Blues Brothers - New York Style

Also from LAPD Rant:

• NEW YORK - Six police officers were injured in a car chase on the Bronx River Parkway Wednesday morning. The chase ended in an accident – involving three police cruisers – just after 9 a.m. near exit five.

Ouch. We don't think this one would fly past the Traffic Review Board. Anyone else?

Why Don't We Have One of These?

From LAPD Rant:

• (NEW YORK) The search is over for a new Police Academy, and it is going to be spectacular - a 30-acre campus in Queens complete with 250 classrooms, firing ranges, indoor and outdoor tracks, a "tactical village" and a simulated subway station.
  The projected price tag is equally breathtaking: $1 billion - and, perhaps, a lot more.
  Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly announced yesterday that the current tow pound in College Point had been selected as the site of the new academy, replacing the woefully inadequate Manhattan facility that opened in 1964.

Our current facilities, aside from the new fitness center, seem woefully dated. The range, the plumbing, the gym, the classrooms, etc. You get the idea? Why hasn't someone come up with an idea for a "Police Campus," centrally located, accessible to metro classes, new everything and in some sort of modular fashion so it can be upgraded as technology moves us forward?

Of course, with the new and improved collapsible concrete floors like they've installed at Headquarters, the brand new leaky roofs in each District station recently built, the constantly going off fire alarms, faulty electrical wiring, overhead doors that don't function as designed along with other numerous safety disas.... we mean, "unique features" prevalent in so much City construction, it's amazing that some politically connected big thinker hasn't come up with something.

Ted Nugent on Gun Control

Speak Ted:

• Anybody see what the evil Brady Campaign and other anti-gun cults have created? I personally have zero tolerance for evil and denial. And America had best wake up real fast that the brain-dead celebration of unarmed helplessness will get you killed every time, and I've about had enough of it.

  Nearly a decade ago, a Springfield, Oregon, high schooler, a hunter familiar with firearms, was able to bring an unfolding rampage to an abrupt end when he identified a gunman attempting to reload his .22-caliber rifle, made the tactical decision to make a move and tackled the shooter.

  A few years back, an assistant principal at Pearl High School in Mississippi, which was a gun-free zone, retrieved his legally owned Colt .45 from his car and stopped a Columbine wannabe from continuing his massacre at another school after he had killed two and wounded more at Pearl.

  At an eighth-grade school dance in Pennsylvania, a boy fatally shot a teacher and wounded two students before the owner of the dance hall brought the killing to a halt with his own gun.

  More recently, just a few miles up the road from Virginia Tech, two law school students ran to fetch their legally owned firearm to stop a madman from slaughtering anybody and everybody he pleased. These brave, average, armed citizens neutralized him pronto.

Can we get an amen? Go read the whole article.

Ramsey Rumors Again

And he does nothing to dispel them:

• Former Washington, D.C., police chief Charles Ramsey may be interested in returning to the city where he started his policing career, according to a published report.
• Ramsey told the Chicago Sun-Times that he hasn't decided whether to apply for the top police job in Chicago. But he said he's qualified to succeed Police Superintendent Philip J. Cline, who announced his retirement April 2 amid complaints about the department's handling of misconduct allegations.
• Ramsey, 59, also said he has "a great deal of respect" for Mayor Richard M. Daley and he thinks that planning for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games -- if Chicago wins the honor -- would be an exciting challenge.

How much planning could Ramsey actually do as he'd be mandatoried off the job 4 years or more before the Olympics even got here? Unless he's looking to run any private security start ups that come into being in the next few years? Always an angle somewhere.

Got to Love Ms. America 1944

Stories like this warm our heart:

• WAYNESBURG, Ky. Miss America 1944 has a talent that likely has never appeared on a beauty pageant stage: She fired a handgun to shoot out a vehicle's tires and stop an intruder.
  
  Venus Ramey, 82, confronted a man on her farm in south-central Kentucky last week after she saw her dog run into a storage building where thieves had previously made off with old farm equipment.
  
  Ramey said the man told her he would leave. "I said, 'Oh, no you won't,' and I shot their tires so they couldn't leave," Ramey said.

To all the gun grabbers and liberals out there, where were the police when she needed them? Damn good thing she had a gun and knew how to use it.

Watch Out - Here Comes Daley!

And he wants your guns!

• In the wake of the Virginia Tech killings, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is pushing for what he calls "common-sense" gun laws.

  The mayor took part in a community policing rally with dozens of people on the South Side. He's asking federal and state lawmakers to enact reasonable, middle-of-the-road laws, without infringing on the rights of gun owners who obey the law.

  The mayor's state legislative package includes laws that ban assault weapons and magazines that hold more than ten rounds.

Common sense, meaning you don't get guns if you live in Daley-land.

Middle-of-the-road like the searchable Internet database of all guns, gun sales, gun owners and similar crap he is proposing to create - none of which will stop a criminal with an unregistered gun (whether bought or stolen) from wreaking havoc in supposed "gun free" zones.

Bans on magazines that hold more than ten rounds, but -SURPRISE!!- the VT assassin only had 10 round magazines for one of his guns, magazines bought over the Internet and delivered to an authorized gun shop that performed the required background checks and found no reports of mental illness or involuntary commitment because there weren't any - every law was followed and they still didn't protect those kids. Perhaps a new approach is needed rather than more laws that criminals won't follow?

Hopefully, Daley keeps more ideas like this to himself.

Metal Detectors "Fail" Again

Is this a nationwide phenomenon? Or are these things unplugged and unmanned far more than the public is permitted to know about?

• The freshman girl told police she was "tired of getting picked on," so she took a mace to school.

  Not Mace, the pepper spray.

  Mace, as in a medieval weapon.

  A long wooden stick attached to a metal chain with a spiked ball on the end.

• Charmella Greer of the Gary Community School Corp. said disciplinary action will be taken. As for how the student got the weapon past metal detectors, Greer said, "I have no idea. ..."

We have an idea. And we also heard the metal detectors at CVS were unmanned because the single security guard running the machines had to take someone to the Dean's office and left the devices unattended, leaving a critical window in which to smuggle a gun in. What else has been smuggled in that no one knows about yet?

Keep Voting Democratic

Thanks Emil Jones!

• Senate President Emil Jones used a loophole Friday to gut legislation that would have cut electric rates for millions of ComEd customers, a move that also may cripple efforts to roll back prices in southern Illinois.

  The maneuver stunned the sponsor of the rollback legislation, a member of Jones' Democratic majority.

  ''This is not fair, ladies and gentlemen. I want to tell you right now, it's not fair,'' said Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton.

  But Jones, D-Chicago, reiterated his position that a rollback wouldn't provide consumers immediate relief. ''We must quit giving people false hope,'' he said.

  The maneuver came moments after Forby had scored a major victory in his efforts to cut electric prices that surged in January after a 10-year rate freeze ended.

This is what happens when government intrudes into what should be a free market economic decision. Complete and utter chaos. Com-Ed isn't about to go bankrupt and we aren't all going to be living in the Dark Ages even if they did. But trust the Illinois Democratic Party to be leading the charge into the worst of all possible scenarios.

Channel 7 also covers.

Dow Closes on 13,000

It's the economy stupid.

