Deadbeat Prisoners

Earning money behind bars:

• Kensley Hawkins is a deadbeat, according to the state of Illinois.
  
  He owes $455,203.14 to cover the costs of his stay at the Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet. Hawkins has been in prison since Nov. 19, 1982. His jailer is also his debt collector.
  
  Hawkins is fighting in court to stop the state from seizing about $11,000 in his bank account to partially satisfy the debt. The 60-year-old earned the money by working while he's been behind bars, making about $75 a month.

Here's the rub:

• Under Illinois law, prisoners are liable for their incarceration costs. Most offenders do not have the means to pay, but the department can begin collection proceedings against those who have sufficient assets. Hawkins' lawyers said the threshold is $10,000 in assets. The state requires prisoners to file financial statements.

We're happy as hell the state keeps track of how much these scumbags cost taxpayers. Anything earned should go to defray prison costs or to restitution owed the victims. And although he thinks his intentions are noble...

• Hawkins began working soon after he entered Stateville, where he was sentenced to 60 years for the 1980 slaying of a 65-year-old man and attempting to kill two Chicago policemen. He wanted to send some money to his daughter, who was 8 when he went to prison...

...if you want to support your daughter, how about being there instead of being in prison?

We'll Take One!

New York gets all the cool toys:

• The New York Police Department plans to buy a bullet-proof boat to respond quickly to threats at the city's ports and waterways, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said on Tuesday.

  The police will buy the hi-tech boat with a $5.2 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Kelly said in testimony to the City Council.

  "This will provide for the purchase of a high-speed, ballistic-protected vessel to respond to a suicide or live shooter attack in a port area," Kelly said.

  The FEMA money will also provide for training officers who would be assigned to responding to such threats, he said.

Now we need a boat with a reinforced dynamite-proof hull for...uh...fishing purposes.

Kick the Can Down the Road

And enrich a few construction companies while you're on your way out the door:

• The surprise infusion of more federal money ended a stalemate on O'Hare International Airport expansion, clearing the way for Mayor Richard Daley to depart office with a partial victory and for Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel to avoid a tricky issue for a few years.
  
  U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood brokered the deal announced Monday. The city gets one new runway instead of completing the entire project. The major airlines who sued to delay the work don't have as big a financial commitment.
  
  The federal government, already in for a record $1 billion, will heap another $155 million to protect its investment at O'Hare and maintain the competitiveness of an airfield that Daley's father transformed into an international economic powerhouse at the dawn of the Jet Age.

Shortshanks gets to walk away a winner again thanks to federal money and a shaky bond issue backed by a shrinking tax base and an industry that continues to bleed red ink daily. Way to go!

Overtime List

A massive document comprising some 287 pages listing the overtime paid out by the City of Chicago for the year 2010. We aren't sure if it's comprehensive or just those above a certain dollar level, but it's impressive.

Go read it. A few surprises here and there. All open sourced.

Vanecko Case Gets Legs

This one isn't going away any time soon:

• It’s been two weeks now since the Chicago Police Department concluded Mayor Daley’s nephew threw the punch that led to David Koschman’s death but closed its recently reopened investigation without seeking criminal charges.

  The case is closed. And the police aren’t talking. But many questions are still unanswered.

  The police have said only this: No one received special treatment.

Which no one we've met believes for even a moment. Novak and Fusco of "Hired Truck" fame have their teeth in this one and the only thing keeping it from a federal grand jury is pressure from Washington DC.

Bad Penny

It always turns up somewhere.

So where's Henny Penny now? No one has seen hide or hair since her latest debacle, yet she continues to get paid at the commander rate for some reason. Someone suggested she is currently seeking sanctuary at one of the local churches.

Congrats to 011 for landing a previously demoted commander in the meantime.

Rahm Touts Ramsey

Looks like a return to the old days - which means business as usual?

• Philadelphia Police Chief Charles Ramsey has “great strengths” that would be “natural for the job” of Chicago police superintendent, according to Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel, who nevertheless vowed to “follow the process” laid out by law.

  “From Chicago. Two proven departments under his belt of leadership. A proven record on community policing, which is important to us. The trust of the department (to solve) the morale issue, which is essential,” Emanuel told the Chicago Sun-Times in a recent one-on-one interview.

  “He’s right. He doesn’t want to be rounding out any list (of finalists),” Emanuel said.” He rises in the list because of all of his natural strengths — by character, by leadership, by experience and by a proven rec­ord. ... He has a lot to offer. No doubt about it. Very strong candidate. Ramsey has some great strengths that would be natural for the job.”

And a return to the days of CAPS - the vampire program that just wouldn't die.

Where's Our Bonus?

Not a good idea at all:

• Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel already has proposed creating a local version of the federal “Race to the Top” fund to reward the best teachers and schools. He also has suggested five-year performance contracts for every Chicago Public School.

  Now, he’s dangling a cash carrot in front of school bosses.

  In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Emanuel proposed cash incentives to reward the best-performing principals.

Performing at what? Juggling? Grade inflation? Cooking the books? The minute cash gets offered, bad things happen. Imagine giving police commanders bonuses for keeping crime under certain levels. Or index numbers above certain levels. What do you think is going to happen?

Commanders have zero to do with the actual results of keeping crime in check - they're at meetings, not out there arresting people. Principals have about the same effect on educating children - it's the teachers (most of them at least) that educate, not the bureaucrat.

TIF Money

Now this crap comes up in a main stream publication? After Shortshanks is all set to leave office?

• Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel and some newly-elected aldermen say they are prepared to overhaul and rein in the city’s Tax Increment Financing system, which they say has grown into a tax-gobbling menace over the last 25 years.

  “Over the years, it’s kind of morphed from a tool for blighted economic communities into an all-purpose vehicle,” Emanuel told the Sun-Times. “We need to return it to its original purpose — it should not be used for high-rent areas.”

  Emanuel is not prepared to abolish the program, as some of the aldermanic candidates who ran anti-TIF campaigns would like, but he pledged to appoint a commission to recommend reforms and say which TIFs should end.

• The 160 districts that now cover nearly a third of the city collect $500 million a year in property taxes that go into a quietly administered program run by Daley’s Planning Dept.

$500 million? That's enough to cover the budget shortfalls, isn't it? Amazing how that works out. It would appear that city government has plenty of money - they just don't know how to spend it.

Ben Joravsky from The Reader has to be shaking his head after covering this for years.

Not Under the Radar Anymore

Look who's winning games and moving up toward first place:

• The way things are going, though, the Bulls are starting to feel rock-star-like love.

  ‘‘It’s definitely been swelling,’’ Deng said. ‘‘In the beginning of the year, we had some known names, but you didn’t really know how it was going to work. Now the buzz is there. Everyone’s kind of expecting us to win, even big games. Before, going into big games, people were not giving us the credit.’’

  They are now. Everywhere they go, it seems.

So the question becomes, does the Department have a plan in place? Seeing as how everyone, even the "leader formerly known as J-Fled" is finally in agreement we're short over 1,500 coppers from what we had on the streets for the riots of the 1990's three-peats, we imagine they're going to find a complete inability to cope with a sustained outbreak of "celebrating" should the Bulls make a serious run at the championship.

Haha....Dumbass

Priceless:

• Two Chicago police officers shot a man who pointed a gun at them Saturday afternoon on the South Side.

  The suspect's gun was later determined to be fake and narcotics were found in his possession, police said.

  About 2 p.m., the Grand Crossing District tactical unit officers were on patrol at East 71st Street and South Saint Lawrence Avenue -- an area known for drug activity police say -- when they approached the suspect, a 20-year-old man, leaving a liquor store. The man then saw the officers and ran north from the store, police said.

  The officers went after the man who, soon thereafter, hopped a fence of his home in the 7000 block of South Saint Lawrence, where he turned around and pointed his gun at them, police said. The officers then opened fire, wounding the suspect in his legs.

Almost a perfect ending. Good job by all involved.

Are You Studying Yet?

Rumors abound!

