Groot the Popular

Let's just kill off Thanksgiving:

• Warning that up to 1,800 more Chicagoans could die by year’s end, Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday issued a 30-day stay-at-home “advisory” and slapped a mandatory, 10-person lid on social gatherings to control a second surge of coronavirus cases that’s worse than the first.

  Two weeks to the day before Thanksgiving, Lightfoot implored Chicagoans to shake off “COVID fatigue,” avoid unnecessary travel, order small turkeys and resist the temptation to open their homes to extended family.

  “While this is tough — this whole year has been tough — you must cancel the normal Thanksgiving plans,” Lightfoot said Thursday. “If we continue on the path we’re on and you, me and others don’t step up and do more ... we could see at least a thousand more Chicagoans die” by the end of this year, she added.

"...must cancel..." Even after a secret birthday party, personal haircut appointments, an almost Halloween party, and numerous vacations in violation of all sorts of quarantine restrictions. Nothing about the 700 homicide victims though.

And she's making all sorts of friends with the City Council:

• If Mayor Lori Lightfoot is so certain she has the 26 votes needed to pass her “pandemic” budget, why is she attaching political sweeteners and threatening aldermen who dare to oppose her $94 million property tax increase?

  That’s the question after Lightfoot held two calls this week with members of the City Council’s Black Caucus, followed by Thursday briefings for a larger group of aldermen on the management ordinance tied to her $12.8 billion budget.

  [...] “She said if we don’t vote for this budget, don’t ask her for s- -t for the next three years,” said one alderman who was on the call, but asked to remain anonymous to avoid alienating the mayor.

  “We were all floored. It was like, wait a second. You’re supposed to represent the entire city. You’re telling us that you’re not gonna represent certain areas because they don’t vote for you and or they don’t vote for your budget? That ain’t right.” Sources said the mayor’s threat prompted a rebuke from Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th), who told Lightfoot, “This is some bull-s- -t ...We’re elected just like you are.”

Maybe the City Council can find its collective balls, tell the troll to fuck off already and reestablish the Council as a check on the dictatorial impulses of the bitch-queen.

More Crimesha Scandal?

Could this possibly be true?

• You want to see entitled. Look at arrest in 009 yesterday. Offender shot himself in the leg on a traffic stop. The offender is a convicted felon for car hacking Tribune driver. However when you look at his rap sheet he has no convictions. Then when interviewed by detectives he stated that kim foxx is his aunt. And she was expunging his felon convictions.

Crimesha can't (legally) expunge records on her own, though we don't doubt she'd love to have that power, but the CCSA Office is part of the process.

The Entitled....Again

Why isn't this a headline everywhere?

• Theodora “Teddi” Pritzker was spotted at a packed table in violation of Covid restrictions over the weekend.

  Teddi, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s daughter, was photographed seated at a table for 14 at Chicago Cut Steakhouse.

  A Twitter user posted the photo of Teddi, who formerly attended Francis W. Parker in Chicago, and a closely-assembled group of friends.

  “10 person outdoor limit for thee....jb 18yo daughter didn’t seem to abide by her dictator Father’s demands while dining outdoors at @ChicagoCutthis weekend,” Twitter user DP Roberts posted.

There are pictures at the link up top. You might remember Theodora from a few months ago?

• Earlier this year Prairie State Wire revealed Teddi had skirted her father’s rules regarding sports by participating in out of state equestrian events.

  Back in May, it was reported that Teddi and her mother Mary Pritzker were not living in Illinois. Instead the first family, sans J.B., was staying at their estate in Florida where lockdown rules were and continue to be much more lax.
  

She "not living in Illinois" but is at a Chicago restaurant? 

It must be nice to be the entitled daughter of a billionaire who doesn't have to follow the rules Daddy makes for everyone else to follow. Daddy transports you and your horse around to competitions over state lines. You can go out with a group of fourteen friends to a restaurant that doesn't dare refuse you service lest Daddy drive them out of business. Anyone know who picked up the tab? 

And who were the other fourteen who didn't have to wear masks? Whose connected spawn are they?

And Again....

"Safety first!"

• Funny how CPIC can cancel the monthly TLO [Terrorist Liaison Officer] meeting due to Covid concerns but we all have to still be crammed together for training. Funny how that works.....

Until you're ordered onto a bus with thirty other officers and parked in a lot waiting for a riot that never arrived. Then it's screw your safety, screw your co-workers and screw your family.

This Guy Would Know

Preach Rod!

• Former Dem Governor Rod Blagojevich says "Is the Pope Catholic?" when asked if the Democrats are stealing votes in Philadelphia. He also says he believes it’s more widespread than just Philly. Sort of interesting given his experience in Democrat corruption. pic.twitter.com/khjr26CjDZ

We're still hoping that Rod spoke with Federal attorneys prior to release about Madigroin and those shady dealings, along with giving prosecutors insight into how the Machine conducts business in Illinois.

