The Letter - Very Long Post

OK, we finally got a few e-mails, including at least one exempt who forwarded it from their personal account. We expect IAD will be told to track down that exempt first thing Monday morning. Here's the letter that was posted to most exempts in the Patrol Division Bureau of Patrol. The original is italicized. Our comments appear in the bold:

• Words can not describe the anger, outrage, and sorrow, we all felt Monday morning when Alex Valadez was violently taken from us by 2 "spineless cowards." Yet, those emotions were funneled into great police work allowing charges to be lodged almost immediately. That end result is due in great part to the initial observations of TRU Officers whose keen eyes spotted the offender's parked car allowing the investigation to rapidly advance. The rest was great team work by all Department resources to send a clear message; you will not kill a Chicago Police Officer and get away with it!

It was great police work, mixed in with a bit of luck, that located the vehicle and Dugan is right to note it. After all, what police work isn't hard work and being in the right place at the right time?

• Alex's murder in a drive-by shooting underscores the impunity in which gangbangers operate. While we can't control what the judges do (or don't do), we sure can impact on gangbangers driving abilities. There are too many guns in cars left unchecked and traffic enforcement as a means to ferret out these illegal weapons is almost a lost art. We need to get back to basics and focus on gangbangers in vehicles. A vehicle impounded for noise or any of the other categories can't be used in a drive-by! Take their cars and leave 'em walking!
  
  It is unconscionable what happened to Alex Valadez; a Chicago Police Officer gunned down in a drive-by shooting while standing on a sidewalk. Shame on us!

These appear to be the paragraphs that a number of commentators are making hay about. Dugan says that traffic enforcement to find illegal weapons is a lost art, but it's probably more of a dormant art. Everyone is still more than a bit wary about cameras, J-Fed, recent court rulings and the like. A lack of training to work within the changing ground rules is a Department failure, not an officer failure. Leaders are supposed to lead by definition, by design and by example. This isn't happening because the leaders don't trust those leading them. Witness the upheaval within the exempt ranks - it's downright embarrassing.

The quote, "Shame on us!" when taken on it's own should upset any officer worthy of the badge. But taken in context and in the message Dugan was trying to convey, it's merely a poor choice of words and not worthy of outrage.

• This is an excerpt from this morning's John Kass column, "...It's a terrible thing what happened to that officer, but there's something good about it, if that's possible," said the man, who identified himself as Cornell. Residents say the neighborhood has swarmed with police since the shooting, and the men who usually hang out on the street are lying low. "It's so quiet now. Old people feel they can come outside, and sit on the porch, and the old women can mess around in their yards, with their flowers," he said. "It's quiet now."
  
  What was done in Englewood in the wake of Alex's murder was the right thing to do, but it begs the question, why aren't we doing this all the time? Did it take the murder of one of our own to finally step it up and do the right thing for the right reasons? We should be targeting the gangbanging, gun toting thugs, and taking them off the street ALL THE TIME! We put a lot of resources in 007 to send a message. Its time we take that message to other parts of the City.

Why aren't we doing this all the time? BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE THE FUCKING MANPOWER! We can shut down any neighborhood any time we want for a short period, maybe a week tops. And then mission creep sets in. Reverend start to bitch. Gangsters agitate because they're in the business of making money and too much of the community relies on the underground economy provided by dope. The community senses an opportunity to score a lottery ticket on the police and start making allegations.

And it's not just in that neighborhood. The gangs in other parts of the city feel the pressure ease up because so much is devoted to one area and they start to settle old scores, make territory moves that might have been kept in check before, move more work, recruit more customers, etc.

The only way Dugan's "message" is going to be felt is with a wave of hiring, an exodus of hidden house mice, and a "back-to-the-basics" approach that involves fully staffing Beat cars, Rapids and watches around the city with support from specialized units. Not all this "Strike Force" bullshit that strips the districts, has people running around putting out fires, and then leaving a neighborhood (and the district) in the lurch when another "fire" pops up 4 miles away. Temporary pressure doesn't stop the bleeding and a tourniquet usually means the amputation of the limb. This is the same thing.

• I am asking the District/Unit Commanders to step way out of the box and look at every conceivable way to increase vehicle stops/impoundments so that these gangbanging thugs will not feel they can drive around armed, looking for prey. Every drive-by has the potential for hitting an innocent person and we can not allow another Police Officer to fall victim again. Don't let our previous ways of doing things get in the way of your creative ideas. I'm really tired of hearing "we can't do it because...." You have the mission, how are we going to get it done?
  
  In the next couple of days, I expect Area Deputy Chiefs and the ADS SFG to meet with your respective District/Unit Commanders and kick around ideas to accomplish the mission. Wednesday afternoon I will be meeting with the Deputy Chiefs to discuss what ideas you have come up with.

You have a force already - you stripped it from the Districts. MSF or TRU or GEU should do a few months of directed impound missions if that's what you want. Order "no discretion" for driving offenses. Suspended? Tow it. Revoked? Tow it and crush it. Loud sound? Impound it. Fireworks? Whores? Guns? Take it, no breaks.

The districts are in constant backlog and can't run the missions piled on them now. We're running from legit domestics, to baby momma drama, to disrespecting 12-year-olds, to babysitting ambulances that never asked for an assist in the first place. And that's to say nothing of the dope jobs, anonymous disturbances on the corners, false burglar alarms, an AIRA system that takes three times as long to fill out as a paper report, an iCLEAR system that's down five times a week for "maintenance," four hour waits for theft jobs, half manpower on the desks...do we have to go on? You have your Strike Force at the cost of District response times - use it.

• For years I've heard "you can't get in trouble if you don't do anything." I bristled when I first heard it and my attitude hasn't changed today. District/Unit Commanders have an absolute obligation to ensure personnel under their Command are "pulling their weight." BOP has previously sent out a "2008" listing of those under your Command with little to no activity. As I expect you to hold your Watch Commanders accountable, I am holding you accountable for your Command. We can't afford to have spectators; we need WARRIORS and should expect nothing less!

We, too, bristled when we first heard that. But then we saw lots of people with certain last names who could do "anything" and skate like it was nothing. We saw dogs getting ahead while damn good street coppers toiled in anonymity without anything like a fair shot at a promotion and the chance to mold and lead new generations. We saw the political administration treat cops like crap, dragging out "negotiations" for years for the simple reason that they knew we couldn't strike back.

And then we watched our "leaders." A superintendent that liked to hang out with the Outfit. A serial sexual harasser promoted. A drug using Chief who pissed hot - twice. The bedroom antics of quite a number of bosses. An Assistant Superintendent who had guns and drugs stored at a property registered in her name. Were any of them held "accountable?" No. If the rumors are to be believed, these aren't even the tiniest tip of the iceberg.

Here's the thing about WARRIORS - they have to be led. They have to have the support of the organization. And they in turn have to have confidence in the organization. That isn't present here.

And here's the thing about organizations - when they fail, the LEADERS are supposed to be held accountable, to fall on their swords. Not throw the warriors under the bus. Accountability at the LEADER level isn't happening anywhere.

And when that happens, warriors do what they do best - survive to fight another day.

Fake Students?

In a City of fake voters, ghost pay rollers, and imaginary minority front firms, is anyone really surprised that the Chicago Public Schools system was (and continues) to use imaginary attendance figures to get a bigger slice of the federal pie?

• Attendance records obtained by the Tribune show that a handful of chronically truant students at Bowen Environmental Studies Team High School on the South Side were rarely marked absent. Instead they were listed as being on "school function" -- such as field trips -- for at least a month at a time. One girl was placed on "school function" for 50 straight school days, according to attendance sheets.

How about the Tribune look into system-wide inflation of attendance numbers, especially on Day One, always an entertaining event where children and families have to be lured to school with promises of free book bags, school supplies, trips and a car, instead of because it's the right thing to do if you want to get an education and a job later in life:

• Research shows that regular attendance is crucial to students' success. Public school districts receive state and federal money based on how many students are in school, so when kids drop out, funding dries up. Chicago's district estimates losing $18 million to $20 million a year in state money because of dropouts and truancy. Student attendance also helps determine staffing levels -- and whether school employees keep their jobs.

Um...we must be extra dense today, but could someone explain how the CPS loses $18 - $20 million a year if they aren't spending it on the kids that don't show up? Shouldn't that be listed as a savings?

