Gouging Tourists

Why bother coming to town anymore?

• At a time when Chicago is trying to shed its image as a high-cost travel destination, the state and city are layering additional fees on visitors.
  
  Airport taxi ride fees are doubling, from $2 to $4; O'Hare International Airport car rentals will be slapped with a daily fee of about $8 later this summer; and Chicago is among a number of cities lobbying for a hike in the airline ticket-tax limit, from $4.50 per leg of a flight to as much as $7, and the city has stated its intent to raise it to the max.
  
  The fees come just as a new state law restructures operations at McCormick Place, with the aim of cutting costs to trade show exhibitors, some of the city's most valued visitors.

And with Shortshanks blaming texting suburbanites for lakefront problems and Chicago's crime being covered relentlessly in the national media, tourist dollars are drying up as the day-trippers go elsewhere. Add in the city dwellers shopping for everything possible outside of Chicago and Cook County, the death spiral continues.

Nothing Good Happens After 2am

Once again, proving the above statement true:

• Kevin Jones ran for cover when at least two guests at a weekend party pulled handguns.
  
  Crouching beneath a window, the 15-year-old thought the danger had passed when the guests stormed out of the apartment in the Gresham neighborhood. But as he stood up, Kevin was hit by a bullet fired from the street and he dropped to the floor, according to a witness and a source.
  
  
• Police responded at about 2:15 a.m. and found Jones -- of the 6800 block of South Wood Street -- wounded. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 2:56 a.m.

And once again, one of those "indoor homicides" J-Fled says we can't do a thing to prevent.

Oh wait, this was an "illegal" party that J-Fled says is the root of all evil and we're going crack down on to stop the slaughter of youths.

Hold on, it was in a private residence, not an abandoned factory.

At 2:15 am?

Geez, fighting crime is hard. Keeping track of all of J-Fled's variables is almost impossible.

Occasional Drug Use

Blago's trial enters the Twilight Zone:

• Sam Adam Jr. livens up the room as his animated cross examination of Lon Monk begins. Adam's questions cut deep, to Lon Monk and Rod Blagojevich's friendship beginning back at Pepperdine Law School in Malibu, Calif.
  
  Adam says Monk and Blagojevich lived together in law school, they shared secrets, talked about girls. Monk agrees.
  
  Adam says the two of them never committed any crimes together back then, right?
  
  Monk: "Other than some occasional drug use," Monk says to some laughter by spectators. "Yes." Adam: "I'm not here to ask you about that."

And this:

• Potential jurors waiting to be questioned in Rod Blagojevich's case discussed the trial's news coverage with each other last week, apparently flouting a judge's order just days after they were told to stop reading or listening to such news, a former prospective juror told the Chicago Sun-Times.

  One of the people who was in the room during the discussion is now on the Blagojevich jury, said David Hallstrom -- formerly juror number 169.

We remember that at least one, maybe two, members of the George Ryan jury ended up having criminal records that were the basis for all sorts of political intrigue where lawyers for both sides may have known this in the hopes of throwing a wrench into things or basing an appeal on it. We certainly look like we're headed that way again.

What's This?

Department Procured Outside Employment?

• The Department and the FOP have come to terms regarding a Department Procured Outside Employment Program that is scheduled to begin in July 2010. The program will be open to all members below the rank of sergeant regardless of unit or title code.
  
  Those members that are interested in participating in this program must complete an e-Learning module that will be available on the e-Learning site in the near future. Members will sign up for a three month period. Members will be notified of opportunities that are available during this time period via CPD email. Members must possess a valid CPD email address in order to participate in this program.
  
  Members may also receive emergency communications regarding assignment by phone. It is imperative that members ensure that the phone number listed with the Department is the phone number that they wish to be contacted at. Members may change their contact number to a cell phone number by completing Personnel Change Notice (CPD 11.611). Simply check the Change Phone Number box and supply the old and new phone numbers in the body of the form.

Is this similar to that out-of-state program we always hear about where if someone needs a "police presence" at a business, event or other function, they can hire off-duty cops through the FOP? Boston or Philly or one of those east coast cities? It's been proposed here before, but never enacted because of one reason or another. Someone want to explain?

Disaster Drill

This must be part of that "overall plan" that Huberman told everyone existed, but it wasn't feasible to train the entire Department, or even let them know it existed in any particular form.

• The Illinois National Guard and local police, fire and transit departments are organizing a five-day series of drills set to test the Chicago area's emergency procedures in response to numerous simultaneous disasters, officials said in a statement today.

  The drills started today and are to last until Thursday.

  "It is a full-scale exercise, so residents can expect to see emergency responders looking and acting as if this was a real homeland security/domestic response mission," the National Guard said in a statement.

• Several simulated terrorist attacks in the Bensenville area on Wednesday.

Well, at least Shortshanks is getting some use out of all those houses he bought in Bensenville. But in reality, we haven't seen Word One on any of this for district first responders. Not a thing. It makes us wonder what they expect us to do in the event of a real emergency - run away? Die heroically? It sure would be nice to have some direction from on high.

