Abbate to Plea?

From the Sun Times:

• A lawyer for police officer Anthony Abbate — videotaped beating up a female bartender — signaled today his client might plead guilty.

  Abbate’s lawyer Peter Hickey requested a “402 conference,” in which prosecutors, defense counsel and a judge discuss a possible plea deal.

Here's what we'll guess at:

• misdemeanor plea
• no jail time or minimal (under 180 days?)
  
• heavy community service - over 200 hours?
  
• resignation as part of the deal

Why? Again, we'll guess that Hickey and his client can see the writing on the wall. This is a heater case, a loser in the hands of a jury and even worse in the Cook County Courts where the Machine holds sway. It's also a loser in front of the Police Board where the mayor calls all the shots and since this is the very case that drove Daley to pick an outsider, J-Fed isn't going to play any games with this one. The civil suit will bankrupt Abbate anyway and the City will be out of it completely as he was off duty and not acting in any official capacity.

Avoiding prison is the only issue here.

Three 12-hour Days?

An interesting proposal:

• Newly appointed Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis is exploring the possibility of asking rank-and-file officers to work 12-hour shifts three days a week to bolster morale and shorten medical leaves, officials said Tuesday.

  With longer hours fewer days a week, police officers who now work eight-hour shifts would have more time to decompress and spend with their families, and they might be less inclined to go drinking after work, researchers contend.

Interesting. What are the start times? Is this standard? Office personnel too? Rotating days off or are you stuck working weekends for the next decade? What about manpower reductions?

Lots of questions, but lots of opportunities, too.

Oh, and good to see the readers are getting us accurate info:

• Weis decided to explore the possibility of a Los Angeles-style, 12-hour shift after a give-and-take last week with officers in the 21st District, Bond said. Weis has been appearing at roll calls -- and dismissing police supervisors from that discussion -- to get his finger on the pulse of officers on the street.

Laski Interviews

This is a very angry and bitter man:

• Convicted former City Clerk Jim Laski said Monday he worked through Mayor Daley's top lieutenants to get Hired Truck business for the lifelong friend who betrayed him and, therefore, believes the mayor knows a lot more about the scandal than he has publicly admitted.

  Free after spending eleven months in a West Virginia federal prison and six months at a Chicago halfway house, Laski is pointing fingers at the mayor in a tell-all book and in-depth interview.

He was thrown under the bus, same as anyone else who dares to cross the mayor. But he must not have been promised anything good after serving his time because he has an axe to grind and grind it he does.

And most of what he's saying has to be true because the mayor and his cronies aren't defending themselves - they're letting a standard press release do their talking. That should be the first clue that something is true, because truth is, in and of itself, a shield. And there's no way that innocent people would stand for what Laski is dishing out.

Unless Laski is being paid to pollute the jury pool. Hmmmm.

Spring Training

Pitchers and catchers reporting to camps nationwide this week.

And Roger Clemens is probably going to jail, not the Hall of Fame.

That is all.

Bring on the Executions!

Of course, he'll never do it:

• DuPage County State's Atty. Joseph Birkett joined a Republican lawmaker Tuesday in urging Gov. Rod Blagojevich to resume executions, saying Illinois' death-penalty system has been reformed.
  
  "We encourage the governor to follow the law," said Birkett, president of the Illinois State's Attorneys Association. "It has been eight years since the moratorium was imposed."
  
  To that end, state Rep. Dennis Reboletti (R-Elmhurst) said he has introduced a House resolution asking Blagojevich to resume executions.

Blago is a panderer. He panders to certain constituencies for votes and for the chance to pollute a potential jury pool for himself or the wife when the Federal indictments finally arrive.

Maybe Birkett will if he can defeat Lisa Madigan next election season.

The Scream

This is an actual painting of what HQ looked like Monday when the umbilical cord known as a "Blackberry" was out of service:

• A major service outage afflicted users of the popular, addictive BlackBerry smart phones across the United States and Canada on Monday.
  
  Officials with AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless said BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. told them customers of all wireless carriers were affected.