• Promotion lists are no more.
  
  Lists are now down unofficially, but come down officially in May. Either way there will be no Lt, Sgt, or Det promotions in 2011.
  
  Rahm's team is revamping promotions. The plan is to make each promotion part test, part interview, part activity. Not surprisingly, Rahm's team is very down on the quality of bosses found on the CPD. A review of all exempts rated more than half as unacceptable.
  
  Rahm's team does not like the way the CPD is run. Items that are repeatedly criticized are perpetual discipline problems with no resolution, very low clearance rates, very low arrest totals for the vast majority of patrol officers, but the biggest complaint is supervision. The belief that officers routinely have no focused mission and instead simply do whatever they want in between 911 calls.
  
  Expect most officers to be returned to district patrol and expect major changes in patrol after May.

Interesting. Very interesting. Start getting your General Orders up to date.

Daylight Saving Here

Did you spring ahead? If you didn't, you're an hour late already.

Open post for the moment.

Crime is Down...Wait a Minute...

It isn't down at all? It's up? And up 18%?

• Homicides in Chicago rose 18 percent through the first two months of 2011 compared with the same period last year, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Chicago Police Department.

  Through the end of February, 52 individuals were slain, eight more than for the same period in 2010, a year that saw the city’s lowest homicide total since 1965.

  In addition, auto thefts increased by nearly 20 percent while criminal sexual assaults rose a little more than 4 percent, the department said.

  Overall, crime in the city fell by 9 percent from last year, largely because of drops in aggravated batteries by 17 percent and arsons by 14.3 percent, the statistics showed. Burglaries also declined by nearly 6 percent.

The only number that seems to matter (and it only matters because you can't usually make a dead body disappear) is homicides. And now it's up 18%? Why do we get the feeling something isn't (or wasn't) being counted correctly for the last three years?

Ambush Shooting?

This doesn't make much sense:

• Two men were charged this afternoon in connection with a shootout with police early Thursday in the Brighton Park neighborhood on the South Side.
  
  The two men were caught following a short foot chase when the car they were in crashed after one of them fired at a police squad car near 47th Street on Western Avenue about 4 a.m. Thursday and police returned fire.
  
  
• The officers, who were in a police squad car, were headed north on Western Avenue just after 4 a.m. Thursday when a tan Mercury pulled up next to them near 47th Street, said Police News Affairs [...]. The 22-year-old man then began firing shots at them, and the officers returned fire,...
  
  The officers began chasing their attacker's vehicle north, and during the pursuit the shooter threw the gun he had been using out of the Mercury...

So they drove up on the unmarked and just opened fire? An initiation ritual? A hit? This is worrisome on a number of levels and the all-calls about "zero tolerance" missions don't provide much in the way of actual info.

Good Enough for Fido...

...good enough for executing killers:

• Johnnie Baston, a man convicted of killing a Toledo store owner, became the first person executed in Ohio with a drug that is often used to euthanize pets and other animals.

  Baston, 37, died at 10:30 a.m. local time on Thursday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, according to JoEllen Smith, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Baston, who was convicted of the 1994 killing of Chong Mah, is the ninth person executed in the U.S. in 2011.

  Lethal injection executions in Ohio have previously used sodium thiopental. But Hospira Inc. of Illinois said in January it would stop making the drug altogether after Italy, where it planned to move production, objected because the European Union has banned the death penalty.

  So Ohio is now using pentobarbital, a barbiturate, according to Smith.

Well done Ohio.

Sneed Smoking Crack?

Who's been slipping her the crazy pills again?

• Sneed hears rumbles Mike Masters, top aide to former Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis, is being pitched by some within the Rahm Emanuel circle as a possible top cop replacement.

  Backchat: “His [Masters’] name has surfaced within the Rahm ranks, but the selection process is still in its infancy,” a source said.

  Hotshot: Masters was dispatched by Mayor Daley to be his eyes and ears at the Police Department during the early days of the Weis regime. However, Masters developed a close working relationship with his new boss.

Close, as in Daley put him there to make sure J-Fled answered the phone when Shortshanks called. We've all heard that one after the mayor's infamous temper tantrum when Jody ignored a few calls in a row.

Didn't we hear the candidates for mayor agree that someone who came through the ranks was to be the next superintendent? Didn't Rahm himself say something along the lines of J-Fled the outsider didn't have the confidence of the rank-and-file? How would bringing in some golden child who was just deposited in the Superintendent's office without any historical background in law enforcement and making him the head of the second or third largest department in the country instill confidence in anyone, especially the citizens?

This rumor has a bit more credibility, and even it strains the limits:

• Philadelphia Police Chief Charles Ramsey has told associates he would love to come home to run the Chicago Police Department, but probably won’t apply without assurances he is Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel’s choice to replace Jody Weis.

  Ramsey’s interest in the Chicago job was disclosed as Emanuel appointed a 17-member public safety transition team that includes another possible contender: former Deputy Police Supt. Harvey Radney.

  Radney is a partner in the security consulting firm run by Interim Police Supt. Terry Hillard. The transition team will screen potential candidates for consideration by the Police Board.

  Ramsey, 63, is the former head of Chicago’s community policing program who left the city in a huff after Daley’s surprise choice of Hillard in 1998. He spent nine years as Washington D.C. police chief before moving on to Philadelphia in 2008.

Ramsey is 63, he left town in a snit after missing out on the top spot, he's got Chicago political connections out the ass. That's three strikes alone, yet he's touted as a credible choice. And Radney is Hillard's partner in a connected security firm? You think the press isn't salivating at these names already?

We're hoping this is all classic misdirection, Masters (Masters Masters), Ramsey and Radney. We're pretty sure none of these would instill any confidence except in the idea that Rahm is just business as usual.

Another Exchange of Gunfire

Getting goofy out there. Dangerous even:

• Two men and a woman were in custody this morning following a shootout with police in the Brighton Park neighborhood on the South Side.
  
  Two district officers on patrol exchanged gunfire with a man believed to be 22 years old after a car he and two other people were in pulled up next to the officers' patrol car this morning, police said. All three were in police custody this morning.
  
  The officers, who were in a police squad car, were headed north on Western Avenue just after 4 a.m. when a tan Mercury pulled up next to them near 47th Street, said Police News Affairs [...]. The 22-year-old man then began firing shots at them, and the officers returned fire [...].
  
  No one was injured, and the officers began chasing their attacker's vehicle north. During the pursuit, the shooter threw the gun he had been using out of the Mercury,....

Once again, thank god no officers were injured.

SCC in Springfield

And in the Illinois legislative record it seems:

• Hey, Buddy! I'm here in springfield and was at that committee hearing for HB 148 for bringing concealed carry to Illinois and I thought you might want to know a couple things:
  
  First, the city brought the same tired old group: the mayor's aide, [...], a tired old doctor, a bishop and the CPD supe. Imagine, their surprise when the people who were for concealed carry brought in the reps from the Chicago police sergeant's organization AND the Chicago police chiefs association AND the Illinois sheriff's organization and some more guys like that. I hear that the mayor's office called the chief's org after the vote and threatened to withdraw from the assn because the chief spoke on their side!
  
  Anyway, the kicker you might like is that the last word in the committee hearing went to that same woman you showed on scc during the fop march, Colleen Lawson. First all the people for cc spoke their parts, then all the people against cc testified, THEN Ms. Lawson gave her testimony, and she refuted line by line everything that the people against it had said. So when she gets to the part where the Chicago Supt. had said that the cops don't want armed citizens and it would create problems doing our jobs, she goes:
  
  " the BEAT cops in Chicago DO want concealed carry. I've never met a single beat cop anywhere who was against it. If you want to see for yourself, all you have to do is go online and read second city cop or go to any police forum in the country and you'll see what the cops really feel."

We're fortunate to count Ms. Colleen Lawson among our supporters and we appreciate everything she has done for Illinois gun owners. And the support from the law enforcement agencies for the rights of Illinois' law abiding citizens is welcome. Today was Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day in Springfield, and while the turnout was supposed to be the largest in memory, we can't seem to find much mention at all in the local rags and TV stations.