Inside J-Fled's Brain

The new wisdom for property crime statistics (via the Policy Group):

• If you didn't have that nice house and cool flat-screen TV, then there is a good chance that a poor honor roll student wouldn't have to break into your house to get it for himself.

Open post for Monday.

3rd Suspect Charged

In the Wortham killing:

• A third man has been charged with murder in the slaying last month of Chicago Police Officer Thomas Wortham IV.

  Marcus Floyd, 19, of the 3100 block of W. Lexington St., was charged with two counts of felony murder in the slaying of Wortham and the shooting death of Brian Floyd. Brian Floyd was Marcus Floyd's cousin, and was fatally shot while trying to steal Wortham's new motorcycle outside Wortham's parents' Chatham home.

  Marcus Floyd also faces a charge of attempted armed robbery and discharge of a firearm.

Too bad we've moved beyond the days of a quick trail, a cigarette and a blindfold. This might drag out for a few years yet even though it's seems like a pretty open-and-shut case.

What is the Matrix?

Funny you should ask:

• Just as insurance companies predict the likelihood of heart attacks, car crashes and house fires, more than a dozen police departments in the suburbs and at Chicago area universities are using a similar type of forecasting on job applicants.

  The aim is to screen out candidates likely to use excessive force, abuse drugs, improperly fire a weapon or have other problems.

  The statistics-based psychological evaluation system was developed by Matrix Inc. in the mid-1990s in Louisiana.

But guess who isn't using it?

• The City of Chicago, which pays out millions of dollars a year as a result of lawsuits against police officers, doesn't use the system. Matrix approached the city in 2008, but Tracey Ladner, human resources director for the Chicago Police Department, said the department uses a more "traditional" psychological evaluation. Matrix did not submit a bid in time, she said.

And that "traditional" approach, how is that working out for you there Tracey? One has to wonder what scandals might have been averted using a program like this instead of "clout" and phone calls for hiring purposes alone.

You know what would be interesting? Having "merit" picks and command staff take this Matrix evaluation just to see where they'd land in the great scheme of things. And then maybe Shortshanks could sit for a test, too.

Odd Reporting Styles

First Fran says this on Tuesday:

• Chicago taxpayers dodged a fiscal bullet when an independent arbitrator awarded rank-and-file police officers a ten percent pay hike over five years — their smallest raise in nearly three decades.

Then she tosses in this line:

• But the pricetag is still a whopping $375 million — $160 million of it for retroactive pay.

  The city plans to finance the back pay portion by issuing $160 million in so-called commercial paper, a short-term line of credit retired by general city revenues.

Then Rosalind Rossi reports on the upcoming teacher raises:

• Chicago Public Schools officials revealed Friday that they plan to borrow up to $800 million to pay their bills -- even as they pledged to give teachers a promised 4 percent pay hike, a move designed to head off a strike.

No "dodged a bullet." No "whopping" borrowing, even though the CPS total is more than double the police numbers.

It's almost like Fran is grinding an axe for the mayor with some slanted reporting while Rossi plays off the enormity of the CPS costs. Hmmmmm.

Dumb Professor

Evidently, the bar to become a University of Chicago Chair has been lowered overly much. Get a load of this "statistician" and his methodology:

• The crowd for Friday's Stanley Cup parade and rally was huge by any measure, but at least one statistician says the city's official estimate of two million attendees is a bit overzealous.

  "Most censuses of Chicago give you three million people for Chicago," said Stephen Stiegler, the Chairman of the Department of Statistics at the University of Chicago. "Do you really believe that two-thirds of Chicago was down there? No!"

Never mind that Metra was running full cars to and from the end of their numerous rail lines. And for the first time in recent memory, lakefront parking garages were full to overflowing. No, all 2 million people came from the population of Chicago, IL.

We have our own doubts about the 2 million number being thrown around, but we base it on knowledge of faulty crowd estimates, the tendency for politicians and Department brass to lie through their teeth, and the experience we've had working events where a million people actually show up. We don't just assume two-thirds of Chicagoans took off work, skipped school and showed up downtown.

And admit it - neither did any of you, which makes every one of us at least as smart as someone running a department of a university ranked among the tops in Nobel Prize winners.

Out of Control ATV

This looks ugly (here's the link if the embed doesn't work) :



At least a dozen people, maybe more, get blindsided by this 4-wheeler. And it also shows how the cops were woefully undermanned that they couldn't maintain the barricades once the parade units had passed. Again, this could have been much worse than it ended up being. Luck played too big a role in this event.

Taser, Taser, Taser!

The west side was alive with the sound of electrical arcs:

• Police used Tasers in three separate incidents on the West Side late Friday and early Saturday, according to police.
  
  About 8:45 p.m. Friday in the 100 block of South Pulaski Road, police used a Taser to subdue a 49-year-old man who matched the description of a person wanted in a robbery, according to Harrison District police. After further investigation, it was determined the man had not been involved in the robbery but had an outstanding warrant for his arrest in a different area, police said.
  
