CeaseFire Story (UPDATE)

Channel 5 News just had a teaser about tomorrow's headlines in the Sun Times.

It seems that a "police source" is revealing that CeaseFire, after receiving $1 million from Rahm Emanuel with absolutely no oversight, has exactly ZERO success stories to hang their hats on.

Gee, did anyone see that one coming?  We're pretty sure we read something about it somewhere.  Maybe one of those new-fangled "blogs" everyone is talking about.

UPDATE: And here it is:

• More than three months into a $1 million contract with the city, the anti-violence group CeaseFire has “no significant success stories,” a ranking police source said. It’s hard to evaluate CeaseFire’s mediation of gang conflicts without getting timelier reporting from the group, the source added.
  
  “You can’t wait two weeks later and tell us, ‘Oh yeah, we intervened in that.’ We need specifics and time lines,” said the source, who asked to remain anonymous.
  
  Asked about the partnership, police Supt. Garry McCarthy said through a spokeswoman: “It’s a work in progress.”

Hahahaha.....Oh McStreetlightMarksman, you're such a card.  And you can barely see Rahm's mouth moving while he manipulates his 9.5 digits in your puppet ass to cover up the missing million dollars.

OEC "Upgrade" Debacle

Remember when the 9-1-1 Center used to be "state-of-the-art"?

• The operations floor at Chicago’s 911 center is getting a $31 million upgrade stalled by contract irregularities, but it’s turning into a nightmare that threatens to slow response times to 911 calls, employees contend.
  
  Dispatchers and call takers describe a host of problems, ranging from dropped 911 calls and a new answering system that demands more manpower to computers that no longer allow call takers to monitor radio communications at fire scenes.
  
  They also complain about a new floor plan that moved fire and EMS dispatchers assigned to handle 911 calls from Chicago’s North Side away from call takers who do the same, preventing the two groups from communicating in a way that could speed response times.

Gee, what could possibly go wrong?  Nothing involving a high-rise fire or plane crash or building collapse we're sure. Or on the police side, during a pursuit where a call-taker might be on the phone with someone who isn't on-duty or isn't the police attempting to assist in the apprehension of a fleeing suspect. 

The single bright spot in the article is it says that the contract to revamp everything is a "single source contract" to Motorola.  That might bring about an end the incompatibility problems that endanger all first responders, every single day, since that $300 million monstrosity opened.

There's a Law Against That?

Well Rahm promises to never ever break that one again!

• After incidents in which phone conversations with Chicago Tribune reporters were recorded without their consent by City Hall officials, a city attorney has insisted that there is no widespread practice of such taping and that steps have been taken to ensure it does not happen again.
  
  Recording a conversation without the consent of all parties is a felony in Illinois.
  
  "This failure was due to inadvertence — not some practice or plan to record interviews without consent," Stephen Patton, the city's corporation counsel, wrote Saturday in a letter to the Tribune, which had sent a letter to the city Friday demanding that such recordings cease.
  
  Asked about the recordings at an unrelated news conference Monday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the issue was “much ado about nothing.”
  
  “My view is, like all, we have a press conference here, I expect my staff to have a record of it,” he said. “And if I have a phone conversation, an interview, I expect to have a record of it as well.”

Inadvertence?  What an asshole.  

"One law for thee but not for me."  Shouldn't someone be charged criminally?  Let the courts sort it out?

Tax "Incentives" Returned

After Daley spent millions paying companies to move to Chicago without creating a single job and Rahm has continued that tradition, what's the end result?

• United Continental Holdings, parent of United Airlines, is giving back $5.6 million in City of Chicago tax incentives.
  
  The incentive money is tied to United's 2007 move to its corporate headquarters at 77 W. Wacker Drive, along the Chicago River.
  
  Because of United's recent plans to move out of that building and consolidate its headquarters into Willis Tower where it has other operations, the airline said it was "appropriate" to return the money. However, it wasn't necessary.

If United didn't live up to the terms of the TIF handouts, it "wasn't necessary" to return the money?  What the hell is that?  It would seem that everything written about TIF money being an unaccountable bucket of cash used to bribe certain interests is coming to light.

