Pension Problems

This has popped up in a few comments sections, so we did a little searching and came up with this article from Crain's Chicago Business:

• The Daley administration is sounding an unusual public alarm about the declining finances of the city's massive employee pension plans.

  In a high-profile speech and subsequent interview that were far stronger than any earlier remarks by city officials, Chief Financial Officer Dana Levenson laid out stark new numbers and projected that pension systems covering police, firefighters, office workers and others will have to begin liquidating assets within a decade and may even face insolvency as soon as 2028 unless something changes.

  "We need collective recognition by all the stakeholders . . . that this situation, without doubt, is a problem," Mr. Levenson told an audience at the City Club of Chicago last week. One example he offered: The $3.9-billion police fund needs to make an 11% return on its investments to break even, but last year netted just 7.3%.

Things that make you go "Hmmm." As we understand State Law (currently written), the City is obligated to pay pensions, which means that they will eventually have to raise taxes to cover any shortfalls. But could this be the beginning of the end of pension plans for public employees? Might we all be moving to private IRA's or similar plans? What effect is this going to have on young guys and gals who can't afford homes in the nicer parts of town AND now might have to fund their own retirements? Numerous questions spring to mind - and the answers aren't as numerous.

IDOT Hero

One of many heroes the other night keeping a copper from burning to death. A riveting account of how he helped State Troopers and others keep the flames at bay until CFD got there to extract a pinned in cop.

Again, we can't thank this guy enough. Or the Troopers. We've always made it a point to stop on the shoulder for Troopers if we happened see them, just to make sure everything was OK. We're thinking they ought to be getting a few "thank yous" when you see them in the stations.

Who Needs Cops ...

... when you have cameras? What with cameras already doing traffic enforcement and this new "Concept Vehicle" doing time around the city recovering hot cars, cameras are going to be used as justification for further reducing manpower in the districts. Pretty soon, the whole city will be all specialized units responding to hot spots and DOC areas and illegal immigrant marches and the beat cop will be a thing of the past.

You heard it here first.

Maybe those of us left can "telecommute" by monitoring cameras from our blogs? Where do we sign up?

Big Raid on Gang

Channel 7; Sun Times; Tribune coverage.

Good to see a large operation like this taken down. Disruption is always good. It leads to more instability in the narcotics operations and can lead to bigger and better things.

We hope it was all done without any profiling though. There'll be hell to pay. Meeks told us so.

Flashback - Profiling

Long time readers of the blog will remember back in July, during the height of the reverend Meeks incident, we wrote a large number of threads about the entire incident taking everyone and their brother to task (go to our July archives, start around the 15th and scroll upwards). We also saw that the mayor is home from his little Middle East jaunt and we hope he brought us some new and wondrous policing ideas as he has on so many of his other forays (the better to call it "business" and get the taxpayers to pay for it). You will recall that the camera idea was picked up on trips to Europe, was it not?

Here's a little policing tip we hope the mayor introduces in the coming weeks or months. We referenced it way back on 02 August 05 in a post we titled "A dirty little secret." It is perhaps the DIRTIEST little secret in all of policing:

Profiling Works

Let's pause for a moment to let the screams from our more liberal minded readers die down for a bit. Are they done yet? We still hear some dogs barking. There we go. Take a breath people. Here's some more sacrilege - Profiling has ALWAYS worked. In it's simplest form, it's a matter of seeing something that doesn't fit the surroundings. And reality being what it is, race sometimes comes into it. Chicago is still among the most segregated cities in the nation. Therefore, it stands to reason that a white guy in a black neighborhood MIGHT be there to buy drugs. A black guy in a hispanic part of town MIGHT be there to do garage burglaries. A hispanic guy in a white neighborhood MIGHT be there to do a drive by. Your good coppers - your truly great street guys - can go beyond the initial visual anomaly and make some truly spectacular arrests.

• Run the plate - is it from the neighborhood? Is it hot? Is it on the right type of car?
• Visual clues - is the subject a "fit" for the area? Financially? Is he/she wearing expensive clothes in a rundown part of town? Are they carrying a pillowcase in an alley?
  
• Physical appearances - Hypes? Health nuts? Holding their side? Eyeballing everyone else? Eyeballing nothing at all?

The list goes on and on, but what cops should be looking for is the "totality of the circumstances" which as we all should know, is a polite way of saying "profiling." NOT RACIAL PROFILING. Criminal profiling. Even some civilians can do it - but WE are supposed to do it. Being able to put 2 and 2 together has led to a lot of crimes being solved or prevented. Being able to put it down on paper and selling it to a State's Attorney or a jury is what makes it great.

Which is why this recent push to combat nonexistent racial profiling isn't just a waste of time and money. It's plain dumb.

Sergeant Test Results

If you didn't get them Monday, they're arriving today. Who has the actual cutoff score and can anyone get the results of (A) how many took it and (B) how many passed? We're just looking at what the competition is going to be.

Use this thread to post and brag about how well you did. But remember, it's only pass/fail at this point and you only did as good as the stupidest clout baby.

A Political Tool - Again

Once again, the Department has become a political tool for those seeking to advance an agenda of race driven politics - even in the face of those politics being completely and utterly proven to be nonexistent. Case in point (Channel 7 reports):

• The Chicago Police Department has launched a new campaign against racial profiling. The latest push includes more cameras in police cars and public service announcements telling drivers what they should do when they get pulled over by police.
• There were many calls for a crackdown on racial profiling following a controversial traffic stop of state senator Rev. James Meeks last July.

We wrote a number of articles, taking the Department and Meeks to task: the Department for failing to back the supervisor immediately and thoroughly; Meeks for making an issue out of what was HIS arrogance and expectation of special treatment. The Department surprised us by ultimately backing the Sergeant, saying there was no racial profiling. Then why this push to fix a problem that doesn't exist? After all, we have this summary from the most recent FOP newsletter (no link available yet):

• SB 2368 - Racial Profiling Legislation - That report showed that the disparity between stops of minority and non-minorities was less than 5%, well short of the level of concern that was established by the original promoters of the legislation in which they stated they would not be concerned unless the disparity rate was in the 30-35% range.

So it seems that the "Oversight Board" went in with preconceived notions of racial profiling by police departments and now they're unhappy that the results of THEIR study don't match reality. So they call a new tune and - presto! - we have a new campaign against nonexistent racial profiling. Amazing!

Hahahahahahaha

Sorry ... couldn't help ourselves ... hahaha:

• In a confidential, sworn statement to federal investigators, Mayor Daley said his Office of Intergovernmental Affairs recommended people for city jobs but did not order their hiring, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

HAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh Lordy, that is some funny shit. Heh heh heh heh heh. We mean, haha, "recommended ... but did not order"? Hahaha ... sorry, we can't help ourselves. Hee hee hee. Oh man. Someone get us some towels? We've spit coffee all over our computer again.

First Challenger?

State rep Luis Gutierrez has all but thrown his hat into the mayoral ring, giving a statement that sounds suspiciously like a campaign platform. From the Sun Times:

• U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez insisted Monday he hasn't decided about running for mayor, but he sounded a lot more like a candidate than a Washington lawmaker as he laid out his ideas for improving the city and took shots at some of Mayor Richard Daley's pet projects."
• It would be awfully hard for me to say no to a campaign for mayor if that campaign can help Chicago," Gutierrez said at a luncheon hosted by the City Club of Chicago, a nonpartisan civic group.

Daley has his first serious minority challenger. All he needs now is a second one (Jesse Jr.?) to split the vote and he's well on his way to securing another term.

