Squeezy the Pension Python

We are speechless:

• After months of promising a major grass-roots effort to win public support for reforming the state's government worker pension system, Gov. Pat Quinn on Sunday unveiled a plan that featured an incomplete online strategy, children wearing red plastic megaphones and an animated "Squeezy the Pension Python" mascot.
  
  There were, however, no solutions offered on how to fix the nation's most underfunded retirement system.

We'll tell you exactly what the solution is going to be - screw everyone and let the feds sort it out.

And the blatant use of kids for this debacle? Kind of appropriate in a sick way seeing as how not a single Illinois politician is acting anything like an adult during this entire crisis.

Someone let us know when the grown-ups finally arrive.

All is Well!

Nothing to see here.  Move along.  Keep spending money you touristy-types:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Monday pointed to this weekend’s Magnificent Mile Lights Festival ceremony as proof that the city’s upper-crust Gold Coast is safe — despite two violent incidents there within 24 hours.
  
  “We had 1 million people and not a single incident” during the popular Saturday evening festival along Michigan Avenue, Emanuel told reporters.
  
  The stabbing of a festival visitor inside a bathroom of a Michigan Avenue hotel occurred about an hour after the festival concluded.

"not a single incident," aside from those people with the gaping knife wounds. And the jagoffs trying to run over the cop.  But if it didn't happen between certain hours, in full view of the television cameras....

Rahm is sure a big (figuratively speaking) fan of "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does anyone have to say anything at the CompStat meeting?"

Why is He on the Street?

Another in a continuing series of Illinois prison screw-ups:

• Just one day after attending a meeting to reintroduce felons into their communities, a recent parolee with a decades-long rap sheet and history of violence stabbed an Oak Brook doctor during an attempted holdup at a Gold Coast restaurant over the weekend, authorities said Monday.
  
  Jimmy Harris, 56, had been freed from prison just eight days earlier, authorities said.
  
  Harris, who has past gang ties, has at least 60 arrests and nine felony convictions dating to the late 1970s, according to Chicago police, state and court records.

56 years old, nine felony convictions and he still manages to walk the streets, breathing the same air you and we do, stabbing suburban tourists and such.

Maybe this is just a case of "ten strikes and you're out."

Nice Pinch

Not sure if this guy was an Apple-picker himself, but he sure had a bunch of stuff lying around:

• A man on parole for burglary had dozens of iPods and smartphones at his West Side home when police and parole officers visited there Friday because of recent neighborhood burglaries and he bragged to them he would “steal anything,” according to police.
  
  Daniel Ramirez, 22, of the 2100 block of West Huron Street, was arrested at his home about 10 a.m. Friday, according to police. He is being held in Cook County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail after being charged with felony theft of more than $100,000 in goods and felony unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, according to jail records. Officers also arrested another man, Adam Salas, 41, after they found him at Ramirez’s home and he dropped drugs in front of them, according to a police report.
  
  Ramirez is accused of the theft of more than $100,000 in goods, including more than 80 iPods, numerous iPads and cell phones, about 20 bicycles, and other items including laptop computers and jewelry, according to police.

There's still decent police work being done out there in some places.  Not all of it gets this coverage.  Good job boys and girls.

Underdogs

Cutler out, Bears underdogs by 6.

Spend your toothpicks wisely today.

Aldermanic Bullshit in 016

One of our readers wrote to the aldercreature in an effort to get to the bottom of the manpower shortage. This is what they got back:

• Mr. (name withheld)
  
  Thank you for taking the time to contact our office regarding your public safety concerns.
  
  I speak with the Commander of the 16th District regularly, that is where I get my information about public safety in the 41st Ward. Everyone would like to see additional patrols and we've already started to hire additional police officers in the City, including 500 that are part of this year's budget.
  
  Also, I personally don't hold a lot of stock in anonymous comments from a blog. I rely the advice and counsel of officials in the police department.
  
  You may be interested in attending our upcoming 41st Ward Public Safety Town Hall
  on Monday, November 26th at Taft High School in the auditorium. This event will be begin promptly at 6:30 PM. Commander O'Donnell of the 16th District will be in attendance. I've attached a flyer.
  
  You can also find information about your regular BEAT meeting here.
  
  Please feel free to contact my office if I can be of any additional assistance.
  
  Regards,
  Mary O'Connor
  Alderman 41st Ward
  6107 N Northwest Highway
  Office: (773) 594-8341
  Fax: (773) 594-8345
  Email: ward41@cityofchicago.org

We'd certainly suggest that ALL the residents of 016 contact aldercreature O'Connor and let her know that the Department is lying to her if anyone says for an instant that the Department isn't "borrowing " officers from certain districts every single week in order to staff the midnight cars in 016.  If she wants names and dates, those are easily obtainable via the Assignment and Attendance sheets as we discovered just the other day.

Above the Law

Once again, the City Council doesn't fail to amaze:

• Chicago aldermen are accusing their handpicked inspector general of overstepping his limited authority — and going fishing — with a demand for time sheets for all full- and part-time City Council employees dating back to November 2010.
  
  The surprise request from Legislative Inspector General Faisal Khan — whose annual budget was recently increased to $354,000 — stunned and infuriated aldermen, some of whom are talking about clipping Khan’s wings or eliminating his position altogether.
  
  Khan could not be reached for comment to explain the time-sheet request he made last month. Over the years, aldermen and committee chairmen have been accused of padding their payrolls with relatives, friends and political allies and of the hiring equivalent of “wife-swapping”: placing each other’s spouses and relatives on each other’s payrolls.

Remember, these are our superiors.  We don't have them investigated.  They know better than all of us.  You just shut up and pay ever increasing taxes to keep them and their cronies in comfort without fear of losing a home, feeding a family or staying employed.

Gold Coast Shots Fired (and more)

Earlier tonight:

• A Chicago police officer fired on a car fleeing a Gold Coast retail store this evening, after the driver of the vehicle tried to run him down when the officer tried to stop four people with their arms full of stolen clothing, officials said.
  
  No is believed to have been injured, said Chicago Police News Affairs [...].
  
  The incident happened about 6:10 p.m as an officer responded to a call of a theft in progress in in the first block of East Walton Street, just east of Rush Street

The officer was unhurt.

And of course, last night was all over the news, too:

• The 67-year-old man stabbed at a North Michigan Avenue hotel Saturday night had been downtown with seven family members for the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival, his niece said.
  
  A second man was also injured in the attack while trying to keep the assailant from fleeing, police said, and a man is in custody.

Hey, pay no attention to those two bleeding individuals on the corner! They were like that when they got there. It's 100% safe for tourists and suburbanites alike in the sales-tax-generating section of the city. Really. We mean it. How can there be a police shortage if you can't see what isn't there?

Tick tock. Tick tock.

Weekend Totals

Another four dead, including one killed by church law:

• The man was shot in the back by a gunman inside a minivan, police News Affairs [...]. The medical examiner’s office was not identifying the man pending family notification.
  
  Tizoc Tobias heard what sounded like a canon go off just outside his home Sunday morning, he said. Then he counted the shots — 10 in total.
  
  “The first reaction is to count the shots,” said Tobias, 38, standing with his 9-year-old son by the remaining police tape in the alley near his home.
  

We think the reporter may have meant "cannon" and not "canon," but they know better than we do with all their layers of fact checking and editorial oversight.

So four dead, twelve wounded, and we saw an article about someone who lingered for a week before succumbing to his Englewood induced wounds, so call it at least five.

Safety Alert

From a reader:

Modern ingenuity.  Be careful out there.