Without this magical device to tell exempts what to do, many were found curled up in fetal positions throughout the building and parking lot. Emergency stashes of Kool-aid had to be brewed and administered via enema.

Fortunately, at the Port of Chicago:

Thank god.

Looking for Info - Again

They sent home a class of recruits? On the first day?

And we're short how many coppers?

And aren't January & February the big retirement months?

WTF?

Laski's Book

From Sneed:

• Former City Clerk Jim Laski, who was sent to federal prison on corruption charges stemming from the Hired Truck scandal, is about to take you on a bumpy ride.

  • • Translation: Laski, now free, has written a book, My Fall from Grace: City Hall to Prison Walls, in which he has some unkind words to say about Mayor Daley.

  • • To wit: In the 419-page self-published book, Laski compares Daley to Capt. Queeg, the mentally unbalanced ship's captain in Herman Wouk's The Caine Mutiny.

No word if missing strawberries were involved in any of the ongoing federal investigations (you youngsters go rent "The Caine Mutiny" to see Bogart play a mental whack job). Here's a couple of addresses to find the book at:

• For more information, go to the Author House Web site, authorhouse .com, and to Laski's Web site, www.myfallfromgrace.com.

Lateral Moves

As promised, Chief Kushner of Berwyn has given us the heads up that his Department will be accepting lateral transfers shortly:

• Ads will be posted before the end of the week on the blueline.com, and Illinois Chiefs of Police, as well as the City of Berwyn Website. Starting salary is 50,951, with a $2000 signing bonus. 6 county residency. Just thought that I’d pass this along. Application process begins 18 Feb though 3 March.

It doesn't cost a thing to look.

Just Because

Regularly scheduled mayhem at a reasonable price.

Tell your friends.

Officer Home Invaded?

From two different comments, we get this sketchy report:

• Off Subject SCC FYI
  
  Home invasion police officers house 0100 hours 112th Central Park. P/os girlfriend sees two male ones in alley when going to park. Police are called respond 19B.
  
  Hour later two m/1s armed force their way into the side door and tie up 20 yoa woman p/os girl friend. female forced to dis robe for offenders who are demanding location of the officer who lives in residence. Offenders hooded want to sexually assault female when some thing made them flee.
  
  M/1s immediately flee, in a vehicle no description at this time. What was the original call, 2 m/1s in alley in vehicle. P/o is assigned to 004 brother in 008.
  
  My question: Were is the community alert, why have the dicks or district not put out a formal message. Message should be put out for all concerned police officers.
  
  Are these two offenders the officer may have locked up or encountered on job . People something should and must be done about this violation to the officer and his nearly raped significant other. The area better assign some aggressive detectives to this investigation not the usual do nothing mopes from midnights.
  
  How did the offenders obtain the officers home address? Some one from 022 please let us know what is going on.

What the hell is going on down south?

UPDATE: Comments temporarily disabled on this post while we scan and evaluate. Back up later

UPDATE: Comments back up. Someone pointed out a few things that got through the screening process. Believe it or not, we had never heard the term before. We have gone back and removed the comment and a few others that quoted it.

Our reporter acquaintance Kim Janssen has an article up at The Southtown Star and the story was all over NewsRadio 780 all morning.

Positive Wizz Quiz?

Update from last week:

• A Cicero police commander under investigation for possible drug use asked to resign from his post and be demoted to patrolman the day before he underwent a town-ordered drug screening.
  
  Wesley Scott did not give a reason for the unusual request in his letter to the police superintendent, town spokesman Dan Proft said. But under the town's new drug use policy, a police commander could be fired for a first-time minor drug offense while an officer might get a five-day unpaid suspension.

Anyone else want to bet that TRU got this one right?

Old Style Killing

Marquette style:

• Two men were stabbed to death and two others were injured during a knife fight in the Little Village neighborhood Saturday night.

  The fatal stabbings were the second double homicide on Saturday.

  About 9:20 p.m., police responded to 2740 S. Drake Ave. where two men were dead on the scene, police News Affairs Officer Amina Greer said.