Looks like they're keeping some other cash though:

• The giveback does not include $35.9 million in TIF money tied to a separate 2009 incentive agreement that involved moving 2,500 workers from Elk Grove Village to Willis Tower.

And buried at the end of the article? This information that almost no one will read:

• United is the fourth company to return TIF funds recently, according to the mayor's office. The others are CME Group, CNA Group and Bank of America, which together returned some $34 million in TIF money last year. CNA and Bank of America fell short of the 2,700 or so jobs each was required to keep in exchange for the tax breaks, which helped them update buildings. However, they returned the money earlier than they had to, a city spokesman said.

We imagine they kept a sizable portion of the money to defer moving costs and the like, essentially making it a risk free move for their stockholders to secure Chicago digs.  How very....corrupt.

Firefighter Death

Details still coming in:

• A Chicago firefighter has died after becoming short of breath when he returned to his firehouse from a call, authorities said early Monday.
  
  The firefighter, whose name and firehouse location have not been released, experienced shortness of breath Sunday night and was transported to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
  
  It was not immediately known whether the firefighter had been on a call that involved a fire.

God Bless.

Veterans Day (Observed)

Sergeant List

ALVAREZ, Jesse 014;

BAIER, James 011;

BENIGNO, John 610;

BLANTON, Dachae 620;

BOYD, Dion 121;

BROWN, Cynthia 019/141;

BROWN, Jason 193;

BROWN Ryan 008;

CALVINO, James 019;

CALVO, Orlando 003/189

CIECIEL, Steven 610;

CLANCY, Timothy 022;

COSTELLO, Robert 620;

DUIGNAN, Mark 009;

GUNNELL, Christopher 196;

HEGER, Richard 019;

IRVIN, Yolanda 006;

ISAKSON, Nari 610;

JACOBSON, Maria 630/610;

JONES, Alvin 002;

JUGO, Steven 010;

LABBE, James 630;

LEWIS, Matt 003/606;

LONG, Joseph 020/124;

MAXSON, Mark 610;

MORALES, Vincent 004;

O'CONNOR, Daniel 620;

OQUENDO-GRACIA, Shauntai 016;

ORTEGA, Elvis 014;

PIERCE, Thomas 377;

PRINTZ, Daniel 017;

SAJDAK, James 011;

SCHULER, John 024;

SHAUGHNESSY, John 019;

SHOSHI, Leonard 010/211;

SHOWERS, David 189;

THOMPSON, Andre 189/193;

TRAYNOR, Frank 630;

WALLACE, Joshua 003/606

WESTON, Robert 050;

WHELEHAN-CURRY, Megan 377

If we're breaking this down correctly, it works out to 17 promotions from the Districts, 10 from the D-unit, 8 assigned to units and 6 detailed out to units. 41 total and the majority from Patrol. That's unusual enough.

We were also informed that in the last two classes, the city has declined to fill their 30% "merit" for some reason. The previous class was under 25%. No idea on this one. Is this some sort of trend?

Manpower Shortages Continue

We get e-mails:

• Hey SCC, long time reader.
  
  Was at roll call the other day on the west side and the Station Supervisor made an announcement that the Department was looking for 2 volunteers to work in the 016 District certain nights in November - not RDO people, not people on furlough, actual officers working to go north.
  
  This isn't the first time either. It's a regular occurrence. Is 016 that short? Because I haven't seen any openings posted there for years. Do the reverends know that the west side is being shorted manpower to cover crime-free north side districts?

Well, leaving aside your sarcasm regarding crime-free areas of the city, we'd certainly like to know if midnights is short anywhere a lot of city workers live.

Jail Time?

Criminals actually serving time?

• U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. may serve time in prison under a plea deal that is being negotiated, CBS 2 is reporting.
  
  As part of the deal being negotiated by former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb, Jackson would resign his post citing health reasons, plead guilty to misusing campaign funds, repay the campaign funds used illegally and he would possibly serve time in prison, according to the report.

Probably what? Six months?  And a pardon to clear his name in 2016?

Anyone feel like betting on that one?

