Bears v Detroit

The Lions are on a streak, winning last week for the first time since 2007. There's no telling how far they could go with this team...

Seriously though, everything points toward a Bears win.

DL Renewal Fees

Ridiculous:

• For more than 25 years, it has cost Illinoisans 10 dollars to renew their driver's licenses. That is about to change.

  On Oct. 11, the cost of renewing a standard Illinois driver's license jumps from the $10 in effect since 1983 to $30.

  The hike in the renewal fee came as lawmakers and Gov. Pat Quinn raised a number of taxes and fees in order to pay for a $30 billion program to build roads, schools and bridges.

Who wants to bet renewals start to drop? Illegals already feeling the heat won't renew. People laid off won't be able to spare the money. Resentful individuals will refuse to pay a 200% increase in the fees as their own form of protest.

We're sensing a massive disturbance.

Predicting the Fallout

Now that the dream is dead, there are quite a few questions on every one's minds. Some have popped up in the comments. Some are being bandied about at a local watering hole we frequent to enjoy non alcoholic refreshments. Some of it is roll call talk.

• Since the City doesn't need a few thousand rifle-trained cops for an Olympic event, will the rifle program be canceled?

We imagine that this would be a tremendous "F.U." by Daley to the CPD. He's going to be looking for scapegoats and here's the Police Department all ready and waiting to be kicked around. We wouldn't put a thing past him.

• The unions, specifically the Laborers, granted Shortshanks the ability to re-open their contracts at any time in the next few years. What happens now?

Odds are that Daley will re-open these contracts very shortly. Channel 7 is reporting the budget deficit is closing on $600 million. There's no way Shortshanks can balance this thing with $600 million in new taxes. We imagine he's going to double the unpaid days for non-union workers and double the layoffs for the unions. He's trapped because he made a whole lot of promises for Olympic-related construction work to keep the peace and that's evaporated.

• How much was spent on the Michael Reese land? How much was spent on posters, handouts, school material, fake crowds in Daley Plaza, etc.

We imagine a lot of this is going to come to the fore as "investigative reporting." The media smells blood and Shortshanks has lost a rather large battle. The businesses that were soaked for Millennium Park also coughed up for Olympic material. They're tapped out and probably not feeling to much loyalty to a weakened mayor. We can only hope.

• "reverend" land speculators? Connected business people? Insider deals? All that land around Douglas Park and Washington Park?
  

Again, we'll hear the stories. The media might grab a few. We'll see.

• All the cash generating assets have been sold for a pipe dream. Now what?

Now the taxpayers take it in the shorts. Plain and simple. Watch for middle class flight to take off in the next year or so. The economy isn't recovering, the housing market is still softer than goose droppings, manufacturing is taking a beating. Big cities can't operate in a "business as usual" type setting and Exhibit A is Chicago.

• Where does the casino go now? And who has the contracts?

The million dollar question. It will all become clear shortly.

And as far as we can tell, there is no "zero tolerance" mission being run against citizens of Brazil.

Record Day

Over 670 comments and they're still rolling in.

We've moderated almost 1,000 comments all day with surprisingly few deletions.

We had something like 180 comments in the first hour following the Olympic vote and we were doing over 1,000 visits an hour for 4 straight hours (including a peak of 1,600 at one point).

As of this writing, we've surpassed 16,000 visits for the day and over 22,000 page views.

So we extend an appreciative "thank you" to everyone who came by. Thanks for making us part of your informational choice. Stay tuned as we're sure more than a few scandals will emerge from this monumental Shortshanks failure.

One could say it's almost Olympian in scope.

What Was to be Posted

The following is the article we had all ready to go when Chicago was announced as the Olympic winner. We were 99% convinced that it was in the bag for Chicago and we were prepared to spend the next seven years being proven correct about cost overruns, crooked contracting, connected payouts and all manner of typical Chicago perfidy.

We'll just say we've never been more happy to be wrong about something.

• We'd like to apologize to everyone reading.
  
  We're sorry we didn't do more to garner at least a single "No" vote in the City Council.
  
  We're sorry we didn't mobilize a hundred, maybe even a few hundred people to circulate petitions, make calls, get the word out to another few hundred people and start a grass roots campaign.
  
  But most of all, we're apologizing to our children, our grandchildren and yours. We're sorry we didn't vote these fools out of office years ago. We're sorry that you and your families and your friends are doomed to a crushing debt that won't be paid off for three and four generations when the Olympic Games come to Chicago. We're sorry that we couldn't save what was once one of the greatest cities in these United States from the hands of a common thief and his merry band of plunderers.

The Olympic committee made this entire post unnecessary. Chicago's doom may come to pass at the hands of a madman anyway - Shortshanks is going to be under a bit of pressure from here on out - but at least it's going to be a bit more difficult.

And in Important News...

Hockey season has begun. Back to sports that matter.

HAHA!!!!

FIRST ROUND ELIMINATION!!!

The SS Shortshanks pulls into harbor.


Priceless.

Another Questionable Deal?

From a regular contributor of ours:

• I'm been laying low lately. But if the feds want to do some investigating, talk to the Panasonic sales rep who tried to sell their superior version of a video camera system instead of the crappy Cobans. The Cobans were purchased under a "piggyback" scheme where Chicago could purchase the Cobans for the same price as a purchasing city. I believe the purchasing city was in N. or S. Carolina. Find out what that Carolina municipality "piggybacked" and lets see where ball goes from there.

Contracts let out by the City could provide at least a decade's worth of exposes to a budding investigative reporter. Tens of millions of dollars wasted annually while Shortshanks pleads poor and raises taxes could actually raise voter ire to record levels and provide the impetus for change.

Of course, the media being part and parcel of the Democratic party, exposing the rotten culture of Machine politics might actually encourage voters to look to Republicans as a cure. We guess that won't be happening.

Politics at HQ

From a fly on the wall:

• No more promotions this year, including Detectives. Supposedly Peterson flipped his top at hearing this, seeing as how the clearance rate is tanking and the D-unit is allegedly more poorly manned (percentage wise) that the Patrol Division. A proposal is floating around to cancel all detective details to outside task forces, but it's considered a long shot
• Our favorite Elton John fan has made her THIRD appearance at IAD this past week. Brust isn't happy about being middled by Ruthie and is making waves. It seems the answers to certain questions are being "massaged" and even recanted outright. Rule 14 violations?

You can bet that 35th Street is more than happy about today being the announcement for the Olympics. All their problems will be buried in the aftermath of celebrations or mourning.

Another Useless Law

Thanks again aldercreatures. You guys and gals are leaders among men and women:

• Owners of dogs that make excessive noise that "unnecessarily disturbs" their human neighbors could face fines of between $50 and $250 a day under an ordinance approved today by a Chicago City Council committee.
  
  Here's how the measure defines excessive noise: "repeated or habitual barking, whining, crying, howling (and) whimpering." It's aimed at dogs but also would apply to any animal.
  
  "It's not an anti-dog thing," said Ald. Patrick O'Connor, 40th, who is co-sponsoring the measure along with Ald. Richard Mell, 33rd. "It's not preventing dogs from being dogs. It just means that if you let your dog bark all day everyday, disturbing peace for people in the area, there's a possibility now that police can do something."

We guess "slim and none" is a possibility, what with being a few hundred officers short, backlogs each and every afternoon/evening, rushing from hot call to hot call, generating reports on a system that's down almost as often as it's up. We're sure we'll get to these calls.

Is there a call priority lower than a "4" yet? These would be a "5" in our book. It's just something else for citizens to bitch at the police about for not responding to in a "timely" manner.

