City Retirees Moved to ObamaCare

Better start rethinking that retirement if you haven't already:

• Chicago will phase out its 55 percent subsidy for retiree health care by January 2017 but continue that coverage for the oldest retirees, under a mayoral plan that will free taxpayers from a $108.7 million a year burden. Thirty thousand retired city employees will be forced to switch to Obamacare.
  
  [...]More than 35,000 government retirees have been on pins and needles waiting to find out whether Mayor Rahm Emanuel will continue their city-subsidized health insurance after June 30, when a 10-year settlement agreement that calls for the city to share costs with retirees is due to expire.
  
  They are not likely to be relieved when they find out how Emanuel has decided to resolve the politically volatile issue.
  

There was this though:

• But 5,500 of the oldest and most vulnerable retirees—known in the marathon litigation as the “Korshak class”—will be guaranteed a 55 percent subsidy as long as they live. They retired before Aug. 23, 1989. Specifics of the three-year phaseout for the remaining retirees will be unveiled by the end of the year.
• The annual costs do not include police and fire early retirees, who receive free health care under the active employee benefit plan until they become eligible for Medicare.

This is going to change a lot of retirement equations. It will probably end up in court for years, too.

Aldrecreature Burke to Practice Law

It's seldom so obvious, but does anyone else think the fix is in?

• Spotted in branch 44 today was former alder woman Sharon Dixon who looked just like a hype searching for a rock on the west side. She is being represented by none other than Ald. Burke himself, yes he looked like a lost puppy attempting to figure out how to operate in a courtroom. Anyway, Sharon will be staying a bit longer at Cermak hospital while Alderman Burke figures out how to get the charges dropped and fill in Sharon on how and who to sue on the Police Department 

Eddie hasn't practice criminal law in how many years?  If ever?  Anyone have a continuance date for this case?  Anyone drop a line to Kass?  You want to see the Chicago Machine Fix in action, drop by Branch 44 and check this one out.

CFD to "Escort" Students

If you don't have enough cops, bring in the firemen!

No word yet if the FOP or Firefighters Local will be filing some sort of job action on this one. According to the memo, it's supposed to run for three weeks.

Nice Background Check Ladner

Good thing she's weeding out the cops kids, the military veterans, and psych-disqualifying every applicant who doesn't meet her personal criteria. Wasn't Hilliard's firm supposed to be do these instead of Department investigators? Or didn't that ever happen?

• great job in screening applicants. A P.P.O. in 006.. yes, I said a P.P.O. has just been stripped and more than likely will be facing charges after he was found stealing over 2000 dollars at a domestic. After pressure and a beef was put in the kid folded and went to the watch commander to give the money back... too late kid. Since he is a P.P.O the city is moving for immediate termination so he wont be stripped for long. IPRA has the case and is giving it to the states attorney for charges. Oh by the way, Ladner if your reading this kid didnt have any family members on the job in the past and is not in the military. So much for your idea of not giving coppers kids a chance because they might end up bad cops...

Sometimes bad eggs slip through - we've all seen that. But those usually surface after a few years of working the street and figuring out how much smarter they think they are than the people they arrest, never realizing that someone else, at some time, tried the same bullshit. This must have set some sort of land-speed record though.

"48 Hours" Feature

Here's a link to the aforementioned television segment:

• Chicago’s street violence will be getting more national attention this weekend.
  
  CBS News’ ’48 Hours’ will air “The War In Chicago” on Saturday at 9 p.m.–the result of a six-month investigation into the gang and drug wars blistering the city’s South and West Sides.

Rahm is not happy.

Chicago PD - The Series

Yet another television show, this time about the CPD:

• District 21 of the Chicago Police Department is made up of two distinctly different groups. There are the uniformed cops who patrol the beat and go head-to-head with the city's street crimes. And there's the Intelligence Unit, the team that combats the city's major offenses - organized crime, drug trafficking, high profile murders and beyond.
  
  Leading the Intelligence team is Sergeant Hank Voight, a man not against skirting the law in the pursuit of justice. Demanding and tough, only those who can take the heat survive under Voight's command. Take Detective Antonio Dawson - despite his troubled history with his boss, Dawson has ambitions of running the unit... so if that means facing off against Voight every day, he'll persevere.
  
  From the street cops with dreams of moving up to the elite crew who are already in, "life on the job" is a daily challenge. The enormous responsibilities that come with the territory take an emotional toll, as we'll find when we follow the personal lives of our characters outside the walls of District 21.
  
  From Emmy-winning producer Dick Wolf and the team behind "Chicago Fire" comes "Chicago PD," a gripping, character-driven new police drama about those who put it all on the line to serve and protect. One-hour drama.
  

So are they going to have a bunch of firemen cast as the villains in this series? You know, the way they cast the cops as the assholes in the Chicago Fire series?

Another Migration?

Upwards of 30 PAR forms filled out for officers to leave 019 next period.

You'd think that things like this would capture the attention of someone....someone who'd ask the uncomfortable questions about why so many people want to leave a formerly nice place to work.

Maybe an aldercreature or two who might ask why their police protection is evaporating just as the Cubs season starts and certain factions start shooting at each other in the neighborhood.

FOID Surge (UPDATE)

Of course, the undermanned and underfunded State Police can't keep up:

• Illinois State Police say they’re trying to deal with a huge backlog of applications for Firearms Owner Identification cards.
  
  The agency received more than 28,000 applications for cards during April alone. That’s on top of an existing backlog of nearly 76,000 applications.
  
  The state police say they are dealing with a record number of applications. State police are supposed to approve or deny applications within 30 days. The agency says its understaffed due to budget cuts and is having trouble meeting the deadline.

So the ISP, through the inaction and ineptitude of Springfield, is now in violation of State Law. No only can't they approve new applications, the lag time for renewals is exceeding 60 days and in some cases, 90 (trust us, we've experienced it firsthand.)

Seeing as how the legislature is under the gun for a Concealed Carry Law by 09 June but isn't making any progress, combined with many law enforcement and Second Amendment types opinion that if the deadline passes with no action, an FOID card becomes a de facto permit, one might wonder if the inaction in Springfield is a deliberate attempt to circumvent the Federal Courts.

The ISRA countdown clock reads 26 days and counting.

UPDATE:  As the readers remind us, a valid FOID card is a requirement for employment on the CPD even though State Law says being sworn is good enough. That being said, CPD bosses claim that isn't their problem. You wouldn't expect anyone at 35th Street to maybe do the intelligent thing and suspend that requirement during the current crisis. That would make too much sense, and "sense" is a rare commodity indeed at HQ.

We suggest everyone check their expiration date and send in a renewal application at least 4 months in advance. It sounds like you're going to spend a month on the phone after 60 days go by.

Interesting Differences

The 16-year-old shot and killed by CPD last week was covered as follows:

• A teenaged gunman on a bicycle who officials said was firing shots at pedestrians and police officers was fatally shot by police...
• ...[officers] spotted the offender firing shots at pedestrians and fleeing southbound on a bicycle while brandishing a handgun...
• The officers were pursuing the offender when he turned towards the officers and fired shots at them, prompting the officers to fire their weapons and hit the gunman...
• A semi-automatic handgun was recovered at the scene...

You kind of get a feel for what was happening, the article justifies police actions, it explains a running gun battle. And still, we get auntie and other relatives giving statements to the media about the usual - altar boy, never in trouble, soon-to-be-rapper, pre-school graduate with honors, etc.

Then you have the FBI shoot someone and they get this treatment:

• A robbery suspect was shot dead by an FBI agent in the parking lot of a bank in the small town of Richmond in McHenry County this morning...
• None of the men entered the bank when the shooting broke out in the parking lot, according to FBI spokeswoman...
• “There were multiple shots fired and one of the suspects was fatally injured,’’...
• The suspect who was killed as inside a vehicle...

Not to nitpick, but no word on shots fired at the feds, no word on gun(s) found to be in possession of the bad guys, nothing that says any of them made it out of the car, toward the bank or toward an agent. Not that we think that the feebs did anything wrong (these guys did some other stickups), but the reporting is just horseshit. CPD gives out a pile of information justifying action taken and the reporters appear to give the FBI a pass just because they're feebs?

It just feels like the media isn't doing their job again.

Frost Warning?