Kidnapped Child Found

A dearth of good news lately, so this is welcome news:

• A desperate four-hour search for a kidnapped baby ended joyfully when Officer Naomi Gibson heard a muffled cry in a gangway.
  
  Gibson and a team of officers were frantically looking for the 1-month-old girl throughout the Grand Crossing District on the South Side on Tuesday morning.
  
  At 10:54 a.m. — with the temperature hovering at 32 degrees — Gibson heard a cry coming from a gangway in the 6800 block of South Ridgeway.
  
  She spotted a white garbage bag full of pink baby clothes. Then she saw the baby sitting in a car seat, covered with a pink blanket.

And why was the child kidnapped?

• Williams allegedly took the child to pretend the baby girl belonged to her and her boyfriend, who had recently been arrested and faced a bond hearing on a felony drug possession charge.
  
  She’s accused of planning to use the child to evoke sympathy from a judge to get a lower bond for her boyfriend, but then abandoned the scheme — and the baby.
  

And when it all fell apart, she just left the baby in a gangway, denied having anything to do with the child, and refused to assist the police in any way, shape or form to return the infant.  We wish we could say we were shocked, but we can't.  Let's see if Mope-rah can wring a story out of this one.  We're sure it's all the fault of the police at some level.

An excellent job by the officers responding and searching until locating the child.

Suburban Gun Turn-In

With all sorts of rules and stuff that make it not-so-much fun to turn in weapons:

• Firearms will be exchanged for $100 cash if the weapon and participant meet the program requirements.
  
  All types of firearms will be accepted, but they must be unloaded and transported in a car trunk or inaccessible area of a van or pickup truck, police said. Participants must enter the turn-in site without the firearm, and police will accompany them back to the vehicle to retrieve it.
  
  [...] To get $100, the firearm must be functional. Pellet and BB guns will be accepted, but no money will be given, the release said.
  
  Only residents of towns belonging to the [South Suburban Association of Chiefs of Police] are eligible to take part. Those unsure whether their town is a member should call their local police.

Police have to retrieve the weapons from your trunk? Where's the sense of adventure?

No money for BB guns and air rifles? Now there's no motive to profit.

Fully functional firearms only? What are those guys from southern Illinois going to do to fund their youth gun safety programs now?

And why would anyone turn in a fully functional firearms anyway? There's the potential for years of fun, safe shooting sports along with the ability to defend yourself in the event a criminal comes knocking at your door.

Meet Me in the Deserted Alley...

This is part of a trend we've seen over the past year or three - why trust to blind luck when you can have the victims just bring you their stuff?

• Bail was set at $350,000 today for a 20-year-old man charged in several robberies where victims were attacked when they responded to ads posted on Craigslist, authorities said.
  
  Andrew Jones, of the 8100 block of South Merrill Avenue, was charged with aggravated assault and armed robbery in connection with several robberies connected to an advertisement on Craigslist, police said.
  
  Police had issued an alert earlier this week warning of people who were robbed when responding to an ad on the site. The victims met a man at a certain location where they were met by an armed robber who forced them to the rear of the location and robbed them, police said.

It's almost like shopping at home.  And you know what they're bringing you in advance.  One victim from Wheeling got gut-shot for his troubles.  Why on earth would you bring anything into the city, let alone some of the neighborhoods this guy was prowling in?

E2 Owners Countersue

Once again, the City is stampeded to do something, anything in the wake of mass stupidity. So they decide to go all out on an obscure building code violation of all things. A first year lawyer can see where this is headed:

• The owners of the former E2 nightclub are suing the City of Chicago for $4 million a year after a state appeals court dismissed their convictions in connection with a 2003 stampede that killed 21 people
  
  The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court on Friday, claims Calvin Hollins and Dwain Kyles were unfairly accused of criminal contempt by city prosecutors and, as a result, suffered financial and emotional distress.
  
  [...] City prosecutors pressed on with criminal contempt charges by arguing that Hollins and Kyles failed to follow a judge’s order to close the second floor of the club because of structural problems.
  
  A judge in 2009 agreed and sentenced Hollins and Kyles to two years in prison, but the Illinois Appellate Court reversed the convictions in November of 2011, saying it was not clear how the building code violation caused the deaths or injuries.
  

Another Daley legacy via Corp Counsel, potentially costing taxpayers millions, that the city could have avoided.

This Stuff Will Kill You

But damn, it tasted good back in the day:

• Hostess Brands announced Friday that it is winding down operations and has filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeking permission to close its business and sell its assets, including its iconic brands and facilities.

Over 1,000 jobs in Illinois alone, and more than a few other brands tanking with the snack cakes. 

Continuing Scandal

This one just won't stop:

• A Chicago police officer is accused of staging an accident involving two cars in return for $2,000 from a tow truck driver who hauled away the wreckage and billed an insurance company.

This is the tenth officer indicted in this scandal.  We aren't sure how many got indicted during the SOS scandal, but we don't think it was ten. And for a measly $2,000?  This guy will be lucky to get a job actually towing cars in a few years.

Eight Years

Another scandal draws to a close:

• A former Chicago police detective, a self-confessed alcoholic, who drunkenly plowed into a stalled car in 2009, then walked away from the two men burning to death on the Dan Ryan, was sentenced to eight years in prison Friday.
  
  His victims’ families called the sentence a slap in the face, a favor for 18-year police veteran Joseph Frugoli.

We've seen a lot less given...and a lot more.

In the Meantime...

...the dead keep stacking up, even on weeknights:

• Authorities tonight were investigating the fatal shootings of three men, one of whom was killed by his father, police said.

Everyone one of them bring us closer to 500, with a month-and-a-half to go.

Who has the current total?

Rahm's Budget

Well thank goodness it wasn't unanimous.  You'd hate to see anyone thinking these spineless assholes were a rubber stamp or something:

• It wasn’t the shut-out he pitched during his rookie season, but Mayor Rahm Emanuel got the win Thursday on the most important City Council vote of the year.
  
  By a vote of 46-to-3 with Ald. Sandi Jackson (7th) missing, aldermen approved Emanuel’s no-new taxes, “calm-before-the-storm” 2013 budget.
  
  The vote on the $6.54 billion budget clears the decks for the main event: a painful solution to the city’s pension crisis that will require both new revenues and concessions from city employees.

The battle has just begun and Rahm is going to play "scorched earth" with us.

Oh, and it sure was nice of Sandi Jackson to represent her constituents so very ably from somewhere else.  As someone pointed out, another Jackson collecting a check for a no-show job.

012 / 013 Merge on Tap

Word is the Lieutenants have made their choices/bids to leave or stay.

Same source relates the Sergeants are having issues with who stays and who goes due to very high seniority among the newcomers.

And of course, the Officers have no idea who or how many get to remain in the new 012 and what their choices may be to move to - or if the choices are even going to be granted.

Any of this making any sense?

Officer Wounded; Assailant Killed

Late last night:

• A Chicago Police officer suffered a graze wound to her leg and a stabbing suspect wielding a hammer was fatally shot late Wednesday in the South Chicago neighborhood, police said.
  
  The female officer and man were shot near the intersection of East 79th Street and South Shore Drive, police said.
  
  The officer’s partner shot the man, said Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden. It was unclear whether the officer accidently shot herself or was wounded by her partner.
  
  At 11:45 p.m, two officers responded to a disturbance at the intersection and saw a man with a knife stabbing another man, police said.
  
  When officers ordered the attacker to drop the weapon but he refused and an officer fired a Tazer, police said.
  