FOP Survey

They're looking for incidents involving denial of being able to use Time Due.

With the City's recent end-around run of FLSA time usage by paying off the time on the books, we imagine that management is going to be using the tactic of denying time off more regularly to alleviate the shortages that are becoming more and more painfully obvious.

What can be done about it? The argument can be made that we are actually saving the City money during these rough economic times by checking the "Comp Time" box rather than the "$$$" box when overtime is earned. And it isn't unreasonable to request that we be able to use that time off whenever we'd like without onerous preconditions.

We suppose keeping track of the denials will aid in a future grievance or lawsuit. That seems to be the only way to get anything done around here anymore.

$4 Million Swindle?

Shaved had this up yesterday - a nice catch we missed:

• A Chicago bank has filed to foreclose on a shuttered South Side theater owned by Regina Evans, the Country Club Hills police chief better known for overseeing a probe into the recent suicide of a former confidant to indicted Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

  Citizens Bank & Trust Co. alleges that a group led by Ms. Evans defaulted on a $2.1-million loan to finance the New Regal Theater, a shuttered landmark at 1641 E. 79th St. that the venture bought for $2.4 million in March 2008.

• Ms. Evans, a former Chicago police lieutenant, had planned to revive the theater with live entertainment, helped by the city’s decision to forgive $1.9 million in city loans and grants tied to the property. But she stopped making interest payments on the loan starting in May, according to the foreclosure suit, filed earlier this month in Cook County Circuit Court.

Now try to get the city to forgive you a $60 parking ticket or a $120 overdue water bill. Anyone want to guess what happens to you?

Sergeant Contract Fails

Not just fails - fails badly:

• Number of ballots returned: 1,012 (79% participation)
• Ballots counted: 1,010
• Votes to Accept the Contract: 84 (8%)
• Votes to Reject the Contract: 926 (92%)

Too bad the City filed for arbitration, otherwise we might have seen a 93% rejection rate from the FOP membership. Nicely done Sergeants.

Fenger Officers Dumped?

Gee, who really runs things around here?

• The officers who work at Fenger were dumped out of the school after Weis met with the principal. These officers were the ones who were instrumental in identifying the offenders from the beating. The principal tried to remove the white officer earlier because he is WHITE without ever having met him.
  This is the sixth principal that these officers have been at Fenger under and now suddenly they are the problem? Jesse Jackson met with the principal and now it becomes the officers fault.
  Weis caved like the coward that he is in this matter as he does in every other matter.
  
  This is yet another example of the complete ineffectiveness of Weis' leadership. Jody to put in bluntly YOU SUCK

This is going to be a huge can of worms. Be warned, comments are to be heavily moderated. Choose your words carefully if you want to see it in print.

J-Fed Warms Up the Bus

Allegations are starting to fly around that there was a squad car at or around the corner from the recent Fenger beating and officers took no action. Here's the relevant portion of the Sun Times article:

• Weis said that his department also plans to investigate a complaint that the first police officers arriving at the scene of the beating didn't intervene in the brawl.

  "But keep in mind, you had large-scale civil unrest," Weis said. "You had many fights breaking out in many locations."

  Weis said those first arriving officers called for back-up within "seconds" of arriving.

Maybe those first two paragraphs should be reversed? It was for all intents and purposes a riot. And a single 10-99 unit isn't going to stop a riot, or many "mini-melees" which is what we see on the tape. All you can do is call for back up and wait for the cavalry to fly in. And therein lies J-Fed's problem.

He's never had to deal with what is all too commonplace on that video - a highly volatile situation involving dozens of combatants in different states of armed and unarmed conflict. Officers have one single obligation and that is to go home safe at the end of their shift with the same number of limbs and unbroken bones that they started the shift with. It's unfortunate that it doesn't happen all the time, but the law doesn't say we have to needlessly disregard our own safety and throw away our well being to no purpose.

Do we on occasion do just that? Yes. Most of us came on this job with a sense of a higher purpose and in being of that caliber, we do sometimes disregard our own personal safety for the well being of others, even for an ungrateful public. That's who we are. The State even gives us the awesome responsibility to occasionally take a life within certain narrow parameters. But we aren't obligated to exercise any of those powers.

An officer arriving on the scene of that video, and we highly doubt that there was since this all took place a few blocks from Fenger, but if there was an officer on that block, he or she did exactly the correct thing in staying out of it until such time as the number of officers arriving made it appropriate and safe to take police action.

These kids were ready and able to kill, and did in fact kill a fellow combatant. With a board. Now what if a 10-99 unit arrived and got jumped from behind or blindsided by this mob? We saw what happened to Officer Cole following a traffic accident. We'd be looking at an officer losing their wallet, star and gun at the minimum, their health or life at the worst. And to what end?

Now imagine if that same 10-99 unit came upon that scene and lawfully and justifiably shot and killed one or more of the board wielding assailants? The news reports tell us a board is a deadly weapon. The evidence of such is lying on a slab at the morgue. And Illinois State Law and General Order says we can kill in defense of life. So the arriving officer shoots from the vantage point of the camera into the backs of people chasing and beating other people with boards. The backs of juvenile offenders who just killed one person. Would you want to be Monday morning quarterbacked by the community, the reverends, our own J-Fed who has shown no compunction when it comes to throwing officers under the bus.

Sorry. Ain't going to happen. Not in these times. Maybe years ago, but not now. Maybe never again either. Wait for backup. Observe and report. Welcome to the new age of policing. Hope you enjoy your stay.

Good News on the Gun Front

Looks like Chicago is going to join the United States of America finally. The Sun Times:

• The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Wednesday to hear a challenge to Chicago’s strictest-in-the-nation handgun ban likely means the other holster is ready to fall on the ban, advocates on both sides of the issue seemed to agree Wednesday.

  “A year from now there will not be a Chicago handgun ban,” said Alan Gura, the attorney representing the gun owners fighting the ban.

  The high court’s five-member conservative majority last year threw out Washington, D.C.’s gun ban in the District of Columbia v. Heller case, but stopped short of invalidating the rest of the country’s handgun bans because that case dealt with federal bans, not local ones.

And more coverage at the Tribune:

• By agreeing to hear a challenge to Chicago's sweeping ban on handguns, the U.S. Supreme Court set the stage Wednesday for a historic ruling on gun rights.
  
  At issue is whether state and local gun-control ordinances can be struck down as violating the "right to keep and bear arms" cited in the Second Amendment. A high court ruling on the city's 27-year-old ban, which could come by summer, could open the door to legal challenges of various gun control measures nationwide.
  
  Chicago gun rights advocates applauded the court's decision, saying that it gave them a good chance of overturning the ban, which they argue gives criminals an advantage over other citizens. They say that lifting the ban would help reduce violence on city streets and allow citizens to protect themselves in their homes.

Luckily, Daley says the city is broke, so he shouldn't be able to mount much of a defense at the Supreme Court next year. Right? We mean, he wouldn't possibly think of wasting taxpayer money on a losing proposition like this, would he? Everything is tied up in the Olympic bid, right?

We eagerly await the lies and fictions that are to be put forth by Shortshanks and his sycophants about "streets being more dangerous," "rivers of blood," and other such popular fictions that have been disproven in 48 other states that have handgun ownership. We also look forward to citizens helping to reduce the street crime rates.

Shooting Last Night

Cops OK. Bad guy not so much:

• Chicago Police shot a man who allegedly pointed a gun at officers early Wednesday in the Southwest Side’s Lawndale community.

  Uniformed Ogden District police officers and units from the Mobile Strike Task Force responded about 1:30 a.m. to a report of shots fired near the 2100 block of South Homan Avenue and saw a vehicle speeding away from the area, police said.

