Close the Courts?

This is an interesting rumor from a long time reader:

• Meanwhile, reliable sources are saying Preckwinkle will close all misdemeanor courts in the City and combine them into suburban courthouses. No more Belmont and Western, Harrison and Kedzie, etc. If this occurs, CPD officers will not make misdemeanor arrests, and if possible they will just issue citations. One hour and a half round trip travel time, is not worth it to appear in court.

No Branch Courts? This sounds like a Prickwrinkle game of chicken to force some budget issues. Closing Branch Courts would eliminate numerous judge spots, countless sheriffs in court, transport personnel, etc. Probably upwards of fifty people per location plus support personnel in other places.

Frankly, we like it. Painless to taxpayers, ball breaking to Dart, and pretty much less work for CPD, too, because arrests are going to crater overnight. Go for it Toni! People will be buying a lot of personal defense ammo - out of county though.

Nice College Rahm

But, hey, crime is down.....or something:

• Two violent robberies happened just blocks and days apart in the Loop sparking campus safety alerts to go into effect at Columbia College and Roosevelt University.
  
  One of the robberies happened on November 9 near Michigan and Balbo. A mob of seven teenagers attacked two female victims.
  
  The other robbery took place on Sunday night near Michigan and Congress. A large group of teenagers wearing sweatshirts and dark colored hoodies targeted two 18-year-old women and a 20-year-old man.
  
  They attacked the victims around 8 p.m. on the 500 block of South Michigan Avenue. They knocked them down and took their belongings. At least one of the victims attended Columbia College.

No descriptions once again, but one arrest - a juvenile, so no picture of the offender because that might accidentally lead to her accomplices.

Truth

Here's a guy about to get his butt chewed for telling the truth (right around 00:30 seconds):

• "What happens with juveniles is that they don't get...any real time. They kind of get released back onto the street and they commit the crime again.
  
  [dumb question from a member of the tame media]
  
  What it tells me is that they aren't being held accountable."

Wow. So the failure isn't at the police level? It's at the courts? Specifically the juvenile courts?

Of course, Chicago is all about avoiding accountability - hiring, contracting, voting, promoting, parking meters, bribed red light camera companies, Lieutenant testing, etc.

Rahm isn't going to like this.

Everywhere!

The media has discovered car jacking - suburban:

• A mom and her two young children were carjacked and taken more than 20 miles away against their will after someone jumped inside their vehicle as they sat outside a suburban Walgreens Sunday afternoon, according to authorities.
  
  The vehicle and family were later found on Chicago's Northwest Side in the 4700 block of West Belmont -- roughly 22 miles from where they had been taken, police said. The mom and children were not harmed, but the woman's cell phone was stolen in the process.

Broad daylight:

• About 3:33 p.m., a man left his white Jeep Cherokee running in the 600 block of North St. Clair while he loaded the trunk, according to Chicago Police.
  
  While the vehicle owner was placing items in his trunk, a man walked up, got into the Jeep and drove off, police said. The man was described as a black man in his mid 20s with dreadlocks.

That one will be downgraded to a theft.

Twilight:

• A SUV was hijacked from a gas station Monday afternoon on the Near North Side.
  
  A male was pumping gas just before 4 p.m. in the 1200 block of Halsted when a teenage boy got into the Ford Edge SUV and sped off, according to Chicago Police.

Another theft.

A whole weekend of stolen rides:

• Three overnight armed carjackings, which occurred in a four-hour period, have all been linked to the same men, who appeared to go back and forth between Cicero and the city's West and Northwest sides overnight, alternately relieving people of their vehicles and then using those stolen cars to commit other crimes.

What could possibly have emboldened the criminals to commit so dastardly a deed?

Channel 2 - See B.S. News is even running a spot on how to avoid being carjacked. We can think of one way to avoid being carjacked twice.

This Guy Again?

Is the Machine is setting up the "opposition" candidates for Prickwrinkle?

• Bob Fioretti announced Monday he’s challenging Toni Preckwinkle in the Democratic primary for Cook County Board President.
  
  Fioretti kicked off his candidacy at the Sun Aero Building at the Lansing Municipal Airport. Owned by the Village of Lansing, the airport has to pay a leasehold tax — something similar to a property tax for companies that are located on public property. According to Fioretti, this has resulted in money lost for the airport in recent years.
  