• Stock prices were rising strongly on Wall Street on Friday, putting the Dow ever closer to the 13,000 level. The blue chip index soared more than 150 points to reach an all-time trading high above 12,900 and to build upon Thursday's most recent record close. Investors have embraced corporate earnings this week, having had low expectations coming into the reporting period.

Just thought we'd mention it.

Open Post

It's Friday. We're busy. The Sergeant class got cancelled. So material is at a low ebb. Open post for topics we haven't covered in a while. Have fun.

Family Secrets Trial

Lots of nervous people over at the "Legitimate Businessmen's Social Club."

• A federal judge in Chicago unsealed the prosecution's plans Thursday in the upcoming trial known as Operation Family Secrets. It reads like a crime syndicate novel, but government lawyers contend their plan for the prosecution of Chicago's top mobsters is strictly non-fiction. The day outfit boss Jimmy "The Man" Marcello got home from prison, Marcello had no idea that he had left something very important behind at the Milan, Michigan, penitentiary: his words, secretly recorded in jailhouse visits.

  Government documents unsealed Thursday paint a vivid picture of how Marcello's alleged grip on illegal video gambling in suburban Chicago is just the latest chapter in the rich heritage of Chicago mob rackets.

All part of a fun summer planned by various federal entities.

And then There Were ...?

Guess it isn't going to be Huberman:

• CTA President Frank Kruesi, who has become a lightning rod for criticism among CTA riders and legislative leaders, resigned today and handed the reins to Mayor Daley's corruption-fighting chief-of-staff Ron Huberman.

  Although Huberman's only transportation experience is the three years he spent driving a school bus while working his way through college, Daley said he has demonstrated the toughness and management expertise he needs to make the cost-cutting decisions lawmakers will demand in exchange for more funding.

Gee, his "transportation experience just about matches his street experience as a copper. So we guess technically, he could still be eligible for the top spot.

And a more serious note, do we have a list of potential nominees? The Police Board thing is all smoke and mirrors as demonstrated on numerous occasions. Who are the real frontrunner's?

What a Way to Run a Railroad

Or a Department.

Seems lots of people got calls today telling them that the new Sergeant class was to begin 23 April. Then, not even 4 hours later, another call telling them the "merit" selections had not been finalized and everything was on hold.

One has to wonder if the aldercreatures who lost their re-election bids might have had a few promises that aren't going to get fulfilled now.

Hypocrisy, Thy Name is Media

From our buddies over at burbcopschicago:

• Stumbled across this in the Daily Herald (April 17)...concerning the Brown's Chicken trial...
  
  

• After Bakalla’s testimony, prosecutors ushered her out a private exit so she would not have to face the media throng waiting for her. No other witnesses - including the victims’ families - have received such special protection thus far.

• Didn't you guys go through "media hell" when Abbate went out a back exit?!?!? And that was for a battery. This BITCH (understatement) obstructed authorities for nine years and helped two maniacs destroy evidence from a mass homicide...and she got immunity in exchange for her testimony (that should have been enough of a gift).

• So here's a challenge for any media snoops lurking around this blog...either give this the same level of national hype you guys gave the "Abbate exit"... OR...publicly acknowledge that cops aren't the only ones who get detoured around your lynch mobs during high profile trials.

Hmmm. Guess if it isn't a copper, no one cares. We wonder if any captains got demoted over this one?

Political Correctness Takes a Hit

Minnesota just can't make up it's mind:

• On an 11-0 vote Monday, Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) members voted to crack down on drivers refusing service, making Minnesota the first place in the country to decide how to treat Muslim cabbies who decline to transport alcohol- toting riders on religious grounds.

  Starting May 11, any airport taxi drivers who refuse riders will face 30-day suspensions. Drivers will have their licenses revoked two years for a second offense.

For those unfamiliar with the issue, muslim cabbies had refused to transport passengers who might have alcohol in their baggage. Glad to see someone (or actually 11 someones) stood up to this BS and told them to do their jobs as described. (via CaptainsQuarters)

Oh Happy Day!

So far, Haithcock is going down in flames, Tillman is behind by more than a little bit, Colman is trailing and Chandler is hanging on by a thread. Even Rostenkowski's guy Matlak is gone, done, toast.

If these numbers hold the rest of the night...

OK, nothing will change. At first. But it's a hopeful sign that incumbents can lose.

Coverage at the Sun Times, Channel 2, Channel 5

More Coverage of VT

Hop over to Gun Law News. We have a link for them on the right hand side. This is a very underrated blog and news aggregator that covers a wide range of gun issues, even linking to the gun grabbers on occasion just to refute them.

If it involves your rights as a gun owner, this blog has you covered.

Sorry for the Delay

We were out. Filing our taxes. It was the deadline you know. Oops.

Hey, we haven't done a Quick Hits in a while. How about these?

• Missing college student found. Dead. At the bottom of a tarp covered swimming pool in the building where he had worked. Every news channel uses the exact same AP report.
• The mayor of Nagasaki, shot and killed by the head of the Nagasaki yakuza after the mobster wasn't compensated for damage to his car suffered from a pothole. This would be similar to Lombardo whacking Daley over a bent tire rim - we can only dream.
• TMA killed on the south side (Sun Times, Channel 7 coverage).

Slapping a Lib-Tard

We're taking a bit of abuse in the comments section of the "Doomed by Gun Control" thread.

How about this comment?

• Man...all those deaths, and SCC wants to fight the anti gun folks and put the blame at their feet. [Where else would you put it? It's obvious that gun control failed, and failed miserably. - SCC]
• Does anyone out here think this slaughter of all those people could hve been avoided if the students had "concealed" guns on their persons on the college grounds? [Ummm, yeah, that's exactly what we think. It disturbs us that you can't see the obviousness of this solution - SCC]
• This was a WHACKJOB who obviously planned this attack out! Maybe some armed student might have nailed the guy, maybe not, but I guarantee you, a whole bunch of folks would have still died, nonetheless. [At what point do the students of Virginia Tech have to stop being killed? After 5? After 10? Is the bag limit 15? If even ONE single student could have been saved by someone carrying a Concealed Carry weapon, what right do you have to say, "Well, 32 dead students isn't really that bad." - SCC]
• The truth is, there is very little ANYONE could do against a crazed individual who is intent on taking his own life, and killing a bunch of other folks along the way to his/her own self destruction. [So we should just accept our fate to be victims? You're a moron. - SCC]
  
• He was prepared. He was well armed. He planned. And he was determined. And usually, just as we've been finding out in Iraq since the famous "mission accomplished" party hosted by W on board that ship, folks like that are quite successful in their endeavors. [Guess what? Most gun owners are prepared, mentally, and via practice and training. And they're well armed and versed in their weapon of choice. And now you dare to compare the slaughter of innocents to an irregular army of insurgents making war on a trained army? You aren't just a moron, you're a fucking lib-tard moron. - SCC]
• Shame on you, SCC, for blaming this on a "lack of armed students" on the campus. You guys have posted some dumb shit before, but this is about the lowest, even by YOUR standards. If anything, your argument has been made even weaker. [Shame on us for refusing to lay down and be victims? You and your ilk are raising an entire generation of kids who are afraid to fight back, afraid to stand up for what is right, who trust in the all seeing nanny state to protect them from evil. No thanks. You want to be a slave to the system, so be it. But you aren't taking us down that road with you. Weaker? If anything, our argument is going to sway Virginians more so than yours. - SCC]

If this goof and any other goof out there doesn't think that ONE person with a gun couldn't make a difference in stopping this rampage, figure this - Look what one psychopath with a gun did to the student body at Virginia Tech. Now imagine if one single trained student with a gun on the side of good was on the scene. Don't tell us they couldn't have saved almost 50 kids getting shot. Don't even go there.