  Officers stopped the vehicle in the 1900 block of South Trumbull Avenue. As they approached the vehicle, a 23-year-old man inside allegedly pointed a gun at the officers, who shot the man, police said.

Nice work Officers.

OEMC Scandal

Missed this one. Seems like it should be bigger news than it is, but we wouldn't want to point out crooked contracts and what appears to be extortion when we're all rooting for the Olympics, right?

• The inspector general's office is recommending the firing of the No. 2 man at Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communications for alleged contract irregularities that cost taxpayers $2.25 million.

  Jim Argiropoulos, the $149,832-a-year first deputy who once served as OEMC's acting director, is accused of engineering a scheme that culminated in the falsification of documents to expedite the purchase of a new 911 dispatch console system from Schaumburg-based Motorola.
  

  Chicago taxpayers have yet to receive anything for their money.

• Without a contract to justify the console purchase -- and apparently unwilling to wade through the normal bidding process -- Argiropoulos allegedly ordered underlings to find a way to get it done. As a result, a phony voucher was issued for 18,000 handheld radios under an existing Motorola contract.

  No sooner had the company started ordering software than Argiropoulos allegedly demanded an upgrade, with the $2.25 million payment applied to the new system.

  When Motorola balked at the demand, Argiropoulos allegedly played hardball: If Motorola didn't give him what he wanted, its future city contracts would be in jeopardy, according to sources familiar with the inspector general's report.

Would these 18,000 radios be the current pieces of crap we have with inactive GPS capability, the inability to link up with CFD radios in the event of a major catastrophe and can't hold a charge for more than 6 hours without dying? This fucker should be in prison for a long time.

Another Beating?

But of course, little coverage because there is no video:

• A 14-year-old boy was beaten and critically injured tonight in the city's Edgewater neighborhood, police said.

  The unidentified victim was listed in critical condition at Children's Memorial Hospital undergoing surgery, police said.

  A witness told police they saw the victim being chased by three males about at 7:45 p.m. on the 6300 block of North Paulina Street, [...].

  After the three assailants caught up with the victim, all three beat him, and one reportedly struck him over the head using an unknown "shiny" object, [...].

  The boy was rushed to the hospital to be treated for massive head injuries.

The beatings will continue until....when?

PPO Exempts? Exempt PPOs?

Something popping up in the comments about Commanders are going to be dressing up in the blue jeans uniform of the day, strapping on the leather gloves and slicking back their hair and working tactical missions?

Whose bright idea is this?

The vast majority of bosses don't even know what handcuffs are for, let alone using them. Lord help the poor PO that's going to have to FTO these people through AIRA, CLEAR, Automated Arrest, the Hot Desk, name checks, contact cards and who knows what else. Make sure each and every boss gets an opportunity to go to Court for PC hearings.

Just make sure no one shows them the shortcuts.

Judge "Really Really" Means It

Really:

• Giving him a mix of encouragement and tough words, a judge sentenced the teenager who masqueraded as a cop to nearly three months in youth custody for violating his home confinement.

  Judge Andrew Berman ordered the 15-year-old boy who famously impersonated a Chicago police officer earlier this year held in the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center until a Dec. 16 hearing to determine whether the youth has made any progress.

  The teen, whom the Tribune is not naming because he is a juvenile, has been held in custody since late August after prosecutors petitioned the court claiming he had violated his home confinement several times this summer.

  At a Sept. 17 hearing, the teen testified that his mother kicked him out of their South Side home for several days following an argument.

Whoops. Back up there. Mom kicked him out? Seems we have parenting issues in addition to the lack of a positive adult role model. We're going to say this stint won't straighten out a thing.

Real Numbers?

Interesting numbers, crunched by someone who can work a computer:

• In 2008 there were 7,253 p.o.s assigned to districts 001 thru 025,exactly one year there are now 6,649. That is a loss of 604 officers in one year. How much more can be done to the officers and the department. Remember this when you are looking for backup on a call. Be safe and go home to your families. They have made us expendable.

District manpower is low and getting lower every day. And an interesting take on those numbers by a commentator:

• How many of those POs work inside? Or how many are assigned to the district but detailed elsewhere? What about the callback dodgers that can't work full duty spots? Or the watch secretaries that are being hidden by the watch commanders?
  
  My point is there might be 6,600 plus POs in the districts, but there are far less actually working the streets. 5 at the desk, 2 to 3 in male and female lockups a piece, front office, caps, secretaries, traffic missions, coffee car, and any other whim the watch commander might have.

And a pointed observation:

• Is there any other organization in this country that does not know how many people work for it?

You can bet if IBM or GM wanted to know how many people work in their offices or on their assembly lines, the number is there at the touch of a button. Why is it like pulling teeth here?

Hey J-Fed

We know the mayor and Masters (Masters Masters Masters) are pulling your strings, but here's one more opportunity for you to make a difference and maybe actually raise morale. We expect you to ignore it again, seeing as it's here on the blog, but at least no one can ever say you weren't provided with the opportunities to make significant positive changes - you just ignored them.

You know how you like to turn police officers over to your other federal cronies? How about this one? Your former co-workers are currently in possession of at least one "merit" promoted sergeant, under an agreement to cooperate fully lest he go to prison. If the rumors are to be believed, the feds will currently own another, maybe two more "merit" sergeants and a "merit" lieutenant.

Wouldn't it be interesting to have them testify under oath as to what constituted "merit" for their promotions? What magical qualities do they have in such abundance that they qualify for promotion while dozens, even hundreds of others don't?

We did notice you and your staff still haven't defined "merit" so as to give everyone an opportunity to "earn" a promotion - like your driver. Maybe you could make inroads into eliminating the 30% kick that has doomed this Department to mediocrity in the Command ranks for decades to come. We did notice that a largish number of "merit" picks appear to be represented at callback, in front of the Police Board and in jail. It's probably time to rethink the criteria for nomination.

Shortage Doesn't Affect Safety?

We're sorry - run that by us again?

• There are fewer police officers on the streets of Chicago than normal. The Chicago Police Department is down 500-officers from what it considers "full strength."
  
  So what does that mean for the city and the safety of Chicago residents?
  
  CBS 2 [...] reports that Chicago police would not say exactly how many officers the department currently has. They estimated it's around 13,000 and they said the shortage wasn't making the city any less safe. However, the union representing more than 11,000 rank-and-file police officers said it doesn't exactly agree with that.

But with over 400 retirements this year and a mere 40 or so recruits graduating, the shortages are bound to increase. The line is getting thinner all the time and it has become a safety issue on more than one occasion.

And it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Why Indeed?

Because Daley told him to:

• Between a still-existent worldwide recession and nuclear saber-rattling from North Korea and Iran, it's pretty clear that the White House has a lot on its plate in terms of international relations.
  
  A lot of serious stuff on the menu.
  
  So, why does President Obama need to add "seconds" to the plate by getting personally involved in the U.S. bid to attract the 2016 Summer Olympics to Chicago? The president is now planning on traveling to Copenhagen this week.

It's the final payoff. Or at least final for now. Obama is a product of the Chicago Machine and the Illinois Combine. Everything is connected by payoffs, contracts and positions (or didn't anyone notice how many ex-CityHall and ex-Springfield flunkies are currently ensconced in Washington). The Olympics is chock-full of all sorts of contracts to be awarded. Obama is lending his star power to Shortshanks in a last minute push for what might potentially be $15-20 billion in contracts and cost overruns.