  “We don’t invite people in here, we tax them out,” Fioretti said. “When Cook County is the only county to impose tax after tax — whether it’s an extra sales tax, a soda tax, or a special leasehold tax — the disastrous results are predictable.”

That's the right tone to set for this election - the anti-tax guy. Now, is it a serious candidacy or just something to split away certain voting blocs? Like republi...oh wait....Cook County. So it's split the white people with Bob, Chewy leeches away the hispanic vote, Prickwrinkle runs as the black candidate.

The next declared candidate will reveal more.

Well Said Mom

Sometimes, you just know you raised an asshole:

• It’s all too common for people in bad situations to blame others. This is especially true in situations where the police are forced to defend themselves, and the media seems to love a good “blame the cops” story. While groups like “Black Lives Matter” point fingers at law enforcement and act as if the thin blue line is nothing but racist and evil, not everyone has bought into that narrative.
  
  A mother in Cleveland is now dealing with a sad and unfortunate situation, but is refusing to blame the police. Instead, she’s calling for personal responsibility and asking others to think about their actions.
  
  According to WOIO News in Ohio, a 33-year-old man named Antonio Levison pulled a gun on officers on Oct. 25. They responded with lethal force — and now Levison’s mother has strong words for other people living his criminal lifestyle.
  
  “It’s not worth it. It’s not worth losing your life running from the police, shooting at the police, you’ve got family — stay with your family,” Cyrida Levison said. “You run up on a police officer, you might as well expect to die,” she continued.

Kind of ruins the narrative....for this shooting at least.

Crime is Down

Just kidding - it's up (click for a larger version):

You want to see a really shocking set of numbers:

Look at 2017 compared to any of the previous years. In fact, add up 2015 and 2016. You end up with almost 2017 numbers. Crime (aside from homicides) is trending upward at an alarming rate.

And even if you look at 2014, 2015 and 2017 homicide numbers, the trend is headed upwards. 2016 was a hiccup, but a disturbing direction to any jurisdiction.

(All numbers are 01 January through 31 October for each year.)

UPDATE: A couple of people are telling us there were five armed carjackings just last night.

Nice Public Transit Rahm

Anyone want to guess if the ne'er-do-wells are feeling any sort of pressure on CTA property?

• Reports of so-called “non-index” crime on the CTA in Chicago are on pace this year to surpass each of the past two years, including the number of cases of “criminal sexual abuse” such as “inappropriate touching” and “sexual harassment without physical contact.”
  
  There have been 145 instances of criminal sexual abuse reported on the CTA in Chicago since the beginning of 2015, with the number of such incidents rising from 44 in 2015 to 60 in 2017 as of Oct. 27. That’s according to a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of Chicago Police Department data on “non-index” crimes — those regarded as less severe than “index” crimes such as murder, robbery and rape.
  
  The L system, in particular, has seen an uptick in those sex crimes, which can be classified as either a misdemeanor or felony. There have been 2,003 reports of non-index crimes on the CTA in Chicago in 2017 through late October, ranging from fights to gambling, drug use to vandalism.
  
  By comparison, there were 2,006 such reports for all of 2016 and 2,036 the year before.

How badly undermanned is the Mass Transit Unit again? And how does the percentage of manpower assigned compare to somewhere else, like New York City?

More Rifle Murders

Has Ed "foie gras" Burke scheduled any more rifle classes for the under-gunned CPD?

• Two men were killed in a rifle shooting in the Brighton Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side while five other people were wounded in city gunfire between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, Chicago police said.
  
  In the fatal attack, the men, both 29, were pronounced dead on the scene in the 2400 block of West 47th Street about 1:55 a.m. Sunday, according to police and law enforcement sources.
  
  More than 20 .223-caliber shell casings, which are typically used in AR-15 rifles, littered the street and sidewalk, sources said. The gunman, who was wearing a mask, jumped out of a gray Toyota Corolla and opened fire before getting back in the car and fleeing east on 47th.