CPD vs CFD Hockey

Friendly reminder that the Police/Fire Charity hockey game will be held this Sunday at the United Center starting at 10 AM.

All pre-sale tickets go to the Department charity selling the tickets. All gate receipts are split 50/50 to the charities for the fallen among us.

And remember, daylight savings starts Saturday into Sunday morning, so if you show up without setting your clock, you will have already missed an hour of game time.

Another Bad Decision

Quinn decides to put Illinois retailers out of business:

• Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation Thursday to require online merchants with a physical presence in Illinois to collect and remit sales tax.

  The controversial law, called the Main Street Fairness Act, means online retailers — including giant Amazon.com Inc. and Overstock.com Inc. — must collect sales taxes on purchases made by Illinois residents as long as the retailer has a physical presence in the state. The law is effective immediately.

  The move is expected to have little effect on consumers’ online shopping habits, but deals a blow to small businesses that count the giant retailers as a major source of ad revenue.

  Amazon and Overstock.com said they would avoid collecting sales tax by stopping their affiliation with Web site companies in Illinois that direct traffic to Amazon and Overstock. Under the new law, online retailers are deemed to have a presence in Illinois if they have a contract with an affiliate based in here.

Smooth move Governor Ex-lax. People will shop where they get the best deals. Failing that, they'll ship to addresses or retailers for pick-up out of state. We're betting this costs Illinois in the long term.

Hillard Dethrones Masters

Tuesday, Sneed had this in her column:

• Attention! Bet the ranch interim Police Superintendent Terry Hillard is going to make some changes during his brief tenure in office.

  To wit: Sneed is told Hillard’s been given a green light to help “change the status quo,” said a top source.

  Translation: Watch for the patrol division to begin revamping and the 500 people reporting to one man (guess who) in the police superintendent’s office to change. Is a bye bye birdie at hand? Stay tuned.

Wednesday evening, an order came out stripping Masters of every unit that was reporting to him (AdMin Fax #110751 for interested parties). Some highlights:

• Counterterrorism and Intelligence Division are under Investigative Services
• The duties of the Chief of Staff, General Counsel, Department Administration and News Affairs are defined very succinctly and "reporting directly to the Superintendent"
• All CAPS related functions report "directly to the Superintendent"
• Special Functions regains previously lost units like Mounted, Marine/Helo, Swat, etc.
• The Crystal Ball Unit reports to the Counterterrorism and Intelligence Division

So Hillard pretty much made Masters Masters Masters his bitch. And rightly so. The Chief of Staff, specifically a civilian Chief of Staff, was never meant to run units of sworn officers. The J-Fled/Masters Masters Masters power grab of a few months ago has been completely overturned as Hillard attempts right some major wrongs from the past three years.

And might there be another "righting" on the way?

• The new General Order issued by Terry Hillard today completely neutered Masters Masters Masters! That power grab from a month or so ago? GONE! All the Units that little dweeb tried to put under his Command were returned to where they should be, and he basically has no duties at this point! THANK YOU UNCLE TERRY!!!
  
  Also, no party for Weis? Kind of funny considering the huge galas that sent off the last few Supes...
  
  All the exempts are backstabbing each other in a grand game of "Last Man Standing". 'Tis a beautiful and entertaining thing to sit back and watch!
  
  I also hear the new/old 011th District Commander is going to make the PO's very happy. Should be announced soon, if not already.

The game is afoot.

"I'll Kill my Son's Killer"

And we don't blame him a bit:

• The father of a 5-year-old boy killed in 1975 is vowing to murder his son's killer if the man is released, as scheduled, several years early from a 40-year sentence.
  
  John Foreman said in an interview Monday with WPRO-AM radio that he will kill convicted murderer Michael Woodmansee "as aggressively and as painfully" as he killed his son if Woodmansee is released from prison early.
  
  Woodmansee, who was 16 years old at the time, kidnapped and killed Jason Foreman in 1975 in South Kingstown, R.I. He confessed and was convicted of second-degree murder eight years later.
  
  Jason Foreman was presumed to be missing until 1982, when Woodmansee tried to lure another boy into his home. The boy escaped and police began to question Woodmansee about Foreman's disappearance.
  
  Authorities found the boy's skull and bones on Woodmansee's , along with a journal that detailed the gruesome killing. John Foreman told the radio station that Woodmansee wrote about eating his son's flesh in the journal.

If the father sets up some sort of PayPal account, we'll be sure to publish it here so people can make sure he has enough ammunition and a decent shovel to do the job right. We'd even suggest he try to set up the killing here in Chicago where he has (A) better odds of getting away with it, (B) a good chance of beating the case in court in the event he gets caught, and (C) no death penalty in the highly unlikely event he gets convicted. Plus, the current governor will likely commute his sentence on the way out the door.

Last Call for St. Baldrick's

This Friday, 11 March:

• SCC-
  
  I was wondering if you might be able to possibly do one more posting about the 2011 Chicago Police Departments Saint Baldrick's Day Shave Off Celebration being held on Friday, March 11th.
  
  We have three events one at Area 5; one at The Education and Training Academy; and the Area 2/South Side event being held at the 22nd District. All three events will be held from 0700 to 1700 hours.
  
  As far as the Area 2/South Side event, currently we are 12 heads short of our goal of 100 heads to be shave, and we would really like to get that many. I am confidante, even in these tough financial times, that we will meet our goal of $15,000 dollars, and maybe even more than that. It is a worthy organization, as I am sure you are well aware of, and these children are deserving of our support.
  
  It is not too late for anyone to sign up, to donate, to even lend a hand or just stop in for a cup of coffee and lend some support. As always, walk Ins will be welcomed all day for anyone who might have been unable to pre-register for whatever reason and we will take any heads, police, fire, civilian, male or female, merit or earned, it does not matter — we will take them all.
  
  So could you please help with getting the word out one more time tonight when you post?
  
  Thank you,
  Bill Murphy
  Area 2
  

Watch-Gator

But does he roll over on command?

• California narcotics investigators raiding a home's $1.5 million marijuana growing operation found an alligator guarding the stash.

  A Riverside County drug task force team moved in on the Hemet area house on Monday night and seized 2,285 pot plants. Allied Riverside Cities Narcotics Enforcement Team Cmdr. Brian Link says agents also found Wally, a four-foot alligator described as a "watchgater."

  The healthy 55-pound American alligator has been turned over to the Phelan-based Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary. Alligators are illegal in California.

That isn't the only thing illegal in California ::rimshot:: But seriously folks - take my wife, please!

Unless you have a moat and drawbridge, we can't see an alligator being a very effective watch-anything.

007 Shooting

Offender dead. Cops OK:

• A man was fatally shot in the face this morning on the city's South Side after police said he pointed a weapon in their direction.

  About 12:26 a.m., Mobile Strike Force officers tried to make a traffic stop on the 6900 block of South Halsted Street, police said. Soon after, a man, described as in his 30s, jumped out of the vehicle and fled on foot.

  Preliminary reports said the officers gave chase and the man turned and pointed a weapon in their direction, police said. An officer fired his gun, fatally shooting the man.

  There was no information available about the suspect's age from Police News Affairs. Police said two weapons were recovered at the scene.

Summer is right around the corner.

Shots Fired at CPD

Shots fired in 011. Reports sketchy at this time.

Gang unit on views a subject with a gun near Keeler and Fifth. Shots exchanged, no one hit. Wanted vehicle turns up later near Chicago and Pulaski.

Nothing else at the moment. Be careful boys and girls.

US Marshal Killed

St. Louis:

• Deputy U.S. Marshal John Perry died at 7 p.m. at Saint Louis University Hospital, from gunshot wounds received Tuesday morning, while serving an arrest warrant. Perry, 48, had been with the U.S. Marshals for almost 10 years.