According to this report, Obama just might be enough to put Chicago over the top:

• Just five days to go before the 2016 Summer Olympic host city is announced, a report indicates that Brazil's Rio de Janeiro has taken a narrow lead over Chicago.

  The independent Olympic publication Around the Rings compiled the rankings and gave Rio a score of 84, just one point ahead of Chicago's 83.

  Other candidate cities Madrid and Tokyo are tied at 80.

Hang on tight.

Protest Violence....

....with more violence:

• What started out as a makeshift memorial for brutally murdered honors student Derrion Albert took a chaotic turn this afternoon outside Fenger High School.
  
  About 250 neighbors, Fenger graduates and self-proclaimed community activists angrily shouted at each other during a boiling protest of street violence during the vigil called in response to the Thursday mob beating that took Derrion’s life.
  
  One neighborhood activist who called herself, “Queen Sister,” chanted through a bull horn and led a group of people to the school’s front door demanding to be let in before being turned away. Some people stood nose-to-nose arguing over whether the gathering should be in memory of Derrion or a protest of the violence that killed him. Chicago police were there to calm the crowd.

How pointedly ironic that the violence the claimed a life breeds more violence that, more likely than not, will claim more lives as it simmers, boils and explodes.

017 Humor

This is funny on a number of levels:

• Hey Bob Rohrman 017 3rd watch captain.
  
  We dont care about your numbers. Stop demanding we bring in 5 parkers and a mover a day. Thats a quota. We all have video cell phones! Yea thats right...who knows what can end up on you tube.
  
  We dont care about being your numbers people. You sold us out as bosses. Where is our contract and raise? Take your new evaluation and stick in in your ear. Can you say LAW SUIT. Can you say EEOC. Can you say HOSTILE WORK ENVIROMENT!
  
  Stop harrasing us at roll call with your numbers shit. We dont care.
  
  And another thing....why we are taking a day off with OUR comp time is none of your damn business. You question us as to why we need the day off. Thats getting pathetic...then again???
  
  You have been warned... The Cr's are just waiting to be lodged!

Funny and sad all at the same time.

Daley Kabuki Theater

At 6:20 this morning, removing all pretense that Obama was not a product of the Chicago Machine, the White House announced that the chosen one will travel to Copenhagen for the Olympic announcement this Friday. While there, he will also walk on water.

Chicago's only hope at this point is that the international community is still pissed at George Bush and the games go to Rio.

Can This Happen?

Someone want to expound on the likelihood of this occurring?

• The Captains and Lieutenants have negotiated "vouchers" for some equipment items. The voucher provision is contingent on "available money," and we all know how Shortshanks hides cash.
• These "vouchers" will be negotiated and altered in following contracts with an eye toward eliminating the Uniform Allowances.

Is this the "$2 for health care" all over again that eats up half of our projected raises every single contract? Have the Captains and Lieutenants Unions sown the seeds of destruction for Uniform Allowances?

Fox News Censored

The reach of the mayor?

• A local TV station that reported on Chicagoans NOT wanting the Olympics has been told NOT to run the report again, insiders tell the DRUDGE REPORT!
  
  The Chicago Olympic Committee told FOX Chicago that its broadcast "would harm Chicago's chances" to be awarded the games.
  
  The station's news director ordered staff to hold fire after the report aired once last Thursday morning, claims a source.

Gee, in a free country, a free press, protected by the greatest document in history, a "committee" of unelected mayoral appointees can approach, intimidate and force a media outlet to not run a story? Thank goodness Drudge can still run these things - until Obama takes over the Internet that is.

Ten Years Young

A reminder for an organization that does some amazing work at funerals, fundraisers and other police related events:

• PIPES AND DRUMS OF THE CHICAGO POLICE DEPT
  
  10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY FUNDRAISER/PARTY
  
  SATURDAY OCTOBER 17, 2009
  4:00PM---10:00PM
  
  $20.00
  INCLUDES ENTERTAINMENT, DRINK, FOOD AND RACING
  
  HAWTHORNE RACETRACK
  3501 S. LARAMIE
  STICKNEY, IL (JUST WEST OF CHICAGO)
  
  TICKETS AND INFO AT PDCPD.ORG

Should be a good time.

Proper Headline

Someone writing the headlines over at BreakingNews.com is on the ball:

• Police Shoot, Kill Armed Man on South Side

• Chicago police shot and killed an armed man who pointed a gun at them in the Southwest Side Ashburn neighborhood early this morning, according to police.

  A police officer suffered a non-life-threatening injury to his arm during the incident, which began about 11:55 p.m. Saturday night when police saw a vehicle in the 7900 block of South Kedzie involved in a possible weapons violation in another district next door. According to a release from the Chicago Police Department, police first attempted to pull the vehicle over using lights and sirens, but the driver fled northbound on Kedzie.

  The driver, a male, hit two other vehicles while fleeing, disabling his vehicle, the release said. He exited the vehicle, carrying what police said was a handgun, and attempted to flee on foot. Police also exited their vehicles, and when the offender allegedly turned and pointed the handgun at police after going only a short distance from his vehicle, officers shot and killed him.

Best wishes to the officer injured and the officers involved in the shooting.

We expect the headline writer over at the BreakingNews site will be fired shortly, so buy him a beer if you meet him.

Bears by 2.5

That's the latest line over at ESPN.

We'd like to see a running game materialize to compliment the air attack. Hell, a running game might open up a few 300 yards opportunities for Cutler.

Thirty-five???

Will the last copper in 003, please turn out the lights?

Thirty-five openings?

Can someone please explain why the Burger Queen is still in charge over there? We understand she's thinking of retirement, but why not force the issue? Make her retire as a Lieutenant or a Captain. There have been thirty openings for at least the last six months at least. And now it's thirty-five?

Sorry, but this is an abject failure of leadership, plain and simple. You don't get and keep thirty-five openings because everyone can't wait to get to work each day. You get thirty-five openings because anyone with time bails out, anyone with a phone call makes it, and anyone who can retire, leaves. You can't even blame promotions because they haven't made any lately and when they have, 003 had been notoriously underrepresented.

Time for a shakeup.

Beating Death on Tape

We'll just link to the FoxNews report.

Here's the truly sad part - we and our readers have been pointing out for some time now that this is just a typical Chicago high school dismissal. It's played out time after time, day after day, across the entire west and south sides. Crane, Marshall, Orr, Bogan, Fenger, etc. Dozens, maybe scores of beat, rapid and tact cars held down at various high schools while regular citizens are being denied police service and backlogs mount.

Imagine if a single news camera was stationed at each of these schools for a week and they just filmed dismissal time? Hundreds of "students" running back and forth, hurling rocks, throwing punches, beating each other with boards and bats, tying up traffic and police resources?

Who are we kidding, it wouldn't change a thing. But the YouTube hits would be astronomical.

Nine Shot in Two Days?

Didn't this cost a commander his job earlier this year? Via e-mail:

• SCC
  
  Wild start to the weekend in 011. Four shot Thursday into Friday and four dead Friday into Saturday.
  
  The Henny Penny countdown has begun.

Indeed.

Is it Over Yet?

If not, when?

• Two more former Chicago police officers pleaded guilty this morning to charges related to illegally searching drug dealers and gang suspects and stealing money from them.
  
  Ex-Sgt. James McGovern pleaded guilty in Cook County Criminal Court to misdemeanor attempted obstruction of justice and was sentenced to two years probation, and former Officer Frank Villareal pleaded guilty to felony theft and was sentenced to four years probation.
  
  That brings the number of guilty pleas so far in the probe of the former elite Special Operations Section of the Chicago Police Department to seven.

It's been a busy 10 days or so. And the main event is still to come. It looks like all the pleas are leading up to some supervisor culpability as hinted at in earlier stories this week.