We're sure the offender was headed for the border as soon as possible. But you have to appreciate the violence that one person can inflict on 4 others with a edged weapon if they really want to (two others were wounded in fight, one seriously). Aside from shotgun murders and certain traffic accidents, knife fights are some of the more unpleasant scenes to be around.

Anyone beg to differ?

Ridiculous if True

From the Comments:

• last night 08 Feb,2008 the 017th dist was calling for a Sergeant with a Taser....second time in a week an officer needed a Sergeant with a Taser...and guess what?
  
• Disp: "1710"?
  1710: "1710"
  Disp: "Do you have a Taser? 1762A is requesting a Sergeant with a Taser respond to School/Monticello
  1710: "Squad I don't have one"
  Disp: "1750 Do you have a Taser?"
  1750: "I don't carry one squad"
  Disp: "1762 do you have a Taser sir?"
  1762: "I don't have one but I'm responding to School/Monticello"
  Disp: "Any Sgt in 016 have a Taser that can respond to School/Monticello"?
  1669: "I have one but coming from Milwaukee/Foster..long way off"
  Disp: "Ok I'll show you going"
  1669: "99"
  What does this tell you officers? The General Order reads that "Any member trained in the use of a Taser is REQUIRED to carry it" Why is it that 3 Sergeants in 017th Dist do not carry the Taser to protect their officers?? This is the second incident in a week!! and the 3rd in the last month that NO 017th Dist Sergeant had a Taser to help their officers!! A Sergeant from another Dist had to be called to come and help them and on one occasion the same Sergeant arrived at 4200 W Lawrence when they called for a Taser....(016th Dist Sgt responded) Officers...You need to get on your W/C or Commander and MAKE these Sgt's carry the equipment that is provided to help you or help save your life when you need it...NO EXCUSES!! just LAZY SERGEANTS....

One of these days, someone is going to call for a TASER and if there isn't one on the streets, the coppers on scene are going to end up killing someone. Then there is going to be a HUGE investigation and all sorts of recriminations flying back and forth about training, liability, preparation and responsibilities.

And it isn't going to be pretty. But we're of the opinion if you have the tool available, have it handy for use.

How Cold?

Not a good day:

• A wind chill advisory is in effect Saturday afternoon, as Chicagoland braces for an extreme dip in temperatures later Saturday night. Wind chills are expected to drop to between 20 to 30 degrees below zero.

  The National Weather Service has issued a wind chill advisory for Cook, La Salle, Kendall, Grundy, Will and Kankakee counties that will be in effect until Sunday at 6 p.m.

And all that snow melt puddling in the streets? This freeze is going to make the recent crop of potholes look like a minor inconvenience along with a few hundred water main ruptures.

Why is it we can put a man on the moon, but science can't find a road material that will withstand a single Chicago winter? Oh wait, that'd put the road contractors out of business. Never mind.

Business as Usual

And still it goes on. In the face of allegedly massive federal investigations:

• Friends of Mayor Richard Daley made out handsomely when land they owned was rezoned in the 11th Ward, helping them sell the property for about $2.4 million more than they paid for it.
  
  A critic of the Daley administration didn't do so well, however. He couldn't get a zoning change, and the value of his property diminished by about $4 million, according to court papers.
  
  Both decisions were made by a Daley ally—James Balcer, the 11th Ward alderman who calls the shots on zoning in his South Side ward.

Connected people making unholy sums of money based on who they know, who they contribute to, who they can "persuade" to adjust zoning law. Sometimes it's only companies swindling each other before they pass it on to consumers. But many times, it's the taxpayers who are saddled with the entire bill:

• DiPiazza and Ferro have done well in other 11th Ward real estate deals under the Daley administration. The Tribune previously reported that they bought contaminated land along the Chicago River for $50,000 in 1998, just before the city sought state funds to buy the property. Six years later, they sold it to the city for a park for $1.2 million.

Crooked as the day is long.