  Perry and his partner, Deputy U.S. Marshal Theodore Abegg and along with task force officers from the St. Louis Police Department were attempting to apprehend Carlos Boles, who was wanted for 2nd Degree Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer, 3 counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance and Resisting Arrest.

  Carlos Boles opened fire on the deputies. Perry was struck in the head, Abegg suffered a wound to the ankle and a St. Louis Police Officer was grazed in the face. Both Abegg and the St. Louis Police Officer are recovering from their wounds. Abegg is in fair condition at St. Louis University Hospital and the officer is at Barnes Hospital.

  In a statement released by the Marshals Service, the suspect Carlos Boles was killed when officers returned fire.

RIP Marshall.

Quinn to Sign Bill

A sad day:

• Gov. Pat Quinn is expected to sign legislation on Wednesday abolishing the death penalty in Illinois, according to the House sponsor and sources familiar with the governor’s plans.
  
  The governor today quietly invited death penalty opponents to a private bill signing ceremony at his Capitol office scheduled for late Wednesday morning.

Nice to see Quinn protecting the rights of the next Gacy coming down the line.

An Attack of Conscience?

Now the aldercreatures don't want a 25-year-lease? After falling over themselves to approve a 99-year-lease how long ago?

• The Daley administration’s 25-year plan to have shopping mall giant Westfield Concession Management quarterback and overhaul concessions at O’Hare Airport’s International Terminal hit a roadblock Tuesday.

• Underlying the debate was what you might call parking-meter phobia. After the furor that followed the 75-year, $1.15 billion deal that privatized Chicago parking meters, aldermen are hesitant to approve long-term deals that could end up shortchanging Chicago taxpayers.

  “We have to go out in the public and … either [get] heralded as being great economic wizards and making proper decisions, or get lambasted day after day after day like we have been regarding the parking meter deal. So, you might get an idea of why people are kind of gun-shy,” said Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th).

  Although the city was not compelled to choose the most lucrative bid — and Westfield clearly didn’t offer it — Ald. George Cardenas (12th) said, “I want the city to get the highest compensation. Period. …The taxpayers were screaming in this past election about how we ought to do a better job of scrutinizing deals and get the best value to the city.”

"best value" is important, seeing as how everything that wasn't nailed down over the past 22 years has disappeared.

The City Hired Who?

Is this some sick joke?

• One of them smuggled cocaine from Jamaica about a decade ago. Another was a carjacker. A third was convicted in the shooting of two Chicago cops in the 1970s, hitting one of them in the face.

  They are among 139 people who got hired by the City of Chicago over the past two years despite having been convicted of crimes. That’s according to a list of all of the city’s hires of ex-cons in 2009 and 2010 obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

  Mayor Daley has said ex-offenders deserve a second chance and has made that his policy at City Hall.

Non-violent drug offenders, sure. Drug smugglers, carjackers and people who shoot and wound the police? What the fuck is Shortshanks thinking?

• “Of course I needed clout to get on,” acknowledged the ex-con, speaking only on the condition of anonymity.

  He was first hired by the city in the 1990s and has been rehired every year since as a “seasonal” worker. He now drives a truck for the city Department of Aviation.

  His political sponsor, according to the Sorich clout list, was former Ald. Isaac “Ike” Carothers (29th), now a convict himself, serving a 28-month term in federal prison after being convicted last year of corruption in a zoning case.

Oh, well that explains a lot. Convicted felons being hired by those who become convicted felons. What could be more emblematic of Chicago than that?

And how many decent people without criminal records got laid off over the past few years while these assholes kept jobs?

More Bad Ideas

Where do these Illinois politicians come up with this crap?

• The top Senate Democrat Monday suggested taxing retirement income for high-earning senior citizens for the first time to help lower income taxes that were raised in January.

  Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) said he would exclude Social Security income and avoid targeting those lower-income seniors who “don’t have much of a retirement income.”

  Cullerton’s trial balloon would affect retirement income for those under 65. And in a late-afternoon committee hearing in Springfield, Cullerton suggested applying the retirement tax to those seniors making $100,000 or more.

Any guesses as to how many of these seniors will now make tracks for the border? Or declare their part-time homes in other "tax-friendly" states as primary residences to protect themselves? We're guess that it'll be a sizable number as has historically occurred in other states looking to balance out of whack budgets.

Ed Farley Wake

Details:

• Visitation: Wed 09 MARCH 2011
  1500 to 2100 hrs
  Blake Lamb Funeral Home Oak Lawn Illinois
  4727 West 103rd Street, Oak Lawn, IL 60453 708-636-1193

Detective Farley was a Lambert Tree Awardee and ardent supporter of William Cozzi. RIP Sir and thank you for your service.

Final remembrances only here.

Shields' First Move

A good first move. A safe move, but a good move nonetheless:

• New Fraternal Order of Police President Michael Shields hopes to press Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel to protect police officers’ pensions and “hold his feet to the fire” on a campaign pledge to hire more cops.
  
  Shields, 33, said he collected 54 percent of the vote in balloting among current and retired officers to take over as head of the police union. He beat four other candidates in voting announced Friday.
  
  Shields also said he hopes to meet with Emanuel soon to discuss qualifications for the next police superintendent.

It can't hurt to keep Rahm's promises on the front burner. It also sounds sensible to want a voice in who the next superintendent is. After all, we've got to work with that person for the next four or more years. There's going to be plenty of opportunities shortly to lob bombs and brickbats at the political order seeing as how Rahm is (hopefully) going to upset the apple cart.

Crystal Ball Unit Claims a Win

They got one, address specific and everything!

• A 30-year-old man who was beaten after several men broke into his West Garfield Park home last month has died, officials said tonight.
  
  Christopher Williams of the 4400 block of West Jackson Boulevard was pronounced dead at 12:01 p.m. Saturday at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Of course, the only reason they got it is someone called them from the hospital and told them the exact time the family decided to terminate life support. But a win is a win and someone needs to keep their job downtown and justify the millions spent on this nonsense.

Crystal Ball Unit Misses Again

We can't believe they keep missing these things:

• A teenager was fatally shot in the face — and two men and another teen were wounded — at a party late Saturday in the Austin neighborhood.

  But Devin Dyer, 18, was not the intended victim of the shooting in a building in the 5900 block of West Thomas Street, his girlfriend Tiesha Richardson said she believes.

  Dyer, of the 1000 block of North Menard, was pronounced dead at Loyola Hospital in Maywood about a half hour after the midnight shooting, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Maybe, just maybe, instead of taking all this data about "shots fired" calls and disturbances and such, the Crystal Ball Unit should just troll the west and south sides for party fliers. That would give them actual addresses of future shooting sites rather than a general one-mile-by-one-mile box that doesn't seem to be working. After all, if they could predict it, they could prevent it, right?

Happy Pulaski Day

One of those holidays exclusive to Chicago.

Everything is open except city government and county courts.

Open post for now.

Quinn Delays Decision

Is the death penalty moritorium about to become permanent?

• State Sen. Kwame Raoul is stopping short of saying that President Obama tipped his hand, or lobbied Gov. Pat Quinn, on Illinois’ bill that would abolish the death penalty.

  Quinn has until March 18 decide whether to sign the bill. Without his signature, it automatically becomes law.

• Quinn met Friday with Raoul and State Rep. Karen Yarbrough (D-Maywood), two of the chief legislative sponsors of the abolition bill. He had widely been expected to act on the bill Friday, but abruptly put off a decision until sometime next week.

  Raoul indicated that Quinn remains extremely sensitive about the bill and the passionate advocates on both sides of the issue.

  “The governor said he’s going to make a careful, thoughtful decision and he doesn’t want to make one that would seem offensive to anyone on either side of the debate,” he said.

We're betting the veto pen is put away in this case. Either Quinn signs it claiming some moral high ground or lets it become law without his signature in an effort to appear like he isn't soft on crime (which he actually is).

Aldercreature Arrested?

Rumors of an aldercreature being arrested for some major league narcotics trafficking on behalf of a well known street gang.