Cops Hurt

Links: Channel 2; Channel 5; Channel 7; Tribune.

Everyone should survive. Thanks to everyone who got the guys out of the car.

Last Chance to Vote for Al

Today is the last day to vote for Al O'Connor as "America's Most Wanted All Star." Be sure you go to this link TODAY and cast your ballot. One vote per person.

Do it. NOW!

Picture of the Sign

Sent to us by a reader. We will not be identifying him/her, but suffice it to say that we've heard a number of decent things about him/her from people we know. Thanks.

We hope every exempt that saw this sign felt a twinge of shame at their silence over the mere possibility of a dead felon being honored at the expense of dead cops.

A Guy Who Gets It

Everyone ought to read this article. We thought we made a few points in our little post about why the Virginia jury (and the American justice system) failed in the Moussaoui case. Mark Steyn in the Sun Times completely buries those who think this should be a "Law Enforcement" action rather than a War.

• "America, you lose," said Zacarias Moussaoui as he was led away from the court last week.

  Hard to disagree. Not just because he'll be living a long life at taxpayers' expense. He'd have had a good stretch of that even if he'd been "sentenced to death," which in America means you now spend more years sitting on Death Row exhausting your appeals than the average "life" sentence in Europe. America "lost" for a more basic reason: turning a war into a court case and upgrading the enemy to a defendant ensures you pretty much lose however it turns out. [emphasis added - SCC]
  

Go read the whole thing. It'll change your way of thinking of the "War on Terror."

The Sopranos Update

... will wait until tomorrow night. In the meantime, use this as an open posting for Monday. Be sure to go back a few threads and read the weekend articles.

St. Jude's Sign

Ok, about the sign.

This is still America. It might be Daley's Chicago, but it's still the United States of America. If people want to make signs and display them at football games, protests or memorial marches, that is their right. Hell, it's their OBLIGATION.

Any organized boycott of St. Jude's was bound to fail. We march for dead coppers - not the bosses, not the public and certainly not for politicians. We can't even remember the last time the sitting mayor attended St. Jude's, if ever. And we can say openly and honestly, we don't miss him or his fake concern. By the same token, any organized protest short of completely inappropriate behavior (A) certainly wouldn't have been noticed by any of the bosses in the reviewing stand and (B) would only reflect badly on the march itself.

That being said, we're glad one of our readers arrived early, set up in a visible space and held up her sign for the bosses to see all during the march. Let's not pretend that any of us could have done something like that without suffering some sort of repercussions for our career, be it starting time, assigned car or unit of assignment. We KNOW our readers aren't that naive and we KNOW that we're that cynical. So no matter what your opinion of the sign carrier, she did something none of us did and none of us could have done. Where would any of the critics have done it? At the next recruit graduation? At the next promotional ceremony? At the DOC meeting? Give us a break.

Any support for our dead is appreciated.

What the ... ?!

As we understand it, the Texas Rangers were (are) an historic law enforcement agency, with a long and storied history (see their website here). They are a kind of unofficial representative of Texas Law Enforcement in general. They also happen to have a baseball team named after them. So what's up with this?
Now before some Saturday night drunk flies off the handle and accuses us of racial insensitivity, Cinco de Mayo is NOT some holiday celebrating Mexican heritage. It is the commemoration of a MILITARY BATTLE, and a losing battle at that. An American baseball club celebrating a foreign nation's military heroes is political correctness run amok and pandering of the highest order. Especially in light of the backlash forming at illegals demanding full rights without any of the duties of citizenship.

Picture via MLB/Yahoo News. Additional commentary at MichelleMalkin.com.

Run to Remember

Anyone have any reports on how the "Run to Remember" went? We guess it's kind of the kick off for Police Week, what with St. Jude's later today, Memorial Park shortly after and the Recognition ceremony Wednesday. The whole thing culminates in the National Memorial next week and we hope to have a couple of reports from on scene from a few readers. We'll update as we get info.

300,000

Somewhere in the past five minutes, we had our 300,000 visitor. Heck, it might have been us signing on to check the site meter and do a few late night posts. Anyway, some people might think we talk about the numbers too much or it seems like we're bragging when we mention the milestones we hit, but we just think it's good manners to thank everyone who visits.

More than a few hundred of you think we're worth stopping by and looking at for a few minutes every day. Some of you are looking for info; some might just be stopping by to read the BS; some might be gawking at the traffic crash; some might be peeking in to make sure their names or shenanigans haven't made the site; who knows?

Regardless of your reasons or motivations, we appreciate it and we thank you.

A Drug Addict is a Drug Addict?

So where is all of the outrage from the Left now that Patrick Kennedy has admitted being addicted to pain medication after wrecking a car and getting a pass from certain Washington DC police bosses? We mean, they were ready to string Rush Limbaugh up by his testicles for "doctor shopping" and "felony drug possession" and such. Where and how does everyone think Kennedy got his pills? We're almost positive it wasn't by any legal means.

Oh, and by the Way

If you have any tips that the Inspector General can use:

• The new hotline number, 866-IG-TIPLINE (448-4754), will be staffed Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for those who don't have the freedom to spill the beans during work hours. Tipsters can also dump their dirt on the Internet at www.chicagoinspectorgeneral.org. If they don't want to be identified, they won't be, thanks to a "third party host server" that keeps encrypted messages secure.

But then they ruin the whole effect with this:

• But tipsters are encouraged to leave contact information because follow-up conversations can only help investigators strike pay dirt.

We're not sure what they are looking for. The site says corruption , fraud and misconduct. It doesn't say anything about cronyism, nepotism or favoritism, but we figure we're going to report about 20 bosses and underlings on Monday morning, all anonymously, just so the corruption fighters can start off their week feeling like they are making a difference.

Two Sets of Rules - AGAIN!

This isn't the best place to put this post - first thing on a Saturday morning. Our readership numbers are always a few hundred hits lower on Saturdays and Sundays. Everyone has things to do for the weekend, even us. But we can't really sit on this one as it will be stale and outdated by Monday morning. - SCC

A Tale of Two Cities - or one city, two sets of rules.

On one hand, you have the Burge report. Aldercreatures are demanding release of the investigation, the attorneys for Burge and other defendants are arguing that the case must remain sealed as much of the information did not come from discoverable sources. But the aldercreatures are still demanding answers, transparency and blame to be affixed. We know the aldercreatures are going to use it as a club to beat the police department with, passing all sorts of nonsensical legislation tying our hands while playing to their constituents that they are "doing something" about police brutality.

On the other hand, you have the Inspector General's office begging for tips, clues and information about corruption in the city so that the mayor can claim he's cleaning up graft and such before the next election. And the biggest stumbling block?

• [Inspector General] Hoffman is also making a renewed appeal for the power to investigate aldermen -- something the City Council has refused to entertain over the years. "We have . . . not been able to find any other city where the IG's jurisdiction is limited by an aldermanic immunity provision," Hoffman said. [emphasis added - SCC]

Well well well. Imagine that. Alder-asshats won't let the Inspector General investigate them and have granted themselves immunity from any such investigations. Yet they demand transparency in every other city department, especially the Police Department. Can you imagine the outraged howls and screeching if the Department told the aldercreatures to mind their own damn business and keep their noses out of stuff that didn't concern them?

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

We have no idea what a fifth of mayonnaise has to do with anything, but someone told us about it and it seemed to be funny.

