Apple - Tree

Guess it's hereditary:

• Jeffrey M. Rush, the son of U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush of Chicago, was charged Friday with official misconduct after being accused of having sexual relationships with women who were inmates at the Aurora halfway house where he worked as a security supervisor.
  
  Rush, 41, of Lake Zurich, was expected to appear in Kane County court Saturday, a day after surrendering at the county jail following his indictment by a grand jury. His bail was set at $500,000.
  
  The Kane County state's attorney's office charged Rush with 47 counts for alleged inappropriate relationships with three inmates at the Fox Valley Adult Transition Center between February and June. The violations are Class 3 felonies, each punishable by a 2- to 5-year prison term

Low life scum with a complete disregard for society's rules and regulations begets another scumbag with a complete disregard for society's rules and regulations. Who'd have thunk it?

Starve to Death You Goof

Can't keep a dumb idea down:

• A Mexican migrant-rights advocate deported from the U.S. said she began a hunger strike Friday to push her government to demand its citizens receive better treatment north of the border
• Elvira Arellano, a former illegal migrant who took sanctuary at Chicago's Adalberto United Methodist Church for about a year in defiance of a deportation order, said she would starve herself "because I want our government to listen, to act, to defend our migrant families."
• "Is Mexico prepared to receive all of these deported people and their families?" Arellano said on the opening day of the "First Parliament of Mexican Migrant Leaders Who Live in the U.S."

We certainly hope Mexico is prepared to receive more of its citizens back. Then they can get to work on improving their inadequate social net instead of printing up directions on how to take advantage of ours. Republican candidates are getting a ton of traction on this issue and the Democrats are taking a beating.

Arellano starving herself to death would just be icing on the cake.

A BRILLIANT Attorney

This woman is amazing! Just read her reasoning:

• The family of Michael “Walking Mike” Cranston bears some of the responsibility for his hit-and-run death, says the attorney for the man accused of running him down.

  After learning Marcus Hampton would not face reckless homicide charges in the death of Cranston on Vollmer Road, defense attorney Tamara Holder said Cranston’s family had a “duty to keep him off the streets.” Family members have said Cranston suffered from mental disabilities.

A mentally handicapped individual roaming the streets. Legs chopped off by a speeding car. And the lawyer blames the victim's family, saying that they had a “duty to keep him off the streets.”

Does any of this sound familiar? Mope-rah, you want to chime in here? Maybe that a family has certain obligations to make sure a mentally handicapped old lady isn't swinging a hammer at police and social workers sent to check on her?

Let's expand this even further - let's say a person of limited IQ, maybe not mentally handicapped, but let's just say muddled by dropping out of school, a few years in the joint, frequent alcohol usage, a marijuana habit, maybe some harder stuff. He goes on a beer run, gets stopped by the police, fails to follow verbal direction, goes for a pistol and gets shot by the police. Couldn't we say that his family, heck, his community, had an obligation to keep him from having an illegal and unregistered handgun in a vehicle and then driving so that he brings attention to himself and ends up dead? We think we can.

Thanks Tamara Holder! We appreciate the fact that you like to assign responsibility to the families to keep the mentally deficient out of trouble. It certainly makes the jobs of police officers easier and shifts the blame from us.

Pattern of Corruption

A few stories:

• From the Tribune: A 13-year Chicago city employee has been charged with official misconduct and theft of government funds for allegedly pocketing $450 through a scam involving city vehicle stickers, Inspector General David Hoffman announced Thursday.

  On 10 occasions in June 2006, Kukuruza allegedly accepted payments from motorists for their annual $75 regular city stickers but instead issued them discounted senior-citizen stickers that cost $30. He then pocketed the $45 difference.

Four hundred and fifty bucks. It's the little stuff that adds up.

• When he applied for a part-time job as a truck driver for the city of Chicago, Jerome Felske admitted he had a criminal past.

  He acknowledged having six criminal convictions -- one burglary and five thefts.

  He got the job anyway.

• City lawyers don't plan to appeal the decision reached by the three members of the Daley-appointed board -- attorney Enrico Mirabelli, the Rev. Lucius Hall and Don Turner, a former Chicago Federation of Labor president.

  "Every case is decided on the merits and the facts,'' says Mirabelli. "There is no special treatment.''

He actually had 22 convictions. Did clout get the requirements waived? And did clout get him his job back from a three member board appointed by the mayor? Gee, you think? We've had rumors posted here on numerous occasions outlining how a DUI conviction is no bar to being hired as CPD, only to see that one blow up into a videotaped bar beating.

