More False Stats

This is actually humorous. You think that the best publicized crime to hit Ravenswood/Uptown would be counted in the statistics, right? There's no way they'd hide that one. You'd be sadly mistaken:

• Fresh questions are being raised today about the accuracy and transparency of crime statistics provided under Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
  
  CWB has found that the beating and robbery of Emanuel's teenage son on December 19 does not appear anywhere in the Chicago Data Portal—a city-run public web site that is supposed to be so accurate, the Chicago Police Department used its existence as an excuse to stop issuing annual reports to citizens after nearly 50 years.
  
  After two armed robberies were reported in Emanuel's neighborhood this week, a CWB editor visited the city database to compare year-over-year robbery rates for that area.
  
  He didn't get very far: "The robbery of the mayor's son was probably the highest-profile robbery in Chicago last year," he said, "Its absence screamed at me."

Tip of the hat to Crime in Wrigleyville and Boystown blog for this. They're the ones that pointed out that up to 20% of crimes were missing from Rahm and Garry's vaunted Data Portal and Chicago Magazine won an award for their two-part report detailing the falsification of crime stats.

But hey, Garry's eraser crew is still at it, doing their damnedest to get Rahm known as a caped crime fighting mayor.

Go Vote Damnit

Vote vote vote:

• If early voting — or the lack of it — is any bellwether, Chicago could be headed for a record-low turnout in Tuesday’s election.
  
  With four days of early voting to go, 44,860 Chicagoans had taken advantage of the opportunity to cast their ballots, 7,259 of them on Tuesday. That’s compared to a final total of 73,268 early votes cast four years ago.
  
  The biggest total was the 2,205 early votes recorded in the 19th Ward, home to scores of police officers, firefighters and teachers who are not enamored with Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
  
  A close second was the 2,092 early votes in the 41st Ward, where homeowners have accused Emanuel of turning a deaf ear to their skyrocketing complaints about O’Hare jet noise.

Well, that's a good thing. Now maybe a subzero election day might give these predominantly anti-Rahm enclaves a disparate impact on actual totals.

Is there same day registration for local elections? After all, they do it for illegals when the White House is on the line.

Whoops

Watch those fingers:

• A Chicago police officer accidentally shot himself at the Bridgeview courthouse Wednesday morning. Authorities said the wound was not serious, and no one else was injured.
  
  The officer was in the weapons room at the back of the courthouse when the gun discharged around 9:30 a.m., striking the officer in the upper leg, according to sheriff's officials.
  
  He was taken to a hospital, and his injuries were not life-threatening.
  
  The officer was taking a gun from a locker when it went off, sheriff's officials said.

Speedy recovery Officer.

From the Chaplains

Late addition to the schedule from the Chaplains.

Comments closed here.

Anyone got a Spare $40 Million?

We'd say "write the check already" if we were on the jury:

• A new lawsuit condemns Northwestern University and a former star professor central to Illinois’ history of wrongful convictions and exonerations, alleging the university allowed a “culture of lawlessness” and unethical conduct among faculty and journalism students who worked to free inmates.
  
  The suit seeking $40 million in damages was filed Tuesday in federal court on behalf of Alstory Simon, who spent some 15 years in prison after he confessed and pleaded guilty to a double-homicide in Chicago. Simon’s confession led to the release of Anthony Porter, who had been on death row for the 1982 slayings.
  
  The case is one of the most significant in Illinois history, since Porter’s release helped spur then-Gov. George Ryan to halt executions, a step toward the abolition of the death penalty in 2011. But the case was upended in October when Cook County prosecutors agreed to throw out Simon’s conviction, citing questions about the methods used to obtain his confession.

Because it's completely ethical to hire and video tape an actor to portray a witness so you can wear down an innocent man. And it's totally okay to send budding journalism students into prisons with vague promises of licentiousness to inmates who haven't seen a woman in years. And bankrolling dope addicts for testimony - everyone knows that's cool. And don't even question the behavior of Dick Devine, the different Grand Juries, the lies told to judges in order to force this false plea through.

