Reorganization Coverage

Here's the media coverage of the re-organization that's going to be sweeping away the questionable decisions of the McCarthy era:

• Mayor Lori Lightfoot will reopen two old detective bureaus and put 151 cops back on the street under a reorganization plan that includes the creation of a new department to merge operations currently done by the Chicago police and fire departments and the city’s 911 center.
  
  Lightfoot Budget Director Susie Park said Chicago police, fire and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications each currently do their own payroll, information technology work and human resources, but those functions would be consolidated under a new Office of Public Safety Administration.
  
  Currently, the city has three detective regions known as Area North, Area South and Area Central. Lightfoot will reopen the Harrison Area on the West Side and Grand Central Area on the Northwest Side in an attempt to increase collaboration by detectives and patrol officers, the mayor’s office said.

Fun times on tap!

Let the Sucking-Up Begin

Forty-four captains before the end of the year?

Looks like the rumor of one per watch is coming true.

Keep your eyes on Wheezie.

Everything Old.... (UPDATE)

....is new again:

• Area 4 and Area 5 to be re-opened by May 2020

There's more, but info is still coming in.

UPDATE:

• Alongside the Chicago Fire Department and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, we are beginning the process of modernizing our administrative support and information technology functions under the City's new Office of Public Safety Administration.
  
  The Office of Public Safety Administration will integrate the administrative units of CPD, CFD and OEMC into a streamlined division, better supporting the needs of our city's first responders. All administrative functions will be transferred to a new unit designed to bring finance, HR, IT and other administrative functions into a more efficient unit.
  
  The units that will be affected are as follows: Finance Division, Human Resources Division, Timekeeping Unit-Headquarters, Medical Section, Grant Section, Information Services, Information and Strategic Services, General Support, Police Documents, Equipment and Supply Section and Facilities Management Division.

And here's the real kick in the balls:

• All personnel will remain in place until the Office of Public Safety Administration is fully operational. There will be opportunities to find reassignments based upon operational needs in accordance with the applicable collective bargaining agreements, as well as duty status of affected members. We are working with labor affairs and Bureau leadership to ensure an efficient transition for affected members.
  
  The transition of sworn officers and uniform personnel back to the streets will take place over the next six months, with expected launch of the new agency on or before May 1, 2020. The primary locations of the new agency will be located at Public Safety Headquarters, 3510 S. Michigan Ave and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications at 1411 W. Madison.

A whole lot of phone calls are being made right now. And SOB stories being fine tuned.

Big "Whoops"

Officer hit....by an assist unit:

• A Chicago police officer was injured Thursday afternoon when he was struck by another police car as officers were pursuing someone who had just thrown a gun out of a car on the West Side.
  
  Police were near the 1800 block of South Drake around 1:10 p.m. to monitor a “gang funeral” when officers saw someone toss a gun out of a car, Deputy Chief Ernest Cato told reporters.
  
  Officers tried to pull over the vehicle, but the driver took off. One of the officers got out of the squad car to try to spot the car on foot.
  
  “When he entered the alley, at approximately the 1800 block of Drake, he was struck by assisting units,” Cato said.

We're told that the officer rounded a blind corner and was struck a glancing blow by the squad car. Immediate aid was rendered and he was rushed to the hospital for treatment of a concussion and possible broken bones. An accident that could have ended badly - but an accident nonetheless.

Be careful out there. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

No Confidence in Special Ed

We pointed this out years ago and the aldercreatures are just catching up now?

• Chicago’s African American community will have trouble trusting CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson now that it’s known Johnson saw the Laquan McDonald shooting video before it was publicly released and was among the police brass who believed the shooting was justified.
  
  That’s the bottom line from influential black aldermen, who urged Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday to take Inspector General Joe Ferguson’s investigative report into consideration when she decides whether to permanently retain the superintendent she inherited.
  
  Ferguson’s long-awaited report, released this week, placed Johnson, then a deputy chief, at a meeting of police brass held “on or around” Nov. 1, 2015.