Save $2.6 Million

And depending on the retirements since March of 2008, the City can save it tomorrow:

• All records in this database are public and were obtained under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act by the Chicago Suntimes. Chicago records as of 3-2008
  
  Rank Name Title (Dist. Mgrs) Salary
  
  5030 MADDEN, JOHN; ADMIN MNGR; $103,776
  6124 REBICH, REBECCA; ADMIN MNGR; $99,084
  9979 LENIHAN, CONCETTA; ADMIN MNGR; $90,312
  12416 FALATOVICS, MICHAEL; ADMIN MNGR; $86,220
  12416 FERA, ZENIA; ADMIN MNGR; $86,220
  12416 HENDERSON, MARTHA; ADMIN MNGR; $86,220
  12416 WILLIAMS, JENNIFER; ADMIN MNGR; $86,220
  16112 CARROLL, BEVERLY; ADMIN MNGR; $82,308
  16112 CLOYD, WENDY; ADMIN MNGR; $82,308
  16112 EARLS, ELLAWEASE; ADMIN MNGR; $82,308
  16112 OSEDA, MARIA; ADMIN MNGR; $82,308
  16112 RAMOS, LAWRENCE; ADMIN MNGR; $82,308
  16112 SANDERS, DANIEL; ADMIN MNGR; $82,308
  16112 SNARSKI, BONNIE; ADMIN MNGR; $82,308
  16112 ZIARNO, DIANE; ADMIN MNGR; $82,308
  21030 BATES, WANDA; ADMIN MNGR; $78,564
  21030 EPPOLITO, JOSEPH; ADMIN MNGR; $78,564
  21030 KANTOR, CHARLENE; ADMIN MNGR; $78,564
  26900 BREIMON, PATRICIA; ADMIN MNGR; $74,280
  26900 CARUSO, ANTHONY; ADMIN MNGR; $74,280
  26900 KILLEN, DONNA; ADMIN MNGR; $74,280
  26900 O NEAL, ROCHELLE; ADMIN MNGR; $74,280
  26900 SZEWCZYK, THADDEUS; ADMIN MNGR; $74,280
  33182 BROWN, JUDITH; ADMIN MNGR; $70,896
  33182 COLLINS, JAMES; ADMIN MNGR; $70,896
  33182 WILSON, SHEILA; ADMIN MNGR; $70,896
  57674 CLARK HENSON, ALLYSON; ADMIN MNGR; $61,668
  
  TOTAL $2,679,960.00

Without a doubt, one of the most obviously political moves ever in this Department. Before a single Detention Aide is laid off, all of these people should be gone.

Tangled Web

It's going to take the feds years to untangle this crap. And by that point, most of our readers will be retired and living on what used to be a pension.

• Chicago water officials wanted a place to park dozens of dump trucks they'd been leasing since the collapse of the city's scandalous Hired Truck Program.

  They found the spot in October 2006 -- a massive industrial property on Pulaski Road, just north of the Stevenson Expy.

  For a year, they parked dump trucks outside. Then, city officials decided they wanted to move the trucks indoors to a warehouse on the 15-acre site.

  As they negotiated a lease for that building, it changed hands, city officials say. And they say they had no idea the new owners included an investment company co-owned by Mayor Daley's nephew, whose firm manages $68 million for five city pension funds.

So "Pension-gate" has now joined with "Hired Truck." Fusco and Novak (with Spielman hitching a ride) have connected the dots that started almost 4 years ago with the City hiring connected trucks to sit around and do nothing at the cost of some $40 million.

Can you imagine if these guys worked as federal prosecutors? Daley would have been gone two elections ago.

The Streak Ends

You never talk to the pitcher when they are in the groove. And although it doesn't really matter to anyone reading here, it involved every single one of you in some small way.

For the first twelve days of June, we never dipped below 10,000 visitors a day, including weekends. That is unprecedented in our four years of existence - 152,000 people in 12 days.

So once again, we thank you, the readers, the visitors, the lurkers and the contributors. You are why we do this and you are why we continue to do what we do. Maybe the fight isn't lost. Maybe the history isn't written in stone. Maybe we aren't screaming into the void as it has seemed recently. Time will tell.

Insignificant. And getting more insignificant every single day.

Suspicious Timing

Gee, how typically Illinois in nature:

• As U.S. stock markets plummeted last September, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin, sold more than $115,000 worth of stocks and mutual-fund shares and used much of the money to invest in Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

  The Illinois senator's 2008 financial disclosure statement shows he sold mutual-fund shares worth $42,696 on Sept. 19, the day after then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged congressional leaders in a closed meeting to craft legislation to help financially troubled banks. The same day, he bought $43,562 worth of Berkshire Hathaway's Class B stock, the disclosure shows.

Gosh. The very next day, "turban" Durbin cashes out. It's almost like he had a vision of the Treasury Secretary letting him know that the crap was about to hit the fan.

Virus Lays Us Low

SCC is under the weather. There's some bug going around that isn't H1N1 swine flu. Posting will be sporadic for Sunday.

And yes, we meant the Dugan letter.

Open post in the meantime.

THAT Letter

We have one copy in our possession.

We'd like another to verify the content and be able to dissect it properly.

Please forward.

Tapes Destroyed

Gee, anyone think that the Pension Board got tipped off about an investigation?

• Daley said he did not think his nephew had traded on his family connections to drum up funding for DV Urban Realty, which he founded three years ago and quit this week.
  
  Investigators have sought recordings of closed-door pension board meetings that might shed some light on how Vanecko got the business, but the Tribune has learned that at least one pension fund decided late last year to destroy such recordings. City Comptroller Steve Lux made the motion to delete tapes of private police pension board discussions, possibly including conversations about DV Urban, under a state law that allows deletion of old records.

Yes, the only thing that might have cleared Vanecko and the assorted Pension Board representatives from any appearance of impropriety were conveniently destroyed in the fall/winter of 2008.

Of course, the tapes might not have cleared anybody at all. And there's a Federal subpoena floating around with all sorts of uncomfortable questions that are going to have to be answered at some point. And the Feds are notoriously unhappy when they have to rely on recall and faulty memories that seem to lead them astray. That's when the contempt and lying charges start appearing. If we we're the Pension Board members, we'd be hiring a whole shitload of attorneys about now.

The Price to Join

What it costs to join the force:

• Whether they’re patrolling Chicago’s streets or handling the phones at headquarters, much of a police officer’s job involves public perception: that solid and impenetrable wall of blue with each policeman and policewoman outfitted in the instantly recognizable Chicago Police uniform.

  But what you might not know is that your neighborhood “Officer Friendly” shells out thousands of dollars for everything from her impeccably pressed shirt to the gun and holster she carries.

  And though officers receive an annual equipment allowance of about $1,800, the costs add up quickly. If officers bought just one each of the minimum required equipment – a scenario police spokesman Roderick Drew said isn’t common – the price tag totals nearly $4,000.

The article also provides a partial breakdown of costs for summer, winter, dress and optional uniform items, though we don't think the summer item labeled "shorts" is a regular item for anyone not working the Bike Unit and they miss things like boots, cuffs, OC, asp, leather cases for all the tools, and a gear bag to carry all the extra equipment. They don't even mention the vest that should be replaced every 5 to 7 years at almost a grand a pop.

It's a good beginning rebuttal to the aldercreatures and bean counters who started the bullshit about how uniform allowances are "bonuses" that should be cut. But it could go a lot farther.

Starvation Time

Poor babies:

• The recession is hitting home for inmates, too: Some cash-strapped states are taking aim at prison menus.

  Georgia prisoners already didn't get lunch on the weekends, and the Department of Corrections recently eliminated the midday meal on Fridays, too. Ohio may drop weekend breakfasts and offer brunch instead. Other states are cutting back on milk and fresh fruit.

  Officials say prisoners are still getting enough calories, but family members and critics say the changes could make prisoners irritable and food a valuable commodity, increasing the possibility of violence.

Well it's a good thing that those nasty prisoners are all locked up where they can throw all the tantrums they want inside 20 foot walls of concrete and barbed wire. If bread and water were good enough for the Bastille, it should be good enough for American prisons. We think a prison population suffering from scurvy, rickets and assorted vitamin deficiencies would be a good thing in the long run.

Analog Gone

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If you cannot see the above graphic, you need to buy a converter box so you can read the new and improved digital signal of SCC. The above is a truly hilarious picture of J-Fed with no pants exiting a hotel room. You can see the shadow of what appears to be the mayor reflected in a hallway mirror. The bellhop knocking on the door is the airplane crash sergeant. And Mike Masters is wearing a snazzy little French maid outfit.