Funny Funny Funny

Best joke ever from our comments section:

• Jesse Jackson has a heart attack and dies. He immediately goes to hell, where the devil is waiting for him.
  
  "I don''t know what to do here" says the devil. "You are on my list, but I have no room for you. You definitely have to stay here, so I''ll tell you what I''m going to do.
  
  I've got a couple of folks here who weren't quite as bad as you. I''ll let one of them go, but you have to take their place. I''ll even let YOU decide who leaves."
  
  Jesse thought that sounded pretty good, so the devil opened the door to the first room.
  
  In it was Ted Kennedy and a large pool of water. He kept diving in, and surfacing, empty handed. Over, and over, and over he dove in and surfaced with nothing. Such was his fate in hell.
  
  "No" Jesse said. "I don''t think so. I''m not a good swimmer, and I don''t think I could do that forever."
  
  The devil led him to the door of the next room. In it was Al Gore with a sledgehammer and a room full of rocks. All he did was swing that hammer, time after time after time.
  
  "No, I've got this problem with my shoulder. I would be in constant agony if all I could do was break rocks all day," commented Jesse.
  
  The devil opened a third door. Through it, Jesse saw Bill Clinton, lying on the floor with his arms tied over his head, and his legs restrained in a spread-eagle pose. Bent over him was Monica Lewinsky, doing what she does best.
  
  Jesse looked at this in shocked disbelief, and finally said "Yeah, I can handle this."
  
  The devil smiled and said . . .
  
  "OK, Monica, you''re free to go."

Open post in the meantime. Jesse Jackson jokes preferred.

CPD Enforcers

Some helpful soul keeps trying to post this entire article in the comments section. First of all, that'd be a violation of various copyright laws. Secondly, it's just too damn huge.

But what we can do is link the article here and send readers over the the Sun Times website to read what we sample below:

• During this recent practice at St. Ignatius College Prep, the Enforcers -- a year-old football team comprised of Chicago Police officers -- looked more like high school kids than cops, more like cops than athletes.

  But at a time when the Chicago Police Department is reeling under a series of brutality scandals, the Enforcers are a genuine feel-good story.

  It's their first season in the National Public Safety Football League, and they're building morale and giving Chicagoans alienated from their police department and professional sports something to relate to, said Shaun Gayle, a captain on the Super Bowl-winning 1985 Bears who is helping coach the Enforcers secondary.

Keep up the good work guys.

Knife/Gun - YouTube Video

Interesting. It seems to shoot .22 caliber rounds. Anyone have the specs on this thing? All the more reason to kill anyone who pulls a knife out. Now an armed offender doesn't even have to cover the 15-21 feet in one or two seconds to mess you up - they can do it from a distance.

Doomed By Gun Control

From TheOtherSideofKim we find this Roanoke Times article from 2006 (see the sidebar links for Kim's full site):

• A bill that would have given college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus died with nary a shot being fired in the General Assembly.

  House Bill 1572 didn’t get through the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety. It died Monday in the subcommittee stage, the first of several hurdles bills must overcome before becoming laws.

  The bill was proposed by Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County, on behalf of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. Gilbert was unavailable Monday and spokesman Gary Frink would not comment on the bill’s defeat other than to say the issue was dead for this General Assembly session.

  Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. “I’m sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly’s actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus.”

Virginia Tech is a "Gun-Free Zone." In 2005, VT took action against a student who had a state issued Concealed Carry permit when he brought his legally owned and registered gun onto campus. Today, the police are finding doors chained from the inside - a chilling discovery that may hint that the gunman prepped the building to be a slaughterhouse. And it sure is a good thing that the "lock-down" kept everyone safe.

We wonder where that student with the Concealed Carry Permit is today.

Lack of gun control didn't kill these students - gun control left them completely at the mercy of a madman. Just about every single link in our sidebar has coverage of the bloodbath.

Liability Anyone?

This will merely reinforce Chicago's aversion to pursuits. And in this case, maybe rightly so:

• A motorist was killed Sunday after leading police in northwest Indiana on a high-speed chase and crashed on I-94 near Chesterton.
• An Indiana State trooper was waiting at a crossover on the interstate and as the Trail Blazer went by, the trooper deployed stop sticks. The vehicle tried to avoid them, but the front and rear tires on the driver's side struck the stop sticks and the driver lost control, police said.
• The vehicle rolled over and the driver, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the SUV. The motorist died at the scene from massive head and neck injuries. Toxicology tests are pending.

So much for "stop sticks" being a safe and effective method to slow/stop a chase safely. The court depositions and lawsuits are going to be interesting on this one.

UPDATE: It was a female driver, not male as the first few comments have been assuming. Second, it was a disturbance call. No guns, no felonies, nothing. Third, this is almost exactly the sort of case taught in various courses where the punishment (death while fleeing) doesn't fit the crime (quasi or misdemeanor at best).

We are advocates of chasing, believe us. The minute the bad guy knows he can flee with impunity (and it's happening already), we've lost the entire game. The trouble is we are also advocates of police keeping their jobs and houses and pensions. And the political realities of the Northeastern corner of Illinois being what they are, it is truly a rare occasion when an officer of this jurisdiction is going to be backed by the exempts, the political structure and the courts.

Think There's a Message Here?

This was a bit brazen, don't you think?

• A 37-year-old man was killed Saturday night when as many as six shooters opened fire on him as he stood on a West Side porch.
• At about 9:30 p.m., the victim was standing with a 19-year-old man on a porch at 1615 S. St. Louis Ave. when five or six people walked up to them and began shooting

But hey, we've got officers "on the dots" and flooding the DOC areas. Too bad no one noticed six people with guns converging on a target.

Guess he wasn't near a "dot."

Pix to Publish

Anyone who can get us pictures of media vans parked illegally, be it hydrants, handicap spots, on sidewalks, we'll post them here as a feature.

Pictures with a parking ticket affixed are even more entertaining.

We can post .jpgs and .gifs. Haven't figured out the video angle yet.

Sopranos Update

We dunno. When The Sopranos first began, it broke all the rules and rewrote the book on cable television. It opened entirely new avenues in television entertainment.

Now?

It almost seems cliched. It's lost the hook. Unless it ends in some insane bloodbath, we don't know if we'll even watch it to the finale.

Let the Games Begin

Graft! Corruption!! Bribes!!!

Raised taxes. Connected construction companies. Cost overruns. Missed deadlines. Aldermanic extortion. Race baiting tactics. Strikes and union busting. Contract holdouts and pension promise betrayals.

An ancient Chinese proverb reads "May you live in interesting times." The next two years as Chicago competes against Madrid, Rio, Tokyo, and Rome will certainly qualify as "interesting times."

Coverage at the Tribune, Sun Times, Channel 2, Channel 5, and Channel 7.

Our favorite quote so far?