Here's some more "bombshells:"

• the command staff on scene saw it;
• McCarthy saw it ;
• Rahm saw it;

You think Rahm signed off on $5 million before seeing exactly what he was suppressing before the election?

Crime Down in the Big Apple

Look what New York is doing:

• New York’s overall crime rate is 3% lower than last year — while the city is on pace to record the fewest murders in nearly 70 years, NYPD officials said Tuesday.
  
  Murders, robberies, burglaries, grand larcenies and auto thefts were all down through the first ninth months of 2019 compared to the same period last year — 69,995 vs. 71,871, the NYPD said.
  
  There were 237 homicides through September, a nearly 2% drop from 241 from last year. For all of 2018, there were 289 murders, three fewer than the 292 in 2017.

237 homicides is something like the 011, 015 and 025 combined, and New York is looking at 237 total.

We're joking of course, and we've written plenty of posts about how NYPD "kills" crime via the crooked CompStat program and wholesale reclassification of index crimes - lessons applied here to a lesser extent.

And look how they brag - Groot is going to demand the same thing here shortly.

Courtesy Parking

So if courtesy parking is a thing of the past, does that mean:

• aldercreatures parking in police lots is going to be reported by Ferguson and fines/sanctions will be filed against politicians?
• District level "courtesy" for certain events is done now?
• churches, especially on the south and west sides, can expect strict parking enforcement by officers - and the "revrunds" and aldercreatures who call to complain will be told to stuff it?

Sunday is coming, and we're asking for a friend.

Here's a Great Idea

And we can apply it across all levels of Chicago, Cook and Illinois government:

• Eleven people were arrested in southern Mexico on Tuesday after the mayor of their village was dragged out of his office, beaten, and then tied to a pickup truck and dragged through the streets of the town, according to officials.
  
  The State's Attorney General's Office in Tuxtla Gutiérre said in a news release that the incident happened early Tuesday in the town of Las Margaritas, when a group of people stormed Mayor Jorge Luis Escandón Hernández's office and caused damage to real estate, in addition to assaulting him.
  
  The angry group of farmers was demanding the mayor build a road he promised to construct during his campaign, Mexican news outlet Excelsior reported.

We're going to need a tractor to drag JayBee the Hutt.

Teachers Want What Now?

We thought they represented....you know....teachers:

• Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has raised another issue that she said is holding up an agreement with the teachers union: affordable housing.
  
  In a statement late Tuesday — nine days from a strike date set by the Chicago Teachers Union — the mayor said the union is “demanding that the city enact CTU’s preferred affordable housing policy as part of their contract.”
  
  [...]
  
  In a response early Wednesday morning, the CTU tweeted that “we have nearly 17,000 homeless students in CPS.”
  
  “Our proposals demand more staff to support families in danger of losing housing, and advocate for a program that financially helps (support staff members) and new teachers purchase a home,” the union continued. "The mayor finds them ‘unreasonable.’"
  
  [...]
  
  But [Groot] said the CTU’s collective bargaining agreement “is not the appropriate place for the city to legislate its affordable housing policy.”

No shit. Even though we live in Chicago - unlike many hundreds of teachers - we don't get to choose CTU delegates. We choose aldercreatures who are supposed to represent the citizenry. CTU dictating policy for 2.6 million citizens is a non-starter here and Groot really ought to hammer them on it.

Make Your Plans for Next Year

The schedule change is a done deal. All that's left are the details to be hammered out on paper:

• A controversial plan to change the starting times for Chicago police officers across the city will take effect in January over the objections of the Fraternal Order of Police, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and First Deputy Police Supt. Anthony Ricco said Tuesday.
  
  “This isn’t the sign of the Apocalypse. Everything will be fine,” the mayor said after her weekly “Accountability Tuesday” meeting with police brass that went on without Supt. Eddie Johnson, who just returned from a vacation in London.
  