  But the suspect produced a hammer and aggressively charged toward the officers, officials said. Both officers discharged their weapons, police said.

Get well soon Officer.  And well done in eliminating yet another threat to the lives of officers and citizens alike.

Beyond Abbate

An interesting question posed by a reader in response to our contention that we are in for a boatload of new training and videos about this supposed "code of silence" we're all a part of now:

• So, if training or whatever is not the answer, then let me ask you in all sincerity: What do you suggest to keep people like him from getting away with such behavior? How shall people like me, who support the good cops and can't afford the monetary consequences of abuse and corruption, be served and protected from bad apples?
  
  --Law Abiding Citizen

We'll open this one up to the floor - how do we, as a Department, address the conception that there is some "code of silence" conspiracy?  

Are there crooked cops?  Unfortunately, yes, but there are crooked people in all walks of life.  

Do cops extend courtesy to other cops (and city workers) in terms of parking or moving violations?  It happens, but everyone has stories about the guy who writes everything, regardless of who it is.  And don't even get us start about those assholes in Revenue.

But none of that has anything to do with a "code of silence."  

Look at our fearless leader - an inter-agency brouhaha  following a traffic altercation in his previous job, shooting out streetlights, liberal use of a particularly offensive racial pejorative and guess what?  The media ignores it and let's Rahm hire this guy to drive the Department into the ground.  This is a "code of silence?"

We're pretty sure we are going to see training videos - remember Hillard and Mrs. Hillard starring in that training video?  Racial profiling or something?  We just don't think videos that everyone knows are simply a knee-jerk reaction to the scandal of the moment are going to change anything institutionally.

Opinions?

JJJr Misses Lame Duck Session

And won't be back - allegedly:

• Congress met Tuesday but U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. was a no-show, a continued absence from his official duties that began June 10.
  
  Several political sources close to Jackson told the Chicago Sun-Times Wednesday they no longer believe this is temporary ­— they do not expect Jackson to return to his position.

So is it time for these?

Rahm Proposes Robbery

Remember that referendum on the ballot just last week about the City buying electricity competitively in order to save citizens money?

Rahm wants to keep it:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel is pushing a new plan to skim off some of the savings Chicago electricity customers stand to gain from lower rates expected as part of a bulk power purchasing contract, with the money going for unspecified energy efficiency projects.
  
  The mayor also wants greater control over how much of the deal a company can get.
  
  Some aldermen are skeptical, questioning Emanuel's power grab on the specifics of electrical aggregation, which allows the city to negotiate lower rates on residents' behalf. Last week, 56 percent of Chicago voters agreed with the idea in a referendum question.
  
  Now the rush is on to lock in savings as soon as possible. Emanuel wants to award the power savings deal within a month.

A month? This sounds suspiciously like the parking meter deal that Shortshanks rushed through to the detriment of taxpayers a few years back. And Rahm wants to keep the savings we were supposed to see? And under his proposal, he would have the authority to set the percentages of power that each company would be responsible for generating - or just assign all of the power generating needs to one single company, replacing the ComEd monopoly with one of his choosing.

Someone ought to ask if all that money is going to the unfunded pension obligations. We can already see what the answer would be.

Duty Disability Arbitration

Something to keep a close eye on:

• The arbitration went well on Wednesday. In about two weeks we will have a copy of the transcript of the arbitration. The attorneys from both sides then have until December 5, 2012, to get their briefs submitted to the arbitrator. Once the arbitrator has both sets of briefs, he will send copies to both sides. Arbitrator Roumell is usually pretty quick with his decisions, but my guess is that it will be sometime in January before we get his final decision. There is a lot of evidence for him to read, and we want him to view all the evidence so that he can make a good decision.
  
  The arbitrator is well-aware that some members may go into a no pay status on February 1, 2013. Make no mistake, this is one of the most difficult arbitrations that we have done.

Something we saw posted a few months ago suggested that there might be a hard ceiling on the number of Limited Duty spots available for officers undergoing long term medical issues.  Is this part of it?

UPDATE: Someone is complaining we're blurring the line between duty disability and limited duty spots.  Sorry if that's the case, but in the last paragraph, we directly ask if the two are related in any way.  We're looking for info on all of it.

Abbate Verdict

Looks like the City pays:

• Five years after a video of Karolina Obrycka being beaten by off-duty cop Anthony Abbate went viral, a federal jury ruled it’s time for the city and Abbate to pay up.
  
  Jurors Tuesday night awarded the bartender $850,000 in her case against the City of Chicago and the disgraced former cop over the 2007 bar beating caught on security camera.
  
  The verdict against the city and Abbate came at the end of a three week trial in which attorneys for Obrycka alleged the Chicago Police Department’s had a code of silence and a culture of failing to properly investigate and discipline officers who used excessive force.
  
  When asked outside the courtoom where the $850,000 will come from, Abbate responded with a joke.
  
  “I think I got a Visa card in my wallet,” Abbate quipped. In practice the City will have to pay the entire amount, Obrycka’s attorneys expect.

Still an asshole, all the way until the end, eh Tony?

Of course, this means the lawyer can bill Chicago for their time, which we imagine will run into the millions of dollars.  And then there's this problem:

• In order to prevail, Obrycka’s legal team had to prove not just that the code of silence existed, but that it was a cause of Abbate’s attack.

Get ready for a shitload of "training" and speeches, maybe even some sort of outside "oversight" since it has now been proven in a Court of Law that a "code of silence" exists and is perpetrated by the Department.

And then there's the unfinished business of the "fall girl:"

• He added that the actions of Deb Kirby, who ran the police departments internal affairs division at the time of the beating, were “reprehensible.”
  
  “If it was up to me, I’d fire her today,” he said.

Hope that resume is up to date Deb.

CeaseFire Useless 5 Years Ago

The State of Illinois had an auditor look into CeaseFire's claims.  Guess what they found?

• The scoop in Tuesday's Chicago Sun-Times by police reporter Frank Main about the effectiveness of CeaseFire isn't the first time such questions have been raised about the group.
  
  Five years ago, Illinois' top auditor questioned what exactly taxpayers were getting in return for millions of dollars in state funds that were invested with CeaseFire.
  
  A 2007 report by Auditor General William Holland scrutinized $13 million in state spending on CeaseFIre and concluded no state standards existed to measure the group's anti-violence work.
  
  On Tuesday, Main reported that after more than three months into a $1 million contract with the city, a ranking police source said the anti-violence group has "no significant success stories." The group disputed that claim, insisting it had made a dent in crime in the areas covered by the city's new anti-violence pilot program.

We're going to take issue with the Sun Times calling this a "scoop" seeing as how nothing has changed in the five years since Auditor William Holland found there were no measurable standards after Illinois burned through $13 million taxpayer dollars.

But that didn't stop Rahm from shoveling another million their way with no reporting standards nor it would seem, expectations of results.

Mrs. JJJr Under Investigation

This just keeps getting more amusing:

• Jackson, who reportedly has been under investigation by federal prosecutors for possible misuse of campaign funds, has been on a leave of absence from Congress since June, but was re-elected last week despite his legal and medical troubles.
  
  Meantime, according to the Wall Street Journal, federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., have expanded their investigation of the congressman, and are now also looking at his wife’s conduct.
  
  WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports, according to the Wall Street Journal, sources familiar with the investigation said prosecutors are reviewing evidence Jackson’s wife, Ald. Sandi Jackson (7th), might have been complicit in the misuse of campaign money to decorate their home.
  
  The Journal reports prosecutors have made no decisions about pursuing charges against Ald. Jackson.