If everyone who's supposed to cooperate does, and some supervisors catch an indictment or two, and all the motion hearings follow the typical schedule, we should be heading to trial just in time for the next contract negotiations. Odd how that works out.

Keeping Bill in Mind

His latest address:

• William COZZI, #40222-424
  FCI Oakdale
  P.O. Box 5000
  Oakdale, LA 71463
  
  His inmate number (#40222-424) is critical for delivery.

Paper back books, magazines, notes, cards and letters are acceptable.

He has a hearing coming up mid-October.

Funny Website

The creative spirit runs wild:

• Chicagoans for Rio 2016

They've got all sorts of fun. Countdown clock, count-up deficit meter, match the cost overruns to the Olympic city. It's amusing.

Six days until the announcement.

Where's the Money Going?

To the Olympics of course! Daley is shortchanging basic maintenance at a facility that will be expected to handle millions upon millions of extra tourists should Chicago actually win the games. But this article is chock full of corrupting goodness:

• Mayor Richard Daley today downplayed safety violations federal officials recently found at O'Hare International Airport, calling them "not very significant."
  
  The Federal Aviation Administration said it found numerous violations at the airport during routine inspections last month that endanger airplanes at takeoffs and landings. The violations ranged from debris on runways to excessive amounts of tall grass and weeds that create hazards for planes by attracting birds and other wildlife.
  
  A warning notice from the FAA to the city said the violations show the airport is seriously out of compliance with federal aviation law. The notice also criticized the Department of Aviation for what it called a series of false statements about its self-inspection program.

The in-depth article is damning beyond belief:

• A warning notice from the FAA to Chicago said the inspections show that O'Hare is seriously out of compliance with federal aviation law. The notice, called a "letter of correction," also chastised the Chicago Department of Aviation for what the federal agency called a pattern of false statements in its self-inspection program.
• FAA inspectors found rocks, garbage and wood survey stakes used during construction on runways and taxiways at O'Hare
• The problems at O'Hare the FAA cited in its warning notice are considered major violations -- not just housekeeping issues
• Chicago Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino was out of town Wednesday and unavailable for comment
• O'Hare air-traffic controller Craig Burzych said he noticed that in the last week the city has temporarily shut down runways for up to 45 minutes at a time during daylight hours to carry out major inspections for debris.

Pattern of false statements? Major violations? Shut down runways for 45 minutes at a time? These are runways were talking about, revenue generators at something like $1,000 per takeoff and/or landing. And Daley is pissing away $100,000 every time his sweeper crew has to go out and cleanup what should have been done correctly during the nighttime sweep. Not to mention he's obviously skipping the grass cutting that's supposed to keep it under 6" in height, which in turn promotes bugs, which attracts birds, which leads to bird-strikes that can end up covering runways with all sorts of airplane and bird parts which can be sucked into engines necessitating further sweeps and runway shut downs...it's a convoluted circle.

And Andolino is "out of town?" How Daley-esque.

Car Troubles

Channel 2 is on the hunt:

• It's a perk that is costing Illinois taxpayers billions of dollars: government-owned cars. You see them all over the road. They either have an 'M' or 'U' on their license plates.
  
  Some lucky government employees even take their cars home or use them for vacation, but as CBS 2 [...] and the Better Government Association uncovered, taxpayers may be the ones being taken for a ride.

If Channel 2 hadn't been lying down on the job for the past 20 years along with the rest of the media, this situation wouldn't have gotten as out-of-control as it's been. Now they can shoot fish in a barrel and claim it's good journalism. Idiots.

Disturbing - Times Two

First, in Dallas:

• A 19-year-old Jordanian citizen was arrested this afternoon as he attempted to destroy an iconic downtown Dallas skyscraper with a car bomb, federal officials said.
  
  Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, 19, was arrested by FBI agents near the Fountain Place building at 1445 Ross Avenue. The FBI said he placed an inactive car bomb by the location.

Then, downstate:

• A Downstate man has been arrested on terrorism-related charges for an alleged scheme this week to blow up the federal courthouse in the state capital, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.

  Acting U.S. Attorney Jeffrey B. Lang said that Michael C. Finton, of Downstate Decatur, who also uses the name “Talib Islam,” was arrested on charges of attempted murder of federal employees and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

• On Wednesday, Finton allegedly drove that vehicle — containing explosives he didn’t know were inactive — and parked it directly in front of the federal building, got out of the van and joined the undercover agent a few blocks away in another vehicle, where Finton attempted to detonate the explosives with a cell phone.

We are still a target. And as yet we haven't had to prove how understaffed and unprepared we are in certain areas. Hopefully, that lucky streak will continue.

A Real Lottery Ticket

Seriously:

From North Carolina. Hi Leo!!!

What Recession?

We heard it was over. Maybe not?

• Home sales in the city of Chicago were down 7.2 percent in August, with the median home price plunging 22.9 percent from a year ago, a realtors' group reported today.

  The median home price in the city stood at $229,476 versus the year ago's $297,500, according to the Illinois Association of Realtors.

  The news was brighter in the six-county metropolitan Chicago area, where home sales went up in August for the second straight month - up 1.3 percent from a year ago. But median home prices in the metro area continued to sag, down 18.7 percent from a year ago, to $205,000, the association reported.

Sure doesn't feel like it's over.

Contract Ratifications

The Captains voted last week to ratify their contract 40-20.

The Lieutenants voted to ratify their contract 109-101.

Both of these contracts included a zero percent pay raise (with a "me-too" provision if the FOP wins a raise) and, we understand, a clause that lets the City re-open Health Care issues at any point during the duration of the Contract, such as if Obama Care passes and the City can unload everyone into socialized health care options. There are disciplinary issues as well as the 55 and out provision.

The Sergeants are currently voting and their Board had voted 12-1 against passage.

While the PBPA is a separate Bargaining Agent from the FOP, we have no doubt that the City negotiators will be using these voting results during arbitration to say, "See how the supervisors caved to our demands? The FOP should, too." It's amazing how the Captains and Lieutenants sold out their own self interests and all future promotees.

We fully expect that the Lieutenant spots will be 100% SES "merit" picks (just like Captains) within the life of this contract. The City saves $4 million in testing development money and countless millions defending the crooked testing process. Plus, they get to put their people in where they want them.

Vandals Waive Hearing

Once again, an awesome turnout at the hearing. Half-assed reporting though:

• More than 60 Chicago police officers jammed into a tiny courtroom at Belmont and Western, in defense of what they consider "their turf": the Grant Park memorial dedicated to the city's 540 fallen officers killed in the line of duty.
  
  The officers are still angry that vandals spray-painted graffiti on the monument on August 26th, and they wanted to show their concern as three of the teenaged suspects appeared in court.

Reports from actual non-media types who can count put the attendance figure at closer to 100.

And it's our "turf"? It's a Memorial to 540 people who gave up their lives for this ungrateful city. A small piece of land in honor of their sacrifice.

In any case, the defendants waived their hearing, opting to go directly to the Chief Judge for assignment to a courtroom to be announced later. By waiving the probable cause hearing, we imagine we'll be seeing guilty pleas shortly. It's the best play for them if they have clean records. Expect probation and maybe community service.

A big thanks to everyone who showed up the past few appearances - On and Off duty PO's, Gold Star Families, Police Supporters, a few Exempts and Rabbi Wolf from the Police Chaplains. If we've forgotten any notables, you can name them in the comment section. Again, thank you all.

Another Guilty Plea

And another to follow:

• A Chicago police officer pleads guilty to charges in connection with the special operations section scandal.