Check that calendar - yup, it's May:

• Any industrious gardeners who have already started on their summer planting may have some dead vegetation come Monday morning: The National Weather Service has issued a frost advisory for tonight for northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana.

And speaking of dead vegetation, Tommy Skilling is helping to keep McJersey in business:

• Four people have been killed and at least nine wounded in violence throughout the city since Friday, police said.

It's going to hit 80's later this week, maybe 90 degrees at some point. Anyone want to bet on the midweek total?

The "Jobs" Mayor

Just kidding!

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel has rolled out a stream of what he's billed as pro-business initiatives and stood with dozens of corporations making jobs announcements during his first two years in office, but a clear majority of voters in a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll don't think he's done enough to revitalize the city's economy.
  
  Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed gave a thumbs-down to the mayor's economic development efforts, compared to 28 percent who said they were satisfied.
  
  Those findings may reflect the continued high jobless rate in Chicago, where U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics show unemployment was 10.4 percent in March. That's the same level as March 2011, though it's also a full percentage point less than the 11.4 percent rate when Emanuel took office in May 2011.

Granted, Rahm can't hire each and every applicant for existing (and non existing) jobs - he has to save a lot of those jobs for politically connected crooks, businesses and the children of those who give him campaign contributions.

What he could do, but isn't, is help create a "job friendly" environment so that businesses want to move to Chicago. In this,he seems to be following the Governor Potato-Head Quinn approach of making Illinois the most job-unfriendly state in the nation. But he's a democrat and this seems to be their default setting around here.

CPD Fire Rescue

Nothing but good news about cops today:

• A Chicago cop who was a block away when he heard a call about a fire in a three-story apartment building in Lawndale rushed over and helped several people get out safely Saturday morning.
  
  Ogden District Officer Edward Leighton got to the building in the 1900 block of South Drake Avenue, kicked down the door of the unoccupied first-floor apartment, then went on to the second floor, where he knocked in the door and found a mother helping her 8-year-old son with his homework.
  
  Leighton said Zabrina Washington, 33, told him she’d seen smoke but didn’t realize the fire was coming from her building.
  
  After escorting Washington, her six children, their five dogs and their cat outside to safety, Leighton went back in and up to the third-floor apartment, where he kicked in the door and, finding himself faced with a wall of smoke, ran back downstairs and tried but couldn’t get in through the back of the building.
  
  He saw a 54-year-old woman in the third-floor window, had her keep her head out the window in the fresh air and talked with her to keep her calm until firefighters arrived and, using a rescue ladder, brought her down safely and gave her oxygen.
  

A very good job by the Officer.

Marine Unit Rescues Kayaker

Not to be outdone by the Bomb Squad, the Marine Unit begins their spring offensive of good publicity:

• Chicago Police Marine Unit officers didn’t know what to make of the exhausted man they found clinging to his capsized kayak in Lake Michigan on Sunday afternoon.
  
  The thin, athletic man refused to be rescued.
  
  “I’ve got this. I can do this,” he said, waving off police, who watched as the man struggled to right his boat.
  
  But the water was cold — 42 degrees — and he had been in it for 20 minutes.
  
  Police ended the negotiation and brought the man, along with his kayak, aboard their vessel.
  

The rescued man had just begun an attempt to paddle from Chicago to New York City when he was capsized 3-miles into his journey. He is raising money for the oncology unit at Pittsburgh Children's Hospital.

Nice job Officers and better luck to Mr. Gavasto in his future attempt.

Wounded Cop Honored

In Washington DC to start Memorial Week:

• A Chicago police officer shot during an exchange of gunfire with a man in the South Chicago neighborhood last year was among a group of officers honored at the White House today.
  
  Del Pearson, a South Chicago District tactical officer when he was wounded last year, is among almost 50 officers from around the country being honored this weekend by the National Association of Police Organizations as part of its TOP COPS Awards program. Officers are nominated for the award by fellow police officers.

Congratulations Del.

Death Threats

Be aware, be very aware - remember, this is from Sneed....and Dart:

• Sneed has learned a street gang directive ordering a hit squad to kill law enforcement officers was intercepted by the Cook County Sheriff’s Intelligence unit.
  
  The deadly order, which came via the Cook County Jail grapevine, claims the leadership of the Satan Disciples street gang has called for the formation of an assassination unit entitled the “Guerilla Mafia Cartel” which would be assigned the deadly mission.
  
  Sneed is told the Sheriff’s Intelligence Center gleaned word of the directive and dispatched a “request for information” last week alerting the Chicago Police Department and the FBI.
  

Better to be safe than sorry.

IRS Targets Conservatives

On top of the Benghazi scandal, the IRS admitted targeting groups with certain political leanings:

• The Internal Revenue Service apologized Friday for what it acknowledged was "inappropriate" targeting of conservative political groups during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status.
  IRS agents singled out dozens of organizations for additional reviews because they included the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their exemption applications, said Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups. In some cases, groups were asked for lists of donors, which violates IRS policy in most cases, she said.

How very Nixon-ian of president Sparklefarts.

Felony Murder Charge

Charging the criminal appropriately:

• A judge set bail at $2 million today for a Far South Side man who has been charged with murder in connection with a police chase and crash that killed a woman driving to work, authorities said.
  
  Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. set bail at $2 million for Timothy Jones, 20, of the 12500 block of South Union Avenue, during a hearing in Cook County criminal court.
  
  [...] Jones was fleeing officers after a home invasion around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday when a police SUV crashed into a car driven by Jacqueline Reynolds, 56, at 76th Street and Yates Boulevard, police said.

The blame game isn't anywhere near finished here and we wish the Officers best of luck in the upcoming events.

Another Tow Conviction

Still the ongoing scandal:

• A federal jury today convicted a veteran Chicago police officer of extorting payoffs from a tow truck driver in return for steering business to him at accident scenes.
  
  The jury deliberated a little more than two hours before finding Deavalin Page, an officer since 1995, guilty of two counts of attempted extortion.
  
  Page becomes the eighth Chicago police officer to be convicted in connection with the undercover FBI Operation Tow Scam probe. Four others, including three tow truck drivers, also have been convicted. Two additional police officers await trial.

And still two more to go? That's just great.

Sneed Spins Old News

This sounds familiar...almost like we covered it over a week ago:

• The McCarthy era . . .
  
  Sneed is told Police Supt. Garry McCarthy is shaking up the police department by getting rid of “legacy” top brass.
  
  ◆ Translation: Top cop holdovers from Mayor Richard M. Daley’s regime are retiring — through decision or force— and going bye bye.
  
  ◆ Job changes: Although Chief of Patrol Joe Patterson, whom McCarthy appointed, has opted to retire — Sneed is told Chief of the Bureau of Detectives Tom Byrne is leaving as well as Tina Skahill, chief of special functions. “Her job will not be filled,” said a top source.
  
  ◆ Bottom line: This enables McCarthy, who has recently seen homicide stats drop dramatically, to stamp his signature on the Chicago Police Department by picking his own top cops.
  
  ◆ Backshot: Last December, the bell tolled at midnight for top cops toiling in the city’s top shooting galleries and murder dens — when McCarthy named seven new police commanders.

Point of order - McCarthy has yet to demote one single boss, so he isn't leaving his mark on anything. In fact, he has a Deputy Chief running a district, something that hasn't occurred in Department history as far as we're aware.

Sneed ought to wonder why 3 separate chiefs, including one "appointed" by McCarthy as the best man for the job, all resigned rather than continue serving under this superintendent.  And maybe ask about the circumstances of the resignations - rumor is the hallways are still echoing from the "dialogue" between Patterson and McJersey.

Once again, the media abdicates its responsibility to ask questions and merely regurgitates City Hall press releases and spins them for the mayor.

No Guns for Certain People

From our friends over at 19WardPolitics - The great and powerful Dart has spoken!

• You’d have to have a good reason to need to carry a concealed permit under Sheriff Dart’s proposal. While taping “Connected to Chicago” for Sunday morning at 6:00AM, Dart said people in high-crime zip codes would have a presumed need, but not in low-crime zip codes.
  
  “If there’s individuals that cannot demonstrate that they have this need, then they shouldn’t be eligible for it because underlying this is not this notion that everybody, everytime, anywhere can carry guns. That’s not what they interpreted the second amendment to be yet. Yet!”