Secure Station

Maybe someday we'll have stuff like this:

• A man killed Sunday in a shootout at a suburban Detroit police headquarters first tried to shoot an officer behind bulletproof glass before officers exchanged gunfire with him, police said.
  
  One police officer was wounded in the shootout in Southfield, a city of about 73,000 north of Detroit. The injured officer was in stable condition Sunday night with a single gunshot wound in the shoulder and expected to live.
  
  Police Chief Eric Hawkins said investigators were trying to figure out why the gunman carried out the attack. The 64-year-old man had no known grievance with police.
  

Thank goodness J-Fled got us those cheap security doors, but nothing for the lobbies.

Bears by a Point-and-a-Half

Only if the offense shows up.  The defense can take care of itself

An Interesting Article

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon policing:

• With the number of murders in Chicago so far this year already surpassing the total for all of 2011, why would the police make it a priority to track down a teenager wanted for only a misdemeanor?
  
  It was because Milton was on the police department’s “heat list” — part of a new anti-violence strategy pushed by Supt. Garry McCarthy to arrest fugitives who have been linked to people who have been killed.
  
  The effort springs from a Yale University sociologist’s finding that these “hot people” are far more likely, as a result of those social ties, to become a victim or perpetrator of deadly violence themselves.

Now usually, anything from Yale involving police work would be fodder for a couple of days worth of comedy.  But this statistic caught our eye:

• Citywide, Chicago’s murder rate is 14.5 per 100,000. But it jumps to 44.5 per 100,000 in the Harrison District on the West Side, one of the city’s highest-crime districts. And for “hot people” in that district, the murder rate jumps to 1,865 per 100,000, according to the police department.

Interesting if it bears out over time.  The article deals with one individual wanted on a misdemeanor charge who ended up serving 30 days.  Granted, that's 30 days he isn't a potential victim,  but does it actually do anything except put off his almost inevitable demise?

Like we said, interesting in the short term.  Long term, we see is that it shows what a bunch of liars there are out there saying everyone shot is an "innocent victim."

Turning His Life Around

Fifteen years bad, and he was oh-so-close to turning it all around:

• A 15-year-old who allegedly pointed a gun at officers was shot in the head by police last week in the South Side’s Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood, authorities said.
  
  Officers near the 6700 block of South Indiana said they saw Dakota Bright with a handgun about 3:30 p.m. Thursday, police said.
  
  The officers approached, but Dakota fled on foot and the officers chased him, according a statement from the Chicago Police. During the pursuit, the officers shot Dakota. A weapon was recovered at the scene, police said.
  
  [...]  Meanwhile Saturday, a large group marched around the neighborhood to protest the shooting, which they say was unjustified. “No more cops killing our kids,” about 50 protesters shouted as they walked past the scene of the shooting and made their way to Marquette and King Drive.
  
  Dakota’s family questions why police shot the teen, who they say was on his way to his grandmother’s house in the 6700 block of South Prairie.
  
  “He wasn’t the monster they’re making him out to be,” said his mother, Panzy Edwards. She said she doesn’t believe the police account of what happened. “No matter what he did or how he did it, they shouldn’t have killed him.”
  
  [...] “He was an average teenager,” said his aunt, Tianne Bright. “He wasn’t no violent person.”

Average in that part of town we guess. Slightly different story over by the Tribune:

• Police sources said he was a gang member with an arrest history that includes robbery and aggravated battery to a police officer.

Anyone want to guess if those robbery charges were armed robbery? And the aggravated battery charge kind of gives lie to the "no violent person" story.

Officers Injured in Crash

Not too serious if the reports are accurate:

• The driver of a car that collided with a police squad car has been cited after two police officers and a passenger in the other car were injured in the Fuller Park neighborhood early today, police said.
  
  Diamonde McNeal, 18, was ticketed on charges of disregarding a red light, negligent driving and driving an uninsured motor vehicle. McNeal, of the 700 block of West 50th Street, also was cited with municipal violations, including damage to city property, said Chicago Police News Affairs...

And of course, you got to have the drama:

• Five young women were in the car and one was taken to the hospital.[...]
  
  At least two others in the car were "hostile," police said, and taken into custody.