Anything verifiable?

Erkel Applies for Unemployment

Taking advantage of the system in every way possible:

• Like thousands of Illinoisans who have lost their jobs, former Cook County Board President Todd Stroger has applied for unemployment benefits.

  But newly minted Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s administration officially “protested” the claim with the state’s unemployment agency.

  “. . . Former Board President Todd Stroger did submit an application for unemployment,” said a source in the Preckwinkle administration who is familiar with the application. “That application was protested because, as a former elected official, he is ineligible.”

It's not as if he has any marketable skills. Without sponging off the taxpayer again, the Toddler might end up living in a van, down by the river, begging for change at expressway ramps and scrapping cans out of the trash.

Online Petition

Keep your FOID information private:

• Attorney General Lisa Madigan issued an opinion Tuesday stating that all the names of gun owners in Illinois are public information and should be disclosed. This decree goes against the Illinois State Police mandate that these names are private and that releasing them is a serious invasion of privacy. To help organize the fight to keep the Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card list private, the Illinois Republican Party is offering an online petition for any Illinois citizen to sign so it can be used to help convince the Democrat led legislature to pass legislation introduced by Republican State Representative Ron Stephens and Republican State Senator Kirk Dillard that would keep Illinois gun ownership private.

Let Madigan know you don't appreciate her anti-gun owner agenda.

Endangered Missing (FOUND!)

One of our own:

• Officials have issued a missing person alert for a retired Chicago police sergeant with severe dementia and cancer.
  
  Eldge Walton, 74, was last seen leaving his home on foot near the 9200 block of South Blackstone at 10:30 a.m. today, police said. He is not driving, according to the alert.
  
  Walton was last seen wearing a Chicago police dress shirt, uniform coat, dark blue police uniform pants and a turquoise sweater under his coat, according to the alert. He was also wearing a blue White Sox knit cap and blue gym shoes.
  
  While officials said he may have also had his retired police star with him, his wife told police that he did not have a weapon, according to the alert.
  
  It was not known if he had identification with him, police said.
  
  Walton is described as African American with a medium complexion, 6-feet tall, 158 pounds, brown eyes and gray hair along with a beard and mustache.
  
  Anyone with information is asked to call the Calumet Area Special Victims Unit at 312-747-8274.

Keep your eyes peeled.

UPDATE: Located safe and reunited with his family:

• Eldge Walton has been located in good health and reunited with family, Chicago police said this evening. No other details were released.

Exceptionally Cleared Closed

We know, but we aren't going to tell you anything about it:

• For the first time, the Chicago Police said Friday they know who hit David Koschman and knocked him to the ground in a drunken confrontation in the Rush Street area, leading to his death from a brain injury 11 days later — but they’re not telling.

  They said they are closing Koschman’s 2004 homicide case without asking the Cook County state’s attorney’s office to charge anyone because they concluded the punch was thrown in self-defense.

  Police reports made public Friday black out the name of the man who detectives concluded threw the lone punch at Koschman. But the descriptions they provided and accounts given by witnesses and others to the Chicago Sun-Times make clear it was Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko, a nephew of Mayor Daley and White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley.

So much about this just rings hollow. We've got a feeling it's going to be hanging around for a while yet.

Hillard to Visit Districts

We're betting his reception is a bit warmer than J-Fled's:

• Interim Chicago Police Superintendent Terry Hillard told police officers at a roll call gathering today in the Pullman neighborhood to focus on their duties and said he planned to visit every police district in the future.
  
  Hillard was appointed by Mayor Richard Daley Wednesday to the interim post after former Supt. Jody Weis' contract expired and told officers at the gathering at 119th and Halsted Streets that it felt great to be back on the streets.

Hillard denies wanting the top spot under a Rahm administration, and he's supposedly told exempt staff that there will be no major movement during his tenure. We aren't sure why he's visiting all the districts unless it's a kind of nostalgia tour.

$37 Million for Snow Removal?

Shortshanks is trying for Federal disaster relief:

• The snowstorm that wreaked so much havoc on Chicago last month also walloped City Hall's wallet.
  
  The $37.3 million the city spent to dig out was more than double what Mayor Richard Daley set aside for snow removal for the whole year, officials said Friday.
  
  All for a snowfall that melted away into the ground and sewers a couple weeks later.

It'd be nice to see what percentage of that money headed to connected "Hired Truck" firms that were supposed to be banned. And is there any truth to the rumor that $37.3 million is exactly the amount left over in the "parking meter sale rainy day fund?" We heard it was exact, to the penny.

Shields Wins FOP Presidency

Word coming in the Mike Shields has won the FOP Presidency.

No word on the other offices yet.

Anyone have totals?

UPDATE: Winners as follows -

• President - Michael K. Shields
• 1st Vice President - Bill Dougherty
• 2nd Vice President - Frank J. DiMaria
• 3rd Vice President - Danny Gorman
• Recording Secretary - Sidney Davis
• Financial Secretary - Rich Aguilar
• Treasurer - John Capparelli
• Sergeant at Arms - William Burns
• Sergeant at Arms - James Moriarty, Jr.
• Sergeant at Arms - Daniel J. Shields
• Trustee - Dean Angelo, Jr.
• Trustee - Harold Brown
• Trustee - Michael Burke
• Trustee - Terry Collins
• Trustee - Denis E. Doherty
• Trustee - Patrick Duckhorn
• Trustee - Fernando Flores
• Trustee - Anna Hanley
• Trustee - Allen J. Jaglowski
• Trustee - Rick King
• Trustee - John J. Lipka
• Trustee - Tim Moriarty
• Trustee - Timothy Murphy
• Trustee - Ron Shogren
• Trustee - Tom Skelly
• Trustee - Daniel G. Trevino
• Trustee - Michael Underwood

Totals here at this link. Congratulations to all the winners.

Battery Offender, Harasser, Child Abuser? (UPDATED)

Once again, Henny Penny steps in shit. This has been confirmed via various sources both inside and outside of the Department:

• Speaking of BOTCHED decisions. Looks like 011 will be getting a new commander rather soon. Fresh off her 30 day suspension, and being named on that Dump list. Seems Henny Penny has gone and stepped in it again...
  
  Seems that she beat her child and left enough marks that the school called The DCFS HOTLINE. Where is she gonna get locked up this time? A/3?
  
  
• Are the rumors true that Area 3 SVU is investigating a DCFS Hotline complaint of child abuse where "Henny Penny" is the offender? Had to be moved to Area 3 because her former husband is an Area 5 detective.
  
  
• Trahanas is at it again! Today there was a DCFS Hotline complaint filed on her for child abuse on her 16 year old daughter who alleges that previous complaints have gone nowhere because her mother and father are police officers, and her mother is obviously well connected. Her past history of slapping a certain female A5 detective (who sued and won) and cornering and physically intimidating another female detective in A5 (who is now retired) would suggest that where there is smoke, there is fire.....When is the department going to get rid of her??? She is a bad excuse for such a highly placed boss of exempt rank and an embarrassment to this department. Is anyone out there listening??????????

Given her past history of physically attacking people she works with, her history of telephone harassment, and her history of abusing anyone who runs afoul of her massively inept ego, is this really surprising?

Now in the midst of what is looking more and more like the cover-up of a murder by a Daley relative, is the Department really going to stand by a Daley/Reverend double (or triple) merit appointee who beats a child? Will someone somewhere please fire this psycho head case before she brings more discredit and ridicule to the men and women who just want to do their jobs in peace?


UPDATE: Penny Trahanas has resigned from the position of commander. It's about fucking time.

Retirement Party

We guess they held it already. We weren't invited:


We're surprised so many people showed up though. Good turnout!

Are Police Unhappy?

Mark Brown asks the question:

• Despite what you might have heard from all those mayoral candidates during the past several months, not to mention from most any police officer with whom you might have spoken in the last year, Mayor Daley insisted Wednesday that morale is good in the Chicago Police Department.