So citizens in low crime areas won't be able to get guns? How interesting. Dart has just proposed to recreate the "separate and unequal" divisions of our past.

And now that criminals would be tipped off as to where the better odds of getting away with crime are located, what does anyone think might happen? Of course, it's happening now anyway.

What the Hell? (UPDATED)

If true, this is just nuts:

• Couple nights ago in 4, coppers pull over a hot bike. Cuff dude behind his back and start running his name. Van pulls up dude runs off and hops in the lap of the driver with one copper chasing. Copper tries to yank him out and gets stuck in the doorway. Van takes off, copper can't get his arm out so he jumps in so he doesn't get dragged. Van speeds up and copper starts to take out his pistol when both dudes start trying to push him out the door. He puts his pistol away grabs the steering wheel and crashes the van on purpose at about 45 mph. Drags both asswipes out and ends the whole thing. Crazy ass shit boys and girls. Keep on eye on your prisoners cause even cuffed these animals will try to get away. Can't make this shit up. It's a jungle out there. 

 Careful guys and gals.

UPDATE: True story:

• Two men now charged with attempted murder of a police officer sped down South Burley Avenue, a Chicago cop gripping the side of their van, prosecutors said.
  
  
• Wilbur Driver, 40, apparently saw his chance to escape, yelled "open the door" and broke away from the officer, prosecutors said, before he jumped into the driver's seat alongside Romell Burgess, 21.
  
  When they hit the gas, the officer had to jump onto the running board of the van to "avoid being dragged," prosecutors said. With the van going about 40 mph, the officer hung on for one block while the two men inside tried to push him off the vehicle, prosecutors said.
  
  When the van crashed into a fence, Driver and Burgess tried to flee but were caught, prosecutors said.

The officer ended up with cuts and bruises on his arms. 

What Gun Problem?

Looks like more guns does equal less crime, at least according to Sparklefart's own Justice Department::

• A Justice Department report slated for official release in July shows that firearm-related homicides have declined 39 percent since 1993, while nonfatal gun crimes dropped an even more impressive 69 percent. This unmistakably positive news could take some of the impetus out of a Democratic push for tougher federal gun restrictions.
  
  The report, entitled “Firearm Violence, 1993-2011,” and dated July 5, 2013, was made available online by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, an arm of the Justice Department. A BJS spokeswoman confirmed the report’s authenticity and said she could not explain why it was assigned a July 5 release date.
  
  The report does not address any implications it might have for the gun control debate. The findings are consistent with those of other recent studies. Surfacing less than a month after the Senate failed to pass President Obama’s modest gun control initiative, however, the data could dilute the sense of urgency surrounding Democratic attempts to revive the curbs.

So much for Dart's contention of a "Wild West" coming to America.

So much for liberals insistence that school shootings are driving the highest murder rate in the civilized world (it isn't - the US doesn't even break the top ten in homicide rate).

So much for Obama's claim that the United States "gun culture" is driving the narco-wars in Mexico while glossing over the fact that his Justice Department shipped 3,000 guns over the border without any means of tracking or busting anyone involved in the operation.

Of course, Chicago 2012 seemed to buck all of these trends. And Chicago had exactly how many plain old legal concealed-carry citizens then? Zero.

CPD Horses Fulfill a Wish

The Mounted Unit gives a sick child some great memories:

• Lots of little girls want a horse. But 9-year-old Kira Mammoser is no ordinary girl. About four years ago, doctors diagnosed Kira with an extremely rare disease that attacks the body's life-supporting functions.
  
  So when members of the Chicago Police Department recently learned the police sergeant's daughter had asked for a horse, they gave her the next best thing: a surprise visit from two police horses.
  
  Connected to a ventilator and flanked by family and hospital staff on Wednesday, Kira emerged from Advocate Children's Hospital Park Ridge to meet Mahoney and Marvin, horses from the department's mounted unit, in a grassy area outside.
  
  "This is obviously very special," said her father, Chuck Mammoser, a sergeant and 17-year Chicago police veteran. "It's important for her. It's important for us."
  
  Kira was diagnosed in 2009 as one of about 75 people in the world with ROHHAD, or, rapid onset obesity with hypothalamic dysfunction, hypoventilation and autonomic dysregulation. Doctors say there is no known cause or cure for the disease, which impairs autonomic nervous system functions such as breathing, digestion and heart rate.

Nice job Officers. And best wishes to the Mammoser family.

Rahm's Numbers Fall

Did anyone not see this coming?  Is anyone actually surprised?

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel faces growing voter disenchantment, particularly among African-Americans, even as the overall number approving of his job performance holds steady at the halfway point of his first term, a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows.
  
  The survey showed 50 percent approve of the job Emanuel is doing, roughly the same as a year ago. But those disapproving of his job performance stand at 40 percent — up from 29 percent a year before.
  
  Compared with last year, Emanuel's negatives are up significantly among African-Americans. Now, more black voters disapprove than approve of his handling of the mayor's office. That's turned around from a year ago. Though Emanuel's approval rating among white voters is similar to last May, the number of those who disapprove also is growing.

Rahm is a putz. This was pointed out by many during the run-up until election, but of course, no one listened and almost no one voted. What was the turnout for the mayoral election? 30% or so? And Rahm won just over half of that? So around 15% of Chicago put this guy in charge? And of that 15%, how many with jobs, mortgages, aspirations of getting ahead?

Bad News Brewing

A murder that's almost 35 years old:

• Jacquelyn Greco allegedly told an acquaintance in 1979 that she wanted out of her troubled marriage so badly she and her lover — a Chicago police detective — had concocted a deadly plan:
  
  They’d kill her husband.
  
  Weeks later, two masked gunmen burst into the family’s upscale Inverness home and locked Greco, along with three of her children, in a bedroom closet.
  
  When her husband, 34-year-old Carl Gaimari, returned home an hour later, the intruders shot the wealthy commodities trader to death in his basement with two of his own guns.
  
  A week after her husband’s April 30, 1979 slaying, Jacquelyn Greco’s lover moved into the house, Cook County authorities contend. Barely three months later, on Aug. 10, the couple married, court records show.
  

And a car chase fatality:

• Police officers pursuing suspects fleeing a home invasion were involved in a traffic collision at a South Side intersection Wednesday morning that killed a woman driving to work, Chicago police said.
  
  Two officers assigned to the Gresham police district were injured in the wreck and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
  
  Police said the officers' SUV had its siren and lights operating but couldn't say if the squad car ran a red light at 76th Street and Yates Boulevard during the chase or how fast the vehicle was going.
  
  As with all police chases, the department will look into whether the officers involved in Wednesday’s crash followed proper procedures in pursuing the suspects, a spokesman said. Officers must weigh the seriousness of the offense against the dangers of a chase for other drivers and bystanders.
  
  Officers are not allowed to chase suspects wanted for minor traffic offenses. But the suspects in Wednesday’s case committed a serious crime with a gun, police said.
  

These will be in the news for a few days, maybe longer depending. Best wishes to the injured.

Weather Matters - Notify G-Mac

An interesting graphic, backed up by interesting data:

• It turns out that, after crunching 5,000,000+ publicly available crime reports (spanning the time between 2001 and the current day), and comparing it to historical weather data, this conventional wisdom generally pans out.

The conventional wisdom being that as the temperature rises, so does crime. Or as we call it here in Chicago, "The Theory of Duh).

Amusingly, toward the right side of the graph, there is a set of high temperatures that makes criminals stay inside (96-100 degrees).

Go read the entire article.

Trolling for Trouble?

The rumor mill is heating up again:

• Scum-Times has FOIA'd the disciplinary records of about a dozen officers who've been involved in various off duty incidents for which they'd been arrested and/or stripped and/or suspended and ultimately returned to duty. Many of these incidents date back over a decade, but they're conspicuously rearing their ugly head during the current contract negotiations process.
  
  Mugshots of some of these officers have also been released by the department in compliance with the FOIA requests, and there isn't a doubt in my mind that they'll be used in some anti-CPD series in the near future.
  
  Officers that have received letters informing them that they are the subject of a FOIA request need to be aware that these soulless media assholes will probably be trying to contact you for comment as well. Remember that "No Comment" is the best comment.
  
  Rahm continues to play dirty, so take the necessary steps to protect yourself. Forewarned is forearmed.