And the ghost payrolling?

• A prominent Chicago developer was one of former Ald. Arenda Troutman's alleged extortion targets, one of her co-defendants says in a new court filing.
• [Vincent]
  

  Gilbert -- facing prosecution with Troutman -- insists in his court filing that he was qualified for the $5,000 contract he signed with ANSCO in 2005 to do public relations and other work on the project. The indictment accused Troutman of forcing the developer to hire Gilbert even though he had "little, if any, real estate experience."

  Later, Troutman allegedly tried to get the developer to make her brother a partner in the unidentified project, telling him: "And then, I'm paid through him, see?"

Yup, we see all right.

Why Your Taxes Were Raised

Handouts:

• Mayor Daley is encouraging people to get ready for winter and use city programs to help cut heating costs.

  At the Harrison Park Fieldhouse, 1824 S. Wood, the mayor was on hand for a demonstration of energy-saving tips.

  He pointed out that the city is holding a series of winter preparedness fairs. Residents can get a free home winterization kit.

  "The bottom line is every dollar you save on home heating is a dollar you can put to good use on food clothing shelter and education to help improve your family's quality of life," said Daley.

A "free home winterization kit"? Why Mr. Mayor, where ever did that "free" kit come from? Oh yeah - our recently approved tax hike.

Has anyone noticed on your People's Gas bills a little box called "Share the Warmth"? A dollar a month to pay for someone else's heat? Seeing as how we taxpayers just got shafted for over $250 million, we think we'll be needing every single dollar to heat our own homes this year. And we'll be checking to see if ComEd has some similar program that we can save household money on by not contributing. Probably a few of the mayor's favorite charities on the payroll deduction are going to get cut, too.

After all, charity starts at home.

Buh Bye Barry

About damn time:

• Barry Bonds, baseball's home run king, was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice Thursday and could face prison instead of the Hall of Fame for telling a federal grand jury he did not knowingly use performance-enhancing drugs.

A lawyer is whining:

• One of Barry Bonds' lawyers is accusing federal prosecutors of not playing fair when it comes to the slugger's indictment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges.Defense attorney Mike Rains said he spoke briefly with Bonds but did not describe his reaction. At Thursday night news conference, he read a statement accusing federal prosecutors of "unethical misconduct" and declined to take questions."Every American should worry about a Justice Department that doesn't know if waterboarding is torture and can't tell the difference between prosecution on the one hand and persecution on the other," Rains said.

Nothing like comparing lying under oath to waterboarding suspected terrorists. For the record, the US Congress has the authority to pass a law deeming waterboarding "torture," not the Justice Department. To date, Congress hasn't done that, because (surprise!) waterboarding works and has been instrumental in getting information out of certain captured terrorists at Gitmo. But a sports lawyer is going to bring out the non sequitur as fast as possible.

Hopefully, the Hall of Fame takes down their monument to the atrocity that was Bonds' "achievement." We'd rather see Shoeless Joe in there before the door even opened a crack to the 'roid monsters of the 1990's.

Update on Previous Story

An indictment finally:

• A CTA customer service representative was indicted Thursday on identity theft charges for allegedly stealing CTA riders' credit card information and using it for her own shopping sprees.
  
  Miranda O. Smith, 22, of Chicago, is charged with one count of aggravated identity theft (a Class 2 felony), 12 counts of identity theft (Class 4 felony) and eight counts of official misconduct (Class 3 felony) in connection with four separate incidents, according to a release from the Cook County State's Attorney's office. If convicted, she faces up to seven years in prison.

And any update on the "reverend" CTA Board member who appeared magically at Area 4 in an attempt to cover up this criminal wrong doing? Or the other alleged phone call to Area 4 from a certain head of the CTA with a request to handle this incident "quietly"?

We're surprised Channel 2 even covered the indictment. But once again, it proves the saying that the smaller fish fry while the big ones just kind of swim away.

Not an Altar Boy

Evidently, he never made it to church. But he was "turning it around" according to various sources:

• "He had really gotten himself together. He became very influential. He did a lot of mentoring to young boys around the community," said Frederick. (Channel 7)
• "I've known Freddie for about 15 years," Eric Brown said. "He's a great guy. All he ever wanted to do was have his rap career realized and take care of his kids, take care of his family." (Channel 2)
• Friends said Wilson was getting his life back on track. He was released from jail in Wisconsin last year after serving nine months for violating probation, said John Dipko, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. Wilson was put on probation last year after failing to pay child support. He also served 2½ years in prison in the 1990s after violating probation in connection with a 1993 armed robbery. He returned to prison in 2000 and 2003 for parole violations. (Tribune)

Yeah, he was really turning it around.

