More Casualties

Just walking down the street in broad daylight:

• A mother and a 1-year-old were grazed by bullets Sunday afternoon in the South Side Chatman [sic] neighborhood.

  The shooting took place at 3:22 p.m. near the intersection of 79th Street and South Maryland Avenue, police said.

  Police and fire officials did not know the condition of the 1-year-old or the mother. The child was taken to University of Chicago Comer’s Children’s Hospital, and the mother was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center...

Well, it is Chatham after all.

Anyone have the grand totals for the bloodbath that was this weekend? Middle of March, technically, still winter, and we're hitting our mid-season form already.

Hey Look! Truth in Reporting

They charged a couple of pieces of shit with murder Sunday:

• Two teenagers were charged with the murder of a 6-year-old girl in Little Village who was likely caught in the middle of a gang shooting, police said Sunday.
  
  Juan Barraza, 18, and a 16-year-old boy charged as an adult who police would not name, have been charged with murder and aggravated discharge of a firearm in the slaying of Aliyah Shell. Both teens are said to be affiliated with the Latin Kings street gang, police said.

But look what else they wrote:

• Police described members of the family as gang affiliated. Police are investigating whether the suspects were gunning for members of a rival gang, the Two-Sixers.

And this is just shocking - not shocking that it occurred, shocking that the Tribune reported it:

• As relatives and friends passed through the Springfield Avenue home, they walked past a lone pink stuffed bunny on the steps to the home. The Two Six gang uses a bunny with a bent ear as its symbol.
  
  Aliyah’s memorial pink bunny had one ear flopped down.

We assume the Tribune will be taking that portion of the report down shortly - they always have in the past. We also assume that Becky Schlikerman and Jeremy Gorner will be lectured by editors about reporting the actual truth - it's a big "no-no" in Chicago.

Death Investigation

Another way to keep crime down:

• The decomposed body of a man was found in the trunk of a car on the West Side Saturday evening.

  Police responded to a call for a "well-being" check at 525 S. Denvir Avenue – a tiny one-block street between Congress Parkway and Harrison Street about a block and a half west of Western Avenue – about 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

  An autopsy today was inconclusive, pending further studies, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

  A spokeswoman for the Cook County medical examiner's office couldn't say if the body had signs of trauma because it was too decomposed.

Because we're just positive he kidnapped himself from 009, burglarized his own home and then bound himself in duct tape before climbing into the trunk to die.

Yeah, we still talk to the guys and gals in the new "Area" to keep up on the news.

Murders 21, 22, 23 and 24

Not only did we blow past the March 2011 total (22 total murders), Chicago did it in STYLE!

• Four men were killed and 11 other people wounded in shootings Saturday night and Sunday morning across the city's South and West Sides.

Rumor has it that Blackberries across the city exploded with the shooting notifications, which as of this moment total 5 dead and 26 wounded in a single warm weekend with all of Sunday still to come.

And once again, it falls on the blog to call for the resignation of a Superintendent who can be described as nothing but a failure, a New York charlatan who has done nothing but destroy the Chicago Police Department. Morale is shot, equipment is broken, training is inadequate, leadership is nonexistent, and the entire ability of the police department to respond to crime and disorder problems is called into question.

And Rahm can go fuck himself, too. We're retired...we can say that.

What a Night!

Clark Street shut down again. Another dozen plus shootings. And it's "Wilding" season again:

• Scc, consider downtown shitcago lost. Tonight was endless baby sitting of the savages throughout the 18th district. They had tact teams from different districts helping out, but yet still extremely short handed on manpower. The shitbirds were at different locations: Clark & Ontario, Oak Street beach, Water tower place and McDonalds on Chicago & State. It was nice to see that shit hole gathering spot, McDonalds shut down for business. A 10-1 was called out in the area of either Chicago and State or Wabash. When the 10-1 was done a group of French tourists asked if it was safe, I replied no it is not we are having gang problems in this area. these tourists said that they were in Chicago 4 years ago, but do not like the fact that the police can not arrest or control the unruly shitbirds and that they do not feel safe as tourists in the city. Looks like tourism is going to drop. Hmmm...can not control gang mobs, yep the city is ready for NATO.

Car 1800 was calling for citywide assists according to numerous comments.

And the media says....... [crickets chirping]

Clinics, Cameras and Silence

A very well thought out comment:

• Wait until the mentally ill run out of their meds from the mayor and governor closing down all those mental health clinics in order to save. They'll be hitting the streets soon if you haven't taken any calls already.
  
  Let's see how much we save as the E-R rooms and trauma centers go on bypass. Yeah boy, we're saving now eh.
  
  Don't look at that over there though.
  
  Look at this over here at how many kids have been struck by speeding vehicles in schools zones and near parks. Look at them all. Where are they? How many where there today, this week, this month, this year?
  
  ((crickets)).
  