Hereditary Employment

Once again, the political machine grooms a son to take over for the father - and no, we aren't talking about the police department at the moment:

• Ald. Todd Stroger (8th) said Thursday he's qualified to succeed his father -- and confident of victory -- if a stroke suffered by Cook County Board President John Stroger prevents him from remaining on the Democratic ticket.

When are we going to get around to disbanding this completely outdated, outmoded and money wasting arm of government? We need to really get serious about reducing the size of municipal and county government. They are overly burdensome.

How to Ruin Your Career

Step #1: Call the guy that Mayor Daley himself appointed to the Inspector General's office to report corruption. At least that's the gist of the article on the Sun Times website:

• The city's top corruption fighter appealed Thursday for tips from employees and the public about shenanigans in City Hall as Mayor Richard Daley's former patronage chief prepares to go on trial.
• Inspector General David Hoffman said tipsters can use his office's new Web site and hot line to report corruption, fraud or misconduct. The Web site is independent of the city and people who call the hot line can talk directly to an investigator.
• Hoffman, who is a former federal prosecutor, was named to the post by Daley in September to replace Alexander Vroustouris, who resigned last June amid allegations that his office's investigations were delayed and incomplete.

So we have a thoroughly corrupt investigative arm of the city asking for information about other corruption so that the corrupt investigative body can report to a mayor who has allowed graft, corruption and fixes of all sorts to breed freely for years. Sorry, but we'll take our chances with the Feds.

Alternate Step #1: Start a blog.

Open Post for Friday

Once again, an open post. Anything you or we might be interested in commenting on or pointing out to our readers, here's your chance.

Can You Say "Pound Sand" in French?

Back in December, we wrote about the German government releasing a terrorist. The terrorist had been convicted of murdering a US Navy diver and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. Evidently, "Life without parole" translated from German into "19 years" and the terrorist was released. BY COMPLETE COINCIDENCE, a German hostage was released that same week, even though she had voluntarily left Germany to be with her muslim husband, was found to be in possession of part of the ransom money, and left Germany as soon as possible to go back to Iraq. According to Captain's Quarters, they're still paying ransoms.

Also according to Captain's Quarters, the French government is asking for recently convicted terrorist Moussaoui to serve his lifetime sentence in ... wait for it ... France! So he can be close to his ailing mother no doubt. We're sure the current administration won't be allowing Moussaoui out of Colorado anytime soon, but who knows what future administrations might do? Because the minute that some stupid frog gets kidnapped in Middle East, France will be offering anything to get their countryman back - even someone sentenced to life without parole.

Taking a Lawyer to School

Some ass-munch of a lawyer has been retained by the wife of one of the two scumbags that bought the farm when they attempted to commit felonious assault against an off duty Officer. Both came out on the losing end of a gun fight up north. The lawyer claims some sort of hidden policy of the Chicago Police Department allows officers to use deadly force without guidelines or discretion and literally get away with murder (from WGN News tonight - no link on their site yet).

We hate lawyers. As a general rule, we really hate lawyers. We feel the same way about lawyers as we do about gypsies - masses of protoplasm sucking up oxygen so there's less for the rest of us to breathe. Here's a little primer for the scumbag lawyer:

(720 ILCS 5/Art. 7 heading)
ARTICLE 7. JUSTIFIABLE USE OF FORCE; EXONERATION
(720 ILCS 5/7‑1)(from Ch. 38, par. 7‑1)

Sec. 7‑1. Use of force in defense of person.
(a) A person is justified in the use of force against another when and to the extent that he reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or another against such other's imminent use of unlawful force. However, he is justified in the use of force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm only if he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or another, or the commission of a forcible felony.
(b) In no case shall any act involving the use of force justified under this Section give rise to any claim or liability brought by or on behalf of any person acting within the definition of "aggressor" set forth in Section 7‑4 of this Article, or the estate, spouse, or other family member of such a person, against the person or estate of the person using such justified force, unless the use of force involves willful or wanton misconduct. (Source: P.A. 93‑832, eff. 7‑28‑04.)

Seems like the Officer in question who killed two scumbags (one of whom's own wife ADMITS he came home to get some illegal guns!) manages to not only fit Section 7.1(a) of State Law, the Officer (and the City) manage to beat the case by direct application of Section 7.1(b). And be sure to notice that the State Law never says "Officer" - this law applies to ALL CITIZENS of the State of Illinois. No one is required to become a target or suffer grievous injury before defending themselves. Self defense is a RIGHT, even in Illinois. Corp Counsel had better fight this one to the bitter end.

Officer Kills Offender

Last night, 010th District. Copper was being dragged and ends up shooting the offender before being run over. Copper is going to be OK, but not the bad guy.

Sun Times; Tribune; Channel 2; Channel 7

The Backlash Begins

Activists have begun mailing bricks to lawmakers in Congress, urging them to build a wall to shut off the flow of illegals into this country. A Zogby poll (a notorious leftist and half assed pollster who asks the most biased and leading questions we've ever seen) is tracking a groundswell of anti illegal feeling as can be seen in this poll:

And then, you have this poll from Polipundit (a very right leaning website - like us!) asking if it's readers support the Bush-McCain-Kennedy amnesty or not (click to enlarge). This is a real poll on their website:

When you have the left AND the right agreeing on something being a large problem, Washington DC and the politicians who inhabit that Hell better start addressing that problem. Soon. Thanks to RightWingNews for directing us to the original story.

What a Shot!

Our blogging compatriot Rue St. Michel has an amazing article about a shootout in Seattle. The accompanying picture has to be seen to be believed. Surf over and read all about it.

Moussaoui Verdict

This is a bad thing - life in prison. This is just our opinion, but it's our blog so you get to read our opinion first, and then we open up the comments and you can voice yours.

We are at war against an implacable enemy. An enemy that regularly tortures, kills and beheads those unfortunate enough to fall into their clutches. An enemy that has declared war against Western civilization as a whole and has vowed that all will one day live under sharia - islamic law. And the truly insidious thing is that they use our own freedoms against us and hide behind "political correctness" and cries of "racism!" the moment anyone attempts to quote what they've said about destroying and subjugating the "infidels."

Against these enemies, we as Americans, ought to be able to come together and be strong enough to issue the ultimate sanction when appropriate. THIS was such a time and a jury blinked. The system failed. Islamo-fascists will interpret this as yet another sign of weakness displayed by the "Great Satan" and begin taking hostages with the intent of pressuring this and successive American governments to release their "brother in arms."

Once upon a time, when Timothy McVeigh blew up 100+ men, women and children, America was able to arrest, try and execute him within 6 years of his crime. Now? We have a man confessing to one of the largest crimes in recorded history and we can't even get a needle in his arm, let alone stand him in front of a wall or drop him through a trapdoor.

Moussaoui needed to be executed. Now in Supermax, he becomes a cause celebre, a rallying point for leftists everywhere. Truly a sad day. A round up of reactions from the blogosphere here at HotAir.com That's it - we've had our say.

No Connection to Reality

From the Sun Times:

• There were candles and quiet song -- ''We Shall Overcome'' -- as 75 mourners vacillated between grief and anger Tuesday night at the same South Side corner where Chicago Police shot and killed a 21-year-old man this weekend.
• [Mother Christine Betts said]"We want our young men to grow up and be fathers, to grow up to be young doctors, to be young lawyers, to be young businessmen," she told the crowd.
  

Pardon our sarcasm and silliness over a dead criminal, but there was about as much chance of Dantwan Betts becoming a doctor or a lawyer as we have of becoming pope or even aldrecreature. As we understand Dantwan's arrest record though, he was a businessman - after a fashion.

And where are those altar boy, choir and graduation photos?