  Margaret Hopkins was sentenced to 60 days in jail and two year probation after pleading guilty to official misconduct and providing a false statement.

  Hopkins is one of seven special operations section officers accused of breaking into homes and shaking down suspects.

  ABC7 has learned that another officer, Frank Villareal, is expected to plead guilty on Friday.

After sitting on this crap for two years, something broke loose and everything is galloping forward at a rapid pace. We suppose it's better to get it all out of the way at once, but it certainly isn't making this a happy place to work. The mood can only be described as "grim."

Off Duty Corrections Officer Shot

Serious condition:

• An off-duty Cook County correctional officer was shot on the city's Southwest Side.

  Police were still on the scene in the 4600-block of West 82nd Street on Wednesday night.

  Police tell ABC7 the officer was shot in the back during an attempted robbery. He's in serious condition.

  The officer was in uniform and on his way to work at the time.

Prayers for the officer.

Logan Square Shooting

Cops ok. Offender not so good:

• Chicago police shot a man tonight in the city's Logan Square neighborhood.

  Details of the incident in the 2400 block of North Harding Avenue remained sketchy, but unconfirmed early reports stating the shooting, which occurred at 7:15 p.m., might have resulted from a hostage-barricade situation were false, said Ilana Rosenzweig of the Independent Police Review Authority.

  A man about 30 years old was taken in critical condition to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, according to fire officials. Rozenzweig said the injured person was not a police officer.

Best wishes to the Officer(s) involved.

Terror Alert

Where's the massive display of force?

• Illinois state officials say they're passing on intelligence to local authorities about potential terrorist threats as federal investigators chase a possible bomb plot in Denver and New York.
  
  But Illinois Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Patti Thompson says it's up to municipalities to decide whether to beef up security and how.
  
  There weren't obvious signs Tuesday of upgraded security at Chicago subway and train stations.
  
  A police dog sniffed at bags while passengers waited to board an Amtrak train at Union Station. Several armed police also watched nearby. But it isn't clear if the measures are upgrades or normal procedure.
  
  Chicago transit and city officials declined comment on specific responses, if any, to federal security bulletins.

Maybe there weren't any security upgrades because...well, there isn't any protocol in place for them? We know we haven't received any TARA refresher training in years now. We haven't even seen anything about the terrorist arrests in Denver and New York in the CO Book that might affect patrol patterns in and around transportation hubs.

Full speed ahead to the Olympic Dream!

No More Obama $$$

Good while it lasted:

• The over-time Chicago police security detail assigned to guard President Barack Obama's Kenwood mansion since shortly after his election will end as of Oct. 1, department officials said today.

  The end of the detail came after on-going discussion with the U.S. Secret Service about how to adequately secure the home of a sitting president who lives in an urban area, department officials said.

Paying for this detail has been a bone of contention between the USSS and the CPD for a while now. Daley isn't letting any nickels or dimes out of sight lately - all that money is needed for the Olympics you know.

Profiles in Courage

Amazing:

• On Friday the 18th, the 006th district at the request of soon to be ex alderman crookin Brookings, requested a field roll call at 80 Emerald, to deal with some bs gang drug complaint.
  
  Weis and company showed up, and got bitched and punked out by one of the local denizens who was'nt impressed with his title or his 310k salary.
  
  To add insult to injury, eggs began flying out of nowhere, and Weis and members of his imperial high command policy licking got splattered. Wacked. Make MINE sunny side up please.
  
  Weis' response? Field contact the innocent subjects. Then he jumped in his truck, and he and other members of the imperial high command policy licking group hightailed it out of there before it got too dangerous. Egg dripping off his vehicle and various other locations on high commands posteriors and orifices
  
  No police service, no police action.
  
  Thanks Jody and members of the imperial high command policy licking group, for showing us what leadership and courage is all about.I hope they teach that at one of those stupid workshops you're always shoving down our throats.

Oooooo....Contact Cards! That'll show 'em!

Don't worry J-Fed - we got your back.

Reminder for Wednesday

Reprinting the 14 September posting for the Memorial vandals:

• New court date is 23 September at Branch 42-2 (0900 Call) at Belmont and Western.
  
  Over 70 cops and CPMF members and concerned friends showed up at Court last week. When the case was called, the defendants nearly shit a brick.
  
  We're going to need the same or better in just over a week. If you have an appearance scheduled, stick around. If you finish your shift and aren't going to sleep right away, stop by. If you're retired and have a free moment, welcome one and all.

We'd like to see a larger showing than last appearance. And if it gets continued again, an even bigger showing to let the judge know we aren't going away.

Anti Police Tear

The Sun Times must be making up for their Jackie Heard coverage:

• ER nurse sues cop for handcuffing her during dispute over drawing suspect's blood
• Crooked cop still gets his pension -- from prison

No word that the ER dispute is a continuing investigation and the Hanhardt situation is a loophole that was addressed so well by the legislature 50 years ago.

The bias is so overt lately, it can only be coming from City Hall.

Proud Day in Illinois

Not just one politico, but TWO make the list:

• For years, U. S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. stood eagerly in front of microphones, crucifying the Chicago City Council and Mayor Richard Daley over their blase attitude toward corruption.

  "For the last six years, we've read and seen nothing but corruption, greed and malfeasance throughout much of city government," Jackson said in 2006. "A mismanaged affirmative-action program, a Hired Truck scandal, an asphalt kickback scheme and a major Colombian drug connection with dealers selling drugs while on the public payroll."

  He toyed with the idea of running for mayor, saying he was determined to "change the culture of corruption in Chicago, and that will require rooting out waste, fraud and abuse, root and branch."

  How ironic that Jackson (D-2nd) was included on last week's "Most Corrupt Members of Congress" list, compiled annually by the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. He joins U.S. Sen. Roland Burris, who also made this year's report.

But we'll never see a real challenger take him on in the 2nd District. The corruption is too ingrained. Burris is already toast.

Order Rescinded

As you see, we craftily folded back the corners of the document in case J-Fed's nefarious henchmen numbered the copies of the Fax Message and can track our mole.

The ingenuity of a Chicago Police Officer cannot be underestimated.

And neither can the stupidity coming out of downtown.

Fly on the Wall

Yes, we know we said it was a slow news day.

We even put up an "Open Post" because we were anticipating a slow typing day.

Sure, we're feeling a little under the weather.

But this was too good to pass up:

• **** RUMOR MILL *******
  
  Hold onto your coffee this is good!
  
  Rumor has it that JFED had another closed door meeting but this time it was about the new Commanders that were just assigned. He stated in regards to the new Commander of 18th dist. " Why don't we have more like him? This is a boss that the troops will follow and we need more like him."
  He then stated that the rest of the picks are staying put until he hears otherwise ...... WHAT?... Does this mean that JFED takes orders from a mysterious higher power? Until he hears otherwise ? Hmmmmmm from who ? ( Da Mayor ?)
  
  Next topic was about how pissed off he was that a copy of the bumper sticker order got on SCC website and he wants to number each order in the corner of the each paper that goes out so he will know whos copy it is next time any appear on that "Stupid site". (Jfed's nickname for SCC website)
  
  Last but not least our little brain child JFed wants to know why morale is still low?
  One higher up blurted out, as if he was holding back for years, "we are under manned and they still have no contract what do you expect?"
  
  Jfed glared at him and stated "anything else?"
  
  Mr. Higher up, aka retiring next year, stated " why don't we have a meeting that focuses on How we can make it easier for the rank and file to do their job?" Instead we have the same meetings every month (now get this) that tell us Exactly what we already know."
  