Hopefully, so much hot air, but you know the media. Would never dare to question an aldercreature about shady goings-on, but will run with unsubstantiated allegations if they're made against an officer.

Fundraiser

Disabled CPD:

• SCC: I was wondering if you could let everyone know that there is going to be a benefit for a fellow officer this Saturday at Bourbon Street from 3-8. The benefit is called "Friends of Feil". Officer Feil has undergone multiple back surgeries due to an on duty car accident. There is a facebook link under "Friends of Feil". Thank You.

Comments closed - informational post only.

Former Aldercreature Re-Arrested?

Once again, from the comments:

• Anonymous said...
  
  Sharon Dixon re arrested
  
  5/07/2013 10:10:00 AM
  

So did Mount Sinai give her a clean bill of health? Or was she just drunk again? Or is this another rumor to cloud the issue should it ever hit the media?

UPDATE: Evidently, it's true:

• A former Chicago alderman was ordered held on bond today after being charged with illegally carrying a loaded gun at a West Side police station over the weekend, authorities said.
  
  Sharon Denise Dixon--who ended her term as alderman of the 24 th Ward in 2011--was ordered held in lieu of $25,000 bail in a hearing today before Cook County Criminal Court Judge Donald Panarese, said state’s attorney’s office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton. Dixon, 50, of the 1600 block of South Central Park Avenue, is charged with aggravated unlawful use of a loaded weapon and failure to register a firearm.
  
  Dixon was arrested Saturday morning at the Ogden District Police Station, 3315 W. Ogden Ave. in the Lawndale neighborhood, after coming into the station and lingering for a while and then showing a holstered gun to an officer just outside the district station, authorities said.
  

Gee, an unregistered firearm - imagine that.

Maldonado History

Another reason to dislike Maldonado and his crappy attitude:

• According to a Sun Times article, "Top Pols go to Bat for Cop Killer" dated Oct 27, 2003 Robert Maldonado apple added to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board for the release of convicted cop killer Ronnie ' Mad Dog ' Carrasquillo.
  
  This POS what's to garner favor with the Imperial Gangsters NOT the CPD. Make no mistake about it he is truly a POS. Fellow petitioners are as follows: Luis Gutierrez, Rep.William Soto, Cynthia Soto and Ald. Billy Ocasio.
  
  They were NOT successful.
  
  Mad Dogs original sentence 200 to 600 years. And these fucked up politicians wonder why we have a violence issue. A gangbanger can get a sentence such as this and be eligible for release. Don't forget Luis Gutierrez jumping on the anti gun nonsense. HYPOCRISY !!!
  
  God rest the soul of Officer Terrence Loftus. Please remember to sign petitions and take the ride down to Springfield compliments the Memorial Foundation.
  
  Gold Star Family Member, K. Kaner

Remember, he has tried and most likely will continue to try to free cop killers.

Foot Patrols Assaulted

From the comments and as predicted by numerous readers:

• 5 PPO's in 003 on this BS foot patrol detail were almost run down by a m1, on 63/king dr
  PPO's did not fire, vehicle sped away and fired at pursuing officers blocks away, both offenders were arrested after crashing
  Wtf is it going to take to end this foot patrol bullshit, these poor kids do not realize how Much they're being screwed over

The "poor kids" can't do much about it. Minimal protections and representation for the first 12 months, full FOP services after 18 months. But that doesn't mean that the leadership should put them in harms way.

Did they get charges on the mopes arrested?

Officer Shot - Accidently

Um....whoops?

• An on-duty Chicago police officer sustained a gunshot wound Monday night in the Englewood neighborhood, authorities said.
  
  The officer is expected to survive, Chicago Police Department News Affairs [...] said.
  
  The shooting happened about 9:15 p.m. in the 1200 block of West 72nd Place, authorities said.
  
  According to a law enforcement source, an officer's weapon discharged as a dog was charging at police.

The weapon didn't discharge. It was discharged by an officer pulling the trigger. Let's not pretend guns have a mind of their own. If it was an accident, 'fess up, say it was an accident.

Initial reports have the officer in serious, but stable condition. No word on long-term recovery. Best wishes to the Officers involved.

Dart's Fantasy Land

Seldom has a politician laid his complete and utter detachment from reality out there were everyone can see it, but Dart doesn't disappoint. He saw the need for a completely out-of-touch and ignorant politician to say something completely stupid and he nailed it:

• Sheriff Tom Dart said Sunday that he is proposing a concealed-carry gun ordinance to keep Cook County from becoming the “Wild West.”

Really? Because we kind of figured after last year, it already was. And continues to be as 2013 matches 2011 almost homicide for homicide.

• Dart said he’s worried about a stalemate in the General Assembly on a law to license people to carry concealed guns. If legislators don’t meet a June 9 court deadline to pass such a law, anyone with a state firearm owner’s identification card could legally walk anywhere in public with a concealed weapon, Dart said.

Well thank goodness we got that out of the way.  We were wondering what the ramifications might be if nothing got passed and here's Dart giving everyone with an FOID permission to carry concealed. Thanks Tom. We're sure the lawyers at Corp Counsel are going to be in meetings tomorrow along with Rahm trying to "walk-back" your statement. That means a whole bunch of bad decisions, overturned by the Courts and probably a bunch of tax money going to pay Second Amendment groups again.

• “We would have the Wild West,” he said. “There would be no regulation.”

What a stupid statement. We don't see any of this happening in any of the other 49 states with some form of Concealed Carry and Illinois has the strictest gun laws in the nation. What is it about Illinois politicians who assume everyone who lives here is an asshole with no self control, no conflict resolution skills and no sense of responsibility? If he limited that description to the south and west sides of Chicago, we'd understand. But he just sounds like a complete dumbass here.

• Dart’s ordinance would give him the power to approve and reject licenses to carry concealed guns in Cook County. Applicants would have to pay a $300 fee for a license.

Ah, Mein Führer, we had wondered where you had gotten to. He proposes a law that would give him the power to decide whether or not you are able to defend yourself and your home from criminals....criminals who have shown no inclination to abide by the rules of society in any case. Makes perfect sense! And charging $300 for a Right guaranteed by the Constitution? Ain't liberalism grand?

• Dart said he thinks the ordinance would apply not only to Cook County suburbs, but also to the city of Chicago in the absence of a state law governing concealed carrying of guns.
  
  Chicago Police spokesman Adam Collins said: “If a statewide law is not passed, the city is preparing to implement a comprehensive concealed-carry ordinance to ensure that guns stay out of the hands of criminals.”

Gee Mr. Collins, who are you taking your cues from? Presumably, you see how well Chicago's anti-gun laws are keeping guns from the hands of criminals. We think 010 Tact killed one yesterday. 16 years old, wasn't he? But a record a mile long and shooting up North Lawndale in broad daylight. We don't know you Officer, but you're obviously a tool of the highest order.

• The NRA and other gun-rights advocates would like to see legislation that authorizes concealed-carry licenses for anyone who undergoes the necessary training and passes a background check. Those are commonly called “shall issue” licenses.
  
  But Dart and other gun-control activists want to retain more control over who gets the licenses and where gun owners can carry their weapons in public. Those are called “may issue” licenses.
  
  Under Dart’s proposed “may issue” ordinance, he would grant licenses only to people who demonstrate a need to carry a firearm for protection.
  
  Dart said he recently spoke to elderly people in the south suburbs. They complained that the police were unresponsive. Some said they were regularly burglarized while they attended church.
  
  “It’s a matter of timing,” Dart said, noting that those people could have become homicide victims if they came home during a burglary.

The first honest statement in the article - "retain more control." Gun Control is about people control, not guns. You already see how well they're keeping guns off the street. Now imagine a government bureaucracy, not just any bureaucracy, but one run by Cook County. Sharon Dixon gets a gun but your wife riding the El overnight doesn't. Farakhan's son gets a gun, but a nurse making house calls in the ghetto doesn't. Some political contributor gets a gun, but your parents who have watched their neighborhood change into a shithole can't even take the garbage out because of the gangs confronting them in their own alley.

Dart is a nanny-state asshole, purporting to know better than you do about your circumstances dictating where and how you will be allowed to defend yourself should the need ever arise. But he's part and parcel of the same system that throws up paper roadblocks in front of criminals and lets Anita and Toni empty out his jail of hardcore felons.