Swipe In, Swipe Out?

Rumors abound about swiping. We were contacted by an officer who wished to remain anonymous who had been talking to someone down at HQ. Seems the swiping machines don't have any hardware attached. All they do is count the number of people who swipe in - the machine can't tell that Officer Smith swiped in and Officer Jones forgot to until 2 hours into his tour. It records nothing.

Seems the city doesn't want to pay for the software that would actually track people and generate A&A sheets. Or at least they don't want to pay full price. That, and they have to actually pay everyone for the time they stayed over and they'd have to cut out the early ducks. Who else can confirm or debunk this report?

New Radios? Again?

Don't get us wrong, new digital radios would definitely be a step up from the current models (which we think were a step backwards from the 24 channel Sabres). The current radios have batteries that don't hold a charge the length of a tour and are useless inside a simple cinderblock building, leaving you to try to find a window to broadcast out of. Lord help us in the event of a disaster. And communicating with the Fire Department directly might be a good thing at large scenes or getting ETAs on an ambulance (though we see them restricting this to supervisor radios only).

But wouldn't it have made sense for the City to ... oh wait, there's those words again ... "made sense" and "the City." Ah, the joys of low bid contracting. Don't you taxpayers worry about all the money we spend on stuff that is outdated and low powered before we even get it in the field. Just keep paying those taxes.

No WMD's, eh?

Aside from the fact that the Left continues to spread the lie that the Duelfer report conclusively proved there were no WMD's in Iraq (it didn't - it proved exactly the opposite - go read it), now comes word that as late as the year 2000, Iraq was producing and testing Nerve Gas Detectors. Via Powerline and Captains Quarters:

• Joseph Shahda has translated another Iraqi intelligence document, which appears to indicate that Iraq procured equipment to detect nerve gas in or about December 2000. This equipment is described as "prohibited"

Firstly, this equipment was banned under UN resolution, so Iraq was in material breach of it's obligations - a trigger for war. Second of all, why would Iraq have these detectors unless they were prepared to use nerve weapons in the event of a land war and needed to detect blowback? Third, how does anyone think they tested this stuff? You don't just build it hoping it works in the field - you test it. That means having live agent around - another breach and another trigger for war. And the "Bush lied" myth again fades into the mists of Leftist rhetoric.

A Number to Take Notice Of

According to the Sun Times today during yesterday's Illegal Immigrant March, 85% of students were absent from Farragut High School. Eighty Five Percent. Whether or not that is a true and accurate reflection of students who are illegal, student who support illegals or students who took advantage of the march is unknown. What ought to grab everyone's attention is that YOU (by way of taxes and services) are being stuck with a large portion of the bill to educate the children of illegals.

Feeling put upon yet? How about these stats from an article written by Tom Tancredo in National Review regarding illegal immigrants (Tancredo is a Republican Congressman from Colorado):

• Hospital emergency rooms across the southwest would have about 20-percent fewer patients, and there would be 183,000 fewer people in Colorado without health insurance.
• Colorado taxpayers would save almost $3,000,000 in one day if illegals do not access any public services, because illegal aliens cost the state over $1 billion annually according to the best estimates.
• Colorado'’s jails and prisons would have 10-percent fewer inmates, and Denver and many other towns would not need to build so many new jails to accommodate the overcrowding.
• Youth gangs would see their membership drop by 50 percent in many states, and in Phoenix, child-molestation cases would drop by 34 percent and auto theft by 40 percent.

Again, this isn't a racial issue and anyone who tries to make it one is merely a race baiter and an ignorant one at that. Every single citizen in this country is a descendant of immigrants - even the "native Americans" came from somewhere else. Immigrants made this country great. But uncontrolled illegal immigration is a slow growing cancer that drains resources and deprives legal citizens of opportunities. It's time to shut off the flow.

Here Come the Altar Boy Photos

Why oh why couldn't those evil police just arrest my son? Why oh why did they have to kill him? Why oh why is it taking so long for me to find a lawyer to sue the police that did this to my poor unemployeed, car jacking, UUW convicted, dope dealing, illegal handgun carrying son?

From the Sun Times and Tribune stories:

• Sometimes when Christine Betts saw her son ... doing nothing but killing time, she'd stroll over, give him bus fare and tell him he should go look for a job. (But we all know he wasn't really killing time - SCC)
  
• ...tactical officers in an unmarked patrol car were watching Betts, a suspect in a carjacking earlier this month (we're actually amazed that the Sun Times put this in writing - SCC)
• Betts' cousin and sister through adoption, Robyn Latzzis, said witnesses in the neighborhood told her that police opened fire first, prompting Betts to run over the officer. (but somehow, none of these "witnesses" could be located by responding detectives on the scene - SCC)
• [The police] account was corroborated by the female passenger in the car (so if the woman the offender was in the car with corroborated the whole story, why is the media even publishing anything from people who weren't there? - SCC)

Expect photos later this week

Illegal Immigrant March

It's still mind boggling that millions of people can break the law, remain in this country for years, procure fake documents, obtain jobs, ship billions of dollars over the border, and then gather to march TO DEMAND MORE than what they are already draining from the economy. According to various reports, Chicago held what may have been the largest of the Illegal Immigrant Marches, with a purported 400,000 marchers. And in the midst of all this are signs that a backlash has begun. Could it be that those demanding amnesty and equal rights for those breaking the law have finally overreached themselves?

From Captains Quarters: ...the AP reports that twenty-five percent of the children in the Los Angeles School District failed to attend classes today. [...] If the walkout caused 25% of the students to strike, that puts the annual educational cost for illegal immigrants at around $3.25 billion -- just for Los Angeles.

From The Corner: WASHINGTON, DC U.S. Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) today made the following statement about the immigration demonstrations taking place across the United States: "Today'’s activities are largely counterproductive to the effort for comprehensive reform. Boycotts, walkouts, or protests are not going to get this done.

Even Ted Kennedy thinks that the National Anthem should "be sung in English. Period."

We were going to propose that everyone who has a landscaping service just start cutting their own lawn, but someone beat us to it in the comments section. Immigrantion is a fine thing - controlled, limited, legal immigration. Illegal immigrants and uncontrolled borders are leading to a huge problem. If all of the US counties bordering the Mexico were counted as a single state, it would lead the nation in per capita violent crime. The number of hospitals that will fail in California in the next 5 years partly due to unpaid treatment of "undocumented" workers will outpace the national average several fold. This isn't a racial issue - this is a sovereignty issue and we're losing it.

Once Again, the LIBERAL Media

Rush Limbaugh (to whom we have still NEVER listened to - even for a tenth of a second) was recently said to have been "arrested" in connection with a drug charge. Fine, we know what "arrested" means - we're cops after all.

Seems Newsweek doesn't know what "arrested" means though:

• LIMBAUGH ARRESTED was the immediate headline on the wires and on TV, but the word "arrest" was misleading. In fact, Limbaugh had pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer had worked out a deal that would cause the single charge to be dropped after 18 months as long as Limbaugh stayed out of trouble and continued to see a doctor who has helped him with an addiction to painkillers. [emphasis added]
  

So it wasn't really an arrest, was it? In fact, everything will be dropped in 18 short months. Not only that, but this from Drudge:

• It now appears James Martz, the prosecutor who headed the investigation into Limbaugh's prescription drug use, was bluffing when he said that medical records "indicate evidence that would support in excess of 10 felony counts for violations." [emphasis added]

The Palm Beach prosecutor's office also suggested that Limbaugh may have been involved in money laundering, which could be actionable according to a lawyer we keep chained in the basement. This looks more and more like a political persecution rather than a legit prosecution. Links via Espella Humanzee and our own surfing.