This is amusing also:

• "We heard that this was a traffic stop. We have not found anybody in the community to say that a traffic stop actually occurred," said Rev. Marshall Hatch, Leaders Network. (Channel 7)
• Pastors returned to the scene Tuesday, launching their own investigation. (Channel 5)
• The Rev. Marshall Hatch, who joined several local ministers at a news conference, said there were big differences between officers and residents in their accounts of what occurred. (Sun Times)

So evidently, we're going to have parallel investigations with the "reverends" running the show on one side, and IPRA not saying anything since they've put a muzzle on the Orange One and his boss Skeletor. So for the next 6 months, give or take a few weeks, the only side being heard will be which one? Of yeah - the loud mouth police bashing make believe men of god.

This system is working out so well already!

Houston, We Have a Problem

Word trickling in from various posters, e-mails and a few eyewitnesses on scene.

IPRA is stumbling on this first test of their new found powers. We have word from more than a few people that the "investigators" were asking why the officers approached the OFFENDER while he was lying on the ground (lying on the ground still holding the gun) and kicked the gun from the OFFENDER'S hand instead of handcuffing the OFFENDER.

Also, IPRA got a walk through of the scene prior to the completion of processing? Can anyone confirm or debunk? This would play into plaintiffs lawyer's hands in a huge way.

The strangest information coming to light (and this is from people at Area 5) is that all four officers (only 3 of whom discharged weapons) were placed into separate interrogation rooms and basically, treated like they had done something wrong. What's up with this? Is this something being used to impeach other officers' credibility? Can someone explain? And are the officers being afforded either legal counsel or union representation in these cases? Or are they completely cut off from anything that might influence their statements?

This is Hilarious

Too damn funny:

• JANET PESTKA FOR SUPERINTENDENT!
  
  P.S.: Hi Jan. You must be out of the country. You've failed to reply to my eMails, phone calls and a certified letter. Since both of us are frequent visitors to the SCC blog, please forward a cashier's check for your OVERDUE contract rent of $2,700.00 plus interest. Any questions? Contact me.
  
  Your landlord and dear friend,
  
  John

So the woman who used to be an exempt on the Chicago Police Department is stiffing Northen for $2,700 in back rent money? Real nice.

Police Shooting in 015

Cops OK. Armed OFFENDER dead at scene.

The first test of the new IPRA regime (yes, the name change passed at Tuesday's Council meeting).

Initial reports are that it went relatively smoothly. The head of IPRA made an initial statement, the Orange One was silent and looking very carrot-like, the Interim made a brief appearance, then left and the only stupid questions asked were by the IPRA investigators.

Links at the Tribune, Sun Times, Channel 7

The Next Superintendent?

Hmmmm:

• Mayor Jerry Abramson said this morning that a team looking for a new police superintendent in Chicago has contacted Louisville Police Chief Robert White about the job.
  
  Abramson said White is being considered but it is unclear how many other people are being looked at for the position.
• White said he couldn't comment.
  
  "I am not in a position to talk about it," he said.

Someone mentioned in the comments that Chief White worked for Ramsey in the past? In DC?

Whatever. Chief White's denial speaks volumes about whether he was approached. The only thing giving this any credence is that the mayor of Louisville leaked it out. We are pretty sure that anyone publicly named in a Chicago paper would be a case of classic misdirection by the Daley's people. Perhaps the mayor of Louisville is just playing hardball with his people, letting the chief know that he wouldn't be missed if he left or some other such message.

Expect more of these stories in the coming weeks.

Are These People Stupid?

We guess the answer to that question is "Hell, yes."

• A group of Chicago ministers aired their concerns about allegations of excessive force by Chicago police officers and other police-related complaints Tuesday.
• Just over two weeks after Rosensweig's appointment, 18-year-old Aaron Harrison was shot and killed by a Special Operations Section officer who had pursued the teenager from a street stop. Witnesses said the young man was unarmed, but police say they found a handgun near his body. Three and a half months later, the revamped OPS still has not issued a report.
• And the ministers told Rosensweig to not only obey but to publicize the city ordinance that puts a six-month limit on OPS Investigations.