Open post for the weekend.

Now What?

The lawyer said it perfectly:

• An attorney for a Chicago police officer sentenced to 3 1/2 years for the videotaped beating of a man in a wheelchair launched a salvo against Police Supt. Jody Weis this afternoon, saying veteran Chicago police officers should fear he'll throw them under the bus if they step out of line.

  "In my opinion, this prosecution brought by Supt. Weis was misguided and vindictive," defense lawyer Terry Gillespie said of his client William Cozzi. "I've got a message for all those fine officers in blue out there: After 15 years on the job, don't snap. You'll get thrown under the bus, and it'll be a federal bus, and it'll be by your own superintendent."

We're going to say something here again and once again, tiny brains are going to twist it and misinterpret it and claim we're saying all sorts of stuff we aren't saying at all. We will preface it with the following:

• Cozzi did wrong. Got it?

He did wrong. He got whacked administratively. He took a two year suspension and was reinstated by the Police Board. A board appointed by the mayor. There was no cover up. There was no "blue wall of silence." A court upheld the Police Board decision to reinstate.

Cozzi also faced a judge for his conduct. He pleaded guilty. He got probation just like hundreds and thousands of other people with clean criminal records get every single year in Cook County. He attended anger management classes, did community service and fulfilled all the conditions of his probation (which is more than you can say for the killer of Officer Valadez who violated his probation at least three times and never spent a day behind bars for it.) He apologized in open court to the drunk he struck and the city settled the civil suit. In other words, he was already punished.

And then he got fucked. Truly screwed by a fed looking to make a name for himself. And in Cozzi getting the shortest end of the shittiest stick around, an entire Department was lost. Instead of worrying about the problems in front of us (crime), everyone started worrying about what was behind us (J-Fed). And not just the street coppers. The brass started looking over their shoulders, too. And with everyone looking behind for the knife, leadership became nonexistent and now what have we got?

De-policing. Ticket slowdowns. Arrests down tremendously. Useless videos where the brass claims "we've got your back" but no one believes it. The attitude of "no public contact = no problems." Rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Meaningless number shuffling. Bullshit missions and bullshit "strike forces" that do nothing to address crime but merely push it from one corner to another. Or from one neighborhood to another quieter neighborhood that used to be quiet and crime free, but now is police-free and open to pillaging.

A million questions and no answers. We are at a loss.

Can't Catch a Break

Again, someone in trouble:

• A 43-year-old Chicago Police officer has been charged with sexually assaulting an underage girl.

And once again, the comment sections of both papers are alive with the bashing of police. He was arrested, charged and his name publicized, yet the Department takes a never ending beating, as if we'd defend or cover for a child molester.

And tomorrow, we'll get up, put on the uniform that makes us a target for all sorts of crap, and respond to some tens of thousand of calls for service for an ungrateful public that can't function without the police, without a contract, while the politicians who ravage and plunder enjoy 6% raises and $120,000 part-time jobs while Daley shovels money to his son and nephews and our pension bleeds our retirement security away.

We can hardly wait for the sun to rise.

Gang? That's Silly! Just Silly!

Evidently, Derrick Rose is channeling the mayor:

• Bulls star point guard Derrick Rose apologized Thursday for a photo of him flashing gang signs — a pose he now says was a bad joke.

  The photo, which recently surfaced online, shows the Englewood native flashing Gangster Disciples signs and an unidentified man behind him flashing signs of a rival gang. Rose said it was taken during his one year at University of Memphis.

  The NBA’s Rookie of the Year said in a statement he is “anti-gang, anti-drug and anti-violence” but used poor judgment.

  “Recently, a photo has been circulating on the Internet which appears to depict me flashing a gang sign,” Rose said in his statement. “This photo of me was taken at a party I attended in Memphis while I was in school there, and was meant as a joke…a bad one, I now admit.

  “I want to emphatically state, now and forever, that Derrick Rose is anti-gang, anti-drug, and anti-violence. I am not, nor have I ever been, affiliated with any gang and I can’t speak loudly enough against gang violence, and the things that gangs represent.

We aren't going to waste the bandwidth on the picture. It's at the link provided and scattered throughout the comment sections. But is anyone really surprised? Wasn't there a group of gang bangers going around robbing NBA affiliated persons just recently on the west side? Aren't there dozens of NBA players sporting gang and thug tattoos? The NFL isn't much better.

Our entertainment dollars go elsewhere.

South Side Shooting

Offender shot:

• A man was fatally shot by an on-duty Chicago Police officer Thursday afternoon in the Hamilton Park neighborhood on the South Side.

  A police officer shot and injured a man shortly before 7 p.m. at the intersection of 70th Street and Eggleston Avenue, according to Mark Payne, spokesman for the Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates police-involved shootings.

  Police observed a traffic violation in the 7000 block of South Eggleston Avenue and attempted to pull over the vehicle, when two men inside ditched the vehicle and fled in different directions, according to a statement from police News Affairs.

The rest of the article sounds like an attempted disarming, which seems to be happening with more and more frequency.

Daley "Disappointed"

And once again, he's struck with a case of "Fed-heimers" disease:

• Mayor Daley acknowledged today that he tried to get his nephew to drop out of a risky real estate venture involving city employees’ pension funds a year and a half ago but said his nephew didn’t listen, causing tension in the closeknit Daley family.

• “While many of you have speculated that I knew of Bob’s business relationship, I did not,” he told reporters. “I found out about it the same way most people did — in the news when the story broke. When I did find out, I made it very clear that it was not a good decision and that he should end the business relationship immediately.

  [...] “Perception is everything,” Daley went on to say.

Amazingly, he knows where every nickel and dime is spent when it's something he gets to attach his name to it or cut a ribbon or when it comes to hiring all sorts of people, but when the feds get involved or it's a family friend or a multi-million dollar contract to fake minority front companies, Shortshanks doesn't know a thing.

The perception here is Daley is a lying sack of crap who's up against the ropes in terms of a family member who has been caught red handed overreaching in the public trough.

Cozzi Gets 40 Months

Sentence handed down. Updates later.

CPDK

In the area of 76th and Exchange, the following graffiti was spotted by a reader of ours and he felt it necessary to bring it to everyone's attention. We agree:

The e-mail also stated this has been popping up with alarming frequency around the north end of 004 where there was a recent "Shots Fired at the Police" incident. Additionally, an individual was stopped wearing a t-shirt with the "CPDK" on it. The explanation given? It stood for "Corrupt Police Department Killer" but we highly doubt that. No word on what happened to the individual wearing the shirt, or the shirt itself following discovery. We know what would have happened in the old days.

We miss the old days.

Unpaid Days Off

Following up on a previous rumor, we have the following from the comments:

• At least 2, and possibly up to 5 exempts are getting ready to retire instead of taking Daley's mandatory furlough days. Should be interesting. Best of luck to PM and DS.
  
  It's actually six! They all told DALEY to kiss their asses. They are not taking 20 forced unpaid days and are tired of all the bullshit with JFED!!!
  
  Pat McNulty; Dave Sobczyk; John Doty; Mike McCotter; Tom Argenbright; Bob Lopez;
  Dennis Rayl (On medical for last year due to medical issue but also re-submitting papers)

So that's about 200 years worth of Department experience being flushed down the drain. Some of it isn't real police experience of course, but some of it is irreplaceable. But guess who hasn't been taking any time off, even as the mayor demands non-union workers take 16 days and exempts to take 20 days off?

• Seven Chicago aldermen have yet to take any unpaid days off for more than two years, even as Mayor Richard Daley wants city workers to take as many as 16 furlough days this year to help deal with a growing budget deficit.
  
  Within hours of the Tribune posting the list online Wednesday, three of the seven aldermen called the city clerk's office to each schedule six days off.
  
  City Hall employees already have been forced to take as many as two furlough days in 2007 and six last year. But most elected officials took no more than three unpaid days last year, according to city budget documents obtained by the Tribune through the state's public records law.

And that's on top of the 6% raise they voted for themselves.

Not a Piranha

It was a Pacu:

• Lorenzo Pious was fishing with a night crawler at Washington Park lagoon Thursday afternoon when he caught a surprise -- what looked like a piranha.

  [...] But after Pious took it to Henry's Sports, Bait & Marine on South Canal, the 16-inch fish weighing 2½ pounds was identified as a pacu.

  "It is definitely a black pacu," said Jason Duracka of Animal Island in Midlothian. "You can tell by the configuration. It is a common fish in the pet trade ,and they grow very large, very quickly. They are often mistaken for piranhas. They are the same family as a piranha, but they don't have the same attitude."