It's a traffic crash caused by someone driving like an idiot and suddenly, people are going to jail.  Lawsuits to be filed in 4...3...2...

Dollar Crisis

For all the trolls posting up anti-Tea Party bullshit, here's what Tuesday's election meant:

• In the course of his first term, Obama increased the federal debt by just shy of $6 trillion and in return grew the economy by $905 billion. So, as Lance Roberts at Street Talk Live pointed out, in order to generate every dollar of economic growth the United States had to borrow about five dollars and 60 cents. There’s no one out there on the planet — whether it’s “the rich” or the Chinese — who can afford to carry on bankrolling that rate of return. According to one CBO analysis, U.S.-government spending is sustainable as long as the rest of the world is prepared to sink 19 percent of its GDP into U.S. Treasury debt. We already know the answer to that: In order to avoid the public humiliation of a failed bond auction, the U.S. Treasury sells 70 percent of the debt it issues to the Federal Reserve — which is to say the left hand of the U.S. government is borrowing money from the right hand of the U.S. government. It’s government as a Nigerian e-mail scam, with Ben Bernanke playing the role of the dictator’s widow with $4 trillion under her bed that she’s willing to wire to Timmy Geithner as soon as he sends her his bank-account details.
  
  If that’s all a bit too technical, here’s the gist: There’s nothing holding the joint up.

That's Mark Steyn in National Review Online.  The Euro crisis currently underway overseas is going to look like a cakewalk compared the the Dollar crisis on tap.

Forty More Sergeants?

They promoted 40 more sergeants Friday, fulfilling one of Rahm's and McJersey's promises about three classes and about 120 or so sergeants this year.

For you media types reading, that's 120 fewer patrol officers on top of the officers lucky enough to retire.

So Rahm's "500" officers being hired isn't keeping up with attrition yet, nor is it keeping up with promotions from within.

Congratulations to the deserving.  We'll see if we can find a list shortly.

Oops

Evidently, our posts didn't go up as planned tonight.  We're checking things, but since it's Saturday, we aren't checking with any degree of urgency.

Open post for now - regular posting to resume shortly.

NYPD Officers Hit Hard

Hurricane Sandy managed to devastate huge swaths of the East Coast.  Some neighborhoods heavily populated by police families were leveled.  Throughout it all, a number of Officers have been working 12, 14 even 16-hour days, all the while knowing that they have no home to return to.  Families have been scattered across the state as they attempt to rebuild lives and put things together for their First Responder husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters.

The NYCPBA has a splash intro page on their website listing charitable sites dedicated to assisting NYPD and their families.

TheeRant also has a few posts up about assisting our East Coast brethren.

Check them out.

Officer Kills Assailant

Once again, police confronted by a man with a gun:

• A man who allegedly pointed a gun at Chicago police was fatally shot this afternoon in the Park Manor neighborhood, officials said.
  
  The shooting happened at about 3:45 p.m. near the 6700 block of South Indiana Avenue, according to Patrick Camden, a spokesman for the Chicago police union.
  
  Police officers were driving south on Indiana near an alley when they spotted a man coming out of the alley with a gun in his hand, said Camden.
  
  After police pulled over they ordered the man to drop the gun but the man began running down the alley and about midway the man turned and pointed the weapon at the police, Camden said.
  
  The officers fired at the man, fatally striking him, Camden said.

Well done Officers.

CFD Funeral

An impressive event that no one ever wants to see happen:

• Led by the slow march of a drum and pipe corps, a fire truck pulled up to a Southwest Side church today bearing the flag-draped casket of Capt. Herbert "Herbie" Johnson, a 32-year veteran who died battling an extra-alarm fire.
  
  As firefighters in dress uniforms stood at attention under dark skies, Johnson's casket was brought into St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel past his family and hundreds of friends and colleagues.
  
  "He was a bully for love and life," the Rev. Thomas McCarthy said during the packed funeral. "And for us, his friends, we are so lucky.
  
  "He was there when anyone needed him," he said. "To go into a burning building and not think of yourself, that was Herbie Johnson."

Final prayers and remembrances here only.