Blame Game

A bunch of points raised in the post about people missing the 10-1. Some good, some not so good, some just name calling, whatever. You want blame? Let's leave out the childish shit and use this as a learning experience.

• #1 - The cops didn't put themselves down on a stop, because they were just going to pick up something at Walgreen's. We've all done it. Zip in, zip out, done. And they just stumbled into this. Bad set of circumstances;
• #2 - GPS is no good unless the dispatcher knows what you're on. See #1 for why this didn't work;
• #3 - Blaming the white shirts or even the other blue shirts. Really? The best thing a blue shirt could have done was stay off the air until it got sorted out. The only thing a white shirt may have done was order a logging of the cars. And we don't have a "playback" feature on the radios;
• #4 - OEMC does have a playback on their consoles. We've seen it, we've seen it used, we've heard it when we call the zone for something and they play it back in their headset. The thing that Dispatch doesn't have anymore is the ability to see the Radio ID number that used to be transmitted when you un-keyed. Anyone remember that? "Radio 4444, you have an open key." You never hear that any more because it doesn't exist-  what asshole disabled that feature and why?
• #5 - at 00:03 seconds you hear "10..." clear as a bell. That should have been the start of something bigger than what happened. Someone in authority should have insisted or dispatch should have summoned their supervisor;
• #6 - at 00:26, "Walgreen's!" again, clear as daylight and.....nothing. How many Walgreen's could there be on the entire zone? Four? Eight? Might be worth sending cars to see what's up, especially as the job isn't on the board. If the GPS was functioning and the addresses geo-coded properly, dispatch may have been able to see what car was parked near a Walgreen's, shortening the response time;
• #7 - Sorry Dispatchers, but if you can't hear the transmissions, you need to turn up the volume, get a new headset, get Radio Shop to adjust the antenna, clean out the ear canals, maybe see a doctor, adjust something. You are the lifeline, and if you can't hear us, then you're useless to us. Sorry, but that's just a fact.

In hindsight, firing might be a rush to judgement on our part, but tell us your blood wasn't boiling listening to the tape? Knowing these guys had already gotten their asses kicked, lost control of a gun, been fighting for three minutes believing that help was on the way? Yeah, we're more than a little pissed.

But listening to the tape, it's obvious that there needs to be some procedures instituted by either the Department or OEMC to (A) reinstate the radio numbers being visible to the dispatcher, (B) a way to keep track of those numbers to link it to a District, a Car or an Officer, (C) an established radio roll call to run through the active cars, (D) maybe a Panic Button on the radio.

Slow districts aren't always slow.

Rahm Closing on 50%

Going to be a tight one:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel is closing in on the majority he needs to win re-election and avoid a runoff, but nearly 1 in 5 Chicago voters remain undecided a week before Election Day, a new Chicago Tribune poll found.
  
  The survey found that Emanuel has boosted his favorability and job approval ratings among voters after millions of dollars in TV ads, while support for top challenger Jesus "Chuy" Garcia may be stalling as he starts to air his own ads in the closing days of the campaign.
  
  The poll, conducted Wednesday through Sunday, found Emanuel at 45 percent support — just shy of the 50 percent-plus-one-vote benchmark he needs to avoid an April 7 runoff election against the second-place finisher. Cook County Commissioner Garcia had 20 percent support, while Ald. Bob Fioretti and businessman Willie Wilson each had 7 percent backing. Community activist William "Dock" Walls had 2 percent, while 18 percent said they were undecided.

C'mon people - anyone but Rahm is the way to go. Get out there and vote.

Nice Neighborhood Rahm

It's so brave of the mayor to live in a community so riddled with crime:

• A man was robbed three blocks north of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's North Side home Monday night and a business nearby was robbed early Tuesday morning, according to police.
  
  The first robbery happened about 7:45 p.m. in the 4500 block of North Hermitage Avenue, police said.
  