We recall more than a few stories about someone who released piranha in the Humbolt Park lagoons in the hopes of starting a breeding population there around the time of the riots. We don't think the experiment was very successful, but it makes for one of the funnier fish stories swapped over cold beers non-alcoholic fruity beverages.

Shortshanks Hiding

What a candyass:

• Mayor Richard Daley abruptly backed out of all his scheduled public appearances for the third straight day, then was blown off by labor unions he was supposed to meet with on the city budget deficit.
  
  His absence from the public eye comes as the mayor has yet to address the latest developments in the controversy surrounding his nephew, Robert Vanecko.
  
  [...] Daley spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard said the mayor is still sick but returned to work in the office today, primarily to attend a meeting with leaders of labor unions that represent city employees. The Daley administration has threatened to lay off hundreds of union workers to balance the budget if the unions don't agree to concessions.
  
  But the unions did not attend today's meeting. Chicago Federation of Labor spokesman Nick Kaleba said the organization had no comment about skipping the meeting.

Daley is not going to do well in prison, that's for sure.

So now that the other unions are skipping out on meetings with the mayor, perhaps it's time for another march? Get a few more supporters on board? A larger cross section of the workforce maybe? A little more attention brought to bear on the millions wasted, the billion in TIF money, the endemic corruption that's brought Chicago to its knees?

Congratulations?

Crime is down 8%:

• Chicago Police today announced an 11 percent decrease in homicides and an eight percent drop in total crimes compared to this time last year.
  

  During the same time, crime dropped in 22 of the 25 police districts, according to preliminary statics through the end of May 2009.

  Police officials credit the decline to the work by officers on the street, implementation of new crime reduction strategies, and community involvement.

The headline should probably read "Reported Crime Drops 8%" seeing as how a large portion of the drop is police taking two, three and four hours to respond to disturbances and misdemeanor incidents that citizens finally decide isn't worth sticking around for and head home.

As far as we can tell, backlogs aren't down, shootings are up significantly, and manpower remains a problem. Tommy Skilling maintains his position as the Crime Reduction weatherman. We still haven't strung together a series of 90 degree days yet. An 11% reduction is about 25 homicides below last year? We know the number of supposed "school aged homicides" is up over 60%. Won't somebody think of the children!?!

What's the percentage of "death investigations" we're up from 2008?

Layoffs or Else

The choice? Layoffs or 16 unpaid days off:

• Meanwhile, Service Employees Union Local 73 warned that Daley plans to compromise public safety by laying off 293 civilian employees of the Chicago Police Department and forcing uniformed officers to do civilian jobs.

  Employees targeted for layoff July 1 include 186 crossing guards, 67 detention aides and 40 traffic control aides, the union said.

  “Detention aides work in lock-ups. They’ll be replaced by police for sure. Crossing guards are replaced by police now if they’re absent. Layoffs will mean more of that. And traffic control aides would probably be replaced by uniformed officers,” said Matt Brandon, secretary-treasurer of Local 73.

Crossing guard coverage is a joke. Most districts are covering three crossings a day anyway. And last week, they held an awards brunch for crossing guards who hadn't missed a day of work all school year by (get this) having the guards miss work! Perfect attendance all year except for the day of the brunch. We got half a dozen letters saying that almost five extra crossings per district had to be manned by beat cars that morning.

The Traffic Control aides though, we heard that there was this nifty new invention that was going to change the world. The authorities in Cleveland, Ohio have been testing these devices since 1914:We haven't seen a Traffic Control Aide that didn't screw up traffic 10 times worse than it was by just standing in the intersection waving like demented robots. Call us nuts, but these crazy signal things just might work!

Mope-rah Carries Water

Mope-rah goes to bat for judge Bertina Lampkin. But to make her case, she has to play fast and loose with actual facts.

• Just last week, Lampkin was a hero when she sentenced a brazen gang member to 85 years in prison for the murder of Ricardo Martinez Jr., a former Marine and aspiring Chicago Police officer.

  This week -- at least among police officers -- she's being cast as a villain

Last week Lampkin handed down an 85 year sentence. The actual date of the sentencing was 04 June.

At that point, Officer Valadez had been dead for three days, at least one suspect was in custody and it was being discovered that this suspect was on probation for gun charges. Not only that, he was in violation of that probation on numerous occasions. We are expected to believe that in Cook County, Lampkin wasn't called by someone and told there might be a shitstorm being blown up about this particular individual?

And in Mope-rah's comment section, this little gem:

• Judge Bertina Lampkin has a history of letting these thugs free. Check the case of Bennie Teague! He killed Curtis Gates in 2001 and Judge Lampkin was the judge over his trial. She let him go free, even with eyewitnesses that confirmed that Bennie was the murderer. Now he killed another man, Marcus Hendricks. Bennie is at 26th & California awaiting yet another murder trial. Maybe he will get Judge Bertina Lampkin again, she will set him free!

Seems if Lampkin had followed the letter of the law and sentenced this individual for the gun charge and the probation violations, we wouldn't be wearing mourning bands and flying flags at half staff.

Interesting Read

Seems there's money lying around all over the place to avert layoffs, pay for repairs and give the Police and Fire Departments contracts after all:

• Over the past month, Mayor Daley's tax increment financing (TIF) system has attracted some much-needed scrutiny. First came the news that the city is forking over $3.8 million to insurance giant Willis Group Holdings to refurbish their swank new Sears Tower headquarters (despite the fact that the company's annual revenue exceeds $2 billion). Then we learned from the Sun-Times that condo owners in Chicago's University Village had benefited from TIF subsidies, only to flip their "affordable housing" for a profit (essentially pocketing those taxpayer dollars). Cook County Clerk David Orr recently summed it up well: "We’re looking at massive abuse. ...TIFs can be a good tool, but this has become a giant slush fund in the city of Chicago.”

  While we could write on and on about the "massive abuse" of TIF, we're going to shift the focus slightly today -- to the hoarding of unspent TIF dollars.

The linked article describes $1.4 BILLION in cold hard cash just sitting around in accounts doing next to nothing. Correct us if we're wrong, but government isn't supposed to make money. If there's money left over, taxpayers are due a refund.

List of Bad Pension Investments

The Sun Times provides it:

• Mayor Daley's nephew Robert Vanecko and Vanecko's business partner Allison S. Davis have been making news lately.

  Their real estate investment business, DV Urban Realty Partners, manages $68 million for five city pension funds -- representing Chicago police officers, teachers, CTA employees and other city workers.

• 1. 1212 S. Michigan Ave.
  2. 2400 S. Michigan Ave.
  3. 217 S. Jefferson St.
  4. 7100 S. South Shore Dr.
  5. 3508 S. State St.
  6. 3030 N. Broadway
  7. 3013-27 N. Waterloo Ct.
  8. 3348 S. Pulaski Rd.

And amazingly, they are still getting paid "management" fees and leasing a number of these properties to the City at questionable rates. All in a days work we suppose.

Dumbass Gets Arrested

Remember the ass threatening to shoot at the police "again" and bust some "4-5's in they asses?" Seems he got locked up and Exhibit A is the YouTube video:

• An Englewood neighborhood man was arrested May 2 after allegedly threatening police officers on a YouTube video.

  Anthony Evans, 26, of the 7030 block of South May Street, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor aggravated assault to a peace officer and was cited with a violation of a city ordinance for drinking in the public way, according to a police report.

We have questions about the 02 May date given. We were under the impression that he was arrested this past week.

He and his companion actually posted a second video on 04 June saying they didn't really mean anything that was in the first video. We imagine that these fine citizens are the ones that Governor Quinn wants you to "sacrifice" more for since they don't appear to have jobs or anything resembling a future.

Replaced by Whom?

This kind of defeats the purpose of gutting the offices, desks and lockups citywide:

• Nearly 300 Chicago crossing guards, detention aides and traffic control aides could face layoffs next month as their jobs are replaced by city police officers, a union representing those workers said today.
  
  Service Employees International Union Local 73, which represents city civilian public-safety employees, were recently informed by the Chicago Department of Human Resources that 293 workers will receive layoff notices this week that will be effective July 1st, according to a news release from the union.
  
  The layoffs would include 186 crossing guards, 67 detention aides and 40 traffic control aides, the release said. The jobs will be performed in the future by Chicago police officers, the union said it was told.