  Jfed asked for him to stay after so they can further discuss his suggestions( oooohhhhhh Jfed gonna make you stay after school!!!)
  
  Last rumor tidbit is priceless!
  Our beloved James Maurer supposedly stated to media off the record after a police memorial fundraiser "Jfed is Milton Bradley and the City of Chicago is the Cubs now something gotta give or go." ( GOD I miss that guy)
  
  Jfed's little sidekick stated he would look into that suggestion and then asked to see the Hiher Up after the meeting to speak further about it.
  
  I am trying to figure who the Higher up is but I have a very good idea as do most of you.

We have our doubts, but who knew Maurer could be that witty? And the rest of it, even if exaggerated is pretty good, too.

So who could this mysterious person behind the curtain be who's pulling the strings? It's like the Wizard of Oz.

Or a Masters of the Universe.

It's True

But it's rescinded?

Still, it is indisputable proof of the vast disconnect between the workers in the field and the idiots currently ensconced at HQ.

Non disciplinary? The Department was going to pull cars off the streets to answer this? They were going to bury the sergeants in more paperwork? The reduced administrative staffs were going to keep track of this how?

And we're just positive that the Commander and Deputies and Assistant Superintendents were going to have these stickers affixed to their cars?

A very sad day that this even made it into print, let alone into an actual policy.

Open Post - Slow Day

Have at it.

Keep it clean.

Rumors welcome.

Better Effort

A win against the Super Bowl Champions is always a good one. The first half was mostly luck staying close. The second half was much better. And instead of blowing it in the last 90 seconds, they win it in the last 15 seconds.

• Tribune coverage here
• Sun Times coverage here

Next up, Seattle.

Week Two

Second game of the season and possibly the game that will define the rest of the season. 0-2 isn't an impossible hole to climb out of, but it sets a hell of a road for a team with an aging defense, a porous secondary and an offensive line that has to be perfect every single time to protect a cannon-armed QB throwing to a mediocre receiving corps.

Pittsburgh is favored by 3.

By the way, the Blackhawks lost their preseason opener in OT 3-2. Hockey hopes spring anew in the Windy City.

Bid Not Dead Yet

Obama might go to Copenhagen:

• Is POTUS (President of the United States) pumped? Sneed hears President Obama told a select coterie Saturday he has decided to go to Copenhagen to personally pitch Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympics.

  Word is he had yet to inform Mayor Daley and was planning to make it a surprise.

Yeah, right. Surprise Daley? There isn't one un-orchestrated moment in this mayor's entire political existence. Everything is scripted and everything is planned. And that includes all of the corruption, all of the contracts, and a sizable percentage of what goes on daily at 1600 Pennsylvania.

Welcome New Chicagoan!

From the comments:

• Does anyone know what the f*ck is going on a HQ? A construction company is redoing the f*ck up by walsh construction when they originally built the building because water would pool by the west entrance. The new company has poured the concrete and has torn it up not once, not twice, but THREE F*CKING TIMES now and it's still not finished. This is insane and exactly why we should not get the olympics. Pitch the concrete towards the street morons.

Evidently, you've never seen a Chicago concrete pour in action. We figure they must save money by not having a surveyor look at the concrete forms after they nail them all together. We have yet to see a curb gutter in the past 28 years drain a street properly after being poured.

We can't recall ever seeing a city project that didn't have major cracking issues with any concrete construction. Remember the concrete columns cracking and flaking in the Monroe Street garage? They had to tear out dozens and wrap hundreds in wire meshing.

And if you truly want to see something amusing, go up to the 5th Floor at HQ and bring a dozen marbles and half as many Hot Wheels cars. Drop then at different points along the corridors and watch them roll! We've heard that Patrol Division has a Pinewood Derby Racing League every other Thursday and they don't even need ramps.

This Might Explain Something

We wonder if Daley or his people have been taking cues from the news lately:

• New York City is heading toward a record low number of murders this year, and overall crime is also down, the New York Police Department said Friday.

  The NYPD projects about 457 murders this year, the lowest total since the department first started keeping records in 1962.

  And overall crime is down nearly 12 percent from 2008 and 40 percent since 2001, the NYPD said.

  The downward trend is mystifying criminologists who say crime usually rises when times are tough.

Actually, it has got to be Shortshanks' people reading the paper.

But in a twisted way, this supports the theory that less police = less reported crime. If people can't call up and get a report, they'll say "screw it" and chalk it up to life experience.

We think that as a further test of this theory, we should pull all the police out of 007 for forty-eight hours. After the crater stops smoking, we can total up the crimes compared to the same period last year.

No Foot Chases

While not here yet, certainly the direction we're heading:

• (Wellford, SC)—The Mayor of Wellford is defending her policy which bans police officers in that city from chasing suspects. Sallie Peake says the policy also includes vehicle chases along with pursuits on foot.
  
  A memo issued on September 2nd from Peake to all Wellford officers reads:
  
  “As of this date, there are to be no more foot chases when a suspect runs. I do not want anyone chasing after any suspects whatsoever.“
  
  WSPA first reported the mandate on Wednesday after an anonymous citizen faxed a copy of the memo to our newsroom. Peake was out of town and unavailable for comment. On Friday, reporter Chris Cato caught up with her in her office and questioned her about the origin of the policy. Peake says she issued the mandate because several officers have been injured during chases, driving up insurance costs for the town.
  
  “The officers are costing us more money on insurance than most citizens here in the city of Wellford are even earning,“ says Peake.

We're sure Daley is taking notes. This is a potential savings of billions more for the Olympic dream!

How's My Driving?

What?

• OT: How about the new order coming out about the 'How's my Driving, call......' stickers for the squad cars. Who's brilliant idea was this. Just another way to get the police haters to make another beef on a officer. Time to play fireman and sit in a corner until a call comes in.

If someone actually affixes these to cars, we're going to have a problem. Someone is actually going to call police officers in off the street to drop paper on this nonsense? Without affidavits? Anonymous complaints via a posted phone number?

Someone please tell us this is someone yanking our chain. Because it's too ridiculous to actually be true. Right? Right???

Save Money

Release prisoners:

• Gov. Pat Quinn is planning to release 1,000 inmates from prisons across Illinois the next several months in an effort to save money.
  
  An Illinois Department of Corrections prisons spokeswoman said only “low-level, non-violent” offenders who are in the last year of their sentence will qualify for early release and will be fitted with electronic monitoring devices.
  
  Officials with the corrections agency and the Quinn administration declined to provide specifics after announcing the plan late this afternoon. Corrections spokeswoman Januari Smith said the bulk of those to be released and placed on supervised parole will be drug and property crime offenders.

Watch for the spike in "non-violent" property crime numbers to creep up.

Nothing like a democrat trying to save money by releasing 1,000 shitbags who would deprive you of your rightful earned money and property in a heartbeat.

Gee, Your Honor...

...didn't everyone say this asshole would be back in front of a judge within a year?

• The Chicago teenager who was arrested for impersonating a Chicago police officer was back in custody Friday night for violating his probation.

  The incident occurred at a South Side police station in late January. The teen went out in a patrol car with another officer.

  In May, he was arrested again for possession of a stolen vehicle. He pled guilty to both offenses and was sentenced to three years probation.

  The teen will be back in court October 29 for sentencing.

We're sure that THIS TIME, though, he REALLY REALLY means it when he tells the judge he'll stay out of trouble. And we're sure the judge will REALLY REALLY mean it when she tells him that this is his VERY VERY LAST chance before she REALLY REALLY puts him on TRIPLE SECRET SOOPER DOOPER probation for another felony.

What a freaking joke this system is.