• [Ueberroth] added there was no reason to believe Chicago would end up in the red.
  
  "A city would have to be a [blithering] idiot to put on an Olympic Games and not have a surplus," Ueberroth said.

Luckily, we have a surplus of blithering idiots in Chicago, most placed there by the mayor.

Job Openings

So we have Radke gone and Molloy with his papers in.

We also heard that Lanuti is leaving?

How many exempt spots are open at the moment? And are we going to see any movement while the "Search for a Supe" goes on?

"Justice de CLINE d" T-shirts

Surfacing across the North/West sides. And making the papers, too.

• Some Grand-Central District officers are rallying in support of a police captain demoted after the media was blocked, apparently on his orders, from covering a court hearing for Chicago Police Officer Anthony Abbate on March 27.

  Last week, district officers paid $10 each for T-shirts protesting Capt. Marc Buslik's demotion. The shirts read "Save Buslik!" and "Justice De CLINE d," referring to Supt. Phil Cline, who demoted Buslik.

Ask around - they're easily found. And a soon to be collector's item.

And note the not-so-subtle bias in the story. Buslik wasn't blocking the media from covering the story - Buslik was preventing the media from entering a parking lot that isn't supposed to be accessible to the media anyway, and his officers enforced parking regulations that the media had a field day castigating the Department for disobeying. It sure is nice for the media to be able to establish the double standard for themselves and cost a Captain his job.

As Predicted - A Lawsuit

Do we know the "cult of victimhood" or what? Channel 2 covers:

• The mother of a teen shot inside his high school classroom earlier this week claims the school district and city failed to provide adequate security and supervision at the school.
  
  Michelle Lewis says her son, Jodale Woodfork, was shot in the leg Tuesday after Demond Gore got a gun past security at Chicago Vocational Career Academy High School.
  
  Lewis claims the city of Chicago, Board of Education, Chicago Public Schools and Gore are negligent for the shooting. The lawsuit was filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court.

At least the Department isn't on the hot seat for this one.

Cheney Safe - Bird Dead

An apparent suicide attack on the Vice President's airplane was thwarted when the right engine killed the attacking fowl.

• Air Force Two carrying Vice President Dick Cheney struck a bird as the plane neared O'Hare International Airport on Friday. The aircraft landed safely.

  Mechanics checked the plane while Cheney spoke at the Heritage Foundation's annual leadership conference, but the incident did not delay his departure from the airport to return to Washington.

  ''A bird hit the right engine of the plane upon landing,'' said Megan McGinn, a spokeswoman for Cheney. ''He was told after he delivered his remarks.''

We don't know why the media doesn't make a bigger deal of this attack. Probably because the bird was a democrat.

Mayor Spins and Spins and Spins

A couple of people have mentioned this article in various comment sections:

• Mayor Richard Daley and his top emergency team Thursday vigorously defended the city's ability to communicate during a crisis. They were responding to an ABC7 I-Team report Wednesday night that uncovered serious technical difficulties with the city's emergency communication.

There are more than a few chuckles included in the entire article:

• Despite federal records that prove the city equipment was unauthorized for use the past six months, Chicago's disaster czar Thursday maintained there has never been a problem with the unified communications vehicle, or UCV.

  "The UCV does have satellite capability. It has had it from the very beginning," said Cortez Trotter, Chicago chief emergency officer.

Good thing Cortez Trotter is the "disaster czar," because he seems to be presiding over a helluva disaster:

• It may have had the [satellite] capability, but a rejection letter from the Federal Communications Commission just last month prohibited the city from turning it on and using it. The FCC said that, from the beginning, Chicago hadn't fulfilled all the requirements for a satellite permit.

Ah yes, the city that works. Who knows what might happen if terrorists ever made a serious run at this town.

And the Circus Continues

And now, allegations of bribery? From Channel 2, Channel 5, and Channel 7:

• Friends of off-duty Chicago Police Officer Anthony Abbate, who is accused in the brutal beating of a Chicago bartender, allegedly tried to bribe the woman. On January 19, almost an hour after 24-year-old bartender was kicked and punched by a man police identify as off-duty Chicago Police Officer Anthony Abbate, two of the cop's close friends show up at the Northwest Side bar, Jesse's Short Stop Inn, to talk with Karolina Obryka. That exchange, too, was caught on surveillance tape.

Great. And word is starting to percolate that the latest (and last set of) SOS indictments are finalized and prepared for delivery. And it's not even May yet.

Is This For Real?

OK, who can verify this one?

• The "camera car" test case has been presented to the department on a silver platter and this, boys and girls, is how the department will back you. Earlier this year a midnite traffic car stops a woman on LSD for speeding. She has has no licence or proof. PO tells her she has to go with him to the station to post a bond. Woman goes off and says she 's not going anywhere etc etc. PO gives her the go or arrest option. Woman states that she will make a complaint that he grabbed her breasts and MF'd her. Sure enough PO is served by IAD with charges and allegations on woman's SIGNED affidavit. BINGO.. entire episode is videotaped completely exonerating PO. PO asks IAD when complainant will be arrested. IAD replies that they're "not in the business of making these kinds of arrests" Want to give PO a day because bitch says he left her car running when he transported her. KNOCK KNOCK!!! DO ALL YOU HARD CHARGERS OUT THERE GET IT YET???

This would be the definition of "insanity." The Department spends millions on a camera system and touts the benefits for police and civilian alike - protecting police from false accusations and civilians from brutality and strong language. Then, when the opportunity presents itself to actually use the camera system, the Department declines to do so. If true, why not charge the woman? Wouldn't the result publicity completely justify the installation of more cameras? Couldn't public behavior be influenced by the tiniest bit if they knew they were held to certain standards also?

If it isn't being used to fuck a PO, we guess IAD isn't interested.

The Duke Rape Case

Jack Dunphy is "nom de cyber" used by an LAPD officer who writes what we can only describe as very enlightening articles, mostly for National Review. He doesn't disappoint with his latest:

• It may seem like ancient history now, but it was only a year ago that we were first subjected to the media circus that was the so-called and now-dropped Duke Rape Case. For months thereafter, you couldn’t pick up a newspaper or turn on the television or radio without learning some new tidbit about the accused lacrosse players, even as their accuser remained shrouded in mystery. Today we know there was no rape and now not even a case at all, but even in those early days it was apparent enough that there were glaring problems with the accuser’s story (or, as it happened, stories). But not even those problems prevented the case from consuming the attention of the sages in our national media, whose foot soldiers decamped from New York and Los Angeles and such places to descend on Durham, North Carolina, as quickly as they could find it on the map.
• Compare the attention given the Duke case with that accorded a far more heinous crime, one whose victims have thus far failed to arouse the sympathies or even the notice of those who found so much enjoyment in their condemnation of the lacrosse players. Chances are, unless you live in Tennessee, you will not recognize the names Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. Christian, 21, and Newsome, 23, both of Knoxville, were driving through that city together on the night of January 6 when they were kidnapped and murdered. Newsome’s burned body was found along some railroad tracks on January 7. Christian remained missing for two more days until her body, stuffed in a trash can, was found in a home not far from where Newsome’s was found. Police and prosecutors allege both victims were raped before being killed. Yes, both. Three men and a woman have been charged with the crimes in a 46-count grand jury indictment handed down in Knoxville on January 31.