  That's funny. I haven't seen a single story in the press about this speeding vehicle carnage. Have you?
  
  Nevertheless we got to get those speed trap cameras in baby! Millions of dollars are at stake and the mayors friend needs a contract.
  
  Fine the children and take their lunch money too because their shoe laces are untied that will teach them disciple and to not mess with authority. Get them ready for their mindless corporate factory welding jobs. Just sit down and shut up and pay your taxes like the city council told you to do.
  
  SPEAKING OF THE CITY COUNCIL!
  
  Sixteen people shot and not one aldermen in the main stream media demanding anything of the mayor. Not one. Maybe I missed it, there's gotta be one right? How about you, any of you seen the aldermen speaking out?
  
  What are we paying taxes for? What? Tell me. To be told to sit down and shut up?
  
  They're not even passing out flyers anymore to tell you to shelter in place inside our homes because it's too dangerous. These are our elected representatives? Are there ANY leaders among them or are they just here to collect a paycheck and go with the flow of whatever the machine wants and then play the victims? Yeah you know the answer and so do I
  
  They're useless.
  
  So showcase it mayor. Showcase what the elite NATO leaders have created.

That sums up quite a few of the issues we've been harping on lately. And the Reader. And anyone with half a brain.

Murder #20 for March

Another murder, plus three more shot. Truly sad:

• A 6-year-old girl was fatally wounded in a shooting in the Little Village neighborhood this afternoon, one of four people injured in separate shootings throughout the city in less than an hour today.

  Just before 4 p.m., a victim was reported shot in the Little Village neighborhood and taken in serious-to-critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital, according to fire media information.

  The girl, age 6, was shot in the abdomen and hospitalized in critical condition following the attack in the 3100 block of South Springfield Avenue, according to Police News Affairs. Details were not immediately available, but the Cook County medical examiner's office said the girl shot on Springfield Avenue had died at Mount Sinai.

The article goes on to say that member of the latin kings are suspected and two are in custody.

We assume that we'll be "declaring war" on the latin kings in short order, completely disregarding the fact that we're engaged in at least two other wars of "obliteration" and haven't a snowball's chance in hell of making an impact on any of the three ongoing conflicts while Englewood racks up 4 shootings a night, Austin pitches in with two or more and Fillmore contributes a steady diet of mayhem to the cause.

The other shootings were in Gage Park.

And again, it's only March? Holy crap.

No Visits for You

Prisoners won't be getting their visits - or their deliveries of certain "items:"

• Due to an outbreak of "influenza-like illness" at Cook County Jail, officials tonight said some visitation will not be allowed.
  
  In an effort slow the spread of the sickness, staff of the Cermak Hospital has advised the sheriff's office to put all detainees in Division 1 on no-movement status and to ban visits there, according to a news release.
  
  Detainees in Divisions 4 and 5 are on a limited movement status, which might affect visitations there, sheriff's officials said.

This is going to put a crimp in the prisoner underground economy and we're pretty sure the commissary is ill equipped to pick up the slack.

Ten Shot Overnight (UPDATE - 14, no 16!)

Chicago has to be averaging almost five shot a night lately, right? Double that last night:

• Ten people were shot across Chicago Friday evening and into Saturday morning, according to police.

These crime strategies are working amazingly badly. Sure, the shootings "in the box" might be down, but everywhere else, they're out of hand and there just aren't enough cops to put in any more boxes. We're stretched to thin and summer is likely to break it.

UPDATE: The bodies keep falling out of the woodwork:

• One man was killed and 15 others wounded by gunfire across the city Friday night and Saturday morning, according to authorities.

Homicide total for March - up to 19.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

We'll be busy most of the day.

Open post for now.

Which Judges to Vote Against

We like to keep things simple - we simply vote "NO" on every single judge that comes up for retention. We've been doing it for years and have been encouraging people to do the same.

For those of you who like to narrow down your efforts though, our old friend (in fact, our oldest blogging friend) Rue St. Michel has a post up naming some of the worst judges in Cook County.

So spread the word and include this link in your e-mails to friends, family and acquaintances. One of these days we just might manage to launch a few of these jackasses.

Warm Weekend On Tap

Not just warm either:

• Another day, another broken record.
  
  After two days of 81-degree days that shattered previous records set in 1995, the temperature for today reached 82 degrees at O'Hare International Airport breaking the record of 78 degrees in 1945.
  
  The unprecedented March warm spell began early this week and shows no sign of waning soon. The forecast calls for highs in the 70s well into next week, and the Chicago Weather Center says more records are expected to be broken.

We fully expect the March homicide numbers to surpass last year's totals this weekend, no matter what McCompStat has planned.

Dart Appointee Arrested/Indicted

From the blog called 19th Ward Politics:

• Confirmed: Tom Dart's top animal crimes investigator Larry Draus indicted... Media left out in the cold. Source says numerous high profile Animal Cruelty cases now in jeopardy! Update; Finally hits the press!
  