So we gained 100 officers from the inside spots, only to lose 300 to crossings, lockups and traffic patrol? Fucking brilliant!

We're pretty sure this is a bluff by Shortshanks to get the SEIU to cave on certain negotiating points. Must be part of some Master(s) plan. Whoops!

Ike to Change Plea?

But that would mean he lied when he claimed he wasn't guilty! Oh, the humanity!

• Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th) pleaded not guilty to corruption charges in federal court Monday, but his attorney said Carothers could change his mind by as soon as next month.
  
  Carothers, a longtime ally of Mayor Richard Daley's, appeared relaxed during his first appearance in federal court since his indictment in late May. Wearing a dark suit, he sat in the first row of the courtroom gallery with his legs crossed waiting for his case to be called.
  
  His lawyer, Lawrence Beaumont, entered a plea of not guilty for him. But after the hearing, Beaumont said Carothers could change that plea once the government starts turning over evidence in the case. Beaumont said he and Carothers could know which option to take -- including a guilty plea -- by as soon as the next status hearing in the case, scheduled for July 7.

We can hardly wait for the evidence to be revealed. Ike wore a wire for a year, so they must have him dead-to-rights on a couple of good charges. And Ike was wearing that wire to work off a few decades worth of time in Club Fed. We're still hoping Ike may have worn the wire to a few "merit" committee meetings so someone can finally tell us what constitutes a "merit" selection.

Huh?

Someone debunk this one....quickly please:

• Well, get ready to protect the Academy boys and girls.
  
  The city/Caps is going to conduct a 8 week class for 14-18yrs olds. The class will teach them how to get along with each other.
  
  The kicker: 50 of these "kid" are from disadvantaged homes and the other 50 "kids" are convicted felons.
  
  You heard it right: CONVICTED FELONS.
  
  We heard that staff cannot pat down those special juveniles and metal detectors are not permitted. They will be given meals by staff and participate in scenario training, self defense classes and survival tactics. The goal is to work closely with recruits to learn discipline and respect. This is such an exciting project and a honor to participate. A select few of the staff will have the privilege of participating in this program. This will be a great team building experience.

If true, this is another in a linage of awkwardly bad decisions being made by this department. We just got word that SWAP (the Sheriff's Work program for non-violent offenders) is cleaning up police parking lots. You know...those places we park our personal cars? The places where OCD parks their supposed undercover cars? Yeah, those places. Is that really a wise move?

Quinn Gives Away Re-Election

What the fuck Quinn?

• Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn is sticking by his proposals to raise income taxes even as time runs out to pass a state budget.
  
  Speaking at a Chicago church Sunday, Quinn said people must ``sacrifice'' for others. He says it's important to have a budget in which Illinoisans ``take care of our neighbor.''
  
  Quinn tells reporters the state must raise taxes to maintain services for mental health care, education, and for the poor and the unemployed.
  
  State law says legislators must pass a budget by June 30. Quinn is set to meet with lawmakers Tuesday.
  
  The governor says that if a fair proposal isn't put forward soon, he'll lay out the long-term consequences for the state.

First up, how about Illinois learns how to live within its means?

Second, there's a recession going on and we've been without a contract for two years - that's a lot of sacrifice on our part already seeing as how during that time Shortshanks, Blago and Stroger all jacked up our taxes. Oh yeah, and all of them took pay raises at some point during that two years. Where is the shared sacrifice there?

We're getting damn sick and tired of carrying the politicians dead asses around, all whining about sacrifice, while handing out more and more of our dwindling paychecks to people without the motivation or wherewithall to make their own way in the world.

We hope some of the "consequences" Quinn lays out are some drastic cuts in government. We could do with less of that.

Kass Article

Shaved covered this Sunday, so we're playing catch up. But Kass writes another great one:

• Just two weeks before young Chicago Police Officer Alex Valadez was shot down on the edge of a vacant South Side lot, his alleged killer, Shawn Gaston, was in court, accused of another probation violation on a felony gun charge.
  
  That's right, another probation violation.
  
  It wasn't Gaston's first alleged violation of probation. It wasn't his second. It was his third, Cook County prosecutors confirmed late last week.

Like we've said, a decent reporter can make a living just writing stories outlining the outrageous crap that Chicago, Cook County and Illinois politicos get into day after day after day.

The real trick is getting enough voters to care enough to make some changes.

How's That Economy Richie?

Not so good?

• Hotel occupancy and average daily room rates have posted double-digit percentage drops over the first four months of this year compared with the same time last year.
  
  The decline is to be expected, given that consumers have pulled back discretionary spending and tourism is down nationally. The catch locally, though, is that the numbers are unlikely to improve as the summer travel season gets under way and consumer confidence improves, because the law of supply and demand is off kilter. Despite demand being down, the city's supply of hotel rooms is on the way up.

Supply up while demand is down? That sounds like the stage is set for a price war with different hotels undercutting each other for the cheapest night's stay. And as sales taxes are a percentage of the final cost (with downtown rates being a point or more higher), that means more declining revenue.

City Hall has already admitted their revenue "projections" were more than a little "optimistic." We pointed out that their budget was based on fantasy numbers from the word "go." Daley's "rainy day fund" and supposedly balanced budget for the next three years is about to go boom.

Thank You

A big and heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in Saturday's funeral event.

The Honor Guard was spectacular.

The bands were excellent.

The Officers attending were awe inspiring.

And a special thanks to all our suburban and out-of-state brethren who attended both wake and funeral. We hope the Chicago Police Department was there in your times of trial and will be should the need ever arise.

We only wish that all of the participants weren't so good at their jobs, because it means we've had way too much practice at burying our Officers.

OK, What the Hell Was This?

Two stories, both of which hint at the creeping decay of the Department.

Story #1:

• I would like to extend a big FUCK YOU to the midnight bosses in 007
  
  Seems that they had a problem with all the PO's dropping slips for Friday and Saturday so they could attend the wake and funeral for their own guy Alex Valadez. You see alex was a midnight officer and a good one at that. Well good thing Cmdr Calloway got wind of it and got involved. Now all these grieving officers can pay their respects and not do so on two hours or less of rest.
  
  It's shit like this that it's no wonder why you have twenty plus people from midnights alone bidding out

007 had 15 openings listed this past Friday. Can anyone verify this happened? Someone else recalled that when the Officer was hit by a train in 010, Maurer sent the watch home and TRU covered the rest of the shift that evening. Was this done for 007 and if not, why?

Story #2 is a bit more disturbing. Retired Sergeant John Northen (aka Northside) contacted the Captain in question and received straight denials that it took place. The trouble is, we've gotten lots of comments and more than a few e-mails that it did occur, including a few rebuttals of Northside's narrative of the Captain's denials.

• Look for openings in the 5th District real soon...
  
  CPT Jones, the know nothing, political hack, who is tight with the rev-re-rums and is the only reason he got promoted on this job, is ruining what was once a hidden gem on the South side.
  
  Now I know the area to work at is no gem, not by any stretch of the imagination, but the people and bosses you worked for there USED TO BE great. Watch parties, BBQ'S, family parties, you know the things that HELP IMPROVE MORALE when you work in a shithole of an area, [...]
  
  CPT Jones, he of the "get the ticket and tapes from that FOOT pursuit," is in well over his head, unless you call chatting with the dollies police work. You really fucked it up today though. Tonight, you cock-sucker, you denied officers to go to a funeral, saying "If it was that important you would have gone on your own time". Fuck you! Of course you would not understand why it was important for all of the new kids on the watch to go and pay their respects, because you NEVER were a working cop. NEVER! Not once, look in the mirror, that pussy looking back at you does not lie, you were and ARE a do nothing. [...]
  
  Well, that one will come back to bite you in the ass. Go ahead, look at everyones ticket books, their activity, and tell us we need more of this, that, and the other - DOES NOT MATTER. Nobody will do shit FOR YOU! You have officers bidding out to go to the 3rd District, that is akin to people leaving a Carnival cruise to take a ride on the Titanic.
  
  Hell, you're such a dick, even your own boy, CMDR John E. B. is trying to unload your ass without you knowing. Oops, did I let that out in public? My bad, did not mean for that. Yep, your own guy who brought you in is now trying to take you out.

We hope it hasn't descended to this level, we really do. But there are too many non-policing, double and triple-"merit" promoted hacks who are only looking for their next bump and not the morale and well-being of the men and women who work for them.

We can't ever recall a story being told like this, even as a joke (and a bad joke it would have been, too.) We hope this isn't true, but if it is, this Department supervision is too far gone for redemption.