The Gangs of Iraq

Sun Times today. Gangs are becoming more evident in the military - but how big a problem is it? Frank Main's article deals mostly with Chicago gangs and their graffiti appearing overseas and the effect they may have on gang activity back here in the US. One example cited is flak jackets turning up here in town. And a California example of two police officers being shot, one fatally by a Marine gang banger with a rifle.

Anyone have any insight into how extensive this problem might be? Any gang specialists? Detectives? Should the Department be putting some more heavy weapons on the street to counter any of this? Or is the media peddling panic again?

Chicago - For Sale!

At least (according to the current plan), we will be spared the ignominy of driving mobile billboards. The Sun Times and Tribune both report that efforts to sell the naming rights of everything in the City will not affect squad cars or fire apparatus (though we might have "sponsored" stations). We would like at least one station sponsored by Trump Casinos. Our monthly poker games would certainly pick up.

Quick! Name some sponsors for various police stations, fire houses, and other public venues to raise money for Daley's massive shortfall in the budget. That fire house that had the hookers? They could be sponsored by some of our finer adult entertainment venues. A neighborhood restaurant or two could buy the naming rights to various police stations. Haithcock could name her political offices after Fred Hampton. Let's see some (clean) creativity.

The Sopranos Update

Well, hmmm. Not much to report. We mean, what should we say? Tony stayed faithful? AJ Lost it? The Family is falling apart?

Overall, this season has been somewhat of a disappointment. The writing is sharp, the acting excellent, but the stories leave a bit to be desired. Hell, they leave a lot to be desired. We could hear better stories of rotten family life over beers at the local bar. This must be the mundane side of organized crime kingpins. After all, if anyone wrote true to life stories about police work, they'd never get anything published because no one wants to read about pushing a beat car 8 hours a day, answering a dozen calls, one of which might make you laugh and eight others that make you wish you could just strangle the complainant, the offender and the call taker who wasted how many minutes of your life with this escapade.

Hoping for Storms Tomorrow?

We've heard that some people in Districts still haven't heard any plans about what's going on tomorrow. Everything seems very "seat of the pants" organizationally. As we aren't in the loop for such things, we end up listening to many different people with all sorts of disjointed info. As it is, we haven't heard anything concrete and our rumor mill is working overtime. No solid info, so we'll leave this post open for stories.

We did hear someone say that downtown was hoping for rain to keep the crowd size down and their prayers appear to be answered - although with Chicago weather, what they predict isn't what you get. Combined with the fact that rain keeps away the families and elderly that were expected to march, all you have left are the hard core types. We'll be keeping our ears to the radio all day.

Very Good Shoot

In our humble opinion, a Good Shoot is one where the bad guy gets shot. A Very Good Shoot is when the bad guy expires. A Very Good Shoot last night around 100th and Lowe.

Sun Times coverage.

Recommendations

Linking for fun - and because other people who write as well (or better) than we do deserve the visitors and eyeballs that we can steer their way.

• If you'd like to read some well thought out writing about current events, hop over to Rue-St-Michel's Bienvenue. His latest effort on the "translation" of the National Anthem is very good.
• A recent addition to our sidebar - The Other Side of Kim. Formerly from South Africa (where he served in the South African military) and former Chicago resident, Kim now lives in Texas with his wife and family. You want to read some good stuff? Check out his essay section in the left column of his blog - his rants about Mayor Daley are truly great writing.
• Another Texas blogger we will be adding to the right hand tool bar shortly - Espella Humanzee. Great writer and a stickler for pointing out liberal media hypocrisy.

Give them a try. You might like what you find.

2,000 Guns (UPDATE! 3,000!)

Posting late Saturday for Sunday.

Channel 2 is reporting 2,000 guns of all shapes, styles and states of functionality (is that a word?) were turned in today at locations all over the city. A lot of the pictures we saw on the news were pretty old and decrepit looking pieces (duct taped, rusted, worn), but if they could still fire, dangerous in the wrong hands. We doubt that any gangbangers saw the light though and turned in a boatload of their stuff - we didn't hear that the high powered rifle used in a recent west side drive by hit was recovered. Some of this crap people were bringing in though - they're lucky the guns didn't explode when they unloaded them.

More coverage at Channel 7.

UPDATE: Sunday morning 0645 hours: Tribune and SunTimes are now reporting 3,000 guns turned in.

Run John Run!

Of course, the Boston Globe is insisting that John Kerry not run for President in 2008. They don't think a bruising rimary fight would be in the best interests of thier party. It would play right into Republican hands - which is why Karl Rove must be planning it.

Kerry has even LESS of a record to run on now than he did in 2004, and in 2004, everything was pointing his way. He is actually on record this past week supporting CIA leaks. During a war. Against people who use planes as bombs, civilians as cover and religion as an excuse to murder anyone who doesn't agree with them.

Run John Run. Save the Republican Party!

A Raise?

For what is essentially a part time job that already pays over $98,000 a year. While the City bleeds red ink, sells anything not nailed down, fires 1,000 teachers, is short around 1,000 coppers, gives away countless millions in fixed contracts and phony land deals, can't collect parking ticket revenue from it's own Department of Revenue bosses, etc. etc. etc.

This list goes on. We think it's time to give serious thought to eliminating 10 aldermanic positions - minimum. What do we need for that? State Law or just an Ordinance?

Oil and Gas

Yes, gas prices are higher - or they are finally adjusting to reality?

• The reality that China and India are becoming economic powerhouses in their own right (read this Supply and Demand piece from RCP);
• the reality that 30+ years of liberal thought have gutted this country's refining capacity to the point that we are now IMPORTING gasoline from overseas (we haven't built a refinery in THIRTY YEARS!);
• "green" rules that require the creation of 30 or 40 different "summer blends" of gasoline that further erodes the ability of refineries to keep up with demand
  
• the reality of environmental overreaction keeps us from even exploring the possibility of building new nuclear reactors or drilling for new sources of oil in Alaska;

Can someone from the Left please tell us when and where all the oil BushCheneyHaliburton stole from Iraq in the "War for Oil" will finally make it here? Or are we finally admitting that it was nothing more than an election year lie?

That Damn Economy

Growing at an estimated 4.8% last quarter. And historically, that number is revised upwards after all of the indicators are determined. Think that the Liberal media will stop with the "jobless recovery" crap and stop spouting on and on about how poorly everything is doing?

Recent polls show that a majority of Americans think that the overall economy is doing poorly EVEN THOUGH the same majority says that they are doing well personally. How screwed up is that? The media pounds it into everyone head that the economy sucks, but most Americans feel pretty comfortable where they're at (and consumer confidence is at its highest in years).

An Open Post

Bringing back a feature we haven't used in a while. We used to use an Open Thread when we didn't have anything else to type about. We don't have an explanation about why we got out of the habit - maybe it just seems like a lazy way to blog. But a lot of people have been asking for an Open Thread every so often just so they can vent. We'll try to get back into the habit so that people who have information unrelated to the subject at hand have some place to post it. Regular rules apply.

