Scarecrow Policing Fail

Even a visible police presence isn't a deterrent any longer:

• A Chicago police officer jumped into action after witnessing a shooting outside the Howard CTA station in Rogers Park on Thursday afternoon and it was all caught on video.

  The footage shows the cop, posted in a squad car just across the street from the shooting scene, spring out of his car and work his way across the traffic lanes of Howard Street with his gun drawn to help the gunshot victim while calling for help on his radio. Other officers located the gunman nearby and charges were pending on Friday morning.

  The video begins with CTA patrons on the overhead platform at Howard Street and the officer sitting in a marked squad car on the corner of Paulina and Howard around 3:41 p.m. A local resident says the officer was there at the urging of the community following a series of shootings at and near the intersection over recent years, including in February.

  “Police have been stationed all day and night lately as we had a meeting with police,” she said.

  In the video, a gunshot is heard and the squad car begins rolling forward. People are seen running around the corner under the viaduct as two more shots are heard.

Sometimes, you just happen to be in the area of a shooting. We can recall almost a dozen instances of being on patrol, driving around corners or sneaking through alleys, stumbling into shootings completely by accident. Once, we heard shots and had a guy almost run into the side of our squad car with a pistol still in his hand - we were both surprised as Hell (he got away).

But being parked in a fixed location due to ongoing concerns and the offender doesn't even care that the police are there....wow.

Be careful out there.