UPDATE: Collins isn't an officer evidently, he's a hack from the Obama campaign sent here to do Rahm's bidding.

Maldonado Whines

Fran Spielman steals another story from the blog:

• Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26th) filed a complaint accusing a Chicago Police officer of racism after he was ticketed for illegally passing a turning a vehicle.
  
  The incident that triggered Maldonado’s complaint occurred shortly after 9 p.m. on May 1 after Maldonado picked his children up from swimming practice.
  
  The aldermen said he was stopped at a traffic light at the intersection of North and Leavitt when the car in front of him was turning left. Instead of waiting for the turn to be completed, Maldonado said he drove his 2004 Honda Pilot around the turning car on the right.
  
  Maldonado said he was pulled over by a Chicago Police squad car about a mile west of the intersection. 

Maldonado then starts dropping hints about holding press conferences and finally drops the "don't you have better things to do" line and tells the officer he's calling the commander and manages to get his license back...temporarily. When he finally gets the tickets, he calls the commander, a sergeant is sent out and the status quo remains.

Maldonado insists this was a white officer and he was intimidated. Our comment sections state both officers were hispanic in ancestry. Time will tell, but Maldonado looks whiny and the Sun Times comments aren't very kind to him either. They'd be less kind if they realized how many times he's been pulled over for driving like an ass and gotten off playing the "aldercreature" card.

Free Shotguns!

The Armed Citizen Project is giving away free shotguns in Houston, Tuscon, Indy, New York and yes, Chicago:

• The Armed Citizen Project, with the support of the National Rifle Association, hopes to provide free shotguns to citizens of 15 cities by the end of the year, reports CBS Chicago.
  
  The group, based in Houston, announced their goal at the NRA convention this week. Free guns have already been given away in Houston.
  
  Kyle Coplen, the group's founder, plans to arm residents of middle- to high-crime areas, and wants to arm one fourth of the neighborhood. The group also aims to provide signs to let potential criminals know the areas are armed.

The sign thing seems a little much - after all, who doesn't like a surprise? Why point out who has a shotgun as it may make certain houses targets. Better they should break in and be surprised like everyone else.

USSC Gives Lisa Cover

Thirty day extension on an appeal deadline, but leaves the 09 June deadline intact:

• The U.S. Supreme Court is giving Illinois' attorney general more time to decide whether to appeal a ruling that the state's ban on the public possession of firearms is unconstitutional.
  
  Attorney General Lisa Madigan now has until June 24 to ask the high court to hear the case.
  
  The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals found Illinois' prohibition on the carrying of concealed firearms unconstitutional in December. It ordered lawmakers to pass legislation to legalize concealed carry by June 9.
  
  The 30-day extension granted by the court Friday does not affect that deadline.

This changes nothing on the ground, but gives Lisa political cover by allowing the 09 June deadline to pass and then see what happens. If the legislature passes something, Lisa says the precess worked. If they don't, it's all their fault and wouldn't she make a great governor running on promises to enact laws the House and Senate couldn't?

Chicago Employment Continues to Drop

Didn't Rahm spend something like the entire last half of 2012 announcing jobs he managed to steal from surrounding suburbs and such? So what's up with this?

• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently published unemployment data for March, indicating that most of the country is continuing to dig out from the Great Recession. Of the 49 major metropolitan areas in the U.S. (those with at least 1 million residents in 2000), the unemployment rate dropped in 45, held steady in one, and rose in just three. Chicago, Memphis, and Indianapolis were the three cities to experience rising unemployment in their metropolitan areas.
  
  
• In March, the biggest year-over-year jump in unemployment occurred in the Chicago metropolitan area, where the unemployment rate rose from 9% to 9.5%. This uptick parallels the worsening employment situation in Illinois more generally...

Nothing to see here folks. Increased taxes? Fines? Unfriendly business climate? A completely imaginary statistic program that shows crime falling while citizens say the danger is more prevalent than ever. Why would anyone want to move here?

Sharon's Got a Gun

Hey media!  Hey Anita! Hey Dart!  Are you looking into this one?

• SCC, Check the Q for the 010th District on 04 May 2013 you will find another political animal got arrested. caught with a gun that the bosses are trying to keep quiet
  
  
• The 010 district former alder woman Sharon Dixon got arrested the other night in front of the 010 for agg uuw loaded 357 and no Chicago permit. She used the I'm a former alderman excuse and wanted to call former mayor Daley and our former "Gotta Run" superintendent Jody P. Weis. Whether she was just playing the system or she really is a mental. She was charged finger printed and sent to Sinai for a mental eval and was later rwoc. On another note if she is a mental she still has a valid foid card. I thought gov pansy was going to have state police start revolking mentals foid cards if they have them. It would be a great photo opt for sherrif iive never been the police but knows everything about the law going to her house and removing all weapons and her foid card from her possession. Only the best and brightest dumbocrats for the city of Chicago. Un fucking believable.
  
  
• Yesterday ex alderman Sharon Dixon from the west side was caught with a loaded hand gun standing in front of the 010th dist station. She was NOT arrested. She was taken to MT Sinai for a mental evaluation and that was it !!! This POS HATED the police and made trouble for many while she was in office. NO CB #. What a joke.
  
  
• Does anyone have info on former aldercreature Sharon Dixon getting arrested in front of the 010th District station Saturday morning while pacing up and down talking to herself drawing attention to herself. Apparently, she was arrested after she was found to be in possession of a loaded revolver and convieniently taken to a hospital for a psych exam. Rest assured, this weapon was not an "assault weapon" nor contained a "high capacity" magazine. Lets see how "justice" or the politically correct "social justice" will be administered in Crook County for a fellow Dem.
  
  
• In other news, a former West Side Alderwoman was locked up with a pistol, of course it's all hush hush!!!

Gee, another one of those "rules for thee and not for me" deals. We don't recall her ever expressing any pro-Second Amendment leanings.  Not only that, anyone working the west side knew years ago that Dixon was undiagnosed  bi-polar or schizo and hated the police with a passion.  Now she's wandering in front of a police station with a loaded weapon talking to voices that only she can hear?  How soon until this blows up into something ugly (or uglier)? Is Dart knocking on her door searching for other weapons (assuming that the weapons were properly registered in the first place, which we doubt.)?

ANOTHER Police Shooting

Coppers on-view a shooting, follow the shooter, get shot at for their troubles and kill the assailant:

• A teenaged gunman on a bicycle firing shots at pedestrians and police officers was fatally shot by police in the Lawndale neighborhood this afternoon on the West Side, according to authorities.
  
  The gunman, who is 15 or 16, was been pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to Pat Camden, a police union spokesman.
  
  It happened in the 1300 block of South Independence Boulevard in the Lawndale neighborhood, according to police.

Grading the reporting, we find the following:

• The Tribune starts off well, saying "gunman" instead of "victim" and a headline that reads "Police Fatally Shoot Man in Lawndale."  In the article however, they say "boy," as if a boy with a gun is somehow incapable of killing numerous pedestrians and police officers.  Once you pick up a gun, you kind of give up the "boy" status.  The Trib should have stuck with "gunman."
• The Sun Times goes right to the ghetto reporting with "Chicago Police officer fatally shoots 17-year old boy on West Side.  We imagine that there will be Sun Times reporters lined up to get graduation pictures and all sorts of imaginary family members who will swear Junior was just about to turn his like around, didn't have a gun and was destined to be the next famous rapper to make it big.

In any event, a fine job by all involved.  Well done Officers.  

Maldonado Ticket Non-suited?

While we don't doubt it, we'd love to have independent confirmation:

• Anonymous said...
  
  ticket has already been non-suited
  
  5/05/2013 07:53:00 AM
  

We'd also like to hear if any sort of retaliatory action is taken against the cops who wrote the ticket. It seems this isn't Maldonado's only brush with driving like an asshole:

• I pulled him over in 025 a couple years ago (didnt know he was) for driving like a jagoff. As I got to his window the first thing he said was "do you know who I am?" What a fucking stroke!
  
  5/05/2013 10:03:00 AM
  

It's amazing there are so many bad drivers and they seem to be aldercreatures more often than not.

Cop Injured

Sitting in the squad car, finishing a report and minding his own business:

• A woman was lodged under a police car in the Marquette Park neighborhood after the motorcycle she was on crashed into the car early Sunday morning.
  