Naked Man Shot By Police

Too bad, so sad (Channel 5; Sun Times). If you wrestle with the police, you ought to be shot as a matter of course. It sends a message to the rest of the jackasses out there that fighting with the police is wrong and carries with it extreme penalties. Here's what too many politicians, state's attorneys and (for lack of a better word) civilians forget about police calls for service:

On the scene of EVERY single call for police service is a firearm. And most times, probably 99% of the time, it is brought to the scene by the police officer. Should that officer lose control of that weapon, there is a MAJOR problem. Sure, in a perfect world, all officers maintain control of their weapon at all times, every officer is a big strapping John Wayne type, never intimidated, never backing down, always with the quick quip and quicker martial arts skills to successfully subdue and restrain violent subjects of all stripes in true Hollywood fashion.

Reality is a bit more unforgiving. Coppers aren't all supermen/women. Some are out of shape. Some are less than attentive or situationally aware. Some aren't that physically imposing. Some are (let's be brutally honest here) NOT cut out to be police. If you are confronted by a naked man, you might be a little disconcerted. If that man is attempting to drown himself and a child, you might be driven to act before backup arrives. And if a fight ensues and the naked man is slippery (no clothes equals a lot less places to grab) and getting the upper hand on you and your weapon, damn right he's going to get blasted.

Burge Investigation Nearly Ready

And not a moment too soon, what with City Hall reeling under so many Federal investigations and guilty pleas and scandals and sealed indictments and ... well, you get the picture. From the Channel 7 website:

• Special prosecutors Robert Egan and Robert Boyle say they are ready to release a final report. And they say they want to make public the names of all police officers subpoenaed in their investigation. The prosecutors' request to file a report with the Cook County Circuit Court next week suggests they will not seek criminal indictments in the case, which involves allegations dating from the 1970s to the early 1990s.

Name all those subpoenaed AND not seek criminal indictments? Get ready for a load of histrionics from the gallery. Just a thought, but how would Haithcock and Rush and "the Hat" Tillman react if Tom Allen proposed naming a street after Jon Burge? After all, Jon never killed anyone, he was trying to clean up the community, and he did have the best interests of the citizens at heart, didn't he?

Monday's Preparations

Evidently, there is some sort of "march" or parade planned for Monday? Well, we're sure all will be orderly and no lawbreakers of any sort will be found amongst the expected hundreds of thousands of participants. We mean, NO ONE in their right mind would hold a rally espousing some sort of blanket amnesty for people who break the law, would they? People who break the law ought to be punished - or so we were always taught in school.

Channel 7; Tribune; Channel 5.

Lieutenants List

Glenn EVANS - 005; John ANDERSON - 009
Gerald GANEY - 012; Patrick CONROY - 016
Carl RIGGENBACH - 022; Sarah McDERMOTT - 023
William KILROY Jr. - 059; John CONNELLY Jr. - 079
Kevin NAVARRO - 116; Kevin OAKES - 142
Karyn MURPHY - 170; Robert KONRATH - 177
Eric WASHINGTON - 189; James O'GRADY - 189
Leo PANEPINTO - 192; Anthony LIACE - 543
Michael DEJANOVICH - 545; John BALL - 610
John McMURRAY - 630; Thomas McGRATH - 630
Jeanette FLYNN - 640; Berscott RUIZ - 650

1,000 Posts

In a bit under 11 months, we have posted 1,000 threads for people to rant, rave, comment, commiserate, share info and fire broadsides at everything under the sun.

We'll pass 285,000 daily visits today and well over 1.3 MILLION page views. We've managed to attract a lot of notice from various elements within and outside of the Department. We've helped rally the troops to defeat a misbegotten proposal to name a street after a convicted felon, ripped the brass who stayed silent and hopefully kept alive the memories of a few coppers all but lost to history.

We're trying to be at the forefront of another charge for National Recognition for Al O'Connor; we're hoping for some nice coverage of Police Week in May; hopefully, we're around for another 1,000 posts, many of which will involve indictments of Cook County and City officials.

Thanks to everyone who visits, reads and posts. You are what makes us successful. You are what keeps us interested. You are the reason we're coming back for more. Keep spreading the word. On with the show.

Priorities and Cameras

Seems our old buddy Fran Spielman is taking a page out of the "Sarcasm and Silliness" handbook. Check out this article:

• Forget about skyrocketing gas prices, soaring property tax assessments and corruption that has federal investigators crawling all over City Hall. Chicago aldermen have a more pressing concern: foie gras.

Way to go Fran! It's easy to make fun of the big shots if you try.

And the City is getting 70 new cameras to monitor high crime areas. The cameras will replace about 350 police officers (OK, we made that part up). But Aldercreature Shirley Coleman is starting to see the limitations that most cops saw a long time coming:

• But Coleman was concerned to hear Daley say that only some of the cameras are monitored around the clock. "I don't want to see any dog-and-pony-show cameras in my ward," Coleman said.

Shirley? EVERYTHING with this political administration is a dog-and-pony show. There is no way that the mayor can hire enough people to watch every single camera every single minute of the day. What do you think this is - a casino?

Officer Wounded

73rd and Halsted. Preliminary reports say shot in the hand. Offender went barricade and SWAT was responding. Haven't heard anything since - post updates here.

Preliminary reports from the Tribune.

Yes, It's Dead

Until such time as some knuckleheaded aldercreature somehow sneaks it through attached to some other piece of legislation or some such nonsense. Maintain vigilance in the meantime.

Full coverage at all the media outlets: Channel 2; Channel 5; Channel 7; Sun Times; Tribune. Get a load of Dorothy "the Hat" Tillman's quote in the Tribune (as far as we can tell, the only outlet with the balls to print this quote):

• White figures "who robbed and ... raped black women have streets named after them," asserted an angry Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd), who gave no examples.

For attribution and publication in any media outlet that wants to quote us: Name them. Name them now and we'll be the first to raise hue and cry against any sign that honors a rapist. Otherwise Dorothy, you are a bigoted, worthless piece of garbage (but we repeat ourselves) and a poor representative for your constituents throwing around racial brickbats for the sole purpose of inflaming feelings with no basis in fact or reality. If you are that pissed about the Beale making a run at your "Stupidest Aldercreature" title, you've sure put him in his place.

Quick Hits

When you need a Quick post - Quick Hits covers the bill:

• Chicago Firefighter hits it big on NBC's "Deal or No Deal." $464,000 big. Not bad. And yes, he's going to Disney World - with his wife and three kids.
• Marine who survived two tours in Iraq falls victim to gangbangers here in Chicago. Channel 2; Channel 5; Channel 7.
  
• Short little piece on the Channel 7 website about what has been addressed in our comments section about the 3 lieutenants winning a lawsuit over retaliation for having the audacity to complain about business as usual.
• Gee, do you think this may have been an execution of sorts for dope money? They knew exactly who they were looking for and left him there dead, all while claiming to be the police. At least the media isn't claiming "suspected rogue police." They must realize that sort of thing went out of style after St. Valentines Day 1929.
• Two sets of rules - again. This time for boot eligible bosses in the Revenue Department.
• The Al O'Connor story hits the media. Be sure you go and vote for Al at this link here. Go! Now!
  

Bwahahahaha

This had to be one of the easiest search warrants in history. Hop over to Johnny Law Chronicles and read his latest post. Text messaging leads to bust. Too humorous.

Regnef / Fenger Blog Fallout

The teacher still hasn't returned, the blog is still gone and now the re-creation has disappeared, too. Hopefully, someone saved the postings (hee hee) as they were just too thought provoking to lose forever. Channel 7 has picked up coverage and has these priceless quotes:

• Those at Fenger High School are hurt and shocked by a blog that goes after teachers, parents and students, and shocked that someone apparently from within would make his criticism so public.

Well, we all know exactly how responsive the school system (and the City in general) is to private criticism. Change happens immediately when issued behind closed doors away from the public, doesn't it?