But hey, be proactive boys and girls. The chances of actually finding and actual rifle are.....small. Just don't pull over any easily boost-able cars with single or multiple occupants of a certain age, certain description, at a certain time of day and you'll be perfectly safe from injury....or an ACLU lawsuit.

Dashcam Video

We suppose this type of video is going to be the norm nowadays. One upside (of very few) is showing an unaware public just how quickly (and messily) situations unfold:

• Police oversight officials released case files Thursday from their investigation of an officer who fatally shot a 19-year-old man after being pinned against his police SUV earlier this year in Hanson Park on the Northwest Side.
  
  The cache of documents provided by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability includes dashcam footage of Juan Flores backing an SUV into the officer, who then opens fire.

The video is disturbing to say the least. The Officer ended up with a broken leg, the assailant ended up dead and COPA couldn't think of anything to charge the Officer with yet, though they have years to go over the tape as opposed to the Officer who had barely half-a-second.

Where the Guns Come From

From the FBI it would seem:

• One of the FBI’s top Midwest counterterrorism investigators had his gun, Rolex and a wad of cash stolen from his North Carolina hotel room after a night of drinking this past summer.
  
  It happened early on July 10, when Special Agent Robert Manson met a woman at the Westin hotel bar in downtown Charlotte and took her back to his room, according to Jessica Wallin, a spokeswoman for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
  
  By 6:30 a.m., Manson noticed the woman was gone — along with his $6,000 watch, .40-caliber Glock and $60 in cash, according to the police report — which was filed by fellow agent Kevin Thuman because Manson was incapacitated by alcohol, the report says.
  
  Manson, an FBI unit chief in the counterterrorism division, oversees terror investigations in the Midwest and Carolinas. FBI spokesman Andrew C. Ames said an internal investigation was underway but to declined to comment further.

Frankly, we're surprised this ever saw print. Hopefully, the feds aren't doing this on purpose like the ATF used to do.

Not Just Short Police

This isn't good:

• When you need an ambulance, every second counts. But two paramedics tell 2 Investigator [Troll] help might not be there when you need it.
  
  It was a typical afternoon in the city. The dispatcher on the radio pleading for ambulances: “Anybody? … Anybody else available out there? … Anybody available out there that can take a run?”
  
  [Troll] asked a paramedic how often this type of thing occurs. “Daily,” came the response. “Sometimes several times a day.” The instances are so alarming the two paramedics agreed to talk with CBS 2 if they could remain anonymous.
  
  The standard for response time for an ambulance is six minutes. That day in question, there was a 19-minute response for an overdose; a 20-minute response for a child hit by a car and a 23-minute response for a high-risk pregnancy.

This makes the LEMART training that much more important, and maybe even that "Stop the Bleed" program isn't too far fetched as Rahm's Chicago slowly breaks down.

Veterans Day

To all Veterans, past, present and future.

Jail Out of Control

It's like Hollywood....but with barbed wire:

• Three female corrections officers at the Cook County Jail have filed a lawsuit claiming that Sheriff Tom Dart has not done enough to protect them from inmates who threaten and grope female guards and “brazenly masturbate” in front of them.
  
  [...] The lawsuit also alleges supervisors have discouraged the women from filing complaints about the behavior, telling them witnessing the behavior is “part of the job.”
  
  “They really do fear for their safety,” said attorney Marni Willenson, who represents the three officers. “Women have a right to go to work without looking over their shoulder fearing they’re going to be raped or aggressively exposed to genitalia.”

This is in addition to the other lawsuit by Public Defenders filed earlier this week.

So basically, no difference between the inmates and slimeballs like Harvey Weinstein, Louis CK, Kevin Spacey and any of the other sixty or seventy named sex offenders on the left coast. And just like the left coast, connected supervisors are discouraging women from bringing the complaints to light.

Does Dart know about this?

Great Use of Manpower

Anyone know where Eric Holder is?

• Chicago police said they responded to a large fight outside a high school that involved as many as 100 students and parents Wednesday afternoon.
  
  Police responded to Dunbar Vocational Career Academy in the 3000-block of South King Drive at about 3:30 p.m. Officers responded to reports of a large fight as classes let out, involving possibly dozens of people.
  
  The Chicago Fire Department said one officer suffered a minor leg injury and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for treatment. A girl was also injured when she was kicked in the face.
  