Surf over and read the entire article. It's an eye opener - if you happen to depend on the lame-stream media for your news. We don't, and this is why.

Superstars!

Anyone who can photoshop us a picture of Molly Shannon in a CPD uniform, send it here. In the meantime, how about this Sun Times article?

• They call it "putting cops on the dots," meaning shifting officers to crime hot spots.

  The Chicago Police Department recently expanded its Targeted Response Unit, adding a fourth company of 80 officers. The officers were culled from the 25 districts across Chicago. They are being replaced in the districts by desk officers working at police headquarters.

  The Targeted Response Unit is assigned to the Grand Crossing, Calumet and Gresham districts on the South Side and the Harrison district on the West Side. Its officers wear uniforms and patrol in marked cars. One of their strategies is to conduct stops for traffic offenses and use those stops to look for other violations, such as gun possession.

We thought this was why they were shifting tact and gang teams out of "low crime/high tax paying" districts and sending them to the worst districts in the city? These districts must be the most over-policed areas of the world. It's a wonder any crime ever gets committed there with all these tact, gang, specialized units stumbling over each other.

Unless it's all smoke and mirrors?

Sharpton v Imus? Please

In light of recent events, comments are getting a little heated. People really seem to want to run with the Don Imus story. Our opinion? It tracks pretty much with an acquaintance of ours, Steve H over at HogOnIce.com:

• I watched the news for a few minutes just now with lunch, and I saw them talking about poor old Don Imus. He had a brain-fart and called the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos," and now he's doing what has been referred to as "an apology tour." And unbelievably, his first major stop is Al Sharpton's radio show, where he'll apologize to a man who encouraged black people to riot against Jews. In the riots, a Jewish man named Yankel Rosenbaum was dragged out of a car and killed by black rioters. Sharpton helped cause his death.

  Is this really a person who is entitled to accept an apology from an accused bigot? Call me crazy, but wouldn't Oprah be a better choice? I'm not picky; just any black celebrity who hasn't caused any race riots. Gary Coleman would be fine. I'm not asking for much.

  Al Sharpton supported Tawana Brawley when she claimed white policemen had abducted her. She later admitted the whole story was a lie. Sharpton continued telling the lie, and he was sued for it. He lost and refused to pay his victims. Now he's judging Don Imus for a lame joke made on the spur of the moment under the pressure of a live national broadcast.

  Does that make sense to anybody?

Go read it all.

We've got bigger problems in this country than Don Imus (who, along with Rush Limbaugh, we have NEVER listened to) making a stupid and badly timed joke. This is merely the "flavor of the week" for a vapid media and fodder for professional "class victims" like Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to make a dime off of. Does anyone truly think that Al Sharpton has any legit standing in asking for apologies after all the crap he's put people through?

Note: Comments are going to be heavily regulated for this post - we've seen where this stuff goes sometimes.

Unbiased Media?

This story on the Channel 5 website:

• Four Chicago traders who claim they were beaten up by off-duty police officers at a bar are filing a lawsuit.The suit alleges that the Jefferson Tap and Grille did nothing to prevent the fight last December and waited too long before calling police. It further claims that the tavern served alcohol to the intoxicated police officers who beat the plaintiffs "without warning and without provocation."

And the picture accompanying the Jefferson Tap story?

The Abbate video - with a clickable link so you can watch it again and again and again and again. Let's not have any more pretending that the media doesn't go out of it's way to make all coppers look like shit. The two incidents are similar only in that they took place in taverns and involved off duty police. But every time a scandal pops up, they're only using the Abbate video. Ridiculous.

How Much Will This Cost?

This is just great:

• Two teens playing with a 9 mm handgun inside a Chicago classroom both ended up shot in the leg after a bullet discharged as they were passing the gun between them, police said.
• There was conflicting information about whether all students at the school are required to pass through the building's metal detectors.
• Lopez said students are chosen at random to go through the detectors because it would take too long to scan each teen.
• But Michael Vaughn, a spokesman for Chicago Public Schools, said all students are required to go through metal detectors every day.

Personal Injury Attorneys LIVE for cases like these. Especially if policy was avoided or disregarded. These cases are regarded as "slam dunks." While Channel 2, Channel 7 and the Sun Times merely report what happened, Channel 5 cuts to the heart of the matter:

• The parents of one of the students who was shot Tuesday at Chicago Vocational Career academy said they wanted to know how the gun got into the school."I'm just mad. I want answers," said the victim's mother, Michelle Lewis. "They need to do something about this gun violence."

Don't worry momma, you'll be getting your answers in the form of a large check shortly, courtesy of the Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago taxpayers and the mayor.

Olympic Bid to be Announced

Saturday afternoon, we shall find out if we have to really consider retiring before the year 2016.

• (Channel 7) - That decision will be announced Saturday in Washington DC. Members of Chicago's Olympic committee are polishing their final presentation, and for the first time, the head of that committee is handicapping the city's odds against Los Angeles.
• (Channel 2) - With actual construction still two votes and many years away, maps, sketches and computer animations help us imagine what a Chicago 2016 Summer Games would be like. But it's more than that, Chicago will tell Olympic officials. It's also the way we live, and celebrate.
• (Channel 5) - Rogers reported that the USOC did ask for follow-ups in the past few weeks on some of the venues and the city's guarantee package. Officials added that they do not believe the infamous police tape, which allegedly showed an off-duty Chicago police officer beating a bartender, would hurt Chicago's bid.

We'll be KMA plus a few, so it has to be an option. We just can't see having to put up with this much BS. And we'd have to consider moving out of Illinois just to avoid the complete destruction of the tax structure to support this monstrosity.

Did anyone see the Tribune report where China is going to spend $40 Billion on their games - over 3 TIMES the original estimate? Lord help us.

Great News! And a Question

This is fantastic news!

• After eight terms in Congress Chicago Democrat Luis Gutierrez says he plans to retire and will not seek re-election.

We can only wonder at what opportunities await old Luis. Maybe he can run an upcoming FALN reunion? Here's an interesting angle though:

• [T]he congressman's decision is spurring a political stampede in the Hispanic community.
  
  Mayor Daley's allies in the Hispanic Democratic Organization have tried repeatedly, without success, to knock him out of the City Council. Now, Ald. Ricardo Munoz is voluntarily preparing to leave, hoping to become Illinois's first Mexican-American in the U.S. Congress.

Munoz? The ex-latin king aldercreature? That mysterious UUW arrest? The man whose mother runs (or ran) one of the most infamous "photo estudios" for fake and fraudulent identification cards in the Little Village area? And didn't "Photo Estudio Munoz" burn to the ground in mysterious circumstances within the last 2 years or so?

Things that make you go, "Hmmmm."

Small Good News Stories

Looks like the Sun Times and WBBM 780 are getting on board with the campaign to report some good news about the police lately. First up, the Sun Times:

• Chicago Police arrested two men Sunday and seized about 200 marijuana plants from a Northwest Side home equipped with indoor growth lights and a ventilation system.

  Acting on a tip, officers searched the three-story home in the 4500 block of North Kasson in the Mayfair neighborhood.

The Tribune also covers the story.