Patient Catches Fire

This happens 550-to-600 times a year???

• A southern Illinois woman died after being severely burned in a flash fire while undergoing surgery, a rare but vexing problem in operating rooms.

  Janice McCall, 65, of Energy, Ill., died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., on Sept. 8, six days after being burned on the operating table at Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion, Ill., her family's attorney said.

• Surgical flash fires are most often sparked by electric surgical tools when oxygen builds up under surgical drapes. They occur an estimated 550 to 600 times a year -- a tiny fraction of the millions of surgeries performed in the U.S. annually -- and only kill about one or two people each year...

Granted, you don't want dust and stuff blowing around an operating room with people cut open and their guts hanging out, but you don't want them catching fire either. Jane Doe goes in for a little nip and tuck and comes out needing skin grafts and worse?

Looks like we'll be putting off those retirement knee replacements, rotator cuff and liposuctions for a bit yet.

That Time of Year

Aaaaaargh!

Of course, acting the part of a real pirate may get you a sentence in the brig. Or it might get you a spot down at City Hall, the source of all Chicago piracy. Enjoy the stupidity.

J.J.Jr. Feels the Heat

It couldn't happen to a nicer family:

• Federal authorities have asked a congressional ethics committee to temporarily back off its probe of U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., fearing it would interfere with an ongoing investigation.

  The Office of Congressional Ethics revealed Wednesday it was probing whether Jackson improperly used his congressional staff to wage a political campaign for appointment to the U.S. Senate. At the time, then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich was in charge of naming a successor to President Obama's vacant Senate seat.

By now, it's obvious to everyone, even the media, that J.J.Jr. or his father is on tape making an offer of questionable legality to Blago for the U.S. Senate seat. It still could end up that we owe the disgraced governor a debt of gratitude for taking out one of the larger corrupting influences on Illinois politics in general and Chicago politics specifically.

Rio Takes the Lead

Image matters to these Olympic people:

• International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge seemingly closed the door on any possibility that President Obama would lead a Chicago delegation to Copenhagen next month in a final pitch for the 2016 Summer Games.

• The White House announced in recent days that first lady Michelle Obama would be leading the Chicago team when they make their final pitch Oct. 2 before the IOC, which will then select a host city.

• Spain’s King and Brazil’s president are expected to go to Copenhagen, and Tokyo is urging its new prime minister to join the bid.

  Observers believe Tony Blair helped London win the 2012 Games and Vladimir Putin, speaking English for the first time in public, swayed the IOC when it tapped Sochi for the 2014 Games.

Shortshanks is sweating that it's all been for naught.

SOS Publicity

Coverage at BreakingNews.com:

• Four former Chicago police officers implicated in the Special Operations Section scandal have made deals to plead guilty in exchange for cooperating with the investigation, a sign that the state and federal probes of one of the city's biggest police corruption scandals ever is coming to a head, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the investigation.

Since these four don't seem to have anything to do with the original seven indictments, this would bring the total number of indictments to eleven? "Broken Star" had fewer we believe. The Flagg case had three or four total.

Ugly days ahead.

Vigil Tonight

Chicago Police Department Annual Candlelight Vigil Thursday, September 17, 2009 7:30PM Gold Star Families Memorial and Park. All police officers (active and retired), family and friends are invited.

Exit Lake Shore Drive at 18th Street and you will be directed to complimentary parking.

On the wall of the Sacrifice Area at Gold Star Families Memorial and Park there are 540 names
of Chicago Police Officers killed in the line of duty.

Come out and pay tribute to those heroes and their families who have sacrificed so much for the city of Chicago.

Stormy Weather Ahead

Just when you thought it was a bad memory, it resurfaces.

Popping up in various comment sections, numerous officers, resigned and otherwise, we paraded into the 001 District lockup, processed and removed from the building.

The S.O.S. scandal seems to be moving forward all of the sudden.

Batten down the hatches, rough weather approaching.

Gross Incompetence

So who has to die before this ass is fired?

• After a second troubling incident, the Daley administration on Tuesday reassigned the dispatcher responsible for the 911 dispatch delay that left an off-duty police officer to fend for himself while being shot at by a carful of alleged gang members.

  The reassignment followed a 911 call last weekend allegedly mishandled by the same dispatcher -- this time about an Illinois State Police officer conducting a foot chase through the Dan Ryan Woods, sources said.

Reading the full story, it seems the dispatcher may have gotten a wave-off from State Police dispatchers, and the basis for the discipline is a misfiling of the ticket as "Info for the Police" rather than a higher priority 1A or "zero" job.

Maybe someone from OEMC can tell us if this is a matter for intensive retraining or a firing offense. Of course, sleeping at the console and leaving the off-duty guy in 010 hanging should trump everything else and this jackass should be an unemployment statistic already. But he's heavy so who knows?

Five at a Time

We don't know if it's true or not, but the number of multiple woundings seems to be largish this year:

• Five people were shot and wounded, including a teenage girl, in the city's Lawndale neighborhood Tuesday night, police said.

  The shooting occurred in the 3900 block of West 19th Street about 10 p.m., police said.

  Although early reports stated that the victims may have been injured in a drive-by shooting, the victims told police that they were attacked by two men or boys who ran west on 19th Street from Harding Avenue, shooting at people on both sides of the street...

If the city would just pave over parts of Lawndale and Englewood, build stadiums and parking lots, crime would go down and the Olympics could be held here every four years.

Who Didn't See This Coming?

A new record!

• Chicago Public Schools students this year posted record attendance figures on the first day of school -- an all-time high of 94.1 percent showed up.

  That surpassed last year's record of 93.7 percent, and continued the upward trend since 2004, when less than 92 percent of students were coming on the first day.

In related news, it was a record setting attendance year for the Taste, the 03 July fireworks, the Air & Water show and any other festival that Shortshanks could put his name on.

Since the Olympics will be awarded on 02 October, the mayor would like to take this opportunity to point out that the following events will also be record setters this year in order to impress the Olympic Committee:

• The Chicago Marathon will have a record number of participants and fans,
  
• the Thanksgiving Day parade will be crowded beyond belief,
  
• the Macy's window displays should be spectacular,
  
• and the Disney Christmas Parade will be out of this world with record setting numbers of attendees from 78 nations.

The Final List

Thanks to everyone who kept us updated all day:

• The following promotions are effective 16 September 2009:
  
  KENNETH ANGARONE is hereby promoted to Commander,
  Bureau of Patrol, District Law Enforcement – 018th District
  
  RICHARD A. ELMER is hereby promoted to Commander,
  Bureau of Patrol, District Law Enforcement – 021st District
  
  DAVID M. JARMUSZ is hereby promoted to Commander,
  Bureau of Patrol, District Law Enforcement – 009th District
  
  DAVID R. MC NAUGHTON is hereby promoted to Commander,
  Bureau of Patrol, District Law Enforcement – 016th District
  
  MICHAEL A. WICK is hereby promoted to Commander,Bureau of Patrol, District Law Enforcement – 024th District
  
  ANTHONY RICCIO to Commander, Bureau of Investigative Services - Detective Division, Area 4, Unit 640
  
  HECTOR RODRIGUEZ to Commander, Bureau of Investigative Services - Organized Crime Division, Vice Control Section, Unit 192
  
  EUGENE ROY to Commander, Bureau of Investigative Services -Counter Terrorism & Intelligence, Bomb & Arson Section, Unit 603

Much crying and gnashing of teeth in various sectors. This is about the third wave of promotions J-Fed has presided over. We say "presided over" because he seems to have had next to no input in the last two waves and it has become increasingly obvious whose whack is most prevalent.