  Witnesses tried to break up the fight, which was predominantly among 20 to 30 girls, but things spiraled out of control.

The trouble here is this wasn't the first fight of the week at Dunbar.

It wasn't even the second.

On Wednesday, it was the third fight in as many days, necessitating a call out of officers from THREE separate districts and resulting in exactly ZERO arrests.

So why bother sending the police at all?

No Consequences

Why are the words of the day, "Stay Fetal"?

• A parolee who battered an off-duty police officer into unconsciousness near Wrigley Field in June 2016 has been sentenced to time served plus 8 days by Cook County Judge Earl Hoffenberg.
  
  The 28-year-old officer announced his office as he tried to break up a dispute on the corner of Clark and Addison at 12:40 a.m. last June 26. According to witnesses and audio recorded on a nearby webcam, the off-duty officer intervened when a disturbance between two men and one of the men's girlfriend escalated on the southeast corner of Clark and Addison.
  
  Tremaine Wilson, 30, blindsided the officer, knocking him out, according to witnesses and a police report. Wilson fled the scene and was arrested nearby. He was charged with six counts of aggravated battery to a police officer and two counts of aggravated battery in a public place.

Six counts of Aggravated Battery - six felonies. And he was allowed to plea out to one count - amounting to the year already served.

And to add insult to injury, he was on parole. But the parole violation was rolled into his guilty plea and he walked out the day after the plea was entered on the single count.

Now run out and get the bosses some numbers!

Gee, Why is Crime Going Up?

Maybe this is a reason?

• A 23-year-old man has been charged with a felony after Cook County Sheriff’s Police officers found him with a stolen pistol in unincorporated Melrose Park, Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced today.
  
  At approximately 2:45 p.m. on Nov. 3, Sheriff’s officers responding to another complaint in the 2300 block of North Mannheim Road, learned that Jovantae Withers was in the area and carrying a gun. Withers was subsequently located nearby and found with a loaded 9mm pistol in his waistband. The gun had a full 14-round clip.
  
  Further investigation found that Withers, a Hillside resident, has a previous felony conviction and does not have a Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) card or Concealed Carry permit.

Throw the book at him!!!

• Withers was taken into custody and charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, a class 2 felony.

Hooray!

• During a bond court appearance on Saturday, Withers received an I-bond and was released on his own recognizance.

Uh....what now? He's got a record. And it's a stolen gun.

And Dart publishes this shit on his own web page....like he's actually proud of it.

Promotions Coming

Via e-mail, Special Ed tells readers that the Department is making "at least" 72 Sergeants and 18 Lieutenants. 

The rumor mill says classes start 20 November.

It'll be a Merry Christmas most certainly.

Thanks Again Helen

The aldercreature who did more to destroy Uptown than most aldercreatures do in a lifetime. Her legacy lives on on the crime numbers:

• Residents of Chicago's Uptown neighborhood should be on guard after reports of three separate muggings that occurred in just 15 minutes Wednesday night. Police have confirmed two of the three incidents.

We suppose these citizens voted for their own demise though...as most of Chicago seems determined to do.

More Big Brain Thinking

Another brilliant idea from the brain trust of Ed "foie gras" Burke:

• Pedestrians texting or using a cellphone while walking through a Chicago intersection would face fines under a proposal introduced by two key aldermen.
  
  The proposal, which would still have to pass the full City Council, calls for fines of $90 to $500 for each incident of using a mobile device while crossing a street or highway.
  
  “The goal of the introduction of this measure is to reduce pedestrian deaths and injuries, especially at crosswalks,” longtime Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, said in a news release.
  
  Burke is co-sponsoring the proposed ordinance with South Side Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th, who predicted it would “increase safety by eliminating distractions for pedestrians.”

And what, pray tell, led to this unaddressed need crying out for immediate attention?

• Burke and Beale cited statistics showing 27 pedestrians were killed in the first half of 2017 — an increase of one death from the same period last year. The aldermen did not present any data or information on how many of those deaths involved a pedestrian using a mobile device.

And increase of.....one? With no accompanying data to show that cell phones, which have been around for over a decade now, contributed in even the smallest manner?

No doubt this will enhance CPD popularity across the board.