  A 32-year-old man was robbed at gunpoint by three teens wearing all black, though police didn’t have a more detailed description. At least one of the teens pulled a gun, and the three made off with the man's valuables, going east on Sunnyside Avenue from Ashland Avenue.
  
  About 5:40 Tuesday morning, a man wielding a box cutter robbed a business in the 4000 block of North Lincoln Avenue. He made off with cash from a register. No one was injured. Police could not provide a description of the robber.
  
  No one is in custody for either attack.

No usable descriptions either. Ravenswood is really headed downhill.

Dispatcher Missed the 10-1

For three fucking minutes:



If that doesn't work, the link is here.

We've been in fights where a single minute feels like an eternity. Three minutes? And there were at least two or three indications something was wrong. The dispatcher knew something was up, and dropped the ball.

Let's go Garry. Let's go FOP. Where's the fucking investigation? The suspension? The retraining and/or firing?

Use of Force Question

The order states the following:

• (Use of firearms in the following ways is prohibited) Firing at or into a moving vehicle when the vehicle is the only force used against the sworn member or another person.

But Section II-A-1 and 2 state the following:

• II - Department Policy
  
  A. A sworn member is justified in using force likely to cause death or great bodily harm only when he or she reasonable believes that such force is necessary:
  
  1. to prevent death or great bodily harm to the sworn member or to another person, or:
  
  2. to prevent an arrest from being defeated by resistance or escape and the sworn member reasonably believes that the person to be arrested:
  
  a: has committed or has attempted to commit a forcible felony which involves the infliction, threatened infliction, or threatened is of physical force like to cause death or great bodily harm or;
  
  b: is attempting to escape by use of a deadly weapon or;
  
  c: otherwise indicates that he or she will endanger human life or inflict great bodily harm unless arrested without delay

Um....you mean like using a car as a two-ton guided missile? That kind of death or great bodily harm?

Denver Vandalism

The police were, get this, ordered to stand down in the face of criminal acts:

• Two people were arrested Saturday afternoon while police monitored a group that had been staging protests throughout Denver.
  
  During the protest a memorial dedicated to fallen police officers was vandalized, which has led to a controversy involving police administrators and the head of the police union, who is calling for Denver Police Chief Robert White to resign.
  
  Approximately 100 to 200 people marched down Colfax Avenue from Lincoln Park to the Denver Police Department headquarters located at 1331 Cherokee Street. Some marched in support of Jessie Hernandez, a 17-year-old who was killed when she was shot by police during a criminal incident in January.

This was a protest for the "angel" who, while awaiting another court date for various offenses, attempted to kill some of Denver's police officers in a stolen car that was being used as a "rite of passage" mobile for the Hispanic community there. Now the police union is calling for the resignation of the Chief who gave the orders to acquiesce to criminal damage to property.

Civil disobedience is one thing. This was another.

Wilding Season Starts Early

In the warmer climate though, not here:

• OCOEE, Fla. — Orange County deputies are trying to figure out why hundreds of teenagers suddenly rushed into the movie theater at West Oaks Mall in Ocoee Saturday night.
  
  Deputies said as many as 900 kids, described as being in middle or high school, attempted to rush the theater at once.
  
  [...] Nearly 300 teenagers were able to get in before the security gates were closed. Police said a group of about 100 rushed into the theater and continued causing a disturbance.

Then a few hundred more milled about in the parking lot and someone fired a gun.

And this is acceptable behavior where again? In what communities? By what families? We're just curious you know.

That Use of Force Update

General Order 03-02-03, Section III-E has been updated as follows:

• (Use of firearms in the following ways is prohibited) Firing at or into a moving vehicle when the vehicle is the only force used against the sworn member or another person.

This part follows:

• Sworn members will not unreasonably endanger themselves or another person to conform to the restrictions of this directive.

That's it. We're pretty sure there used to be a section in there saying that if it was possible for the officer to move out of the way, that was required.