You have to wonder if that open microphone that caught Jesse Sr. threatening to remove portions of then-Senator Sparklefarts anatomy may have directly contributed to the direction of this investigation.  What better revenge than sidelining Jesse Sr, jailing his son and removing any chance of his daughter-in-law holding further public office, except at the whim of Obama?  It's so very Chicago at heart.

CeaseFire Story (UPDATE)

Channel 5 News just had a teaser about tomorrow's headlines in the Sun Times.

It seems that a "police source" is revealing that CeaseFire, after receiving $1 million from Rahm Emanuel with absolutely no oversight, has exactly ZERO success stories to hang their hats on.

Gee, did anyone see that one coming?  We're pretty sure we read something about it somewhere.  Maybe one of those new-fangled "blogs" everyone is talking about.

UPDATE: And here it is:

• More than three months into a $1 million contract with the city, the anti-violence group CeaseFire has “no significant success stories,” a ranking police source said. It’s hard to evaluate CeaseFire’s mediation of gang conflicts without getting timelier reporting from the group, the source added.
  
  “You can’t wait two weeks later and tell us, ‘Oh yeah, we intervened in that.’ We need specifics and time lines,” said the source, who asked to remain anonymous.
  
  Asked about the partnership, police Supt. Garry McCarthy said through a spokeswoman: “It’s a work in progress.”

Hahahaha.....Oh McStreetlightMarksman, you're such a card.  And you can barely see Rahm's mouth moving while he manipulates his 9.5 digits in your puppet ass to cover up the missing million dollars.

OEC "Upgrade" Debacle

Remember when the 9-1-1 Center used to be "state-of-the-art"?

• The operations floor at Chicago’s 911 center is getting a $31 million upgrade stalled by contract irregularities, but it’s turning into a nightmare that threatens to slow response times to 911 calls, employees contend.
  
  Dispatchers and call takers describe a host of problems, ranging from dropped 911 calls and a new answering system that demands more manpower to computers that no longer allow call takers to monitor radio communications at fire scenes.
  
  They also complain about a new floor plan that moved fire and EMS dispatchers assigned to handle 911 calls from Chicago’s North Side away from call takers who do the same, preventing the two groups from communicating in a way that could speed response times.

Gee, what could possibly go wrong?  Nothing involving a high-rise fire or plane crash or building collapse we're sure. Or on the police side, during a pursuit where a call-taker might be on the phone with someone who isn't on-duty or isn't the police attempting to assist in the apprehension of a fleeing suspect. 

The single bright spot in the article is it says that the contract to revamp everything is a "single source contract" to Motorola.  That might bring about an end the incompatibility problems that endanger all first responders, every single day, since that $300 million monstrosity opened.

There's a Law Against That?

Well Rahm promises to never ever break that one again!

• After incidents in which phone conversations with Chicago Tribune reporters were recorded without their consent by City Hall officials, a city attorney has insisted that there is no widespread practice of such taping and that steps have been taken to ensure it does not happen again.
  
  Recording a conversation without the consent of all parties is a felony in Illinois.
  
  "This failure was due to inadvertence — not some practice or plan to record interviews without consent," Stephen Patton, the city's corporation counsel, wrote Saturday in a letter to the Tribune, which had sent a letter to the city Friday demanding that such recordings cease.
  
  Asked about the recordings at an unrelated news conference Monday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the issue was “much ado about nothing.”
  
  “My view is, like all, we have a press conference here, I expect my staff to have a record of it,” he said. “And if I have a phone conversation, an interview, I expect to have a record of it as well.”

Inadvertence?  What an asshole.  

"One law for thee but not for me."  Shouldn't someone be charged criminally?  Let the courts sort it out?

Tax "Incentives" Returned

After Daley spent millions paying companies to move to Chicago without creating a single job and Rahm has continued that tradition, what's the end result?

• United Continental Holdings, parent of United Airlines, is giving back $5.6 million in City of Chicago tax incentives.
  
  The incentive money is tied to United's 2007 move to its corporate headquarters at 77 W. Wacker Drive, along the Chicago River.
  
  Because of United's recent plans to move out of that building and consolidate its headquarters into Willis Tower where it has other operations, the airline said it was "appropriate" to return the money. However, it wasn't necessary.

If United didn't live up to the terms of the TIF handouts, it "wasn't necessary" to return the money?  What the hell is that?  It would seem that everything written about TIF money being an unaccountable bucket of cash used to bribe certain interests is coming to light.

Looks like they're keeping some other cash though:

• The giveback does not include $35.9 million in TIF money tied to a separate 2009 incentive agreement that involved moving 2,500 workers from Elk Grove Village to Willis Tower.

And buried at the end of the article? This information that almost no one will read:

• United is the fourth company to return TIF funds recently, according to the mayor's office. The others are CME Group, CNA Group and Bank of America, which together returned some $34 million in TIF money last year. CNA and Bank of America fell short of the 2,700 or so jobs each was required to keep in exchange for the tax breaks, which helped them update buildings. However, they returned the money earlier than they had to, a city spokesman said.

We imagine they kept a sizable portion of the money to defer moving costs and the like, essentially making it a risk free move for their stockholders to secure Chicago digs.  How very....corrupt.

Firefighter Death

Details still coming in:

• A Chicago firefighter has died after becoming short of breath when he returned to his firehouse from a call, authorities said early Monday.
  
  The firefighter, whose name and firehouse location have not been released, experienced shortness of breath Sunday night and was transported to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
  
  It was not immediately known whether the firefighter had been on a call that involved a fire.

God Bless.

Veterans Day (Observed)

Sergeant List

ALVAREZ, Jesse 014;

BAIER, James 011;

BENIGNO, John 610;

BLANTON, Dachae 620;

BOYD, Dion 121;

BROWN, Cynthia 019/141;

BROWN, Jason 193;

BROWN Ryan 008;

CALVINO, James 019;

CALVO, Orlando 003/189

CIECIEL, Steven 610;

CLANCY, Timothy 022;

COSTELLO, Robert 620;

DUIGNAN, Mark 009;

GUNNELL, Christopher 196;

HEGER, Richard 019;

IRVIN, Yolanda 006;

ISAKSON, Nari 610;

JACOBSON, Maria 630/610;

JONES, Alvin 002;

JUGO, Steven 010;

LABBE, James 630;

LEWIS, Matt 003/606;

LONG, Joseph 020/124;

MAXSON, Mark 610;

MORALES, Vincent 004;

O'CONNOR, Daniel 620;

OQUENDO-GRACIA, Shauntai 016;

ORTEGA, Elvis 014;

PIERCE, Thomas 377;

PRINTZ, Daniel 017;

SAJDAK, James 011;

SCHULER, John 024;

SHAUGHNESSY, John 019;

SHOSHI, Leonard 010/211;

SHOWERS, David 189;

THOMPSON, Andre 189/193;

TRAYNOR, Frank 630;

WALLACE, Joshua 003/606

WESTON, Robert 050;

WHELEHAN-CURRY, Megan 377

If we're breaking this down correctly, it works out to 17 promotions from the Districts, 10 from the D-unit, 8 assigned to units and 6 detailed out to units. 41 total and the majority from Patrol. That's unusual enough.

We were also informed that in the last two classes, the city has declined to fill their 30% "merit" for some reason. The previous class was under 25%. No idea on this one. Is this some sort of trend?

Manpower Shortages Continue

We get e-mails:

• Hey SCC, long time reader.
  
  Was at roll call the other day on the west side and the Station Supervisor made an announcement that the Department was looking for 2 volunteers to work in the 016 District certain nights in November - not RDO people, not people on furlough, actual officers working to go north.
  