So what are these morons complaining about? According to our calculator, she still has two-and-a-half months left to conduct her investigation. Oh, that's right. They're "reverends." They're important. The rules apply to everyone except if the "reverends" get on your case. Then you better have answers and you better have them yesterday.

We heard that Aaron Harrison (known vice lord, convicted drug dealer, armed felon, future heart surgeon and current worm food) was also working on a time machine so the "reverends" could have all their answers yesterday for an investigation that isn't scheduled to be over until February of 2008.

Welcome to Chicago Ms. Rosensweig. Hope you enjoy your temporary stay.

Chuckle-Heads

Remember when we used to be able to shoot burglars?

Yeah, we don't either. Before our time. But the old guys have some stories. This is funnier:

• MICCOSUKEE TRIBE INDIAN RESERVATION, Fla. - A man who jumped into a lake to flee police was killed by an alligator more than 9-feet long, officials said Tuesday.

  The man, whose name has not been released, was allegedly burglarizing a vehicle in the parking lot of the Miccosukee Resort and Convention Center on Thursday. He ran when police arrived at the scene, said Dexter Lehtinen, one of the tribe's police legal advisors.

  Tribal police divers searched for the man that night, then again Friday morning and afternoon. During the third dive, the body was recovered. It bore alligator teeth marks on the upper torso.

Hilarious - fleeing felon eaten by a reptile. Insert punchlines in the comment section.

And if that wasn't stupid enough:

• A man trying to loosen a stubborn lug nut blasted the wheel with a 12-gauge shotgun, injuring himself badly in both legs, Kitsap County sheriff's deputies said.
• From about arm's length, the man fired the shotgun at the wheel and was "peppered" in both legs with shot and other debris, with some injuries as high on his body as his chin, according to a sheriff's office report.

But he lived, so it's not as funny as it could have been.

Two More Shot in Philly

Both will survive, offender in custody:

• A suspect is in police custody in connection to the shooting of two Philadelphia undercover narcotic officers in Frankford Tuesday evening.
  
  According to police, the officers, along with uniformed officers, were serving a warrant at about 6:30 p.m. EDT.
  
  Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson said police knocked and rang the door bell several times before several gunshots were fired from a window inside the home, striking the two plainclothes officers.

Philadelphia has been having a very rough fall with numerous officers shot and one killed. Keep them in your prayers.

Um, FOP? Lil Guidance Here?

From the comments section:

• I don't know if you want to start a new thread or leave this here, but yesterday (11 Nov 07) Area 5 HGS had a closed door roll call. During this roll call certain detectives were informed that future police involved shootings are going to be investigated by OPS and the State's Attorney's Office, while experienced homicide detectives just stand by doing nothing.
• Most of us know that the majority of "witnesses" to police shootings are nothing but lying pieces of shit with an agenda, and more often than not we (the detectives) can prove their full of shit based on the evidence.
• I know many patrolman don't like the detectives but the detectives assigned to police shootings across the city are usually some of the most experienced detectives around. If the malcontents from OPS and the ASA's office begin to take over they are going to take the word of the lying gangbangers on face value without any corroboration or challenging their version of what happened. The minute one of these "witnesses" alleges some type of police misconduct I can see the focus of the investigation switching directly to a criminal investigation, and maybe charging, of the police officer(s) involved.
• The clowns from OPS and the ASA's office are not experienced investigators and wouldn't know how to conduct an investigation if their political hack lives depended on it.
  If this idea does in fact come to be our UNION better step up, because if they don't I can see good, honest, and innocent cops being railroaded by two agencies hell bent on making a name for themselves.
• To all you guys and gals on the street I offer one bit of advice: If your life or the life of another police officer is not in jeopardy let these assholes kill one another. Forget the protection of life policy when it comes to anyone but the police. Be careful.

We've asked for this a couple of times already - when do your rights against self incrimination kick in? At some point, this is going to come up and we can only imagine it'll be at the next police shooting. So rather than having an officer face criminal charges for statements he is forced to make administratively, maybe a new or updated direction from someone at FOP is necessary?

But as far as we know, an ASA and OPS (IPRA) are not members of the chain of command and cannot order you to answer questions. And any boss who orders you to answer questions in front of them in this political climate really ought to be up-to-date on legal and contractual protections officers are entitled to.

Hey Goudie - Investigate This

Since out of control bars seem to be your new specialty - especially connected out of control bars:

• Woman shot, man stabbed in fight at nightclub - A Chicago woman was shot and a Riverdale man was stabbed early Sunday after a South Loop nightclub fight that spilled into the street, police said.
  