Maybe a few paybacks for Putzker avoiding prison?

Another Good Read

Heather MacDonald points out how a Biden administration would make police work even more impossible:

• Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were unambiguous throughout their presidential campaign: they believe that racism pervades policing and all other aspects of the criminal-justice system. Just a day before the networks declared Biden the president-elect, he claimed a “mandate” to eliminate “systemic racism.” He doubled down on that claim the next day, in his first speech as presumptive president-elect. During the campaign, Biden routinely announced that black parents were right to worry that their children would be shot by the police, an assertion formalized in his campaign plan for “strengthening . . . justice.”

  Biden’s plan for “strengthening America’s commitment to justice” reads like a Black Lives Matter wish list; there is no reason to think that a Biden–Harris Justice Department will not implement it. Among its most consequential proposals, it calls for a return to the practice of imposing weakly-justified consent decrees on police departments. During the Obama years, career attorneys in the Justice Department regularly opened civil rights investigations into police departments (called “pattern or practice” investigations) without credible evidence that an agency was systematically violating citizens’ constitutional rights. Those investigations almost invariably resulted in settlements (called consent decrees) that placed police departments under the control of a nonelected federal monitor and a federal judge; monitors collected millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded fees while they held police departments to draconian deadlines and mindless paper-pushing mandates for years on end.

Go read it all for more links to MacDonald's previous works and a glimpse of the full horror show on tap. And if you can retire, best get out as soon as possible.

Florida Fun Times

Maybe this will catch on nation-wide?

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is pushing "anti-mob" legislation that would reportedly allow citizens to confront looters with firepower.

  The bill, which comes after months of civil unrest in the wake of George Floyd's death, would broaden Florida's Stand Your Ground law by expanding the "forcible felonies" list to justify the use of deadly force against individuals engaged in criminal activity resulting in "interruption or impairment" to a business, according to the Miami Herald.

  That legislation would also justify deadly force used against individuals engaged in looting businesses within 500 feet of a "violent or disorderly assembly."

This would probably put a stop to all sorts of nonsense within a hour or two....without police involvement.

How's the Dog Uncle Lar?

Only the old timers will remember that title line:

• A dog and eight people in Nashville were wounded in a Sunday morning shooting that erupted during an argument over the animal, a report said.

  The pooch was shot in the hip and taken to an emergency vet after two men fired at each other just after 1 a.m. at an intersection in the city’s downtown area, authorities told the Nashville Tennessean.

  The dog’s condition was not immediately known.

  The eight adults appeared to sustain non-life-threatening injuries, the newspaper reported.

Four Legged Dog Lives Matter! Two legs though? Not so much.

Macy's Hit?

Some over-exuberant yutes paid a pre-Thanksgiving visit to the not-so-Mag-Mile this past Monday?

• anyone catch an RD on mob that hit the Macy’s on State yesterday? Seems late in the year for wilding. Guessing the little punks were just doing some early Christmas shopping...

Funny, we didn't see anything on the news. Maybe the plywood came down too early?

Really Really Bad Idea

Any Over/Under on the first casualties in New York?

• For the first time in the city’s history, Mayor de Blasio announced Tuesday that the new mental health professionals and crisis workers will be the dispatched through 911, instead of the NYPD, to respond to mental health emergencies in two high-need communities -- calling the pilot program a "major innovation."

  According to the mayor, the ongoing pandemic "pointed out such horrible disparities that we have to address but it also brought issues to the fore in a new way and nowhere is that more true than on the topic of mental health."

  “One in five New Yorkers struggle with a mental health condition. Now, more than ever, we must do everything we can to reach those people before crisis strikes,” de Blasio said. “For the first time in our city’s history, health responders will be the default responders for a person in crisis, making sure those struggling with mental illness receive the help they need.”

Everyone wants to assist the mentally ill. No one wants to see them hurt themselves.

But we don't want to see them hurt anyone else either, and being mentally ill, they don't make that distinction the way others do. Police history is loaded with examples of mentally ill people going from 0-to-100 in an instant - and sometimes well beyond 100. 

At some point, some mental health professional egghead is going to meet a 300 pound monster who isn't going to go quietly and won't listen to reason, and then we're going to be treated to the wails of "How could this happen in America?" and "Where were the police?" 

And we're going to have to say, "Sitting here in the corner with our Taser, baton, come-along, leg irons, shackles and gun wondering what's for lunch.

This is Weird

Just wondering:

• Anyone else sensing some weirdness with Biden appointing Rahm's brother Ezekiel to his Corona Task Force, especially seeing as how Zeke has said flu-shots for the elderly are a waste of time and living past the age of 75 is pretty much a waste resources?

The weird part comes in when you realize Biden is 77 already.