  This isn't the first time either. It's a regular occurrence. Is 016 that short? Because I haven't seen any openings posted there for years. Do the reverends know that the west side is being shorted manpower to cover crime-free north side districts?

Well, leaving aside your sarcasm regarding crime-free areas of the city, we'd certainly like to know if midnights is short anywhere a lot of city workers live.

Jail Time?

Criminals actually serving time?

• U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. may serve time in prison under a plea deal that is being negotiated, CBS 2 is reporting.
  
  As part of the deal being negotiated by former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb, Jackson would resign his post citing health reasons, plead guilty to misusing campaign funds, repay the campaign funds used illegally and he would possibly serve time in prison, according to the report.

Probably what? Six months?  And a pardon to clear his name in 2016?

Anyone feel like betting on that one?

Secure Station

Maybe someday we'll have stuff like this:

• A man killed Sunday in a shootout at a suburban Detroit police headquarters first tried to shoot an officer behind bulletproof glass before officers exchanged gunfire with him, police said.
  
  One police officer was wounded in the shootout in Southfield, a city of about 73,000 north of Detroit. The injured officer was in stable condition Sunday night with a single gunshot wound in the shoulder and expected to live.
  
  Police Chief Eric Hawkins said investigators were trying to figure out why the gunman carried out the attack. The 64-year-old man had no known grievance with police.
  

Thank goodness J-Fled got us those cheap security doors, but nothing for the lobbies.

Bears by a Point-and-a-Half

Only if the offense shows up.  The defense can take care of itself

An Interesting Article

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon policing:

• With the number of murders in Chicago so far this year already surpassing the total for all of 2011, why would the police make it a priority to track down a teenager wanted for only a misdemeanor?
  
  It was because Milton was on the police department’s “heat list” — part of a new anti-violence strategy pushed by Supt. Garry McCarthy to arrest fugitives who have been linked to people who have been killed.
  
  The effort springs from a Yale University sociologist’s finding that these “hot people” are far more likely, as a result of those social ties, to become a victim or perpetrator of deadly violence themselves.

Now usually, anything from Yale involving police work would be fodder for a couple of days worth of comedy.  But this statistic caught our eye:

• Citywide, Chicago’s murder rate is 14.5 per 100,000. But it jumps to 44.5 per 100,000 in the Harrison District on the West Side, one of the city’s highest-crime districts. And for “hot people” in that district, the murder rate jumps to 1,865 per 100,000, according to the police department.

Interesting if it bears out over time.  The article deals with one individual wanted on a misdemeanor charge who ended up serving 30 days.  Granted, that's 30 days he isn't a potential victim,  but does it actually do anything except put off his almost inevitable demise?

Like we said, interesting in the short term.  Long term, we see is that it shows what a bunch of liars there are out there saying everyone shot is an "innocent victim."

Turning His Life Around

Fifteen years bad, and he was oh-so-close to turning it all around:

• A 15-year-old who allegedly pointed a gun at officers was shot in the head by police last week in the South Side’s Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood, authorities said.
  
  Officers near the 6700 block of South Indiana said they saw Dakota Bright with a handgun about 3:30 p.m. Thursday, police said.
  
  The officers approached, but Dakota fled on foot and the officers chased him, according a statement from the Chicago Police. During the pursuit, the officers shot Dakota. A weapon was recovered at the scene, police said.
  
  [...]  Meanwhile Saturday, a large group marched around the neighborhood to protest the shooting, which they say was unjustified. “No more cops killing our kids,” about 50 protesters shouted as they walked past the scene of the shooting and made their way to Marquette and King Drive.
  
  Dakota’s family questions why police shot the teen, who they say was on his way to his grandmother’s house in the 6700 block of South Prairie.
  
  “He wasn’t the monster they’re making him out to be,” said his mother, Panzy Edwards. She said she doesn’t believe the police account of what happened. “No matter what he did or how he did it, they shouldn’t have killed him.”
  
  [...] “He was an average teenager,” said his aunt, Tianne Bright. “He wasn’t no violent person.”

Average in that part of town we guess. Slightly different story over by the Tribune:

• Police sources said he was a gang member with an arrest history that includes robbery and aggravated battery to a police officer.

Anyone want to guess if those robbery charges were armed robbery? And the aggravated battery charge kind of gives lie to the "no violent person" story.

Officers Injured in Crash

Not too serious if the reports are accurate:

• The driver of a car that collided with a police squad car has been cited after two police officers and a passenger in the other car were injured in the Fuller Park neighborhood early today, police said.
  
  Diamonde McNeal, 18, was ticketed on charges of disregarding a red light, negligent driving and driving an uninsured motor vehicle. McNeal, of the 700 block of West 50th Street, also was cited with municipal violations, including damage to city property, said Chicago Police News Affairs...

And of course, you got to have the drama:

• Five young women were in the car and one was taken to the hospital.[...]
  
  At least two others in the car were "hostile," police said, and taken into custody.

It's a traffic crash caused by someone driving like an idiot and suddenly, people are going to jail.  Lawsuits to be filed in 4...3...2...

Dollar Crisis

For all the trolls posting up anti-Tea Party bullshit, here's what Tuesday's election meant:

• In the course of his first term, Obama increased the federal debt by just shy of $6 trillion and in return grew the economy by $905 billion. So, as Lance Roberts at Street Talk Live pointed out, in order to generate every dollar of economic growth the United States had to borrow about five dollars and 60 cents. There’s no one out there on the planet — whether it’s “the rich” or the Chinese — who can afford to carry on bankrolling that rate of return. According to one CBO analysis, U.S.-government spending is sustainable as long as the rest of the world is prepared to sink 19 percent of its GDP into U.S. Treasury debt. We already know the answer to that: In order to avoid the public humiliation of a failed bond auction, the U.S. Treasury sells 70 percent of the debt it issues to the Federal Reserve — which is to say the left hand of the U.S. government is borrowing money from the right hand of the U.S. government. It’s government as a Nigerian e-mail scam, with Ben Bernanke playing the role of the dictator’s widow with $4 trillion under her bed that she’s willing to wire to Timmy Geithner as soon as he sends her his bank-account details.
  
  If that’s all a bit too technical, here’s the gist: There’s nothing holding the joint up.

That's Mark Steyn in National Review Online.  The Euro crisis currently underway overseas is going to look like a cakewalk compared the the Dollar crisis on tap.

Forty More Sergeants?

They promoted 40 more sergeants Friday, fulfilling one of Rahm's and McJersey's promises about three classes and about 120 or so sergeants this year.

For you media types reading, that's 120 fewer patrol officers on top of the officers lucky enough to retire.

So Rahm's "500" officers being hired isn't keeping up with attrition yet, nor is it keeping up with promotions from within.

Congratulations to the deserving.  We'll see if we can find a list shortly.

Oops

Evidently, our posts didn't go up as planned tonight.  We're checking things, but since it's Saturday, we aren't checking with any degree of urgency.

Open post for now - regular posting to resume shortly.

NYPD Officers Hit Hard

Hurricane Sandy managed to devastate huge swaths of the East Coast.  Some neighborhoods heavily populated by police families were leveled.  Throughout it all, a number of Officers have been working 12, 14 even 16-hour days, all the while knowing that they have no home to return to.  Families have been scattered across the state as they attempt to rebuild lives and put things together for their First Responder husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters.

The NYCPBA has a splash intro page on their website listing charitable sites dedicated to assisting NYPD and their families.

TheeRant also has a few posts up about assisting our East Coast brethren.