  “This is something that’s really consistent [with] and maybe mandated by the consent decree.…We got a little ahead of ourselves….The union absolutely has to be read into it. And we’ll give people time to adjust their schedules accordingly. It’s gonna be part of a pilot program that is launched in January.”
  
  Riccio said the scheduling change was announced last week, then temporarily pulled back because the FOP was not notified in advance.

Special Fred was no where to be seen during this presser. Interesting. Someone talked some sense into the brass:

• Although the union is up in arms, Riccio characterized the time changes as “minimal.” It’s not enough to disrupt the personal lives of officers whose days off have already been canceled throughout the summer.
  
  “I believe it’s 30 minutes that the shifts will change in time, so it’s not a big time change. It’s nothing dramatic,” Riccio said.
  
  “I understand that that could cause some child care issues. Some issues at home. But the change in time is very minimal. And…not rolling it out between now and January gives everybody time to plan for….child care issues are or anything they have going on at home.”

Which is what should have been done in the first place instead of alienating the men and women working the actual new hours. Riccio's never had a bad spot in his career and certainly not one that required him to show up anywhere on time. Neither has anyone working for him. Which is fine - the is Chicago after all.

But don't pretend to care now. It's insulting our intelligence and the intelligence of all the men and women of the CPD.

Trial Begins

This one might be a doozy:

• A Chicago police sergeant and an officer on his gang team “used their police powers to lie, cheat and steal” by obtaining bogus search warrants to routinely rob drug dealers of cash and narcotics, federal prosecutors said as the officers’ federal corruption trial got underway in earnest Tuesday.

The judge who signed off on these bogus warrants is also in trouble and the reverberations might be echoing for quite some time among the specialized units.

This should also be (again) an indictment of the "merit" system and phone call units. But it won't be.

Slow News Day

This is what the IG and the media spend their time on:

• Chicago police officers improperly used department-issued placards to park illegally with their personal vehicles in police station parking lots so they or their friends and relatives could attend Cubs and Bears games, an investigation by the city’s government watchdog found.
  
  Officers also regularly parked their cars in a tow-away zone along a narrow street near City Hall, creating potential safety hazards by blocking fire lanes and emergency exits, Inspector General Joseph Ferguson’s office reported Tuesday.
  
  Ferguson also chided Police Department leaders in the seven-page report for not reminding officers during roll calls about a February 2018 directive prohibiting such preferential parking.

Fergie doesn't name names, which make it obvious to the cynic in us exactly who is abusing the parking. Anyone paying attention could (and did) predict it back in 2018. Nothing changed and the connected stayed connected and Fergie has an opportunity to slap the Department around using the media to do Groot's dirty work.

More Windows

A few weeks ago, we mentioned the Colour Nail Salon that has drawn the ire of the "community" for expecting payment for services rendered. One of the "activists" had taken it upon himself to throw bricks through the windows of the salon, saying that:

• "We’re pretty much at this point commandeering this place and any neighborhood store that disrespect our women and children."

Because property damage is always the answer to "disrespect."

We're told by some south side readers that the salon has lost it's windows once again, not for the second time, but for the third, making us wonder how long they're going to stay in business seeing as how the "community" doesn't want them there.

We're also wondering how long until the words "nail desert" are uttered by the "activists."

Father Mulcrone Letter (UPDATE)

The Fire Department Chaplain is outraged and he puts it in words (click for larger version):

He puts into words, far better than we did, the outrage every decent person (and especially every first responder) should have regarding the casual disrespect shown to our brothers and sisters on the fire side.

This guy is now our third favorite sky pilot after Father Dan and Rabbi Wolf.

UPDATE: A half-assed apology offered:

• Ald. Maria Hadden (49th) is apologizing to the Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 for her chief of staff’s “insensitive” Twitter takedown of Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th) that ended up infuriating rank-and-file firefighters.
  
  [...]
  