  The driver of the motorcycle, a 40-year-old man, was thrown over the top of the bike, police said. He suffered broken bones in the crash.
  
  The 22-year-old woman, a passenger on the motorcycle, ended up pinned beneath the police car and suffered broken bones and other internal injuries. The fire department was called to lift up the car to pull her out.

The squad car was just three days from retirement, but may be pressed back into service shortly. Copper is going to be okay.

Do You Know Who I Am???

No, not Reese Witherspoon.  Aldercreature Maldonado:

• Ald  Maldonado was driving like an ass and was pulled over by 2 coppers that that did not know him. Ald  was given ticket but not before he threatened po's involved with calling Cmdr of 014 demanding po's names and stars.making stop a racial thing.  Ald also called supt g Mac and was on da phone with him before stop/ticket completed. Crooked ass no good Democratic aldermen. Get the story out before po's are buried for doing nothing wrong, stop occurred in 14 th dist. Wed night  1 may

So Garry, you going to back your coppers or what?  Oh wait, New Jersey Turnpike, daughter is falsely using a handicap placard, you and the former Mrs. McJersey get arrested.  Never mind, we know exactly where you'll go on this one.

Ohio Shootout

Right before the 2:00 minute mark, things go to hell in a hurry:

If the video disappears, a google search for "Middlefield Ohio Shootout" will find it somewhere. Be very aware boys and girls. If it feels hinky, it probably is.

CPD Grant Application

Might we being seeing a tacit admission that we're shorthanded?

• City officials last year applied for a federal grant that would have allowed them to add more than 1,700 new police officers to the rank and file, NBC Chicago has learned.
  
  That's more than 300 more than was called for by a Chicago Crime Commission opinion released last September.
  
  A police spokesman said he wasn't aware of the grant application so it's unclear if it's still being processed or was denied. Still, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police Supt. Garry McCarthy have repeatedly said that hiring new officers wasn't necessary. The department currently has about 12,000 sworn officers.
  
  "This is acknowledging that they actually lied to the public and they lied to us," [some FOP guy] said Friday. "The Fraternal Order of Police has stood by the 13,500 [staffing number]. You've seen other groups come out saying that the correct amount is 13,500. ... Now, you see in documents filed for federal grant assistance for more police they're asking for seventeen hundred more, which actually brings them up to greater than 13,500."

So evidently, we're up-to-strength when Rahm has to pay for it himself. If there's federal money available, then he's going to try to get a cut and claim we're down 2,000 cops.

No Wonder He Needs Bodyguards

For all you zombie fans out there, we present the CTA:

Careful Rahm, you never know what you're sitting in.

Show Us The Money!

The beancounters at the Sun Times finally realized that all these alleged "numbers" coming from McCompStat cost money:

• Combating hot spots of violence, the Chicago Police Department has already burned through two-thirds of its 2013 overtime budget in the first three months of the year — raising questions about how much will be left to handle the traditional summer crime wave.
  
  Some of the $21 million overtime bill went to officers working in “Operation Impact.” In February, 200 officers a day started working overtime in the 20 most violent zones of the city as part of the program.
  
  The department doubled Operation Impact to 400 officers a day on March 1. But the $21 million overtime bill doesn’t include those extra officers, who began receiving their checks in April.
  

Where will the money for the rest of the year come from? Reorganization! At least according to our comment sections:

• Ok, so I get to work today (Homan square) and I am talking with our commander. He said the sun times and news reports about the overtime money running out already put rahm in a tizzy. Him and gmac talked over the past two days and said VRI money will be done somewhere in the middle of August but they need to continue the saturation of areas with visible patrols. So, the idea is for..... Wait for it... A new citywide unit. Allegedly, and it's only preliminary but it will be a mirror of VRI. A car covering a two block area and can't leave. Same concept and rules of VRI except it will be an everyday unit. Gmac assigned two whTs and a Lt to explore the options/locations/ manpower requirements etc to get a unit up and running by the 10th period. Activity will not be a requirement. Sounds like the are looking for a bunch of scarecrows for visibility. There will be both days and night teams based on seniority. Obviously none of it is set in stone, it's just preliminary ideas from the phone meeting with the exempts yesterday

Truth or rumor? No one knows for sure.

Police Memorial in DC

Always a good time, and an annual tradition (interrupted by NATO last year):

• My name is Sharon Colby and I am a Detective out of Area 1 (sorry, Area Central, now).
  
  I have organized a social gathering for law enforcement members who are attending the National Memorial in Washington, DC.  We have done this the last several years, but of course, missed last year due to the NATO prom.
  
  Can you put the information regarding the party on your site? It has been in the Daily Bulletin several times, but the more people that know about it the better. The bash will be held at Clyde's of Gallery Place, 707 7th Street NW, Washington, on Tuesday, May 14th from 1900 to 2200 hours. The cost is $60.00 which includes drinks and appetizers. I would like tickets purchased in advance, since I need to give the restaurant a count. Those who are interested can call me at 747-8434, pax 1113. 

Call soon - this one fills up quickly.

Retirees at St. Jude's

As in years past, we have this from a retiree:

• In addition to the various districts and units within the department, a special contingent of Chicago Police Retirees will be represented here as well.
  
  All retirees are encouraged to attend and march in this time honored tradition to, "Honor Our Fallen."
  
  Retirees will assemble on Museum Campus Drive and Solidarity Drive in preparation for the March. Extended family members and friends are welcome to view the March from the west side of Museum Drive, across from the Park. Since retirees are scheduled to march at the beginning of the parade in the first seven positions between the Gold Star Family Members and Chicago Police Board delegations, it is advised to arrive by 0700 hrs. The March will proceed south on Museum Campus Drive to Waldron Drive and step off promptly at 0800 hours.
  
  Immediately at the conclusion of the March, there will be a brief 15 minute interfaith service presented by the Chicago Police Department Chaplain’s Unit. Department members and guests are invited to attend this service.
  
  Complimentary parking for police personnel and families attending the St. Jude Memorial March will be available in the Waldron Deck Parking Garage, the South lot of Soldier Field, or the North Garage of Soldier Field. All traffic will exit at 18th St. or McFetridge Drive for parking.
  
  A traffic detail will be assigned to direct you to the parking.
  
  We ask all our fellow retirees to again attend one of the oldest and proudest traditions of our department to continue to send the message to our Gold Star Family members of our commitment to them to, 'Never Forget' and to honor the memories of their loved ones.

See you all on Sunday.

Homicides On Pace (with 2011)

That 45% decrease? Or 39% after they factor in the three that got in under the wire? An amazing reduction attributable to increased police presence at a million dollars a week, flexible policing strategies and a precipitous drop in the temperatures as compared to last year.

But compared to 2011?  Our friends over at heyjackass.com show that we're actually ahead of the 2011 homicide totals (and as we've said here a dozen or more times, 2012 was the outlier):

• 2011 - thru April - 97 homicides
• 2013 - thru April - 98 killings

So all those millions spent on VRI have yielded an increase of one.

More Exempts Leaving?

Comments are saying that Skahill put in her papers.  No great loss there.

But it appears to be part of a larger trend all of the sudden. No less than 3 Chiefs have put in their papers in April and May. And another 8 exempts are rumored to have dropped their retirement notices.

They can't all be going to the Amtrak police.  And to have the equivalent of a year's worth or retirements in the first third of the year? What could possibly be the cause?

Madigan Muscles Through "Reform"

BOHICA:

• The Illinois House approved a comprehensive pension-reform plan for the first time on Thursday after years of talks.
  
  The House voted 62-51 Thursday to advance the measure -- SB1 -- sponsored by House Speaker Michael Madigan.
  
  The Chicago Democrat's proposal is designed to close a $97 billion deficit that dogs the state's pension plans. Underfunding for decades has left the accounts short of what they need.
  
  The legislation  requires employees to contribute 2 percent more of their earnings to their pensions. They would also have to delay retirement and accept less-generous annual cost-of-living increases.
  
  The state would guarantee it would make its required contribution every year.
  

The unions have already threatened a lawsuit and the Senate president Cullerton D-Machine) has expressed doubts about certain aspects of the bill.