Another Groot-tacular Weekend

Highest weekend totals in seven years:

• Final Peaceful Tally: 8 killed, 37 wounded
  2019 weekend tally: 6 killed, 17 wounded
  2018 weekend tally: 5 killed, 19 wounded
  2017 weekend tally: 3 killed, 17 wounded
  2016 weekend tally: 5 killed, 32 wounded
  2015 weekend tally: 1 killed, 20 wounded
  2014 weekend tally: 5 killed, 16 wounded

And the weekday totals keep climbing, too:

• Three people were shot, two fatally, Monday in Humboldt Park on the West Side, according to police. They were on a corner about 5:50 p.m. in the 3600 block of West Division Street when someone fired shots from a black Chevy Equinox, Chicago police said. A man, 32, and another male were struck in the head and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Someone told us that 011 is on pace for 100 murders this year? What's their total so far?

Old and Busted - NYPD; New Hotness - LAPD

Instead of stealing ideas from New York, it seems like Brownie is looking west:

• The Los Angeles Police Department in coming months will downsize its specialized units and stop responding in person to traffic collisions and other minor incidents as part of a broad reorganization aimed at preserving patrol and community engagement functions amid new fiscal constraints.

  Although specific figures weren't available Friday, the reshuffling will reduce the size of the vaunted but troubled Metropolitan Division, as well as cut the air support, robbery and homicide and gang and narcotics divisions. The department also will reduce desk hours at its stations, cut special deployments in popular areas such as Venice and Hollywood, and stop staffing teams that cover homelessness issues.

  A total of 234 officers will move back into patrol. Station desks will be manned only during weekday hours. Victims of misdemeanor hit-and-run crashes and collisions with minor injuries will be advised to file a report online.

It's far past time to get back to the nuts and bolts of policing. No more number-driven units, no more confiscated money (unaccountable 1505 cash) to fund other Units and toys, lose the fleet of unmarked cars given to all sorts of pin cushions and house mice.

In fact, here's a free idea for Brownie and crew:

• Start enforcing Traffic Laws again

We see so many assholes on the road now, mostly due to reduced traffic over the COVID scare. They all think they're exempt from following the Rules of the Road. We've got car cameras, body cameras, POD cameras all over the place, so "racial profiling" will be a pointless accusation. Start filling traffic court with moving violators and tell Corp Counsel to pursue convictions, start taking cars and start taking back the streets.

What's This?

See-B.S. "news" doing their impersonation of an "investigative report:"

• Chicago police officers are concerned their department’s COVID-19 policy is putting them at risk. CBS 2’s [...] talked to an officer who said colleagues were exposed to the virus at work, and were told if they don’t have symptoms, they can stay on the job.

  On November 7, an officer assigned to the 14th District tested positive for COVID-19.  That officer was among many others assigned to start duty aboard a CTA bus.

  One Chicago police officer agreed to speak with CBS 2 if their identify was concealed. The officer is from the 14th District and with others was assigned to a CTA bus in the past week. They were driven to the Brickyard Mall at Diversey and Narragansett and the Humboldt Park Boathouse.

Not a bad first effort. 

Now if they try doing this five or seven times a week, they might actually be able to hold politicians accountable for bad decisions.

COVID is Over

Must be - otherwise this wouldn't be happening:

Must not be that serious.

Massive COVID Outbreak

No one covering this - we guess it's a secret:

• 015 - 30 to 50 cases, down beat car all watches
• Alternate Response - huge outbreak
• 011 - a second outbreak taking down dozens or more on 3rd watch...and the commander
• minor Academy outbreak - mostly instructors
• at least two outbreaks tied to the south side training locations - but training is more important than Officer health

More?

UPDATE: It seems to have broken out around the time (Halloween through Election Day) when everyone was Day Off Canceled and stuffed on buses for six, eight, ten hours at a time.

Governor Isolates?

In Lakeview, with crowds of people around:

There's video around, too, but it takes up too much bandwidth trying to capture the immensity of the governor. Someone can post the link in the comments.

Closing on 700

Per HeyJackass.com, the totals are thus (Saturday):

• Total Shot: 3642
  Total Homicides: 685

This warm spell isn't helping much.

Nice Hotel Groot

We remember when this used to be a classy joint in a classy part of town:

• A man, 33, is recovering after he was shot inside the Swissotel early Saturday morning in the New Eastside neighborhood, according to Chicago police.
  
  Police said it happened at around 1:43 a.m. in the 300 block of East Wacker Drive.
  
  Two men got into an altercation while riding inside a hotel elevator, police said.
  
  The argument escalated and both men exchanged gunfire, according to police.

But hey, don't worry. Conventioneers will be back downtown in no time at all, filling Chicago's empty coffers with all sorts of tax dollars.

Interesting

Not our Stat Guy, but someone who made a simple map overlay (click for larger version):

The places with the most homicides are voting for.....the person who doesn't prosecute shooters and killers.