And from NewsRadio 780:

• A man remained in the Harrison District lockup early Monday after police recovered about 13,725 pairs of counterfeit Nike gym shoes in a South Side store on Saturday.

  Police took the man into custody after executing a search warrant at a small retail store at 9040 S. Commercial Ave. on Saturday, according to Harrison District police, who helped obtain the warrant.

Good jobs people.

Is This a Playable Lie?

The question a golfer has to ask every 17 years:

• Get ready for a loud summer -- the 17-year cicadas are coming to Chicago. They're out there. Millions of them. After 17 years feeding on root juice in the ground, they'll soon climb into the light of day. The red-eyed, clear-winged periodical cicada will be back in such numbers that some lawns will move like they're alive.

Of course, with assorted suburban development, the cicadas are nothing like they were back when grandpappy used to have to use a coal shovel just to clear a path to the old outhouse. Why, grandma used to gather up the carcasses for cooking fuel when the buffalo chips ran low. And tasty? Lemme tell ya, great uncle Earl didn't get through that summer on potatoes and jerked beef.

Applying for the Top Job

We've got a resume together. It's full of BS, half-truths and outright lies, but it's at least as legit as anything else that's going to appear before the Police Board.

To all those interested in applying for the Superintendent's job, we haven't been able to locate the actual requirements or application process, but we did find a Sun Times article describing a number of the hoops you'll have to jump through to get a sniff of the job. Here's the address for the Police Board:

• 30 N. LaSalle St
• Suite 1220
• Chicago, IL 60602
• (312) 742-4194; FAX (312) 742-4193

We encourage everyone who reads this board to submit an application and resume as soon as possible. At the very least, the mayor's hand picked Board will have a large pool of "qualified" candidates to chose from for the first time in years, decades maybe.

The Sopranos

*** Spoiler Alert - Do not read if you don't want to know about the latest episode ***

Ok, a half baked start to the final set of episodes. Anyone else sense some foreshadowing here? We had money that either Bobby and Janice Bacala's kid was drowning in the lake by the end of the episode or else AJ's grlfriend's kid would be floating in the Soprano pool during the party. We predict a child's death will bring about some sort of downfall here.

And how about Bobby Bacala finally getting to whack someone, and then leaving a trail of DNA a blind FBI agent could follow? Especially after complaining about how DNA was making it harder to get away with murder (evidently, the Jersey mob hasn't heard about the Chicago clearance rate).

Phil Leotardo is already itching to kill someone, and it doesn't even have to be a Jersey someone. He just needs to kill.

The glory hound State DA butting into the FBI's 5 year RICO case was a nice touch, but isn't it usually the FBI who screws up local cases more so than a county guy messing up a feeb's case? Isn't that why "conflict decerts" are mandatory nowadays?

New Awards

Has anyone gotten a look at these new awards the Department is putting out? A west side supervisor writes to us:

• R&D put out some fliers this week describing a "Top Gun" award and a "Traffic Stop of the Month" award. WTF? If they want to award marksmanship medals, all well and good, but what the heck is a "Traffic Stop" award supposed to be about? They've finally killed off morale enough with the cameras and TSSS so that no one is doing traffic stops anymore, so they have to create an award to get every one's interest up again? This Department is a joke.

This reminds us of a post (Post #1; Post #2) that we did over a year ago regarding awards. We had a number of awards that could be created to fill out every one's dress uniforms. We solicited new suggestions, but didn't get that many as we barely had a couple hundred readers at that point.

So lets try it again - who else has some suggestions for awards that the Department could give out to everyone? Photo submissions are welcome. Let's have some fun with this.

Red Light Cameras Unconstitutional

Once again, a State Supreme Court has found red light cameras to be in conflict with existing law and therefore, illegal. Unfortunately, the state is Minnesota. But it follows on the heels of another couple of state court rulings concerning the legality of the laws, including New Jersey and Virginia.

Anyone in Illinois want to step up and take the mayor's red light cameras to court?

The Sky is Falling!!!

And Jesse Jackson is making sense:

• Business owners who oppose Governor Rod Blagojevich's proposed business tax have a new ally Friday, the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Jackson joined small business owners who say the tax would put them out of business.
• The governor claims that most of the new tax on business revenues would be paid by big corporations that don't pay their fair share now, and the money, billions of dollars a year, would go to good causes, education and health care. But a coalition of small business owners, led by Reverend Jackson, says the tax will hit them, too, and for some it will be a death blow.

Big Corporations allegedly not paying their "fair share" is Blago's excuse for this. Unfortunately, Big Corporations will simply locate their operations out of state to avoid Illinois taxes and take thousands of jobs along with them - this in a state already bleeding jobs. We figure Jesse's angle is less businesses to perform his extortion act on is truly the driving force behind his acting like a republican all of the sudden. Small businesses are the lifeblood of the American economy, not Big Corporations.

Economy Rolling Along

43 straight months of job increases. Unemployment down to 4.4%. And the media coverage? Almost non existent. Sigh.

Vote for Michele Smith!

Even if this isn't true, the idea is a worthy one:

• Beers for votes -- that's the charge Ald. Vi Daley is leveling against challenger Michele Smith in the race for the tony 43rd Ward.
  
  The charge may seem tame by Chicago campaign standards. But as CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports, it's the biggest issue brewing in the race to represent the Lincoln Park neighborhood.
  
  A flier circulated by Smith's campaign for a party last Saturday at a West Armitage tavern advertised a $5 drink special for attendees holding early voting receipts.

Aldercreature Daley is another one of those runoffs that we hope goes a certain way - that's to say the incumbent loses badly. We're still hoping for Haithcock and Tillman to get launched, too.

Maybe She'll Starve to Death?

We can only hope:

• Immigration activist Elvira Arellano and her pastor, the Rev. Walter Coleman, said they're starting a 25-day strike on Friday to protest America's immigration laws.
• Arellano has been holed up inside the church for seven months to avoid being deported. It's a loophole in the legal system that doesn't allow immigration officials to go after illegals in houses of worship.

Close the loophole and start deportation proceedings. Was that difficult?

Again?

From the comments section:

• HOW CAN THE CITY KEEP PROTECTING THIS GUY??? Former Commander Matthew's son, you may remember the father and son duo....the son( a self admitted gang member) was caught with a gun and fought with the 19th dist. police last year. Former Commander now Lt. Matthews stormed into the 19th Dist station with his other son who is a southside copper and ruffed up the desk crew. Well now the same son who got caught with the gun was caught trying to steal a car in 23rd dist. The officers said he was pulling on the car door handles of about 10 different cars until the police stopped him. They performed a field interview and a protective pat down revealed a set of squad car keys with the metal tag with the car number on it. The car # came back to a 10th Dist. squad car that belongs to the CAPS office. Guess who is the CAPS Lt. in the 10th Dist? Give up? Former Commander now LT. Matthews. He was dumped to 10th Dist and know body wanted to be the CAPS LT. so they gave it to him. Well Lt. Matthews pulled some strings and made some calls or asked for some favors and his son was released without charging( makes sense ... he never broke into the car) but you can charge him with theft of lost or mis laid property!! Now you are probably thinking ...well at least you get to file a CR# on LT. Matthews right? .............................NOT!! Nothing was done to his son or Lt. Matthews. His son got to go home and sleep in his own bed and Lt. Matthews simply received a phone call telling him to keep an eye on his car keys. UNBELIEVEABLE!!!!!! If that was any of us lowly P.O.'s we would have been screwed. Why do the bosses keep helping this moron and his gangster son.