Check them out.

Officer Kills Assailant

Once again, police confronted by a man with a gun:

• A man who allegedly pointed a gun at Chicago police was fatally shot this afternoon in the Park Manor neighborhood, officials said.
  
  The shooting happened at about 3:45 p.m. near the 6700 block of South Indiana Avenue, according to Patrick Camden, a spokesman for the Chicago police union.
  
  Police officers were driving south on Indiana near an alley when they spotted a man coming out of the alley with a gun in his hand, said Camden.
  
  After police pulled over they ordered the man to drop the gun but the man began running down the alley and about midway the man turned and pointed the weapon at the police, Camden said.
  
  The officers fired at the man, fatally striking him, Camden said.

Well done Officers.

CFD Funeral

An impressive event that no one ever wants to see happen:

• Led by the slow march of a drum and pipe corps, a fire truck pulled up to a Southwest Side church today bearing the flag-draped casket of Capt. Herbert "Herbie" Johnson, a 32-year veteran who died battling an extra-alarm fire.
  
  As firefighters in dress uniforms stood at attention under dark skies, Johnson's casket was brought into St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel past his family and hundreds of friends and colleagues.
  
  "He was a bully for love and life," the Rev. Thomas McCarthy said during the packed funeral. "And for us, his friends, we are so lucky.
  
  "He was there when anyone needed him," he said. "To go into a burning building and not think of yourself, that was Herbie Johnson."

Final prayers and remembrances here only.

Suburban Cop Killer up for PArole

Question:

• We see the petitions at the desk and pass them around roll call whenever they come up.  Does Chicago FOP ever circulate petitions for Officers killed in the line of duty for our suburban brothers and sisters?  We're pretty sure we've seen some around at times, but is it a regular thing?

As the largest FOP organization in the state and second largest nationwide, one would hope that our voice could be heard to assist smaller Departments in making sure the criminals who killed their co-workers serve every minute of their sentences.

We received an e-mail today:

• As an avid reader of your blog, I noticed that you sometimes post about upcoming parole hearings for those who have killed police officers. I was wondering if you would be able to write a post about one that is a little closer to home for all of us.
  
  Patrolman Anthony Charles Raymond
  
  This was my aunt's brother, and since both offenders were sentenced (with the intention that they die in prison) she has been leading a crusade each time they have come up for parole to ensure that they aren't released. Fortunately one of the offenders died in prison in 2009, but the other is unfortunately still alive and once again up for parole. I've also submitted this hearing to ODMP for posting on their "no parole for cop killers" page.
  
  I've attached the cover letter and petition that she has drawn up, I (as well as my family and especially my aunt) would greatly appreciate if you would be able to create a post referencing this.
  
  I've also been in contact with Duke over at dukesblotter.com, and he was kind enough to write a post on this as well, just trying to drum up whatever support I can so that they can deny parole for this scumbag again.
  
  Thanks for your help and best regards,
  Pat Blair

Duke's Blotter has the petitions up on his site. We're hoping some interested parties can get these signed and forwarded to the Prisoner Review Board in a timely fashion.

An Accountable School Board?

We can't see Rahm letting it happen.  He'd have to surrender too much power:

• Independent Chicago aldermen vowed Thursday to push for a citywide referendum on an elected school board opposed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, emboldened by 86 percent support from voters in parts of 35 different wards.
  
  Despite a parliamentary maneuver by a mayoral ally that blocked referenda in 10 Chicago wards, education activists in 327 precincts went door-to-door to gather the signatures needed to put the elected school board question on the ballot. The results were overwhelming. By an 86.6 percent margin, 65,763 Chicagoans said they would prefer an elected school board to the current system of seven mayoral appointees confirmed by the City Council.
  
  Chicago has the only school district in the state that does not have an elected school board.
  

Someone also said we're the only school district with a drop out rate in excess of 50% and the only school district that graduates people from high school reading at a 7th grade level completely unprepared for college and totally unemployable. No idea if that last part is true. And that phrase, "independent aldermen?" What are there, like two of them?

JJJr Facing Prison?

Gee whiz, why didn't this come out during the "campaign?"

• Sneed has learned U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who handily won re-election Tuesday despite a lengthy stay at Mayo Clinic for depression and bipolar disorder, is in the midst of plea discussions with the feds probing his alleged misuse of campaign funds.
  
  “No one has pled guilty, but plea discussions are ongoing,” said a top Sneed source, who said Jackson is still undergoing treatment at Mayo Clinic.
  
  Sneed is also told Jackson, who returned to Mayo Clinic after undergoing outpatient treatment in the seclusion of his home in Washington, D.C., is not only being investigated for allegedly using campaign funds to decorate his Washington home — but also Sneed hears he may also have used campaign funds to buy a $40,000 Rolex watch as a gift for a female friend.

Anyone who thinks the Chicago media didn't delay or bury this story for weeks, maybe even months prior to the election is a moron.  We had rumors in our comment section for the past few weeks that JJJr was negotiating with the feds and the Mayo hospital stay was merely cover for this scandal.  

We know the media reads this site,  None of them could have looked around?  Given voters the chance to cast their ballots based on this info? Oh, but that would deny Madigan, Quinn and/or Rahm the chance to appoint a US Representative that they could control.

The media is part and parcel of the problem in Illinois.  They fail to do their duties as "watchdogs" day in and day out.  This is merely the most glaring and obvious example.

"The Monster Chicago Created"

A little bit of hyperbole there - why not demonize alcohol?

• Calling disgraced cop Anthony Abbate “the monster that the City of Chicago created,” beaten bartender Karolina Obrycka’s lawyer Tuesday urged a federal jury to deliver a rebuke against police brutality by awarding damages to Obrycka.
  
  But lawyers for the city countered that it should not pay for Abbate’s notorious off-duty attack “simply because it employed” him, saying Abbate was “just another drunk, acting stupid.”
  
  And Abbate’s own attorney argued that Abbate shouldn’t give Obrycka a single cent because there’s nothing in Obrycka’s lawsuit that requires compensation for the beating on Feb. 19, 2007.

We certainly hope she soaks "the monster" for every cent she can.  And we wouldn't mind seeing Abbate in the stocks in Daley Plaza every year on the anniversary of his video appearance where taxpayers and cops alike could toss rotten tomatoes at him.

But to hold "Chicago" responsible instead of the individuals who greased his way through the application and background investigatory process?  Start hammering the enablers, the phone calls, the chinamen.  You recommend someone, back someone, promote someone, then you should put your name out there, your reputation, your assets.  Stop blaming the "culture" of Chicago clout and start naming names.

Pension Amendment Defeated

One bit of good news:

• Illinois voters rejected a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would have required a three-fifths vote, instead of a simple majority, for any public body to increase public pension benefits.
  
  Some voters found the proposed change confusing and rejected the amendment 56 percent to 44 percent.
  
  “It seemed like double-talk to me,” said Jim Chmura, 67, of Oak Park, who voted against it.

This will save us tens of millions in lawyer fights over the next few years.

Headcase and Criminal Win

From Minnesota.  Without running a campaign.  Without even doing his job for the past how many months?  And wins with a total greater than his two opponents combined:

• Jesse Jackson Jr. won re-election to Illinois' 2nd Congressional district by a landslide Tuesday night, beating his two opponents, Marcus Lewis and Brian Woodwoorth.
  
  As of 2 a.m. Wednesday, and with 99 percent of precincts reporting, Jackson had captured 63 percent of the vote.