A very irritated reader posted this interesting list though:

• FOP LODGE #7 ENDORSED HOUSE MEMBERS THAT VOTED FOR SB 1
  
  Acevedo; Arroyo; Berrios; Burke, D.; Burke, K.; Dunkin; Feigenholtz; Harris, G.; HURLEY - We could have elected CFD member Tony Martin; Madigan, M. The Speaker; Mell; Willis
  
  SO the bill passed by 3 votes (needed 60) and 12 of the people FOP endorsed voted for this shit!?!?

Interesting? Yes. Shocking? Not really.

10-Year-Old Shot

The opening paragraph is an amazing bit of fiction in itself. We laughed out loud at it:

• On Marie Naylor’s street in the Austin neighborhood, front doors are often left unlocked — in case gunfire erupts and parents need to quickly pull their children inside.

Yeah, that's it. For the children! Bwahahahaha. Man, it beings a tear to the eye.

In reality, the door is left unlocked so the dope boys can run in when the police show up. What a naive piece of writing that was. We wonder who told him that and did they laugh after he left?

• That’s what happened Wednesday evening, when two men began tussling over a handgun while a dozen or so kids were out tossing a football, enjoying the summer-like weather in the 900 block of North Waller.

Well, that happens sometimes in neighborhoods where human life doesn't mean a thing and the dope boys run wild. Wrestling over a loaded gun doesn't appear in any safety manuals we've run across, so of course, the gun is completely to blame.

The article closes with this:

• That’s why she is especially attuned to the crackle of gunfire and angry at its increasing regularity in her neighborhood. She remembers getting the phone call about her son’s death.

"increasing regularity"? That can't be right. Crime is down, so obviously, this witness is lying, right Garry?

Off Duty CFD Killed

Downstate, but we have no idea why the Sun Times wrote the article like they did:

• A Chicago firefighter and paramedic was killed Thursday morning when the motorcycle he was riding crashed into a two semi-trucks on a highway in Springfield.
  
  Sean Sloe, 37, was merging onto Interstate 55 near Clearlake Avenue in Springfield when the crash occurred at 10:46 a.m. Sloe was pronounced dead at the scene, according to an Illinois State Police spokesman. He was driving an Aprilia motorcycle, an Italian-made motorcycle made for speed.
  
  Sloe worked out of a fire station at 6030 N. Avondale in the Norwood Park neighborhood, said fire department spokesman Larry Langford.
  

So without any investigation or witnesses, the writer has attributed the crash to speeding. Must be nice to be omniscient.

Condolences to the CFD.

Terror Suspect Gets Bail?

But hey, no guns for you!  Those things are dangerous!

• An 18-year-old Aurora man accused of trying to join a terrorism organization overseas might be confined at home as he awaits a federal trial, but federal prosecutors will challenge a judge’s ruling on the suspect’s bond.
  
  Abdella Ahmad Tounisi was arrested by the FBI last month as he tried to board an international flight at O’Hare Airport, accused of trying to travel to Syria to join a militant jihad group. He had been communicating with recruiter online who was really an undercover agent, federal authorities say.
  
  In a rare move for a terror case, U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Martin agreed Thursday to release Tounisi on home confinement, on $50,000 unsecured bond, but stayed his own order for 24 hours to give prosecutors time to decide whether to appeal his ruling, meaning Tounisi won’t be released right away. He also ordered Tounisi placed on electronic monitoring, and said his parents must install a land-based phone line at their Aurora home to comply with the home confinement orders.

Because nobody on home confinement has ever done anything wrong, bad or evil while sitting at home doing nothing, right?

Police Gunfight in.....Roseland!

Golly Rahm, it sure seems unsafe down that way:

• Chicago police exchanged gunfire with a person in the Roseland neighborhood on the Far South Side early Thursday morning, according to authorities.
  
  No officers were injured, but police said the gunman may have been wounded. He was still at large this morning.
  
  The shooting happened around 12:50 a.m. as police responded to a 911 call about a group of people fighting and a man with a gun near 113th Street and Normal Avenue, police said.
  
  Police were fired at and officers returned fire, Police News Affairs [...] said, citing early reports.
  
  The shooting is the fourth time since Sunday morning that police have been fired upon or fired at suspects. 

No police injured, bad guy might be bleeding out somewhere, and no innocent baseball teams caught in the crossfire.

No info on the rumor that Brooks High School is putting up a 12 foot wall of corrugated steel around it's ballpark in light of recent events.

Four police shootings in five days.

Funny Graphic

From the Tribune's report about April homicides:

We particularly enjoy the disclaimer, "As of 6 p.m. Tuesday."  Because, as everyone is suddenly aware, 20 people got shot in a nine hour span and three of those died.  Once they figure in times of death and such, that "23" is going to go to 24 or 25.  And that will bump their percentages to an unacceptable 30-something percent, which doesn't sound nearly as impressive as 45%.

Another Police Shooting - 004

Hadn't heard about this one until late:

• A Chicago police officer shot and wounded a man as he ran from police in the South Chicago neighborhood, authorities said.
  
  The 25-year-old man was shot several times but was expected to survive, according to Patrick Camden, a spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police union.
  
  The shooting happened in the middle of a nine-hour period in which at least 18 other people were shot, three of them fatally, across the city. It was the third police-involved shooting since Sunday morning in Chicago.

No other info available, but that's three police shootings in four days. Be very careful boys and girls. Summer is upon us and it's looking like a wild one.

Roseland is Safe! We Swear!

Aside from the bloodletting last night where somewhere between 3 and 6 people got ventilated in Roseland, these little gems popped up in our comment sections:

• ha wanna hear the best but its all hush hush. Two brooks students were robbed today right out front of the school on 111th. But its being kept out of the media. Sure its safe bring the family.
  
  
• The shooting at Oakwood and Cottage Grove last night happened as a high school girls softball game was being played. Not a word about that in the press.

So a couple of people robbed right in front of the school. Girls playing in a softball game and someone gets shot right there by the kids.

We'd say the Payton parents called it exactly right and ought to be commended for looking out for their children.

Shooting in the Box = Drop Paper

This is without a doubt, one of the top ten stupidest things we've ever heard of:

• A triple shooting happened in a box at 108th and princeton. Officers were out of roll call and headed to their box. They were told to drop paper. Department looking to get some answers and blame someone for this.

Blame someone? How about blaming the shooter(s)? Dropping paper is stupid and unless served with some sort of allegations ought to be written along the lines of:

• R/O was enroute to assigned location when a call came out of persons shot. R/O responded to the scene and assisted in securing same.

You can't refuse the order to write the To-From. It's informational and maybe ought to be written on one of the blue Information Forms available at the Desk. Anything other than that should be addressed via the SPAR/CR process with representation present if the bosses are looking to blame someone. In fact, the FOP and PBPA ought to come out with guidelines for their members regarding this so no one gets denied Contract protections.

And keeping officers off the street to generate paper? That kind of runs counter to everything McOnTap has been preaching here for months now.

Boston Questions

The further into the past the Boston Marathon bombing recedes, the more things escape notice. And there has been a huge amount of information coming out that ought to disturb everyone in law enforcement.

Three more people were charged with aiding and abetting after the fact:

• Three friends of the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect were charged today with interfering with the investigation while a manhunt was under way.
  
  The three, two students from Kazakhstan and a U.S. citizen, were not charged with direct involvement in the April 15 marathon bombings, which killed three people and injured 264.
  
  But three days after the blasts, the trio moved swiftly to cover up for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev when the FBI made public pictures of the suspected bombers, made a public plea for help locating them and conducted a day-long manhunt that left much of Boston on lockdown, according to court papers.

They emptied out Tsarnaev's apartment of evidence, including emptied firework containers and jar(s) of Vaseline, a petroleum used in homemade bombmaking to increase explosive yield. These guys knew exactly what to find and where to find it. The also disposed of a laptop computer. All of this is in possession of the FBI now. The theory being pushed by certain parts of the media is these were "lone wolf" terrorists. By our count, we're up to five "lone wolves," which kind of defeats the definition of "being alone." But what do we know?

Interestingly, two of the three had questionable immigration status.; And what's the big issue in Congress right now? Legalizing 12 million illegals.

Quite a few people are is heaping praise on the law enforcement response, and parts of it were stellar. But it's being revealed in numerous news outlets that Russia had the elder brother and dear ol' mom on wiretaps discussing jihad. They tipped off the FBI who did a cursory check and filed the warning. Not only that, the Saudi's are coming forward and saying they tipped of the FBI also. There have been accusations and denials on that, too, but it merits a second look.