Interesting Rumor

Got to get those nickels and dimes!

• A chirp from a little birdie is that shortshanks is looking at a long term lease of Lake Shore Dr. for a few billion dollars... It'll be essentially a toll road. Can you imagine getting on at 31st St. and getting off at Roosevelt Rd. but you gotta pay a finn or a sawbuck?? We figure when he's done selling everything (including the bottled stink he stole from some dogshit) he'll present another nonsensical monetary offer a 5th Av. & Cicero whore would be ashamed to accept then turn around and blame the "ungrateful & greedy" Police who should be glad to have a job and honored to take an ongoing attempted contractual ass-fucking from him & his minions.

And what's this about Daley claiming the budget is balanced for the next three years and he has a $350 million "rainy day fund" to cover shortfalls? Hey Shortshanks? It's pouring. Where's our goddamn contract?

Officers Outraged?

We think we've moved beyond outrage at this point:

• At the request of several Fraternal Order of Police members, union president Mark Donahue has written a letter to Chief Cook County Judge Timothy C. Evans, asking for investigations into the judicial decisions made in Gaston's case and in that of Kevin Walker, his 21-year-old alleged accomplice in Valadez's shooting. Walker also had a gun-related conviction that resulted in probation.

  "These violent criminals received little or no penalty for their violent acts, acts which Officer Valadez and the members of the Chicago Police Department do their best to prevent every day," Donahue wrote.

  Donahue said the level of frustration among officers is so high because probation violators are before judges each day without serious consequence.

Frustration leads to de-policing leads to decreasing numbers leads to depressed revenue leads to Detroit II. We've heard it's a proven mathematical formula.

Funeral Today

The procession is now underway for a 10:00 AM Mass.

RIP Officer Valadez.

Rick Telander Article

Telander lines up Daley's ass....and spanks a home run:

• The City of Chicago, led by Mayor Daley and a vast and tumorous army of aldermen and bagmen and yesmen and opportunists and spineless, parasitic political-machine halfwits of forms never seen outside the roiling cesspool of governmental slop-trough greed, has proven itself unworthy of something as potentially delicious and fulfilling as the 2016 Olympic Games.

• Dear God, we don't ask for decency in Chicago or Illinois politics. We don't even ask for intelligence. But is it wrong to ask for something less than slapstick?

  Yet things just get worse and worse with our political leaders.

  What, 26 aldermen have been to prison in modern times?

• Do you know how much money Chicago stands to lose in this deal? Are you a wheeler-dealer? A connected guy? A Daley relative hooked up to pension-fund investments?

  You'll pay, if you're not.

  I guarantee you.

  I promise you.

Go read it all. Telander makes the points we've been trying to make for over a year now. Chicagoans are going to take a tremendous hit if the Olympics chose Shortshanks' paradise.

Deja Vu All Over Again

Where have we seen this before:

• The recognized vacancies for 09-07 are as follows:Unit - Number of Vacancies
  003 - 25
  006 - 5
  007 - 15
  008 - 5
  011 - 5

Seems like no one wants to go to 003. Thirty openings last period, twenty-five this period. What could possibly be the problem over there? Hmmmm.

Time for a change J-Fed.

Higgins Does it Again

Two for two:


So pointing out how Daley is destroying Chicago is becoming the norm? That's two in a row for Higgins and we cover Telander's article above this. Has the Sun Times declared war on City Hall?

Levine Works Judge Story

And admits to 025 officers that he found the story on the blog:

• A showdown between the cops and the courts over setting violent criminals free, before and after they've been convicted. CBS 2 Chief correspondent Jay Levine chased one lead -- and ended up uncovering a much larger controversy.
  
  It was a tip that seemed almost unbelievable -- and took us all day to confirm. Because in Chicago, police and prosecutors are afraid to criticize judges they'll have to face again.
  
  In the end, several beat cops quietly filled us in, and authorities confirmed the facts we brought them: 18-year-old Chandra Crittenden is charged with unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated assault on a police officer.
  
  She was arrested following a police chase on the West Side. When officers caught up with her, according to this report we've obtained, she allegedly pointed a loaded .380-caliber handgun at one of them. He pushed her to the fence and the gun fell to the ground.

The editors at CBS asked us via e-mail to find them cops willing to talk on camera. We got a bit short with them and told them they ought to be doing the job they've been neglecting for 20 years concerning Daley, Cook County and the endemic corruption within.

We can't help but wonder if the recent spate of stories pointing out a bit of Daley-led corruption are kind of "feeler" stories the media is doing to see what kind of market there is for anti-Daley and anti-Machine material. Jackie Heard has got to be sweating if she isn't the media's only conduit for info anymore. That might be a way to save $180,000 in the near future.

The Revolt Begins Quietly

It's simmering:

• The growing ire over Chicago's parking meters took on yet another dimension Thursday when roughly 50 coin-fed meters were vandalized in the two North Side neighborhoods of Uptown and Ravenswood.
  
  The damage included globs of goo smeared on the parking meters or left to dry in the coin slots. The vandals also wrote the words "SLAVE" and "KILL COPS" on a few of the meters' display windows in black marker. Many display windows were completed covered by silver spray paint.
  
  The goo obstructing the coin slots was likely an adhesive thought to be glue or putty, Chicago police said.
  
  The putty is removable, and the meter usable if a motorist has "something to scrape it with," Chicago police spokesman Robert Perez said.

The media has done such a fine job of painting cops as bad guys that the "meter revolt" thinks we actually control the meters, set the fines and write tickets. While we're sure they are out there, most cops don't really give a shit about the meters. There's too much other stuff to write.

In any case, irate citizens are using wadded up gum, putty, expandable sprays, etc., to jam up the meters. It's obvious to anyone paying attention that a line has been crossed in many eyes. Maybe it's the blatant selling of city assets, the incompetency that accompanies fixed contracts, the insiders profiting once again in the middle of a recession, who knows?

But we'll opine that there aren't many cops looking too hard for the perps.

Higgins Cartoon

Sometimes he gets it right. He's no MacNelly or Ramirez, but he has a moment every year or so:

We're surprised there's still enough meat on the bones to feed so many vultures.

More Media Parking

Another in a continuing series of media vehicles parked illegally. These were forwarded from Shaved:
Remember, the only people who actually have to obey the law are the police. Criminals don't and the media won't. So let's see some tickets - any activity is good activity, or so we've heard. It doesn't matter if the City ever collects a dime, as long as it goes in the rating system.

Someone Explain Please

What the hell?

Please don't tell us this was a former desk officer who didn't know the height of the wagon. That's a lot of damage.

Another Useless Judge

Putting a potential cop killer on the street:

• Today at branch 50 Judge Ann O'Donnell truley demonstrated she does not give a fuck about the police. In a case where a female offender pulled and pointed a loaded gun at a police officer. The judge found probable cause, but reduced bail because the family couldn't raise enough to get her out for her graduation. and with the state objecting. The judge thought it was more important to let a potential cop killer go to graduation and reduced the bond. It makes me sick as well as all the officers present. Please get this out to all the readers. This judge has no business being a judge.
  
  Thank you

One pull of the trigger and we're attending to another funeral. But it's important for this criminal to attend graduation? We really need to get judges like this off the bench.

Daley Violates Ordinance?

They got Al Capone on tax evasion charges. Maybe we can get Daley on a quasi-criminal complaint? From an e-mail:

• In doing some research for an investigation I'm conducting I noticed this City of Chicago ordinance specifically addressed to a Police Officer killed in the line-of duty. Do any of you guys know when the last time this was actually done.
  
  2-84-440 Memorial services.
  
  Upon loss of life in the line of duty of any police officer, a memorial service shall be held outside the main entrance (LaSalle Street) of City Hall in which participants shall be the mayor, the commissioner of police, and the alderman or aldermen representing the ward(s) in which said officer lived and/or worked. During such memorial, the official City of Chicago flag shall be flown at half-mast, and the name of the police officer shall be read while Taps are played. Immediately thereafter, said flag shall be lowered and given to the local station where said police officer was assigned, and then presented to the survivors of said police officer as a tribute. In the event of inclement weather the ceremony may be held in the lobby of City Hall.
  
  (Prior code § 11-4; Added Coun. J. 3-25-86, p. 28874)

This is still an active ordinance. Can anyone at the City Hall detail recall this being done in the past few decades? We can't even recall on old-timer even mentioning this ceremony.