  That’s a straight line if I ever heard one, and while I find it both amusing and interesting, my punch line might be different than what a police officer would offer.

  My first thought: Is morale ever good in the Chicago Police Department? Or put another way, are police officers as a group ever happy?

You'd hardly know it from reading a lot of our comment sections, but we suppose police officers aren't overly unhappy. Is there bitterness? Sure. Is there grumbling? No more so than in years past. But is it warranted? A lot of times, yes.

Police work is a thankless job. Everyone is happy when the fire department shows up. No one is happy when the police do though. It's the nature of the job. We see society at its worst, day in and day out. And when we do our job, stopping cars, writing tickets, making people obey the law and listen to rules (laws and rules passed by a duly elected legislative body by the way), we're the assholes. And don't even get us started on the political shenanigans we've seen posted for the past six years or the biased reporting that contributes to the public perception that we're a group of out-of-control drunken frat boys committing murder and such with impunity. Nothing could be further from the truth.

It isn't all sunshine and roses out here. The economy continues to sputter, the Daley machine still runs shit, political animals get richer of the taxpayers backs while we have to wait three years for a contract, the chances for advancement are rapidly approaching zero, and we're getting painted as greedy when we expect the city and state to live up to their pension promises.

We still like what we do and the few "thank yous" we do get are stories we tell the family about at the dinner table. Happiness is relative we suppose. Brown concludes:

• It’s not like there’s a tracking poll to monitor the relative happiness or unhappiness of Chicago police at any given moment, although Rahm Emanuel might want to get right on that.

  Perhaps we could convince the folks at Second City Cop to start a Morale-O-Meter to let us know when morale is up and when it is down, because from the outside, it’s only degrees of down.

  Still, I wouldn’t argue the point it might be a little better today than it was two days ago. I just don’t expect it to last.

We'll just have to wait and see how Rahm treats the Department and whether or not the media follows his lead.

Hitting the Ground Running

Rahm wants things ready to go prior to 16 May:

• Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel said Thursday that he hopes to have his City Hall team, including a new police superintendent and Chicago Public Schools chief, lined up when he's sworn in May 16.

  To speed up a process that can take months, Emanuel's transition team plans to submit its own recommendation for superintendent for the Chicago Police Board to vet.

  "We'll be reviewing names, we're going to work through that process," Emanuel said. "My goal, because of the importance of the superintendent, is to have a name for" the board to look at.

A politically expedient approach that looks better than what Daley did (disregarding the Police Board recommendations entirely and appointing his own choice). It let's Rahm have a say-so in who he wants to run the place while appearing to give the Police Board a voice in what will essentially be the mayor's choice. The quote implies Rahm has a single choice - "a name" - and that name will have the full support of a guy who is used to having people fall into line with what he wants.

Iron rule. Let's hope it's the right name.

Brotherhood for the Fallen Benefit

An upcoming benefit:

• Thursday, March 17 - 1800 until 2300 hours
  
  At the FOP Hall
  $20 per ticket - includes Food, Refreshments and Music

Details here at the Brotherhood for the Fallen website.

Comments closed here - informational post only

Botched Case Just Got Worse

It was only a matter of time:

• Cook County prosecutors say they relied heavily on two “unbiased witnesses” in deciding they couldn’t charge anyone in the death of David Koschman following a 2004 confrontation in the Rush Street area that involved Mayor Daley’s nephew and three friends.

  Now, one of those witnesses says prosecutors’ conclusion that Koschman “was the aggressor and had initiated the physical confrontation” is a “flat-out lie.”

  The witness — Michael Connolly, an information-technology manager who previously had been interviewed by the Chicago Police Department — came forward Wednesday after reading a statement from prosecutors in Monday’s Chicago Sun-Times.

Oops. This case smelled worse than a four-day-old roadkill on a warm summer day. And it just got worse. The State's Attorney's Office will take the bigger hit, but there's going to be plenty of blowback across the board.

Potential Candidates

And the games begin:

• Potential applicants could come from the top ranks, including Assistant Superintendent James Jackson; Deputy Superintendent Ernest Brown; Eugene Williams, a chief; Thomas Byrne, chief of detectives; Nick Roti, chief of the organized crime division; Joe Patterson, a deputy chief in the organized crime division; John Escalante, deputy chief of Area 5; and Al Wysinger, a deputy chief in the detective division.
  
  Other possibilities include former top insiders such as Hiram Grau and Charles Williams, who were finalists for superintendent when Weis was hired, as well as Charles Ramsey, who was a finalist when Hillard was selected in 1998. Ramsey, who is police commissioner in Philadelphia, said Wednesday that he has not been contacted by Emanuel's transition team.
  
  Another is Michael Shields, a former deputy superintendent who is head of security for Chicago Public Schools and has drawn attention because he is a cousin of first lady Michelle Obama.

No females on the list, so Jennifer Beals is out. But aside from that, a whole bunch of potential baggage on the list.

J-Fled Continues Tour of Lies

And the media continues the tongue bath:

• A day after stepping down from the helm of the Chicago Police Department, Jody Weis said Wednesday it would be up to the people of Chicago to judge how well he did. But he thanked Mayor Richard M. Daley for giving him the “opportunity of a lifetime.”

Yeah, the opportunity to get nearly a million dollars for three years work, doing one job of the two he was hired to do, only comes around once in a blue moon. And to judge how well he did - he's talking financially, right?

• “Mayor Daley could not have been more supportive,” Weis said. “He gave me an opportunity of a lifetime. He cashed in a lot of political capital to pull me out. He took a chance and hopefully history will show that we delivered on that.”

"...cashed in..." "...political capital..." Poor choice of words there. We can judge that by your W-2's we're sure.

• Weis disputed that morale was a problem at the Police Department during the past three years, saying that the city could not have achieved the drop in crime that it saw in the past three years if officers were demoralized, especially with an under-staffed police force.

So finally, after three years, the official word is we're understaffed? How many exempts got shit canned because they spoke up at meetings and said "manpower is the issue." Wasn't it told to others that "manpower will not be an acceptable excuse for lack of numbers."

And now every media outlet is running J-Fled interviews.

• Channel 2
• Channel 5
• Channel 7
• Sun Times

Guess what the major theme is?

• Weis disputed that morale was a problem at the Police Department during the past three years, saying that the city could not have achieved the drop in crime that it saw in the past three years if officers were demoralized, especially with an under-staffed police force.
• But on his first day as a civilian, he contended the reports of bad morale on his watch were overblown.
• "So my argument is to those who say morale is down, if morale is truly down, and the usual indicators are that people aren't performing, then how did the department achieve incredible success stories if everybody's demoralized?" said Weis.

It couldn't have anything to do with Chicago's population decline? The increasing response times that discourage victims from sticking around to report crime? The interminable wait on hold at 311 that further victimizes the victims? The reclassification and downgrading of crime that still results in the FBI not using Chicago crime statistics in their yearly reports?

But let's just settle this once and for all. Morale isn't down? Then we're sure the Department will finally release the "morale survey" from two-and-a-half years ago that never saw the light of day. The one that J-Fled said he'd resign over if it showed he was the cause of low morale. The one that cost a connected lieutenant her spot. Yeah, that survey.

Morale sucked. Any intelligent person could see that. J-Fled might be book smart, but he is a moron as far as connecting with the people he was supposed to lead. But morale being in the toilet doesn't stop people from still wanting to do the job they hired on to do. We've said it before - police work is a calling. We are going to do the best we can for the people who deserve it, and many times even for those who don't deserve it. We don't stop being cops because the boss is a moron. We step lighter, proactive policing suffers, numbers might fall, but most of us are still cops. And survivors.

Release the survey. Let's see how the "Gotta Run Kid" stacked up in the eyes of the rank-and-file. Or is this going to be yet another example of cowardice on the part of the Department, J-Fled and the media?

Gun Goes Missing?

What the...?!?