  4/05/2007 10:58:00 PM

In the post right below this one, we joke about "personal lives being above reproach." Granted, this boss cannot control the actions of a knucklehead son, but at the very least, perhaps he should stop enabling the behavior by subverting the law?

Political Games

Stories like these really tick us off:

• Police brutality scandals will continue to haunt Chicago until city officials create an independent civilian agency to investigate allegations of abuse, community activists and civil rights lawyers said Thursday.
  
  The call for more civilian oversight of police has been sounded before. But advocates said recent high-profile cases— including an off-duty officer's videotaped beating of a bartender—show that action is long overdue.

"recent high-profile cases." Let's just look at a few of these "high-profile" cases:

• Bar beating
• Gun team bar beating
• Brother of bar beating
• SOS

Civilian oversight would have stopped each of these exactly how? The first three incidents we list we're OFF DUTY incidents. Yes, we've read the Rules and Regulations that state an officer's personal life shall be above reproach, but let's be for real. If we had a dime for every single time we heard about certain "reverends," politicians, bosses, and community activists personal lives that were (shall we say) "reproachable," we'd be rich.

And the SOS scandal? Civilians have what sort of investigative skills to stop this scandal? What powers to wiretap phones or make deals with felons to wear wires or any other of dozens of methods used to legally gather evidence to build a case against allegedly crooked cops? Can you say none - no powers whatsoever?

So this is just a bunch of political operatives trying to make hay (and headlines) over something they cannot control. We already have forms of civilian control in the guise of OPS and an "independent" Police Board (appointed by the mayor of all people!) An additional layer of bureaucracy would do nothing except (A) provide jobs for various storefront reverends with axes to grind and (B) give the illusion of real change while in reality accomplishing nothing.

Channel 5 and Channel 7 coverage.

Coast to Coast - New Link

A retired LAPD cop has started a blog. Wait until the bosses get a load of this photo accompanying one of his stories:


25 mph electric scooter! We predict the bosses will want a bunch of these suckers. Better get in on the ground floor early boys and girls and find the politically connected company that might be selling these to the city. Or if you are politically connected, start drafting a proposal.

Weapon Discipline

Sad news:

• An FBI agent who was killed Thursday in a shootout with three bank robbery suspects might have been shot accidentally by another agent on his stakeout team, the FBI said.
  
  Special Agent Barry Lee Bush, 52, assigned to the Newark FBI office, died after agents confronted three men suspected in a series of armed bank robberies.
  
  "Preliminarily, information suggests the agent may have been fatally wounded as a result of the accidental discharge of another agent's weapon during a dynamic arrest situation," the FBI said in a statement released Thursday night.

Watch yourselves out there. And watch your partners, too. Situational awareness.

Why an Outsider Will Never WIn

Today's Sun Times:

• The New York cop who was a surprise finalist for Chicago police superintendent in 2003 said Wednesday he will not apply for the job being vacated by Phil Cline because the last search was an inside job.

  Garry McCarthy said he's got his hands full rebuilding the Newark, N.J., police department "from scratch" after rising to deputy police commissioner of operations in a 25-year career in New York City.

  But McCarthy said also he's sour about his last Chicago experience.

And the funniest part?

• "I thought it was fascinating that Mayor Daley took a whole lot of notes at my interview and, when I spoke to Phil [Cline], he told me the mayor took no notes during his interview," McCarthy said.

  Asked if he believes the Police Board and Daley picked his brain with no intention of choosing him, McCarthy said, "They may have. They seem to have an awful lot of New York-type ideas.

If that doesn't epitomize the entire Department thinking for the past 7 to 10 years, we don't know what does.

An Opinion

All these media types who are touting Charles Ramsey as returning to take the helm of the Department really ought to know better (like this from Channel 2):

• More than a few insiders believe the recently retired D.C. police chief, Charles Ramsey, is the favorite to replace Cline. He's a former member of the Chicago Police Department's top brass and highly regarded.
  
  Ramsey virtually invented the community policing, or CAPS, program in Chicago, and served as deputy chief and deputy superintendent in the early 1990s.
  
  A former police union chief said of Ramsey: "This is a guy who gets out on the streets and knows what's going on."

Ramsey quit. He quit and left the city when the "blue ribbon panel" tasked with finding a replacement for Rodriguez, chose Hillard over himself. Daley rewards one thing - loyalty. And if you aren't loyal enough to stick around after getting shafted, you aren't getting a second chance.

Again, this is just the SCC staff opinion, but we're comfortable with it. It's going to be an insider all the way. A LOYAL insider.

Immunity = Fired

Both the Sun Times and the Tribune cover this story Wednesday.

• Nine police officers have been given immunity to testify before a grand jury in the ongoing probe of Chicago police corruption, a defense lawyer said Tuesday.

No word if any of the nine are among the seven currently indicted. But as it was explained to us by someone with a vested interest in the situation, all nine of these cooperating individuals are going to be fired - administratively. The seven indicted officers? Fired. And the as yet unnamed upcoming indictments? Yeah, they'll be fired, too.

Total fallout? Probably 20 minimum.

Open Post for Speculation

The odds are flying fast and furious over a successor to Cline.

We're figuring on a female. Just from what the mayor has let slip and the whispers here and there, a female is almost a lock at this point.

And the last two or three Superintendents have all come out of Investigative Services.

The bigger question is the new First Deputy - do they get to run the Department like First Deputies of olden days or are they an emasculated figurehead like our current First?

Open post to speculate.

When Animals Attack

No, not drunk coppers, real animals. Not really attacking, but sitting in beverage coolers. Channel 2, Channel 5, Channel 7 and the Sun Times cover it.

• A coyote wandered into a downtown sandwich shop this afternoon and tried to nudge its way behind the counter before settling in a refrigerator that usually just holds bottled drinks.

  The coyote entered the Quiznos, 37 E. Adams, just before 2 p.m. — after the lunch rush.

Perhaps he was looking for endorsement opportunities?

Learning Disability?

Yes, we purposely didn't publish this one until tonight because we are having scandal fatigue. But here we go again:

• Channel 2
  
• Channel 5
• Channel 7

And the mayor's response?

• "The responsibility of every citizen is not have a fight with their neighbors and with their family. How is that? That is very, very simple," the mayor told reporters

What bold leadership. We expect a streaming video shortly.

Illegal Immigrant Drivers

When is America (and the State of Illinois specifically) going to get off their collective asses and start deporting illegals instead of accommodating them every which way? From the Tribune a few days ago:

• Illinois would become one of only a handful of states in the nation to authorize illegal immigrants to drive legally on their roads under legislation the Illinois House passed Wednesday to create a special driver's permit for undocumented residents.

A special permit? So that means an actual licensed driver has to be in the front seat with them? Or what?

• "Today we make history," said Rep. Edward Acevedo (D-Chicago), the sponsor. "The roads in Illinois will be a safer place, and immigrants can drive to church, to work, and take their children to school legally and without fear."