  
• The second incident occurred about 10:30 p.m. in the 3200 block of West Lake Street. A 22-year-old woman was fleeing in a vehicle from a domestic dispute in which she injured another person, police said. When police confronted her, she refused to get out of the vehicle and police used a Taser to take her into custody.
  
  
• This morning about 3 a.m., police were chasing a battery suspect in the 4200 block of West Madison Street. Police discharged a Taser, but missed the suspect, police said. The man was eventually caught and taken into custody.

Fun times on the west side.

2,000,000?

It certainly felt like a crush of humanity.

And wasn't it hilarious when Shortshanks and Quinn got booed as loudly as they did? If Daley didn't know most of those attendees were suburbanites instead of Chicago voters, he wouldn't even run again. Quinn might be losing some sleep.

We continue to wonder at the Department's ability to react to a large incident though. This was a peaceful crowd. After a copper got hit during an ATV accident, the crowd continued to maintain its jovial nature and showed concern for the injured officer, but this could have turned out far differently if people had completely mobbed the buses and trampled a number of people. We hate to rain on anyone's parade, especially a Stanley Cup parade, but this seemed like we lucked out...again.

Discipline for Rifle Deployment?

No sense of proportion if true:

• O/T But I have heard it from several sources. Anyone else hear about IPRA or OPS or whatever it's called this week wanting to give the officer who was involved in the shoot out with the carbine 30 days for failure to properly secure the weapon in the vehicle. Apparently the officer who RETURNED FIRE on the offender and took him out was riding already armed with the rifle. This officer saves two officers lives who had already taken fire from the offender and they want to slap him with 30 days over some bullshit!! Anyone else have info on the truth to this? This is why they changed the carbine General Order this month and added basically a "wolfpack clause" where if there are at least two 10-4 units and a Sgt. riding together on a "mission" then one officer out of the four can ride with the carbine in the car.

Hopefully, untrue about the 30 days. Morale is a mess already.

Light Posting

Taking it easy this weekend with a few family events, get-togethers and opportunities non-blogging related. We'll continue to update comments, but posting may be lighter than normal.

Open post for the moment.

Captains to Stay?

From the comments:

• FINALLY someone who has the stones to stick up to Masters/Weis. Thats right, Dan Dugan took a stand against the dynamic duo on the issue of moving Captains around to spread around the workoload. He told Weis that if he cant run the Patrol Division then expect him to drop papers and leave. (and go to the media about manpower shortages). low and behold, J-fled backed down (once again) and now the Captains will stay put. Way to go Dugan.

Of course, if the Department doesn't make any captains, J-Fled, Masters and Shortshanks win by default. And that certainly seems to be the way they're going at the moment.

Investigative Brilliance

Stunning turn of events:

• When childhood friends Jeffrey Pinkerton and Patrick Evans were released from jail, they both said they would change their ways.

  Evans' mother said she doubted it. Pinkerton's girlfriend of seven years and the mother of his two children said she had faith that he would.

  On Tuesday night, both men were killed in the back of an East Garfield Park corner store in the 3600 block of West Ohio Street.

  [...] The shooting was gang-related, police sources said. Both men were members of the Conservative Vice Lords, the sources said.

Really, we had no idea this would turn out to be gang related. AK-47 used in a west-side corner-store back-room? How could such a thing be?

Running for FOP Spots

As a commentator was kind enough to point out:

• A note to CPD Readers, anyone who wants to run for FOP Office next year MUST Attend at least 5 meetings in the previous year to be eligible to run.
  
  Per FOP Bylaws & Regulations as follows;
  
  The elected Officers of the Lodge shall consist of a President, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Vice Presidents, Recording Secretary, Financial Secretary, Treasurer, three (3) Sergeants-at-Arms, and seventeen (17) Trustees.
  
  The term of office for elected officers of Lodge No. 7 shall be three (3) years.
  
  The duly elected officers of the Lodge and elected/appointed unit representatives by virtue of their office shall be delegates to the State and National Conference.

Start attending meetings if you want to run. See you there!

Hawks Win!

Just because it needs to be celebrated again.

Parade on Friday?

Brother, Spare a Dime?

Or 3,300,000 dimes?

• A Southwest Side man was awarded $1.3 million Tuesday after a Cook County jury found two Chicago Police detectives and a police polygraph administrator created a false confession about him in the 2001 murder of his neighbor, according to the man's lawyers.

  Donny McGee's award is to include $330,000 from the officers' personal funds, according to Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law.

  McGee, who spent three years in prison, was to face the death penalty in the murder of Ethel Perstlen, 76.

Polygraphs have been discredited for years now and many courts disallow any sort of testimony regarding interpretations of their data. In what might be called an ironic twist, the unreliable data produced and interpreted by the technician was turned into a "false confession" by lawyers and cost him $110,000. The detectives used the data provided by a Department trained operator and the lawyers turned it into another $220,000 payday.

Seeing as how this case only cost the city $1 million (plus lawyer costs we're sure), we could see them writing a check for their part and leaving the three CPD members holding the bag on any appeals and related costs for their $110,000 each.

Anyone want to guess what the clearance rate is going to drop to now?