  The woman, 18, was in Chicago Legends, 2109 S. Wabash Ave., about 1:45 a.m. Sunday when the fight broke out, Officer Amina Greer said. It was unknown what started the fight, she said.
• In January 2006, a Chicago man was shot to death at Chicago Legends after quarreling with another man on the dance floor. In February 2004, a South Holland man was badly beaten after he fought with two men who were flirting with his wife. A Melrose Park man who came to the man's aid was shot in the thigh.

Seems like another problem joint, like Chromium was. Here's how MetroMix.com describes the bar:

• Now located in the space that Mr. Ricky's Restaurant once occupied, Chicago Legends offers a full bar cocktail lounge for the 25-and-over after-work crowd.

Hmmmm. The "25-and-over after -work crowd." And an 18 year old woman gets shot after stepping out of the bar. Anyone see a few license violations here? Anyone want to bet that nothing happens unless Goudie and his I-Team start poking around? After all, no one has to follow the rules if you pay the right people. Rules are for lesser mortals, like unconnected cops and poor taxpaying schmoes.

Dead Sex Offender in Michigan

This popped up in a number comments. And while we have a fit of trouble mustering up sympathy for a deceased sex offender, the circumstances of his conviction seem a bit out of the ordinary:

• Sorenson was convicted in Illinois when he was 17 of having sex with a 14-year-old girl, said Northville Township police Lt. Greg Rhodes.

This is the unintended consequence of prosecuting high school kids who have sex. Still, this was a pretty bad way to go:

• Two thrill-seeking teenagers stabbed an adult acquaintance, took a blowtorch to his corpse and threw his severed head into a river, prosecutors said Monday as they charged the pair.
• Sorenson, who had worked as a bouncer, was stabbed multiple times in the back, his head sawed off and his body wrapped in the tarp, authorities said. Orlewicz and Letkemann burned his hands and feet with a blowtorch, possibly in an effort to conceal his identity, Worthy said.
• The teens loaded Sorenson's torso in a pickup truck, dumped it in a cul-de-sac and set it on fire using gasoline, Worthy said. A utility crew found it Thursday morning, police said.

All for the thrill of it. Amazing. We remember when a "thrill" was stealing some tires to roll down the alley, painting our names on garages and tipping over some cranky old lady's flower pots.

And the Beatings Continue

Lovely editorial in the Slum Times:

• If an employee's misconduct cost a private company millions of dollars or caused public embarrassment, that employee would be fired. No doubt about it.

  But no such punishment faces Chicago police officers found liable for abusing the people they have sworn to serve and protect. Instead of firing those cops, the city keeps paying the victims -- hundreds of millions of dollars over the years -- for beatings, false arrests or illegal searches. And the cops get to keep their jobs. How much more will it cost before the city gets rid of rogue cops?

And accompanied by this cartoon:

The two examples cited by the editorial writers are as follows:

• The $4 million payout for the screwdriver "sodomy"
• The $2 million payout for "trumped up" kidnapping charges

In the first example, no mention is made of the judge who banned the testimony that stated in part that NO determination could be made where the DNA on the screw driver came from (animal or human) . And no mention is made at all that shoving the pointed end of screwdriver in someone's rectum is going to be leaving great gaping tears, not a quarter inch slit.

The second case was strong enough to have a State's Attorney approve charges and tried in front of a jury. The guy charged was prosecuted on a number of incriminating statements he himself made to the State. Yet the police are the only ones liable?

And of course, the writers bring up the Abbate video, ignoring the fact that Abbate was a drunk and the warning signs were ignored by quite a large number of higher up supervisors because of the political connections. Maybe instead of asking how much "rogue cops" are costing the city, someone ask how much connected and "meri-clout-orious" political animals are bleeding the taxpayers?

Baggage

Is there any exempt anywhere on this job that doesn't have a closet full of skeletons that would preclude them from becoming Superinendent? Anyone? For that matter, is there anyone at the rank of Captain who doesn't have the same baggage (besides Farrell)?

Every time someone's name comes to the fore, we get a comment or three that would call into question anyone from within the Department ever getting near the top job.

It seems like to get that gold star, you have to have committed some heinous sin that someone in power is willing to overlook or cover up for until that big day arrives and then ::BAM!:: they pull it out, show that they own you, and then let you do their bidding from the shadows.

It's like they've sold their soul.