  Blogger has confirmed that Dart's top Animal Crimes investigator was indicted after being under FBI surveillance for over a year. This investgator has close ties to the Sheriff and was even given the Humane Chicago Award in 2009 along with Sheriff Dart. Its ironic when anyone else has been arrested from our department Dart gives a press release. But i guess a different standard is applied when your close friends to Sheriff Dart himself. Why is this being covered up???

Is there any entity in Illinois that isn't rife with corruption?

UPDATE: 19thWardPolitics has a whole series of outlining how the Sun Times appears to be in the tank for Tom Dart. Hop over to this link and read their blog.

Homicide Totals?

According to RedEye.com, there were 22 homicides in March of last year.

According to the same source, we're at 18 homicides for March already and we're only halfway through the month.

Year to date (16 March), 2011 had 65. This year we're already at 86.

Oh, and all that other crime probably isn't down. If you read the articles we've been linking to, you see that CompStat relies almost entirely on manipulating crime stats to show a decrease in certain crimes by deliberate misreporting. Burglaries are theft or criminal damage, domestic related auto theft isn't auto theft at all, aggravated batteries are downgraded to simple batteries.

If homicides and "shootings" are up, chances are everything else is also.

Voting Numbers Down

If you didn't early vote, it's over:

• Early Voting for Illinois' primary election ended Thursday, and officials say the number of voters who went to the polls is down compared to four years ago.
  
  The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners said early data shows early voting ballots cast is down by more than 46,000 compared to 2008, which saw 81,690 ballots cast.
  
  [...] Absentee voting is also down by more than 8,000 compared to 2008. Of the 9,400 absentee applications processed Wednesday for the March primary, only about 4,763 absentee ballots were returned. About 13,000 ballots were mailed in 2008, election officials said.

This low turnout would work in the police/fire's favor by giving us a disparate impact on totals....if everyone had registered to vote and actually voted. Seriously, we need FOP to take a better lead and hammer this point home. Otherwise we end up endorsing people (like Madigan, Alvarez and others) just to endorse them and they do nothing to benefit the members.

They're Still Coming

Maybe not as many (although they claim they will be many), but they're still on the way:

• Although the G8 Summit has moved to Camp David, protestors say they still plan on coming to Chicago in May and they're making changes so they can move forward with what's expected to be a massive march on the NATO Summit.

  Organizers of the protest movement say they are gaining momentum.

Of course, they have to say that. Just like Rahm and McG8 have to continue with the fiction that the Department is up to full strength, the training is more than enough to handle 50,000 protestors running amok and crime is down citywide.

The CPD lies, the protestors lie, and the officers actually on the front lines pray.

Comment Problems

We are aware that many people can't seem to post comments.

For the same reason, we can't seem to moderate comments at the moment.

We'll catch up when everything is fixed. Be patient.

Open post in the meantime.

Police 3 - Robbers 0

Wild shootout in 015:

• Three masked bandits and a store clerk were wounded in a wild shootout that occurred after officers were alerted to a robbery on the city's West Side, officials said.

  Authorities said it was unclear whether the four were wounded by Chicago police, who arrived to witness the shooting, or by the men themselves, as the gunfire spilled out into the streets of the South Austin neighborhood.

  Officers fired on the men after arriving to witness one man firing on three outside a beauty supply business in the 5100 block of West Lake Street -- adjacent to the CTA Green Line's Laramie station -- at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, officials said.No officers were injured in the shooting.

That's all that really matters there - no cops hurt. Nice job Austin.

Wednesday Totals

How that crime drop working out for everyone?

• Two young men were killed and six others, including a 12-year-old boy, were injured in several shootings during the current streak of unseasonably-warm weather.

As McSkilling said, weather has no effect on crime, so a number of college professors, politicians and police experts are being assembled to determine why aggravated batteries are skyrocketing the past 7 months. Expect a report in 2015. And expect that CompStat could have prevented every single one of them if the police just stayed in their "violence zone" boxes.

Man Bitten to Death

Aggravated batteries are now "shootings." Homicides are now "murders."

And this?

• A 76-year-old Bronzeville neighborhood man who was robbed of the $10 he was holding when the suspect bit his hand earlier this month died this week at a West Side hospital.
  
  Frankie Baity, 76, of the 4100 block of South Indiana Avenue was pronounced dead at 5:40 p.m. Monday at Sacred Heart Hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
  
  Baity was hospitalized at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center after he was jumped from behind in the 4200 block of South Indiana on March 6 and the suspect bit his right pinkie finger to remove the $10 he was holding, police said.
  
  On Monday, he began complaining of pain and a female relative took him to Sacred Heart, where authorities found he had suffered four broken ribs, policy said. It was not immediately clear if they were broken during the robbery.

There's still an autopsy to be performed, but really? Bitten to death.