And an indicted criminal wins reelection:

• Despite the fact he was indicted on bribery charges and expelled from the Illinois House, State Representative Derrick Smith was re-elected in the 10th District.
  
  Smith easily defeated Unity candidate Lance Tyson and write-in Democrat Eddie Winters.

Illinois is beyond repair.

Judge Psycho Wins

As far as we can tell, not one judge lost their spot in Cook County:

• Hours after being re-elected to the bench in Cook County, Judge Cynthia Brim appeared in court this morning on a misdemeanor charge of battery.
  
  "I'm just happy the people voted me back in," Brim said after her status hearing, at which a Cook County judge transferred her case to yet another judge.
  
  Brim was charged in March after she allegedly shoved a sheriff’s deputy and tossed a set of keys toward another at a security checkpoint in the Daley Center. Her arrest came one day after she apparently went on an extended tirade while on the bench in the Markham courthouse.
  
  Brim’s attorney James Montgomery said this morning that his client was "legally insane" at the time of the alleged battery. 

Her defense is that she was "legally insane" yet she sits on the bench (or will) while her case gets kicked around from judge to judge unwilling to pull the trigger on her.

Why isn't the Chief Judge hearing this one?

Busy Night, Light Posting

Watching election returns from an undisclosed bunker. 

Open post while it all shakes out.

Shortages!

How do we say this.....duh?

• Chicago already has registered more homicides than it did during all of last year. Now, the Chicago Police Department is on pace to break an all-time record that could make it more difficult to stop the bloodshed: police retirements in a single year.
  
  Fraternal Order of Police President Mike Shields disclosed Monday that the ranks of 2012 retirees will top 580, breaking the old record of 570 in 2004.
  
  Through Oct. 31, 475 officers had retired. According to Shields, an additional 105 officers met a Nov. 1 deadline to file the paperwork to take advantage of the city’s offer of premium health-care benefits for those who retire at 55.
  
  Over the last decade, 4,178 city officers have retired from the force, an average of 417 officers a year.
  
  Retirements ranged from 261 in 2009 to the previous high of 570.
  
  Equally troubling to Shields is the fact that the city has hired just 190 officers so far this year.
  That means Chicago is falling behind when it comes to police manpower after a three-year hiring slowdown and Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s decision to balance his first budget by eliminating more than 1,400 police vacancies, he said.

It's obvious to anyone who pays attention that hiring has not kept up with retirements for years now.  Run any seniority lists for districts alone and the manpower shortages become apparent. Units disappeared.  And the article states 1,400 vacancies were eliminated.  Rahm is counting on the media's inability to add and compare numbers and keep citizens in the dark.

All Over but the Screaming

Closing arguments later today:

• Attorneys defending the city of Chicago in a federal lawsuit stemming from the infamous 2007 beating of a female bartender by an off-duty police officer today rested their case, setting the scene for closing arguments on Tuesday.
  
  Witnesses called by the city challenged key assertions by lawyers for the bartender, Karolina Obrycka, that higher-ranking officers obtained misdemeanor charges in a bid to minimize Abbate’s conduct and that the city has an abysmal record of disciplining officers for excessive force.
  
  Obrycka’s lawsuit blames the department’s unofficial code of silence for the beating at Jesse’s Short Stop Inn and the alleged coverup that followed. After a videotape of the beating was made public and went viral, the Police Department underwent a firestorm of criticism. 

The Department doesn't have "an abysmal record of disciplining officers for excessive force."  What this Department has is ZERO consistency in discipline that it can fall back on to show that it handles complaints appropriately at any point in time.  Time after time after time, the politically connected lead charmed lives and escape any sort of responsibility for their actions.  Then they end up promoted in positions of power and excuse others doing the same crap they did, regardless of it being illegal, unethical or just plain stupid.

Messy Weekend

But hey, fatalities are "down" (relatively speaking) and those docs over at County?  They can slap some bondo on those gunshot wounds and they'll be good as new!

• Two men were killed and 17 others were wounded in gun violence across the city since early Saturday, officials said.
  
  Just before 6 a.m. Saturday, Chicago Police officers found a man dead with a gunshot wound to his chest in the 9700 block of South Exchange.
  
  Earlier at 4 a.m., a 19-year-old man was found shot with multiple wounds in the 5600 block of Shields, police said.
  

And at last count - no arrests. When are they making detectives again?

Once Again, the Connected...

...get richer:

• As vice president of the Chicago Public Library’s board of directors, Cherryl T. Thomas helps decide when new libraries are needed and where they are built.
  
  And as president of Ardmore Associates LLC, the company she founded after leaving a City Hall post in the late 1990s, Thomas is paid to help oversee construction of those new library buildings, records show.
  
  So Thomas helps oversee Chicago’s library system while her company is making money off the construction of libraries.

Amazing.  But don't worry - Rahm is having the Board of Ethics take a look at this.  The same Board of Ethics that Rahm recently replaced with his hand-picked people.

Any of This Sound Familiar?

Yeah, it's the New York Times, but it sounds disturbingly similar to the alarm we've been sounding:

• SACRAMENTO — At first, it seemed just an unwelcome nod to frugality. Overtime for police officers was reduced. Vacant positions went unfilled.
  
  But each year brought more bad news for this city’s Police Department. In 2011, faced with the biggest budget cuts yet — $12.2 million — Chief Rick Braziel was forced to take drastic action: he laid off sworn officers and civilian employees; eliminated the vice, narcotics, financial crimes and undercover gang squads, sending many detectives back to patrol; and thinned the auto theft, forensics and canine units. Police officers no longer responded to burglaries, misdemeanors or minor traffic accidents.
  
  Earlier this year, the traffic enforcement unit was disbanded. The department now conducts follow-up investigations for only the most serious crimes, like homicide and sexual assault.

And how about this?

• Chief Braziel said he had tried to make the cuts strategically, making sure that the public’s highest priority — having a police officer respond in a timely fashion when a 911 call comes in — is met and preserving a focus on violent crimes. (“There’s no law that says you have to investigate homicides, but you don’t just stop investigating homicides,” he said.) Detectives serve on regional task forces led by the F.B.I. that focus on gangs and trafficking. To help morale, Chief Braziel has also offered short-term rotations to patrol officers, providing some variety now that their chances for promotion are severely limited.
  
  “I could cry all day long about the budget cuts and the 30 percent and the loss of people and everything else,” Chief Braziel said. “But it doesn’t do any good because you get dealt a hand of cards with a budget crisis and you’re playing stud poker — you can’t give back the cards and say deal me two or three more.”
  
  “You’ve got to figure out within the new rules of the game how to do it better,” he said.
  
  But he is not blind to the effects of paring down a police force to its core.
  
  In 2011, Chief Braziel said, the cuts, in his opinion, went past the tipping point. While homicides have remained steady, shootings — a more reliable indicator of gun violence — are up 48 percent this year. Rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries and vehicle thefts have also increased, though in smaller increments.
  

Wow.  It sure sounds like what's happening here.  Of course, Rahm and McBraggart claim other crimes are down - something we take direct issue with.  CompStat is perfect cover for altering/bending/lying about statistics and has been thoroughly debunked by former NYPD brass and university professors. At some point, you hit "diminishing returns."  We'd speculate we hit that point about a year ago, given the 25% uptick in killings and who knows how many shootings.

Officer Injured, Offender Shot

Broken leg for the officer, assailant hanging on at the moment:

• Police in the Lawndale neighborhood shot and critically wounded a man suspected of abducting his 2-year-old child from a suburb and then running down a police officer who approached him this evening, authorities said.
  