Oh Hell No (Masters)

Is this for real?

• I don't know if you are aware of this or really want to post it, but are you aware that Mike Masters requests a number be generated everytime his name is mentioned on this blog? These numbers are being investigated by a Sgt in IAD confidential who is none too happy about being given the cases. This Sgt has pulled court cases that show nothing can be done yet Masters still demands the numbers.

Wow (Masters). This can't be real, can it (Masters)? We'd like to hear from someone in IAD if this is true (Masters). The amount of paper generated for this nonsense must fill a room (Masters).

Let's lay this out:

• According to a few hundred comments on the blog, Mike Masters, civilian, Shortshanks appointee, J-Fed's Chief-of-Staff and de facto head of the Department, rode on jobs with a Sergeant from the "Policy Group" on New Years Eve while ARMED, in violation of Illinois State Law, City Ordinance and Department Policy. He effected at least one arrest during this time, possibly more.
  
• According to the comments, the resultant CR investigation has been short circuited, shuffled and cost at least one IAD exempt her spot when she refused to play ball with the attempted circumvention of the process.
  

Who knew IAD was such a hotbed of political intrigue? Anyway, Masters is welcome to address these scurrilous rumors and put the matter to rest. It's not like Daley has looked the other way when people he puts in high places carry around illegal pistols in violation the law. Double standards in Chicago? Good gracious no! (just for fun, google "Ronnie "Little Pistol" Calicchio")

Masters. Masters. Masters. Masters. Masters. Masters. Masters. Masters. Masters.

The Quality of Leadership

Anyone over at Patrol Division want to revamp the 911 priority systems for taking calls yet?

• HARRISON LIFER SAID:
  
  HEY SCC, WANT A GREAT LAUGH????
  
  Pull up event # 0915204186. It's a job dispatched to Bt. 922 on 01 June 09 @ 0836 hrs.
  
  For those of you reading this at home, unable to check this job out via PCAD OR PDT, allow me to provide you with a brief synopsis...
  
  A certain clout-heavy Lt. (WITH a take-home car) calls 911 to report that she is unable to get into her unmarked police vehicle because...ready??? HERE'S THE GOOD PART...her neighbor's sprinkler is spraying water on it!
  
  This is the type of leadership guiding what was once the most respected police department in the nation.
  
  What kind of idiot can't figure out AT LEAST a few different ways to solve this problem on their own? You know, maybe slide in the door on the opposite side of the vehicle? Maybe turn the neighbor's hose off? Maybe aim the sprinkler away from your car?
  
  But to call 911 and have such bullshit take up time and resources is inexcusable...especially when the origin of such bullshit is a Lt. of police. Absolutely fucking pathetic. Pull up the job for the Lt's name. The call-taker misspelled her last name, but it ends with "cua".
  
  Hey JFED? You want to know why the majority of lowly blue shirts DON'T respect their "bosses"? Look into shit like this and you'll see exactly what we deal with on a daily basis.
  
  I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say "merit" might have something to do with the good Lt.'s thought process/problem-solving skills.

911 for a sprinkler disturbance. Classic. We await the forthcoming gunplay.

"Man of God" Our Asses

In the comment section of the "Killers Charged" thread, CFD Lieutenant Jim McMahon (retired) posts a give-and-take he engaged in with the "reverend" Pfleger. McMahon levels a few good broadsides and Pfleger loses it:

• In a message dated 6/2/2009 9:03:07 P.M. Central Daylight Time, pastorpfleger@ameritech.net writes:
  I’m going to pass your emails on to Jim Joyce and a number of my friends in the Fire Dept. I think they would be interested in your thoughts.

What possible actions could Joyce, CFD brass or anyone else for that matter, take against a retired CFD Lieutenant and an American citizen expressing his disgust with Pfleger's embrace of gangsterism and his silence when those thugs gun down a Police Officer? Does the CFD have a goon squad that runs around kidnapping and "disappearing" retired Lieutenants who dare to criticize the Catholic Church? Phleger is such a phucking phool.

Arrangements

Visitation 05 Jun 09 at Blake and Lamb Funeral Home
4727 W. 103rd St, Oak Lawn 1500-2100 hours
St. Judes at 1900 hours

Funeral Service at St. Bede's the Venerable
83rd and Kostner 1000 hours

Internment Private at Mt Auburn Cemetery

----------------------------------------

Info from our brothers and sisters in blue:

• Please accept our most heartfelt condolences for the loss of Police Officer Valadez from your brothers & sisters of the Oak Lawn Police Department.
  
  Once again we will provide assistance at Blake & Lamb for this sad occasion. We ask that only those Officers on duty park along the curb of east bound & west bound 103rd in the designated areas (the curb lanes will be blocked off from Kilpatrick to Kenton). All other Officers can park in the bowling alley lot or the bank lot at 103rd & Cicero. We expect a large turn out & will be directing traffic. We will do our best to get everyone in & out as easily and quickly as possible.
  
  For those Officer's assigned to the CPD detail & any other Officers that may need it we will have plenty of cold water on hand, feel free to stop by the Incident Command vehicle for the water. Please do not hesitate to ask for assistance from any OLPD Officer.
  
  Thank you for your cooperation, our thoughts & prayers are with our CPD brethren and the friends and family of Officer Valadez.
  
  Respectfully,
  
  The Men & Women of the Oak Lawn Police Department

Thank you OLPD.

Killers Charged

Good job by everyone involved:

• Two men — both with histories of gun-related arrests — were charged today with the murder of a Chicago Police officer who was gunned down in a drive-by shooting as he answered a call about shots being fired in Englewood.

Gee, extensive histories of gun related arrests, yet still running around loose. How can that happen? Oh wait...Cook County - we forgot.

• Gaston was arrested in 2007 for carrying a loaded gun in the 6000 block of South Paulina, about two blocks from Valadez’s slaying.

  Gaston pleaded guilty to a felony and was sentenced on March 20, 2008 to two years’ probation by Judge Bertina Lampkin. He is due in court before Lampkin next month on a violation of probation.

Ah yes, Judge Lampkin. Two years probation for a gun felony? Amazing. And Ike Carothers is facing 98 years for accepting $40,000 in bribes? The disparity is a wonder to behold, isn't it?

• Walker pleaded guilty to a 2008 attempted armed robbery in the 6400 block of South Fairfield after he pulled a man from a truck as an accomplice held a gun to the man’s head, according to court records.

We're sure this one was turning his life around back in 2008, too. In-fucking-credible.

CPD Goes "Global"

Way to report Fran!

• The city of Chicago will flood the streets with police officers this summer to keep crime from surging as it usually does when the weather gets warmer, Mayor Daley said today.

  In part, the police department will do that by moving as many as 500 officers out from behind desks, Daley said.

• The Police Department’s Global Strike Force will be expanded by 50 officers and supervisors, Daley said, and a new strike team will be created, comprised of personnel from gang intelligence and gang enforcement units, as well as neighborhood districts, to conduct surveillance in potentially violent areas.

So another 50 are leaving the Districts? The main thing that keeps quiet neighborhoods quiet is being stripped to "conduct surveillance in potentially violent areas"? And how the hell is this a "flood" of officers? What is happening is that the Department is finally acknowledging what the blog has been saying for two years - that we're shorthanded. Badly. And 45 recruits in a few weeks isn't going to do shit when we're having 50 retirements a month.

Better tell the citizens in the decent neighborhoods to stock up on arms and ammo. And stop voting for an idiot who is leaving you high and dry.

ASA's Overreach

Did anyone catch this at the end of the Abbate article yesterday?

• But prosecutors said police officers are held to a higher standard, so when they commit crimes they are automatically guilty of official misconduct.

  Fleming said that under the prosecutors' reasoning, any off-duty officer on a cell phone in violation of the city's ordinance could be charged with felony official misconduct.

"automatically guilty."

No presumption of innocence. No right to a trial. No matter your intent.

You are "automatically guilty" and therefore eligible for 2 to 5 years in state prison.

Fleming took it to the logical, and ridiculous, extreme to make a point.

Our point is going to be a little blunter than Judge Fleming's - ASA's will fuck a copper in a heartbeat if they think it's going to advance their career or ingratiate them with the current political administration.

Hoffman on the Warpath

But underestimating the loss we think:

• Chicago’s 36,000 parking meters were worth nearly twice as much as the $1.15 billion Mayor Daley got when he rammed through a 75-year lease in a few days without analyzing what the system was worth, the city’s inspector general has concluded.