(UPDATE: inadvertently left out the Tribune link - corrected in the top line of text)

Clearance Rate to Fall Again

Evidently, no one wants any crimes solved. They just want a report number for insurance purposes and no overtime expended for any reason:

• Prompted by a class-action lawsuit, the Chicago Police Department is shortening the amount of time it can hold prisoners who have not been charged or appeared before a judge.
  
  Detectives were informed Thursday that suspects have to appear before a judge within 48 hours of arrest or be released. The previous practice required only that charges be approved by prosecutors within that time frame.
• Detectives said that the change will put them under much greater pressure to assemble cases hastily.
  
  "They're tying our hands behind our backs," said one veteran detective, who asked not to be named. "It's just one more thing to keep us from solving crimes."

So evidently, we're just going to solve crimes by fingerprints, DNA and crime scene photos. And since it takes an act of god (or a white shirt) to actually get a crime scene processed lately, we won't be solving anything.... unless you actually catch someone in the act of burglarizing, robbing or killing someone.

Then the ASA will deny charges.

Prosecuted Politically

Charges dismissed after a judge finds zero probable cause:

• A Chicago Police officer will not stand trial for felony drunk driving in a crash that killed two men, because a judge today found “no indication” the cop was drunk.

  Prosecutors had argued that the case against [J.A.] should proceed — even though the car the officer hit had blown a stop sign, and a bartender testified that the officer was not drunk.

  But Judge Don Panarese said he saw “no [indication] of impairment on the part of Mr. [A]” and found no probable cause for the case to proceed.

So this would appear to bolster the contention that this was a political prosecution in the heat of a hotly contested primary race. This would also seem to negate the State's Attorney's office attempting to use Administratively ordered evidence from being used against officers in violation of their Fifth Amendment rights and established Garrity Law.

And as the investigation determined (and the judge agreed) the other car was at fault (Unit #1), the evidence of someone making political hay out of this accident is indeed very likely.

Sell! Sell! Sell!

The mayor continues to look to sell anything that isn't nailed down.

• Motorists would pay more to park at Chicago’s 36,161 metered spaces — and even higher prices during peak periods in congested areas — in exchange for more cashless payment and pay-by-phone options, under a privatization plan advanced Friday.

  Buoyed by the $2.4 billion gravy train of revenue generated by privatizing the Chicago Skyway and downtown parking garages and the prospect of an even bigger windfall at Midway Airport, Mayor Daley on Friday moved to unload yet another city asset: Chicago parking meters.

  City Hall and the Chicago Park District issued a “request for qualifications” from firms interested in operating what would be the nation’s “first major publicly-owned parking meter operation.”

Supposedly, the City would walk away from repairing and upgrading meters. No word yet if that means we won't be ticketing anymore. We can't imagine that police would be ticketing and towing from privatized meters. Does this mean that there would be some "quasi-police" force operating and enforcing meter rules?

We're sure some aldercreature's nephew or mayoral relative is currently forming some front company that'll will mysteriously be the only bidder capable of of meeting the "qualifications" set forth by the City.

This money might go to underfunded pensions - hahahaha. We're kidding! Of course it will go to connected politicians, contractors and relatives. This is still Chicago.

LA and Missouri

Bad scene in LA:

• In a tense overnight standoff, a man shot and killed a Los Angeles SWAT officer and seriously wounded another after calling 911 to report that he had killed three family members at a San Fernando Valley home, authorities said. A police sniper killed the suspect this morning, authorities said.
  
  The sniper struck the man in the head about 7:30 a.m. as he tried to flee out a door, still firing his weapon more than 10 hours after the incident began, several sources with the Los Angeles Police Department said. By that point, a fire had ignited at the home.

Another SWAT Officer was wounded in the jaw, but is expected to recover.

Condolences to LAPD on a difficult day.

And a worse day in Kirkwood:

• MyFOXStLouis.com reports that the six people, including the mayor and two police officers, were killed, as well as the gunman.

  Police shot the gunman, who had hit Kirkwood Mayor Mike Swoboda, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which had a reporter at the meeting.

Deepest condolences to all involved.