• People thought they were accused of saying there's a lot of people who, you know, will admit that some of the things in the blog are true, just wish they had gone about it a different way. But, in general, it has everybody talking and that is nothing but a good thing," said Matt Geesaman, Fenger High School teacher.

Wow. Is that statement English? Could you follow it? We speak both English and bad English and WE had trouble following that one - though one could blame the media for making a hash of it.

Blunt talk about "the elephant in the living room" shines a spotlight on problems that too many people and politicians just want to kick down the road. We're still waiting for a real journalist to do a little expose on the schools throwing away brand new unopened textbooks, hundreds of computers sitting unused in storage and tons (literally) of material going to waste every single year. We might actually get behind an effort like that. Here's to hoping a few more enterprising souls in the CPS start some blogs, this time about government waste.

Hampton Street Sign Dead?

Or just dead for the moment? Haithcock admits she doesn't have the votes to bring it to the floor and Ike Carothers (Chairman of the Police and Fire Committee) has indicated he will not vote to overrule the Transportation Committee lest it set a bad precedent. Bobby Rush even showing up for the meeting is in doubt due to last months debacle when he was chased from City Hall by construction protestors. Tribune article here (free registration may be required).

We are also told that Chicago Tonight (WTTW) had a pretty biased one-sided piece on the street sign controversy Monday - did anyone see it?

Have we killed it? Have we done it without a single exempt boss raising their voice in protest? Of so, good for us. But the next time ANY EXEMPT speaks at a funeral or memorial or remembrance of our fallen, we plan to turn our back on them, the same as they've done to us and the dead. Because you know and we know they are completely full of shit.

Sell Richie! Sell Sell Sell

Not satisfied with just selling the Skyway for $1.83 Billion, the City is about to open bidding on renaming the toll bridge to Indiana to the tune of $3 million a year. Here's the kicker to the story though:

• Beyond the possible benefit for taxpayers, it's money the city is already counting on for this year. "In 2006, the city will seek to procure a sponsor that will pay for the naming rights to the Chicago Skyway," reads this year's annual budget overview. "This initiative is expected to raise $3 million in 2006." [emphasis added - SCC]

That's right - the City has already counted the money in it's budget. Talk about your arrogance of immense proportions. They've drawn up a budget with this money already listed in it and spent it on their programs and the bridge hasn't even been put up to auction yet. What if the auction fails? What if they only get $1 million? Guess who makes up the difference? The taxpayers. For a City that's been bleeding red ink, jobs, population and is in the midst of the biggest federal investigation in recorded history, that is some arrogance.

Just for the record, we are planning the family budget this year and we've created a line item whereby we win $200 million dollars in the Mega-Millions by November. We will be buying a yacht, 2 mansions, 100,000 acres out west and a villa in Europe. We're sure all of our readers would love to pitch in should we fall a bit short. Thanks!

Heroin Deaths Climbing

Maybe it's not (as we supposed) a concerted effort to kill junkies. Maybe it's just a new mix coming out on the street and this is like a shakeout cruise? Bad measures? Poor formulas? We know they cut the junk with just about everything under the sun and there are hints that someone somewhere is manufacturing fentanyl in some sort of clan lab. But we are on a hard to maintain pace of killing junkies on the South and West sides (and the occasional suburban user found afterwards).

Channel 5 and Tribune reports.

Help Us Out Here

Posting early so we can get to bed - these are Tuesday posts, posted late Monday

We're reading this story on the Sun-Times website and these sentences just leap off the page at us:

• A suspect is in custody after two men were shot, one in the leg and the other in the stomach, on Monday afternoon on the Near North Side, according to police. The shooting was reported at about 1:20 p.m. in the 2700 block of West Monroe Street.

Since when has Rockwell and Monroe been the "Near North Side"? Correct us if we're wrong, but Monroe is 100 South, isn't it? And Rockwell is "Near West" if it's near anything. And if the shooting is in 011, it's west side, pure and simple.

Does anyone have it written down what the dividing lines are between North, South, West, Near North, Northwest, Far Northwest, Near West, Far South and Bumblefuck are? We're just curious.

And to keep it simple, assume Hegewich is in Indiana, Edison & Norwood Park are suburbs and Bridgeport & Canaryville are on Mars.

The Sopranos: Late Update

OK, the season's first quality whacking. Not bad.

But Ben Kingsley and Lauren Bacall? What is this, The Muppet Show? What's with the cameos? Granted, it sets up an interesting possibility of Hollywood being infiltrated by Organized Crime ... oh wait, that's already reality. Lauren Bacall getting popped was funny. But Artie falling apart and finding redemption in a dead rabbit?

Look like next week might be a bad one for Vito.

CIA Leak Links

If you would like a thorough going over of the entire CIA mole episode that is undermining the War on Terror, undercutting an elected government and endangering the lives of millions of Americans, go here to Ace of Spades and read his lengthy article.

Click on the links embedded within.

Go and find out things the media doesn't want you to know because it might stop further leaks from coming out of Langley.

The media and the left are not only dangerous hindrances to the Global War on Terror, they are actively working against America and the West. Just about the only democrat with any redeeming qualities whatsoever is Joe Lieberman. Especially read where John Kerry flip flops all over. It's stunning this guy even made it through the primaries.

Good Police News

Someone wanted some good news about the police posted here. Well, we got some today. How about this?

• On today's date, the 22^nd of April 2006, the first football team in the history of the Chicago Police Department took the field in the resort town of Wildwood, New Jersey. The Chicago Police Enforcers faced the New York Department of Corrections known as The Strongest. The team led by Head Coach Jim Ade (Brother Rice) left the field victorious with a 28-6 victory.

The Enforcers website can be found here. Their next two games are local affairs at St. Rita's High School in May. Surf over to their site and offer some support for our guys.

The Sopranos Update

Has been delayed due to unforeseen circumstances - we missed both showings tonight. Sorry. We'll update tomorrow. It happens - even to us.

John Hurley Fundraiser

A big fundraiser is on the horizon for one of our own, PO John Hurley. 29 April 2006 at IBEW (Electricians) Local 134 Hall; 600 W. Washington; 1600-midnight

This website has details. John died prior to the birth of his first child and his wife has been receiving tremendous support from John's old colleagues with unfinished construction, unpaid bills and straightening out the city bureaucracy. Lots of raffle prizes and good times. Swing by and lend a hand.

Big Oops

A very LARGE oops.

• Members of a South Side family said they were stunned, baffled and horrified when Chicago police raided their house and then ransacked it. Police said they were searching for guns and drugs. The problem is [...] they had the wrong house.

The Search Warrant reads 5621 S. Normal. The house that was raided is 5619. On one side is 5623 and on the other side 5617.

5621 doesn't exist.

As we understand Search Warrants (having done a few here and there AND having taken Chief Cline's class years ago - at least we think we might have), one of the first rules is verifying the address. Also, pictures of the house to be hit should be obtained. That way, everyone is on the same page. We have no idea how the SWAT Team is supposed to operate in conjunction with a District Warrant, but it seems there is a boatload of blame to be passed around on this one. The Affiant first of all. The Surveillance team second. The District Supervisor on scene and the SWAT Team leader. Get ready for some blowback AND some more training videos.

Another Non Story?

Remember Dana Priest? She was the reporter who won a Pulitzer Prize just last Monday for her reporting on the secret CIA prisons scattered across Europe that sent the Continent along with our own Leftists reeling in a frenzy of outrage, foaming mouths and all out Bush Derangement Syndrome.