• New scandal for Penny brewing. Seems police made an arrest of a burglar last year on the 25xx block of Grenshaw. Recovered, was one unregistered handgun. The weapon was inventoried with a hold placed on it. Penny, several weeks later, released the weapon from ERPS. Now there is no evidence to support the charges against the defendant and the CCSAO is pissed and thirsty for blood.

First up, who released the hold? We're betting it wasn't the officer.

Second, an unregistered handgun being released? In Daley's Chicago? We can't imagine that happening.

Someone has to have the full story on this one. Anyone?

Dump List?

We're sure everyone will want to contribute to this:

• Word form 35th street is there is a possible list circulating around with some exempts names on it and its for them to be returning their gold braids for single LT. bars
  A few names on that list included Henney Penney - Rick Flair - A. C. (007). stay tuned for more

This would make some sense. Hillard can take the heat for removing some of the political liabilities left behind by J-Fled's incompetent promotions and pave the way for Rahm's promotions to what become existing vacancies.

However, most of those incompetent promotions came directly from City Hall in the first place, which is where the Hillard appointment came from. It would be interesting to see where Hillard's name came up and who proposed it - a Daley insider? Rahm's transition team? Washington DC? Who's actually running the show at the moment, especially if it's true Jackson and the Bartender turned down the interim label. Someone is sending a message that J-Fled's entire command staff is unworthy or untrusted to run the show for 10 weeks.

Suggestion Time!

When J-Fled arrived on the scene three long years ago, he held a series of "town-hall" type meetings where he solicited advice from the rank-and-file, then promptly ignored it all as Bartender Bea took notes and screwed with a few coppers who actually stood up and spoke their minds. By the time the last meeting rolled around, there were more people at the head table than attending the meetings.

What followed was pretty much the worst run three years in CPD history.

Once again, an opportunity presents itself for someone in power to actually listen to the people at the bottom. The "end-users" as it were, who have to live and work with the sometimes asinine decisions made by out-of-touch bosses and career paper-pushers. A comment in the "Beyond the Celebrations" thread leads us to this initial posting:

• 1. Reduce the number of exempts. At least 20 should go.
• 2. Hire. Expedite the testing process even if you only hire small numbers it will be symbolic.
• 3. Disband some of the redundant units, units that serve no immediate need and bolster patrol. It starts and ends with patrol.
• 4. Promote, give the troops hope and something to work towards.
• 5.Identify people that can lead and get people back working. The trust and support system for the working officers is gone and has to be re established.

The best source for ideas is the men and women of the Patrol Division. And their support is critical for a successful superintendent.

Meeting On....Oops, Off Again

That final J-Fled meeting Monday with the Commanders and their tactical lieutenants was canceled at the last minute as time expired.

It was subsequently rescheduled for Thursday, this time by Downtown Ernie Brown, supposedly to discuss tact team redeployment for the upcoming summer silly season.

It's been canceled again. So once again, no one knows what the hell is going on and they're going to make sure everyone knows it.

Beyond the Celebrations

The whiskey and scotch are flowing tonight. We're actually drinking with the curtains open and the lights on in the bunker tonight. Every hour or so, we're peeking into the yard to make sure J-Fled isn't lurking in the alley while we enjoy a celebratory drink. We don't even care that we've got court in the morning.

Now begins the process of picking up the pieces. And unfortunately, there seem to be quite a few of them missing. We aren't even sure if the damn thing can be put back together again.

Question #1 - who takes over now? Hillard is a stop gap. A memory of somewhat happier times (notice we aren't saying perfect times) in most coppers' minds. But who is left who can actually run the department from those days? Most of the current top brass is a joke. The skeletons in these closets are rattling around just begging to be let out. They sold their souls for a gold star and in turn, certain events were overlooked.

Question #2 - who gets demoted or disbanded? J-Fled created how many extra exempt spots? We've got more Chiefs, Deputy Chiefs, Assistant Deputies, etc than ever before. We've got more specialized units, a large number of which are redundant, draining patrol, increasing response times, being utilized for all sorts of crap that has nothing to do with actual crime prevention.

Question #3 - what programs get shit-canned? In our opinion, all of them. Start from scratch. Too much of what's going on is useless number generating and has no impact aside from some useless gold star claiming "my numbers are better than your numbers." You want numbers? Go back to index numbers and head counts, but be honest about it. Stop dressing it up. You want crime to go down, lock people up that need to be locked up and back your officers.

Serious issues for next administrations, both city and department. Where to go, what to do. Opinions?

Hey Look! Guns!

Lisa Madigan wants to provide criminals with a road map right to your house:

• Illinois State Police stood their ground today after the state's attorney general determined the agency must disclose the names of people authorized to own guns in Illinois to comply with public records law.
  
  Attorney General Lisa Madigan's public access counselor issued a letter Monday night rejecting state police arguments that releasing the information is an unwarranted invasion of privacy prohibited by the state public records law or that its disclosure would automatically endanger the lives of gun owners or those who don't have firearms.
  
  State police determine who gets Firearm Owners Identification cards but have always kept the information confidential.

As most of our readers are aware, being employed by a law enforcement agency requires you to have a valid FOID card. Releasing this list would be like a giant arrow on a map pointing criminals directly to your house.

And for all the anti-gun people who aren't protected by a 24-hour police guard, the lack of a giant arrow on that same map provides a road map in reverse, giving ne'er-do-wells a good clue as to who would be easier pickings.

The comments over at Chicago Breaking News have been priceless, demanding that Madigan post the names of everyone owning big screen plasma TV's, anyone currently receiving any type of government assistance, and the home addresses of all state employees.

How about something a little more concrete? Concrete politically?

We are proposing that at the next FOP meeting, someone make a motion to retroactively un-endorse Madigan for Attorney General. In fact, any FOP Lodge in the State who previously endorsed Madigan should pull their blessing. She is making a proposal that will directly impact the safety and well being of police officers and their families. Why should she expect any support from the law enforcement community? A public rebuke like this would send a clear message.

Chicago Tonight Insanity

We don't know if there's a link up yet, but Chicago Tonight had some panel of people on, including Aldercreature Beale, who speculated as to who might make a good next superintendent for Chicago. Their suggestions?

• Jimmy Jackson
• Ernie Brown
• Henny Penny Trahanas

Jimmy Jackson is the current First Deputy - or what used to be the First Deputy spot. An amiable guy, harmless, well liked.

Ernie Brown is a disaster. Serial harasser, subject of numerous lawsuits, couldn't even land a job in Buckeye, Arizona when they did a cursory background check on his resume, demoted by J-Fled then double re-promoted without explanation months later.

And Henny Penny? Well, let's just say if you ever had a CB photo attached to an arrest report for telephone harassment, your ex got a 5-figure payoff from the city and you took a 30 day hit for a sustained CR investigation, then you probably shouldn't be the superintendent of anything except maybe a CHA building.

Dumb Reporters

In the outpouring of jubilation following the departure of the "failed experiment," it was inevitable that bad information would get out there as the Daley-controlled media continued to paint the police in a bad light. Here's one of the more egregious examples by Paul Meincke at Channel 7:

• Just before 4 p.m., Mayor Richard M. Daley's office confirmed Weis will leave Tuesday. Weis has not commented.
  
  The former FBI sergeant was brought in by Daley as an outsider to lead the Chicago Police Department, which had been tarnished by officer misconduct allegations. Since his arrival, misconduct complaints dropped, the murder rate fell and the department got new cars, guns and detectives got a four-day work week.

We were unaware the FBI had ranks of sergeant. Then there's the attribution of non-existent problems and solutions that were in no way attached to anything J-Fled actually did. And the "four-day work week" shows a complete lack of understanding as to what the 4-and-2 schedule actually accomplishes, therefore feeding the public misperception of how much police officers and detectives are actually working.

But hey, remember, the media has all those layers of fact checking and it's bloggers and insiders who don't actually know what's going on.

Planting Mice

We're surprised Daley hasn't had people trying to do this to aid the Dumpster Task Force in raising revenue:

• The owner of a suburban Philadelphia pizza shop was arraigned on Tuesday on charges he schemed to plant live mice in competing pizza parlors in hope of putting them out of business.
  