Oh joy. Acevedo again. This bozo who cries "For the children, we must ban all guns!" or some similar BS. This guy was/is CPD. Why isn't he worried about enforcing the laws of this country? Didn't he take an oath or some sort? Ed? We WANT illegals terrified that the next knock on the door might be INS. These people are BREAKING THE LAW!

• "Why are you talking about a driving privilege for folks who can't register to vote?" asked Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Greenville). "Let's just knock down the borders and give everybody a certificate and say, 'Hey, thanks for being here. You're now a great American. It doesn't matter by the means you got here, but you get all the rank and privileges all our ancestors paid dearly for."

Thank you Rep, Stephens for making sense. Too bad you're in the minority down in Springfield. Maybe one day, people will wake up.

The Body isn't Even Cold...

... and yet the speculation is rife about Cline's successor. Not just here (we expect that - we're cops after all) but in the media, too.

• Via Channel 2 - He went out of his way to say that female candidates would be considered. Observers point to Deborah Kirby in Internal Affairs and Chief of Detectives Maria Haher [sic].
  
  Insiders also pointed to Chief of Patrol Charles Williams, an African American, and Deputy Supt. Hiram Grau, a Hispanic.
  
  Other potential candidates include Deputy Supt. James Malloy; the mayor's own chief of staff, Ron Huberman; and Tom Byrne, now working in City Hall's Dept. of Transportation after retiring from the police department.
• Via Channel 32 - Now the police board will begin to survey candidates for the vacancy, then they will nominate three candidates for consideration by Mayor Daley, as required by city ordinance, the release said.
  
  “The Board will meet soon to begin the nation-wide search, which will include recruiting and screening applicants, and conducting interviews,” Carney said in the release. “The first step is to retain an executive search firm to assist in attracting a diverse group of well-qualified candidates.”

No mention of Seiser yet, but it's only a matter of time. We've stated objections to half the names being floated already. We still can't believe the poor timing here. We roll in after working the midnight shift, and we have field seven phone calls before eleven in the freaking morning telling us we have to get something up on the website.

All important announcements should wait until 5 pm or so from now on. We need our sleep.

Southwest Airlines Settles

Remember this?

Or maybe you remember it from another angle? In the daylight? With various additions to the scenery?


Channel 7 reports that Southwest has reached an as yet undisclosed settlement with the family of Joshua Woods:

• The family of a boy who was killed when an airplane slid off a Midway Airport runway and struck their car in December of 2005 has settled with Southwest Airlines.

By the way, the second photo is STILL available on line and referenced as part of an ongoing "investigation, " so any lawyers who want to raise objections to our posting it again can go fuck themselves. Anyone ever hear how that "investigation" turned out?

More Resignation Links

So there we were, riding along, getting event numbers in the DOC area, because you know that the days of just riding around in the squad car are behind us, when the announcement hit that the Supe had resigned. We couldn't just let an event like this pass without comment. We were on the verge of breaking our own rule about never posting anything from Department computers, but then we realized that the Department has banned us from most computers. What to do?

"Squad? Uniform adjustment - xxx District per xx10." Sometimes, we just got to do what we got to do. Additional links covering the resignation of the Superintendent:

• Channel 2
• Channel 5
• Channel 7
• Channel 9/Tribune
• Channel 32
• Sun Times
  

Opening Day!

Not a very promising start:

• Cubs at Cincinnati lose 5-1
• Sox host Cleavland lose 12-5

But hey, there are still 161 games left.

Cline Takes Our Advice

Sunday, 25 March 2007, this blog called for the resignation of the Superintendent and most of his command staff. At least we now know Phil reads the blog.


As a side note, the following persons should not be considered in any way, shape or form for the newly vacated position of Superintendent:

• Dana Starks
• Charles Williams
  
• Maria Maher
• Debra Kirby
• Sergeant Keating
• Police Officer/Chief of Staff Huberman

The short list should include:

• Seiser

That is all.

UPDATE: Channel 2 and Channel 7 have the early links.

Attempts to Raise Morale

We have no words to describe this:


We had NO IDEA that you-know-who liked professional fights either.

Special thanks to a very talented reader who sends us quite a number of these little gems. We have no idea who it is, but their sense of humor rivals ours and their skills with Photoshop put us to shame. Thanks for contributing.

Not Again?!?

Once again, we have to ask if the taxpaying citizens (and by that, we mean the citizens who actually pay taxes) are getting screwed by downtown:

• Hey those who live in 016. They are now sending your tact team to 005. I guess you will be responsible for your own block now.

We covered this last year and someone raised some minor stink about it. At least one or two aldercreatures were calling 35th Street for info. Can anyone verify this? Have they re-started the nonsense of sending every single team in the city to Districts they don't belong to? Why aren't they sending this 4th TRU platoon down south?

Nice Comment

One of the funniest comments we have seen on here in a while:

• [CW] did in fact try to rally the troops on 2nd watch roll call. Mentioned that Capt. B made a HORRIBLE mistake and that we should-- get this-- "embrace" the media-- they in fact are our friends. I have never witnessed the phenomenon of a man that can actually stand erect without a spine- but now that I have, I'm a better person.

It almost sounds like a Mark Twain quote, but we can't find anything he said like that. And to use it to describe one or more of the exempts of the CPD is so very fitting. Thanks for the laughs.

Open post in the meantime.

Facts and Rumors

Just to clear up a thing or two and solicit info on some others:

• Abbate was NOT a tactical officer in 020. He worked the watch. We have no idea where this info came from, but the media has been running with it and they're wrong. Amazing how that happens sometimes, isn't it?
• We're still trying to figure out what Capt. MB did wrong in 025. If he was securing his lot against unwanted and illegal intrusion of the media, why is he being punished? If the judge ordered Abbate to leave by a rear door, why is MB being punished? And (as pointed out) if any one of us was caught making the stupid threats concerning a baseball bat against an ordinary citizen, how much time would we be looking at?
• Is it true that CW came to 025 to "buck up morale" and told everyone the media is our friend? For real? Anyone? Bueller?
  
• Someone posted a rumor that the Department was going to discontinue the effort to approve a couple of new guns for use because of the cost involved in training and certifying everyone. We've talked to some people who've tested these new guns and for the most part, this new Springfield-XD is sounding like a good gun. Are they ever going to get around to approving these things or what? We know we have a couple of range guys/gals who read us regularly - how about a scoop?
  

Blackhawks Still Suck

An enlightening article in the Saturday Tribune:

• Here's how far big-league hockey has fallen in Chicago: The Blackhawks can't give away their tickets.
  
  One of the National Hockey League's charter franchises, the Blackhawks have been so desperate to attract fans to a half-empty United Center that the organization has been offering free seats through numerous promotions, including an e-mail campaign that put top-notch freebies the length of a hockey stick from the ice.
  
  "It's called papering the house," said Barry Melrose, a former NHL player and now a hockey analyst for ESPN. "I'm not surprised they are doing it. It's been a terrible period for the Blackhawks. People are frustrated and angry, and the fans are showing it the only way they can, by staying away."

Fans staying away. Not buying tickets. Empty seats.

Through no directed effort, just a general disgust with Bill Wirtz and his failed management, fans are driving one of the Original 6 franchises into oblivion. One wonders what other failed management could be driven into oblivion with a halfway concerted effort of not doing something involving tickets. Hmmm.