Why would the FBI drop the ball?

• Many are wondering why the FBI overlooked the potential danger posed by now-deceased bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2011 after they interviewed him. According to reports, the bureau failed to find any incriminating evidence of terrorist ties.
  
  
• ....around the same time the bureau interviewed Tsarnaev, changes in the FBI training manual took place as well. The FBI's own departmental counter-terrorism analytic lexicon was purged of key words that could reference Islamic terrorism. Words like Muslim, Islam, Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and sharia were not mentioned once in the FBI's counter-terrorism lexicon afterwards.

The feebs aren't completely clueless - they could probably tell which way the wind was blowing. And under Eric Holder, Janet Nepolitano and Obama, islamic terrorism simply doesn't exist. It's a fast-track to nowhere bucking a trend the bosses don't want to see investigated.

Nice Job Garry

Tonight on the Channel 5 10 PM news, Garry was bragging about a 40% drop in killings.

Immediately afterward, upwards of fifteen, possibly as many as twenty people managed to get shot on the first 80 degree day since October of last year:

• At least 10 people were wounded -- including two 16 year olds -- in shootings throughout the city Tuesday evening.
  
  The gunfire erupted on a particularly warm day -- the city's first day in seven months with temperatures in the 80s -- and on the eve of city officials touting a big reduction in the number of homicides for the first part of the year.
  
  Six of the people were wounded in two separate shootings in the Roseland and South Shore neighborhoods.
  

Roseland? But Roseland is as safe as can be, according to CPS coaches, principals, Rahm and Pfather Pfleger. No violence there. Now go play ball.

The news missed the triple in 012 with one dead. And a few more trickling in from the south side.

So once again, nice job Garry - blow that horn and it pays you back with maybe 20 people shot. On a Tuesday night no less.

Bomb "Scare"

Did all the cameras stop the perpetrator???!!?

No? Bummer:

• Police closed off North Michigan Avenue for more than an hour this morning while a Bomb and Arson officer in a blast suit dismantled a suspicious object attached to a flagpole along North Michigan Avenue.
  
  The object appeared to be several tubes wrapped in black cloth and tied to a pole off the plaza between the Wrigley Building at 410 N. Michigan Ave. and the Walgreens at 430 N. Michigan Ave., police said.
  
  The officer dismantled the object after a robot was first deployed. The officer spread out the black cloth and removed what appeared to be several tubes. He then stood up, raised his mask and gave a thumbs up shortly before 11:30 a.m.

Better safe than sorry.

The Bomb guys looked good and they got to deploy their robot. Maybe instead of the Marine Unit stealing headlines this year, the Bomb Squad will be the go-to guys this summer?

Rumor is the device was some sort of stuffed animal and the robot tried to do a Contact Card on it. No word on if there were empty bottles of tequila and half burned candles in the vicinity.

Madigan Springs Pension Bill

This popped up in our e-mail alerts:

• Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013
  
  * 11:58 am - House Speaker Michael Madigan has filed a pension reform proposal. I’m still going through it, but I’m sure our pension experts out there can help figure out what’s in it. Click here to read the amendment (which was tacked onto Senate President Cullerton’s SB1) and make sure to comment below.
  
  * 12:17 pm - I was given a quick briefing on the bill. Here are some of the highlights, but overall it’s somewhat pretty close to the Nekritz/Cross bill…

That doesn't bode well for things. We started to read the Amendment and the Preamble is an amazing admission of how poorly Springfield has been addressing issues and bankrupting the State of Illinois. Here's the intro:

• "Section 1. Statement and Findings.
  
  At the time of passage of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly, Illinois possesses a lower credit rating than each of the other 49 states. This is a consequence both of atypically large debts and of structural imbalances that will, unless addressed by the General Assembly, lead to rapidly growing debts. The debts include a backlog of bills exceeding one-fourth of the State's annual general revenue, substantial unfunded liabilities associated with health insurance for employees and retirees, and approximately $100 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. The structural imbalances result from projected growth in non-discretionary and formula-driven expenses that significantly outpace projected revenue growth. Of the factors that drive this phenomenon, the most substantialby far is the rapid growth of the annual pension payment, which increased nearly $1 billion between Fiscal Year 2012 and Fiscal Year 2013, and will again increase nearly $1 billion between Fiscal Year 2013 and Fiscal Year 2014, at which time it will consume approximately one-fifth of anticipated general revenue.
  
  The depth of this financial crisis became clear in 2008, and since that time, the State has taken significant action to ameliorate the State's fiscal troubles. In 2011, the State increased the income tax by sixty-seven percent in Public Act 96-1496. Recognizing that increased revenue alone would not solve the problem, the State has enacted a series of budgets that included deep cuts to nearly every discretionary program, including areas of the budget that are essential in order to provide for the health, safety, welfare, and educational development of the people of Illinois, such as public
  elementary, secondary, and higher education, human services, and public safety.

It goes on like that for 7 pages, all excuses and inconsequential steps the Legislature has taken kicking the can down the road.  It's most likely written with a Court challenge in mind. If this doesn't raise your blood pressure, you aren't paying attention.

We also noticed that Pam Zekman emerged from under her bridge where she's been scaring billy goats and launched a new anti-pension screed. She cherry-picks the most egregious instances and spins a yarn out of it:

• Retire at 50 and collect more than $100,000 a year – that’s the plan for a special group of state workers. Some members of the Illinois State Police can end up collecting millions of dollars, according to a study by Taxpayers United of America.
• A state trooper with 25 years on the job can retire at 50 and get 80 percent of his pay. Add overtime and yearly cost-of-living-adjustments, and some end up making more in retirement than they did while they worked.

We're confused - overtime? For what? They aren't working. If we're confused, you can imagine the low-information voters watching Channel 2 are bewildered.

This is SCC's opinion and SCC's opinion only. You don't like it, fine. Go put one on your blog. But if you're making more from your primary job per year when you're retired than when you were actually drawing a salary, there's a problem. We aren't talking about retirees who get another job or form a new company or stuff like that. We're talking about you retire making $85,000 and you're drawing a pension worth $110,000 or more. And that goes for politicians and school principals, who are by far the worst offenders.

It's an unsustainable system and the media and politicos are painting us all with this brush. The people fighting this might want to open another avenue in the current battle. A simple, direct, intelligent approach, because at some point, some asshole like Madigan might actually get something through the gridlock and then we're all eating cat food.

More Crime Near Obama's House

Wasn't this a nice neighborhood once?

• A man was killed and another man wounded in an early morning shooting in the hallway of an apartment complex in the Hyde Park neighborhood on the South Side, police said.
  
  The shooting occurred around 12:15 a.m. in a four-story red brick building in the 5200 block of South Harper Avenue, according to Chicago Police Department News Affairs....

And the newest media measurement:

• The neighborhood is just to the south of Kenwood, where President Barack Obama has his Chicago home. In the last month, the Hyde Park neighborhood has seen slightly more violent crime than Obama's neighborhood.

Oh, well that's alright then. As long as Hyde Park has more crime than Kenwood. You wouldn't want to have the president needing security or anything when he stops by the house.

Didn't we mention he ought to sell that property?

Global Warming Makes....Whores?

Can the left just admit that global warming is a hoax, the science is non-existent and this nonsense is just jumping into the stupid side of the pool with both feet?

• Several House Democrats are calling on Congress to recognize that climate change is hurting women more than men, and could even drive poor women to "transactional sex" for survival.
  
  The resolution, from Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and a dozen other Democrats, says the results of climate change include drought and reduced agricultural output. It says these changes can be particularly harmful for women.
  
  "[F]ood insecure women with limited socioeconomic resources may be vulnerable to situations such as sex work, transactional sex, and early marriage that put them at risk for HIV, STIs, unplanned pregnancy, and poor reproductive health," it says.

Unfortunately, women in developing nations are in danger every time the UN shows up, too. Oh wait, the media doesn't cover the rampant UN sex scandals. Sorry, we forgot there was an embargo on those stories.

Crushing national debt, sequester, , the economy is almost running backwards, jobs are scarce and hours are being cut, inflation just around the corner and our so-called leaders are pushing this issue?