Then came word that a CIA Officer had been fired for leaking information, specifically information directly related to the European prisons after the officer failed a polygraph test and provided an admission of guilt. Now comes word via the New York Times that European officials cannot find ANY EVIDENCE that these CIA prisons ever existed in Europe. Nada. Zip. Zero. Hahahaha!

Guess what just happened? Countermeasures! A sting operation! The prisons NEVER existed except as a ruse to tempt this CIA officer (who was a Clinton appointee and contributed the personal maximum to John Kerry) into giving out a non-story! It looks like the Washington Post ran with FAKE classified info AND the Pulitzer Committee gave a "prestigious award" to a story that has as much substance as to it as a cloud of vapor.

Hark! Hear that giant sucking noise? That's media credibility folks. All those layers of fact checking and responsible reporting? Hahahaha! (Thanks to CaptainsQuarters and Strata-Sphere.com for the coverage)

We're Doing a Great Job!

Just don't turn on the TV or radio this weekend. From Channel 7:

• At least 18 people were shot -- three fatally -- on the streets of Chicago overnight and early Saturday morning. The violence occurred less than 24 hours after the Chicago Police Department announced a drop in murders and other crimes.
  

Talk about a bad sense of timing, eh? Of course, the south side reverends have a solution close at hand:

• Religious leaders on the South Side are attempting to meet with gang leaders and figure out how to stop the violence. They are calling for a city wide gang summit, which is scheduled for next Sunday in Englewood.

We will offer a reward of ONE MILLIIIIIION DOLLARS for anyone who can figure out how to get a GBU-15, AGM-86C or similar device onto that city block on 30 April. As we are currently cash poor, the reward will be payable in monthly installments over the next 8,000 years.

Call us crazy, but we're thinking it's going to be a busy summer.

Blogging Claims a "Victim"

No, not us. Not yet anyway.

In the Tribune today, there is a story about a blog, created by a Chicago Public School teacher where he (or she) created an identity of "Regnef" (Fenger spelled backwards) and took the students, administrators, and co-workers to task. Unfortunately, he (or she) didn't have quite the number of readers that would make him (or her) happy, so he (or she) started mentioning it around the staff room that there was a blog online that they might find interesting. Boy oh boy, was that an understatement. The author was quickly identified (probably by co-workers) and the death threats, promises of revenge, etc., began in earnest. The teacher has not shown up for work since that day and the blog disappeared, until some enterprising soul recovered the posts and put them up over here. No, not us.

It's actually an amusing little insight into how screwed up the Chicago Public Schools truly are. If the media ever did an in-depth expose into how much money and manpower the schools piss away, they'd win half a dozen Pulitzer Prizes. But since it's just a teacher telling uncomfortable truths in a rambling sort of way (with little actual regard for spelling and punctuation), it means nothing. One should be careful of what one wishes for in terms of readership - you just might get it.

More Aldermanic Stupidity

FoxNews Friday night:

• A Chicago alderman wants police superintendent Phil Cline to step down following the shooting of another young girl on the South Side ‚— the third in less than two months. Two other girls died. The latest victim is in the hospital. The 11-year-old girl was shot in the stomach in front of a home in Roseland in the 114th block of South Prairie. Ninth ward alderman Anthony Beale says superintendent Cline has shown "ineffective leadership" following a rash of recent drive by shootings ... and he should resign.

Now, we've taken the brass of this Department to task on a number of issues, the largest of which STILL hasn't been addressed (Hampton Avenue). Aldercreaturee Beale must be trying for the title of "Stupidest Aldercreature of the Year." We didn't realize the title was up for grabs again (they were so close to renaming it "the Dorothy" for 12 time award winner Tillman) but someone must arise to challenge "the Hat." A few points:

• We can't confirm it 100%, but Cline doesn't appear to have been anywhere near 114th and Prairie. How Beale holds Cline responsible is beyond us.
• Despite Cline's past few New Year's Eves, we haven't seen the boss out there doing traffic stops and pulling guns out of cars.
• We stated this before, but any aldercreature who thinks the Superintendent actually wields any REAL power is probably smoking crack.
• Lack of Leadership? LACK of leadership? Ok alder-asshat. Why aren't you out there screaming for Daley's head? You want to see the primary emasculator of the entire leadership of the Chicago Police Department (not to mention every city department)? We don't have very many leaders anymore - we have managers - and BAD MIDDLE managers at that. You are a part of the most BALL-LESS City Council in recorded history. Why aren't you out there berating your constituency for resorting to firearms in populated neighborhoods to establish narcotics territory? Oh yeah! You have to get them to VOTE for you, so you find a convenient target and unload. How political of you.

You win Beale. YOU are the "Stupidest Aldercreature of the Year!" Congratulations!

Bad News for Some Cops

From the Sun Times:

• Chicago and two police officers -- the first to be called and the last to arrive at the home of murdered domestic violence victim Ronyale White -- can be held liable for her death, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

That's right - the COPS are going to be held liable. That means THEIR assets can be attached to satisfy a portion of any court judgment against them. Granted, it's still possible that they may win the case in court and not be on the hook for anything (their side of the story is that they were held up at the station for a vehicle inspection and after they heard the offender fled, they commenced a search for him before arriving on the scene).

The key words in this decision are "wanton or willful misconduct" can be proven. At the moment, we don't see "wanton or willful" in commencing a search outside the bounds of the original incident - we can relate a ton of stories about coppers flying to a scene and completely missing a suspect walking calmly away. An efficient search on the way TO an incident has caught many batterers, rapists and murderers. Hopefully, the coppers' story holds up to the point that they won't be losing houses.

Four words to live by if you intend on doing police work in Chicago - "Tenancy in the Entirety." At least it'll save your biggest asset.

Congrats to Al O'Connor

Al O'Connor is the 8th and last finalist in the "America's Most Wanted 2006 All Star" voting. We are sure all of the Finalists are decent human beings and all should be congratulated.

BUT - we'd like to see Al win it all. So, read carefully. We have one of the top three departments (manpower-wise) in the US. Everyone ought to go and vote for Al. Go to this link to vote in the Finals. We fully expect whoever forwarded that mysterious e-mail from the Department e-mail system to "borrow" our idea once again. The deadline for voting is May 8th, so vote. Soon. And have your spouse vote, too. Get the word out!

We also read in the comments section that Al O'Connor's mother was a Gilhooly and Al himself is the nephew of THE Gilhooly killed by the Black Panthers AND Al is up for the Lambert Tree Award next month for this same incident. If any of this is true, wouldn't it be FANTASTIC if Al is winning awards while exempts are cowering in the face of a portion of Monroe being named after someone who advocated the killing of Al's uncle? What a kick in the shorts to the brass and redemption of a sort for the Gilhooly family.

Only in Chicago

Once again, dumping good money after bad:

• More homes in Chicago soon could recycle with bins instead of blue bags, as Mayor Richard Daley's administration considers expanding a successful pilot program beyond the Beverly neighborhood.
  
  Daley has bristled at criticism of the troubled blue bag program. But the alternative approach now used in the 19th Ward could be offered in other sections of the city this year

A program (Blue Bags) that has been a failure of monumental proportions is on the verge of being replaced with an additional boondoggle that even the mayor admits is going to cost maybe TRIPLE. And to cover part of the cost, the mayor is proposing to sell the three major sorting centers (the subject of a media expose in that they didn't actually SORT something like 85% of the garbage).

What will the mayor sell next? And after he's finished selling everything he can to solve his short term problems, guess what happens to taxes? You think it's unaffordable to live here now?