  “She’s sorry. It was a stupid comment. She wasn’t really thinking. We’ve been in communication with Local 2 making sure [they understand]. She’s making a written statement of apology,” Hadden said
  
  “She worked for Ald. Arena. It’s politics. Leftover hard feelings with the election results. Sometimes, people let their emotions get the best of them . . . She wasn’t trying to put down the firefighters. It was an insult aimed at Gardiner. Their personal, leftover things from their dealings in the 45th Ward.”

That's probably all the CFD is ever going to see.

Schedule Change Makes the Paper

Waller says it's coming regardless, which just shows everyone he's as big a tool as Special Ed. And the FOP insists it's an issue for collective bargaining:

• The Fraternal Order of Police is furious — and exploring its “legal options” — in response to a proposal to change the starting times for officers across the city to rein in runaway overtime and reduce down time between shifts.
  
  The sweeping proposal, though, has been “rescinded temporarily,” according to Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony [Google-me].
  
  Other sources said a recent memo from CPD brass outlining the changes was held up for “legal issues” tied to command and control matters outlined by the consent decree and that the shift changes “will happen.”

How about you sit down with a few parents who are working the different shifts and try to figure out what works best?

• Some midnight officers aren't going to be home in time to make lunches and take kids to school. 
• Neither will second watch parents. 
• Some afternoon officers won't be able to pick up kids after school with the 3:45 dismissals and 4:00 PM start times.

Rational humans ought to be able to figure out something to accommodate working parents instead of Special Ed and Special Fred pretending that they forgot where they came from so Groot isn't angry with them.

This is a Joke Right?

We can't believe we actually have to ask this, but reality is stranger than fiction lately:

• So an offender commits murder executing his ex, tell his family he intends to kill himself, and later that night officers drive up on his car whereupon he executes himself inside the vehicle. COPA is debating issuing a CR number because the officers presence caused the suicide!! This is phucking madnesses!! There nothing outside of the realm of sanity this people won’t blame the police for.

You know why we have to ask if this is true? Because we verified through various trusted sources that COPA is actually looking to jam up coppers on non-duty related weapon purchases. There isn't anyone in Illinois who has to register a gun...except CPD, and COPA is looking to get cops fired and save Groot some pension money.

We had thought this one was a bit far fetched, but we were mistaken. Watch your asses.

Blackhawks Fundraiser (CORRECTIONS)

Click for a slightly larger version. The pixelation factor kicks in pretty hard on this photo, so it's difficult to read. In essence, the Blackhawks are hosting a Law Enforcement appreciation night, 22 October, and a portion of the ticket sales go to the 100 Club, as fine an organization that exists to support families of officers killed in the Line of Duty.

Tickets go quick, so get on it boys and girls.

CORRECTION: Last year's poster - we're looking for an updated version. Link fixed.

ADDITIONAL: Fightfighter Appreciation Night is two days later on 24 October.

Former Cop on Divorce

Part of avoiding or stopping officers from harming themselves is dragging some issues out of the darkness and addressing them. Divorce is (unfortunately) common among the Department and a driving factor in many police suicides.

A former officer does some freelance writing for the Law Enforcement Today website and opens up about his recent struggles. Click over and give it a read.

400...and Then Some

Congratulations to Chicago - 404 homicides and counting.

How many dozens of years in a row is that?

Hammond Chase, Shooting

Bunch of people taken to hospitals:

• Four people including a 3-year-old girl sustained injuries stemming from a shooting and crash incident involving Hammond police officers Saturday evening on Chicago's South Side, fire officials said.
  
  A heavy police presence surrounded the scene near 80th Street and King Drive at around 7 p.m. on Saturday.
  
  A 22-year-old woman went to the University of Chicago Medical Center with a gunshot wound, while a 3-year-old girl was sent to Comer Children's Hospital with injuries from a car crash.
  
  In addition, a 32-year-old man went to Little Company of Mary Hospital in fair condition, while a 33-year-old man was listed in good condition at the hospital.

No details available when we typed this.

No coppers injured as far as we know at this point.