  A steep schedule of rate hikes and operational problems ranging from over-stuffed and improperly calibrated downtown meters to broken pay-and-display boxes have turned the deal into a nightmare for motorists.
  

  But Inspector General David Hoffman says the lease was a financial disaster as well.

We recall seeing an article by financial guru Terry Savage that said the meter lease deal should have been quite a few billions more. Regardless, Daley's cronies will make out in some form or another unless the contract gets rescinded in court. Just another day in Chicago.

3 Cops Hurt - Assailant Shot

In 013? 012?

• Police were involved in a shooting near the intersection of West Madison Street and Western Avenue tonight, authorities said.

  Citing very preliminary information, Officer John Mirabelli said shots were fired by police in the 2300 block of West Madison Street after a traffic stop.

  A "potential offender" was struck by police gunfire, he said.

We get to shoot "potential offenders" now? Damn, we better get another gun because we're going to wear out the barrel on this one.

Is there a chance someone can get an actual professional speaker to talk to the media once in a while? It'd save us problems in the long run.

Officers are all expected to be OK.

Abbate Guilty

Duh:

• A Cook County judge today found Chicago Police officer Anthony Abbate guilty of aggravated battery for his 2007 attack on a female bartender, saying that even if the woman pushed and shoved Abbate to get him to leave a restricted area, "that did not justify his actions afterward, which were completely out of proportion."

  Earlier in the day, Judge John J. Fleming, presiding over the bench trial, acquitted Abbate of two lesser charges of official misconduct.

Thank goodness we've now seen the last of that video! It was getting tedious.

Disturbing Video

This video was pointed out to us in the comment sections approximately 8 hours before Officer Valadez was shot and killed in Englewood. In it, a number of individuals threaten to "shoot at they" police and put some "four-fives" in the police for an alleged confrontation earlier:



It appears to have been uploaded on 30 May and shot from a mobile phone. It's definitely Englewood. At the end, it appears the subjects are passing a gun from one pocket to another.

Anyone from the mainstream media want to take this one and run with it? A glimpse behind the curtain? Run this at the top of your newscasts? A video filmed in Englewood threatening to shoot at and injure or even kill Chicago Police Officers. And within two days, it comes to pass? Coincidence? Or evidence of a broadbased declaration of war on the police?

Posts Running Late Tonight

Due to the outpouring of support for the fallen today, we're a bit behind.

Unfortunately, we had to delete a number of comments in the remembrance thread. We stated thoughts and prayers ONLY for the thread right below this one. The oaths of vengeance, the blame, the rip jobs on the media coverage and certain figures in certain positions, all that can wait for another thread.

Use this post if you want. But we're moderating almost 600 comments today from nearly 20,000 visitors and while we appreciate everyone wanting to get a word in, we aren't discussing contract issues, ASA's, men of the cloth or anything else at the moment.

Thanks for your patience.

UPDATE: We really don't feel like posting much tonight. Our heart isn't in the "sarcasm and silliness" frame. It's difficult to be entertaining after a day like today. We'll see what we can find tonight, but we aren't too hopeful.

Englewood Shooting - Officer Down (Update)

Critical condition:

• A plain-clothes Chicago police officer was shot in the head and critically wounded early this morning in the West Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, authorities said.

  The attack occurred about 12:30 a.m. in the 6000 block of South Hermitage Avenue as the 27-year-old three-year veteran officer and his partner were investigating a report of shots fired, said Police Supt. Jody Weis at a news conference in the lobby of police headquarters.

  The shots were fired from a vehicle with more than one person in it, Weis said. Weis, who at the early morning news conference was wearing a gray Bears sweatshirt and blue jeans, refused to discuss that vehicle.

Thoughts and prayers ONLY at this time. Leave the rest for later.

UPDATE: Officer Alex Valadez succumbed to his wounds early this afternoon. RIP Officer.

J-Fed = Harbinger of Doom

J-Fed attended an "anti-violence" rally and march Saturday. We don't know if he spoke or just marched and flexed his muscles, but what followed the next day was nothing short of epic:

• Eight men were fatally shot this weekend in a slew of shootings citywide that left several others wounded.

At one point, the top six stories at BreakingNews.com were shooting related, so we can only assume that (A) the Shortshanks embargo on death and mayhem reporting lapsed or (B) someone was asleep at the editor's desk.

And once again, it was not a warm weekend.

Got Your Back!

What a novel way to improve morale!

• I guess miracles never cease..
  
  At the Area 5 CAR meeting, Friday I heard something from Peterson that was shocking..."Commanders, Deputies, and other exempts, tell your supervisors to back them 100% when they are right, actually back them when 100% when they are wrong. We need to step up support for our people"!!!!! I was pretty shocked, having never met the man, his comments were hopefully a step in the right direction.. The funniest thing was the look on Brusts face when he said it, I swear the voice in brusts head was saying, " what you talking about willis?"
  
  Of course a few minutes later, Dugan put things back into reality...Commander of 25, I think Lopez, was on the hot seat. They wanted to know why arrests and contact cards were down for April. Lopez related he had 15 people on furlough, Dugan replied, "for operational needs you can change their furloughs". Lopez replied, sir they have a contract, at which point Dugan interrupted,PER OPERATIONAL NEEDS, you can change their furlough" Dugan closed his little notebook, and the next topic was discussed. Lopez knew that was an un winnable battle...
  
  Tell you what their Doogie, go ahead and let the 5yr guy on tact change from a 4b to 7b and quote operational needs, and you better bet me and my 6yrs will grieve it because i wasnt offered to fill in for tact or change my furlough as the person with less seniority was..."The operational needs have to be acknowledged by the Supt and the mayor in writing that a serious emergency condition exists"...But knowing Dugan he will pull some obscure passage from an order or the contract and show he is right...Instead of using common sense and understanding furloughs are part of the job....

At any given point, 8% of a District is on furlough except for the summer months when the percentage drops to 7%. Fifteen people on furlough in a District like 025 is a pittance. Five a watch on average, but probably mostly guys on days. That's why we have watch relief bids - to even out the manpower.

If the Department is going to declare a "serious emergency condition" exists so that they can cancel furloughs, what happens come September? October? November? Suddenly we're going to have 12-15% of the District manpower off? These furloughs have to be taken during the Operational Calendar year, right?

Is this what we've come to? We're going to cancel scheduled furloughs with the attendant family trips, summer vacation activities, and who knows what plans for some specious "emergency conditions" and trust Mother Nature to keep a lid on the violence when we're down 15% manpower in the fall?

How about you let us bank unused portions of our furloughs as hours? Or agree to buy the days from us at OT rates? Payable along with the BFD/P-Day sellbacks? We'd give serious thought to banking/selling 25% of our V-Days for the right price. It would save everyone this nonsense about switching our 6th or 7th period furloughs for bullshit.

Long Week Ahead

Baring some unforeseen circumstances, the Abbate trial starts Monday. That means the media will be running the infamous footage of him throwing haymaker after haymaker and missing just about every single one.

And again, while we and 99% of our readers condemned the actions of this asshat, we roundly objected to the felony charges that were based on nothing but political considerations. Look at what this person who never should have been hired in the first place has wrought on the Department as a whole.

In any case, if you have blood pressure concerns, avoid the news for a bit.

Captains Union - Listen Up

Rumor floating around that the Department may take action against Watch Commanders who disregarded or worked "around" the recent Bureau of Patrol reorganization directive.

We understand "action" to mean assignment changes as there are very few Captains who are actually eligible to be demoted.

We're sure we aren't telling the Captains anything they don't already know, but for everyone else, be very aware of the Department's tendency to overreach, especially in recent months with a fed in charge who has no clue about Labor Agreements and Contracts. The Department loses a majority of the grievances filed against it, but it usually takes a few years.

They've already driven the Officers' morale to the verge of extinction. Are Captains next?

Tax Hike Fails in House

Yesterday's Senate vote falls flat in the House:

• SPRINGFIELD -- Democrats in the Illinois House led the rejection tonight of a $4.5 billion plan to boost income taxes by 50 percent for the next two years, with a midnight deadline approaching to fund a new state budget.

  The House action came after Democrats decided in a closed-door meeting that they also didn't have the votes for a higher, permanent tax plan passed by the Senate.

  The House voted 42-74 for the measure, which required 60 votes for approval to go on to the Senate.

Well, at least we know they aren't completely suicidal. Now, instead of raising taxes, cut spending you idiots. We haven't had a raise in two years and we're cutting spending like there's no tomorrow.