  An officer shot the suspect at a Church's Fried Chicken restaurant parking lot, 1151 S. Independence Blvd., about 7 p.m. after the suspect ran down an officer with his car, authorities said.
  
  Fire Department ambulances were dispatched at 7:03 p.m., and took the person who had been shot to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital in critical condition, said Meg Ahlheim, a spokeswoman for the Fire Department. A police officer was taken to Northwestern Memorial in fair-to-serious condition, and a third person was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition, Ahlheim said.

Preliminary reports are that the officer was working Special/Violence Reduction Initiative. Well done by all responding units which included State and Bridgeview.  A speedy recovery is wished to the injured P.O.

Lewis's Gun Recovered

Closure of a sort:

• A man who police said had a stolen gun belonging to slain Chicago police officer Clifton Lewis stashed inside a cooler at his Austin neighborhood home has been charged.
  
  Dimitri Mitchell, 19, of the 800 block of North Leamington Avenue, was charged Saturday with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and possession of a stolen firearm, police said. Mitchell was ordered held on $150,000 bond today.
  
  When officers got to his home Thursday afternoon to execute a search warrant, they knocked and waited but ended up forcing their way in. They found Mitchell in the bathroom.
  
  After a brief interview, Mitchell nodded his head toward a black and gray cooler in the hallway of his home and told police: "The gun's in there in case someone tries to come in," according to a preliminary police report.

Yet another reason why street executions ought to be legal.  No better than grave robbers.

Bears Romp

Well that was refreshing.  Especially after the first few series:

• Once again, after the defense forced another turnover, the Bears offense squandered that opportunity by going three-and-out on consecutive series at the start of the first quarter. But the defense and special teams sparked a historic first quarter to build a 28-2 lead that ended with a 51-20 Bears victory over the Tennessee Titans.
  
  The barrage of points started with a blocked punt by Sherrick McManis and a five-yard return by Corey Wootton midway through the first and included a 46-yard interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Brian Urlacher, the defense’s seventh score of this young season.
  
  Feeling left out, though, the Bears offense regrouped and reloaded...

The offense better regroup and reload for next week against the 7 - 1 Texans.

CFD Arrangements

As follows:

• Johnson’s funeral mass will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. at St. Rita of Cascia High School, 7740 S. Western Ave., with visitation to take place Wednesday evening also at the school

Informational post only. Comments closed here.

Bears by 3.5

After that walk-off field goal win, one has to wonder which Bears team will show up this week.  We sat on the sidelines seven days ago lest we sacrifice more toothpicks that we need to trade for new winter boots.  Fortunately, we have a line on some lumber that will provide us with many more toothpicks for the remainder of the season.  But not this week.

012 / 013 Merger

A whole bunch of history is set to be closed with the closing of the Monroe and Wood stations.  The new station near 14th and Racine is set to open 09 December.  We're assuming the Department will rename the new 012th District if they haven't already.

So when does the other renumbering take place then?  025 is due to become 013.  024 would have to step down a digit or two.  Who gets the 021 designation?

Daylight Saving Ends Tonight

Just a reminder.

Don't be too early for the Bears game.  Or roll call.

CFD Line of Duty Death

Bad scene south:

• The anxious firefighters who filled the emergency room heard the horrible news from the doctors who couldn’t save their friend.
  
  Fire Dept. Capt. Herbie Johnson, 54, a larger-than-life personality, a guy who was the central figure both in his Beverly neighborhood and on the job, was dead.
  
  Johnson, the father of three, perished from injuries suffered Friday evening while battling a house fire at 2315. W. 50th Place, becoming the first Chicago firefighter to die in the line of duty since 2010.

Deepest sympathies from everyone here to our fellow first responders for their loss.

Prayers only for the family in this thread.

Another Kirby Scandal?

When it rains, it pours:

• The two veteran Chicago police officers were sent to the Ida B. Wells public housing complex to work undercover and catch drug dealers. But what Shannon Spalding and Daniel Echeverria found was nothing their bosses wanted to know about, the officers allege in a whistle-blower lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court.
  
  The two officers, according to the lawsuit, discovered that colleagues on the police force were shaking down drug dealers and framing innocent people. But when they told their supervisors, they were told to "disregard" the wrongdoing. And when, as a last resort, they went to the FBI with their claims, high-ranking police officials labeled them "rats" and retaliated against them by putting them in do-nothing jobs.

And the list of bosses named is impressive:

• First Deputy James Jackson; Chief Juan Rivera; Deputy Chief Deb Kirby; Commanders O'Grady, Roti, Saleme, Stanley (John Stroger's neice), assorted lieutenants and sergeants - a dozen in all PLUS the City of Chicago

It almost seems like.....dare we say it?  A disorganized conspiracy!

And as in the Abbate trial, the ones allegedly running the "conspiracy" all appear to be wearing White Shirts.

DV Urban Realty - Again

Remember those assholes?  The "V" in DV is for Vanecko you may recall.  In the news again:

• A venture led by Chicago investor Allison Davis faces foreclosure on the site of a former Dominick's supermarket in Lakeview after seizing the property from its prior owner last year.
  
  Wanxiang America Real Estate LLC, an Elgin-based real estate firm backed by Chinese capital, sued last month to collect $8.3 million from an affiliate of DV Urban Realty Partners, a fund led by the politically connected developer. The fund failed to pay off a loan from Wanxiang that it took out after repossessing the property at 3012-3036 N. Broadway in March 2011, according to the complaint,
  
  The suit represents another setback for Mr. Davis and the firm that manages the fund, which was fired earlier this year by five city pension plans, citing the fund's poor performance. The fund and pension plans sued each other in February, with a Delaware judge ruling in August that the plans had the right to fire Mr. Davis' firm.

As a real estate venture firm, they seem to be a complete failure, existing only to funnel money to politically connected individuals before disappearing behind a blizzard of paper and defaulted loans.

Comedy of Errors

The Abbate thing just keeps getting worse:

• The Cook County State’s Attorney’s office soft-pedalled the case against disgraced police officer Anthony Abbate, a senior cop testified Thursday morning as the Chicago Police Department fought back against allegations it tried to cover up the notorious videotaped attack.
  
  But Deputy Chief Keith Calloway — the first witness called by the City of Chicago in its fight against a lawsuit filed by beaten bartender Karolina Obrycka — may have unintentionally hurt the city’s defense when he took the stand in Federal Court.
  
  Calloway — a lieutenant in the police department’s Internal Affairs Division at the time of Abbate’s Feb. 19, 2007, attack on Obrycka — gave evidence that directly contradicted that of his boss at the time, Debra Kirby, and the evidence of two other IAD officers, further muddying the police department’s already confused account of its actions in the aftermath of the attack.
  
  Wearing his dress uniform and addressing city attorney Matthew Hurd as “Sir,” Calloway said that the notorious viral video of the beating showed behavior by an off-duty Abbate that was “just unbelievable...that someone could be so evil and mean.”
  
  At a meeting four days after the attack, Calloway said, he told assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Tom Bilyk that “this is a felony,” urging Bilyk to bring aggravated battery charges against Abbate.
  
  But Bilyk told him, “I know it looks bad, but it’s not a felony,” Calloway testified, flatly contradicting Bilyk’s prior testimony.

So evidently, all the trial prep done for this disaster has been done solely by the plaintiff.

The City's only hope at this point is for the jury to not believe the political administrators would place such obviously incompetent people in charge of a major metropolitan police department who are incapable of putting together even the semblance of an organized conspiracy.  And even though that's probably closer to the truth than anything we've seen thus far, we don't see it being an easy sell to a jury.