  Nickolas Galiatsatos, owner of Nina's Bella Pizzeria in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, is accused of putting bags of mice at nearby competitors on Monday afternoon, according to Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.
  
  The owner of Verona Pizza watched Galiatsatos go into his restroom carrying a bag but emerge empty-handed, and alerted two patrol officers who were in the restaurant, Chitwood said.
  
  The officers found a bag of mice and footprints on a toilet seat, suggesting someone had been trying to reach the ceiling tiles, he said.

This guy takes his pizza way too seriously.

The Return of Terry Hillard?

Yow:

• Reports indicate that veteran Daley aide Terry Hilliard will fill in for Weis in the interim, and that Mike Shields, a cousin of Michelle Obama's, and a member of the rank-and-file, is the top choice to take the Supt. job once Rahm Emanuel takes office.

At least the media is fronting off Shield's family connections early. That's a change from years past.

....And Your Little Dog Toto, Too

Sources at 35th Street are saying Masters Masters Masters is gone too. This day just keeps getting better and better.

Anyone up for a UUW pinch?

J-FLED GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let the celebrations begin!!!

• Chicago's top cop is off the beat.
  
  City Hall sources tell NBCChicago that Mayor Richard Daley declined to offer Jody Weis a written contract extension that would have kept him on as Police Superintendant [sic] until the end of Daley's term this May.
  
  Without a written contract, sources say, Weis has declined to stay on board.
  
  He reportedly will leave his post at the end of the day, Tuesday.

Gotta Run!!!

The Real Chicago Way

Does anyone else get the feeling that J-Fled is like the last guest at a party, the lights are out, the food & drinks are gone, and the host is yawning and looking at his watch?

• Mayor Richard Daley today said he expected police Superintendent Jody Weis to stay in his post through the end of Daley's term, even though Weis' contract expires tomorrow.

• But Daley, speaking at a press conference to promote national gun-regulation efforts, also said he has yet to ask Weis to stay until the new mayor takes the helm.

  Weis, who usually speaks at such press conferences, was not on hand, but when asked if there was a reason for that, Daley responded, "No." Weis spokeswoman, Lt. Maureen Biggane, said she did not know why Weis wasn't there but it was possible he had another commitment.

  Over the weekend, Weis said the mayor had yet to ask him to stay on through the end of his term.

So Shortshanks wants him to stay, but hasn't asked him? The day before his contract expires? And the lieutenant in charge of media affairs has no fucking idea why J-Fled doesn't show up at a press conference that deals specifically with gun issues?

Surely Rahm has some insight?

• Over the weekend, Weis said he had not yet spoken with Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel, who during the campaign said he would replace Weis.

  “My contract runs (out) on March the first, so we probably could just leave it at that,” Weis told reporters at a Sunday news conference on another topic.

Rahm hasn't called and neither has Daley. It seems obvious no one wants him to stay, but no one wants to be the one to tell him he's not needed anymore. And J-Fled is still ignorant as to how Chicago operates. Here's a clue:

1. Overpaid, morale-killing Superintendent;
2. Bus;
3. Some assembly required
   

The Department will go on regardless - there are mechanisms in place to operate without a Superintendent. Any bets on whether J-Fled's name disappears from the A&A's for Unit 111 or he gets put into a "no-pay" status this morning? Or will we see a last-minute reprieve?

Botched Investigation?

Or politically suspended?

• Mayor Daley’s nephew received no favored treatment from the “thorough, fair and impartial” investigation that followed the 2004 death of a 21-year-old man who got into an altercation with a group that included the mayor’s nephew, a high-ranking police official said Monday.

  Although witnesses were recently re-interviewed, Deputy Police Supt. Ernest Brown said the investigation into David Koschman’s death was never technically re-opened.

  “The investigative portion of the case was completed. ... Based on the [Freedom of Information request] from the Sun-Times, we realized that, because of an administrative oversight, the case remained unclosed. So we shifted it to a different area for a comprehensive review of the entire investigative process as it stood,” Brown said.

Translation - we didn't bury it deep enough the first time, so we'll do it now after a wink and a nod to proper procedure.

• “That review revealed that the facts of that investigation remained unchanged since it was initially investigated, and it will be closed shortly.”

  Brown was asked whether he’s confident R.J. Vanecko, the mayor’s nephew, got no favored treatment in the case.

  “Absolutely. ... I’m confident that we conducted a comprehensive investigation — a thorough, fair and impartial investigation,” said Brown, chief of the Bureau of Patrol.

  Pressed to explain the delay in questioning witnesses, Brown said, “That’s as much as I’m at liberty to answer right now.”

Wow Ernie. Did they really promise you the top spot? Because you are really laying it on thick. And how about this?

• Asked why the case was re-opened, Daley initially changed the subject to his push for stricter gun laws, the purpose of Monday’s news conference.

  “I know you want to talk about other things. [But] this is gun violence. Would you ask a question on that one, please? Ask one. Can you ask a question on gun violence? Why not? ... Knock-knock. No one is there,” Daley said as police and community leaders who joined him at the Homan Square police warehouse laughed along with him.

Yeah, because a death investigation of a 21-year-old at the hands of a mayoral relative is always a laughing matter. You wouldn't want to actually investigate the entire thing in a timely manner instead of waiting 7 years for memories to get fuzzy. It's not like there's anything politically suspicious about this group:

• Vanecko’s group that night included Craig Denham, a former LaSalle Bank official who later married a sister of Daley’s son-in-law, and Kevin D. McCarthy and his wife, Bridget Higgins McCarthy. She’s a daughter of developer Jack Higgins, a close friend of the mayor.

Move along folks.

Safer Bike Lanes?

Hilarious!

• As of right now, Chicago certainly isn't one of the most bicycle-friendly cities, every year numerous cyclists are hit by cars while traveling to and from work and other locations. But city officials are hoping to change that by creating a new type of bicycle lane that will make traveling on Chicago's streets safer and prevent cyclists from getting hit by cars.

Hasn't Shortshanks been promoting Chicago as one of the more "bike-friendly" cities for the past decade or so? Don't we have tens, maybe hundreds of miles of bike lanes set aside? Isn't Lake Short Drive shut down for most of an entire day so cyclists can enjoy the lakefront from a different vantage point? And now someone is saying that it just isn't true? Priceless.

But wait! There's more!

• Unlike the bike lanes in many other cities where the designated lane is just a 5-foot wide strip of the street next to traveling vehicles, the city is adopting a "cycle track." This special type of bike lane will create a physical barrier between vehicle lanes and the lane designated for cyclists. Cycle tracks most commonly use concrete "Jersey walls," typically seen in construction sites, or raised concrete barriers that don't let bicycles pass into the vehicle lanes or vice versa.

  The news came after the Chicago Department of Transportation was given a $3.2 million grant from the federal government to improve their bicycle lanes by testing and building cycle tracks in the city. As of right now, CDOT is trying it out on Stony Island Avenue, between 77th and 69th streets.

Nice to see the feds have $3.2 million lying around for this crap. We're betting CDOT had to come up with some sort of matching funds, too.

First of all, creating a "wall" or Jersey barriers - wouldn't that pretty much remove a few miles of curb parking on the streets affected?

Second, the bikers are going to just love being penned in by a curb and a Jersey wall when someone pops out to hit them with a two-by-four to steal their bikes, phones and i-Pods. Every copper in the city can name a viaduct or stretch of bike lane notorious for muggings, robberies and random beatings of bikers. Many times, the cyclists can utilize their mobility avoid or escape the worst of an attack. But this sounds exactly like the chute to a slaughterhouse.

Mandatory Meeting Canceled

We guess there was just too much other stuff going on, so they canceled it around 1030 yesterday morning.

No word on a reschedule yet. Rumor is they might be stripping Tact teams from the districts, hence the Tact Lieutenants' presence was required.

Anyone have any info?