewalks of the school? It's practically a single mile away from 010, so not too far a trip for the "activists."

Supernintendo Finalists on Tap

Though we suppose "on tap" might be a bit insensitive after the incident Monday morning at the Academy:

• Mayor Brandon Johnson will soon be on the 30-day clock to make the most important appointment that any Chicago mayor can make — a choice that could define his tenure and even how long he remains in office.

  The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability will hold an executive session at 3:30 p.m. Thursday to discuss background checks on the six semifinalists for Chicago Police Department superintendent, then choose three finalists from among those names.

  After the executive session, the commission’s public meeting is at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Kennedy-King College, 740 W. 63rd St., to take a formal vote on the three finalists.

  Once Johnson gets those names, the clock starts ticking. The new mayor will have 30 days to either choose one of those finalists or reject them all and ask for another nationwide search that produces three more names.

Once again, a decidedly unimpressive group of semifinalists, and as posted in our comments last week, the backgrounds of a couple of these applicants are....how should we say it? 

"Scandalicious" might be a good word. Financial improprieties, sexual harassment histories, misconduct allegations. 

Mayor BJ might want to start over, unless his actual aim is to keep the media attention on the clusterfuck that is the CPD and away from the emerging clusterfuck that is his governing style.

State Corruption

So who did he piss off over the years with the ability to garner an actual federal indictment for corruption? Madigan trial continues with motions:

• Former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s attempt to suppress the dozens of wiretapped calls and secret recordings that form the backbone of the government’s bombshell racketeering case is a “flimsy effort to create an air of impropriety where none exists,” federal prosecutors said in a motion Tuesday.

  The 152-page filing also ripped defense claims that the indictment fails to connect any benefits Madigan allegedly received from utility giants Commonwealth Edison and AT&T Illinois to any action the powerful speaker took — or didn’t — on particular legislation.

"Your honor, you must suppress these videos and wiretaps - they make me look too guilty."

Illinois corruption centered around this a$$hole's office for decades and no one did a thing about it. Now the goal is to play defense and run out the clock until Madigan dies and takes all his secrets to the grave.

F#$% You Bro!

If the preliminary screening fails, good thing there was an observant sergeant on the ball:

• The Chicago Police Department may have another vacancy to fill after an expletive-spewing recruit walked out of the academy Monday when a sergeant fetched a breathalyzer to test his sobriety, according to a CPD memo shared with CWBChicago.

  “F*** you BRO!” the plebe told a sergeant repeatedly as he “rapidly walked away” from the training center, 1300 West Jackson, around 6:50 a.m.

  In a so-called “To/From” memo about the incident, a sergeant wrote that he was welcoming a new recruit class outside the Timothy J. O’Connor Training Center when he saw the recruit “wearing a suit, carrying a black duffle bag heading toward the front entrance doors.”

  “The individual was swaying to his left and then to his right as he approached the front doors, the individual was losing his balance and footing, making his walking choppy and uneven,” the report said.

Of course, with the ongoing shortages, maybe the mayor and acting-supernintendo will go to his house, knock on the door, ask him to come back to the Academy and even provide him a ride.

Or maybe not.

UPDATE: A different recruit got caught spanking the monkey in a classroom?