We'd like to see the old directive to see what exactly changed. And it must have been something, because the PBPA is not happy and raising questions - we got this from a e-mailer who culled it from the President of the Chicago Police Sergeants Association:

• MLAS [has been contacted regarding] our objection to the change as it contradicts the department's protection of life policy as well as the use of force model. The addition of this prohibition even contradicts the very next sentence in the order that states sworn members will not unreasonably endanger themselves or another person to conform to the restrictions of this directive.

The letter goes on to say that the sergeants are meeting with their counterparts in the lieutenant and captain associations to address this rewriting of the order without input from the officers it regulates.

Is the FOP going to hop on board after the white shirts do the heavy lifting or what?

Disarming Info

We haven't seen the case report ::cough cough:: and we haven't seen any of the detective paperwork ::cough cough:: and we certianly haven't been tipped off by any friendly people wearing gold stars ::cough cough bullshit cough::, but here's some info:

• it seems this offender had military experience - military police experience, so he was more than familiar with Level III holsters and how to remove a weapon from one
• the Walgreen's employee deserves a lot of praise and a medal for staying with the fight. It's possible he was the one who hit the magazine release and saved the Department a couple of funerals.

We're sure more will be forthcoming as the days go on, but remember, a Level III holster isn't the be-and-and-end-all. Someone with skills and determination can still get it from you.

Wow, Snow is Slippery

Imagine that:

• Lake-effect snow caused slippery conditions on some area roadways close to Lake Michigan, leading to multiple accidents like the 40-vehicle chain reaction crash that that fouled up traffic on the Kennedy Expressway Sunday.
  
  The chain-reaction crash happened at 10:15 a.m. on the inbound express lanes on the Kennedy Expressway, which involved 40 vehicles that closed the express lanes for most of the day and temporarily closed the local lanes of the expressway, according to the Illinois State Police officials. The express lanes were reopened by 5:45 p.m., according to state police.

But was it really all the snow's fault?

• Police said the snow conditions were responsible for the chain-reaction crash as there are no shoulders on the express lanes.

Um, no. Driving to fast for conditions was the primary cause. Snow = slippery = reduce your damn speed and increase the distance between vehicles, leaving plenty of room to stop. After that, it's all physics.

It's a wonder no one was killed.

Police Shooting - Englewood

Cops are okay:

• A man was shot by police early Saturday in Englewood when he allegedly pulled a handgun on officers after trying to flee in a stolen car.
  
  The shooting happened about 12:30 a.m. in the 1300 block of West 73rd Street, authorities said.
  
  Officers with an Area South gun team were patrolling the area near West 73rd and South Ada streets when they saw a man trying to park a car, said Chicago police Deputy Chief Dana Alexander.
  
  "The person was struggling to park the vehicle. It seemed odd to (the officers)," Alexander said at the scene. "They did a vehicle check on the car they observed, and the vehicle came up as stolen."

You have to love how the media says "allegedly pulled a handgun" and then later, state that a 9mm semiautomatic handgun was recovered. That would kind of negate the "allegedly" don't you think....

....oh wait, can't have the fiction of "planting guns" fall out of favor. What would Jesse scream about then?

Officer Disarmed

Remember, there's always a gun on the scene of any incident - YOU bring it there:

• A shoplifter being arrested disarmed an officer and fired shots at police Saturday evening in Andersonville, but no officers were struck by gunfire, officials said.
  
  The incident took place in the 5500 block of North Clark Street, near Clark Street and Catalpa Avenue, said Larry Merritt, a spokesman for the Independent Police Review Authority. Shots were fired at police, but no one was struck by the gunfire, he said.
  
  Officers were arresting at least one shoplifter about 8 p.m. when one fought with police and disarmed an officer, firing shots, another official said, citing preliminary information.
  
  It could not immediately be confirmed what other injuries the person who fired the gun or officers involved might have suffered.

Thank goodness it didn't end badly. Watch yourselves, your partner, your backup, and your prisoners.

Nice Stop

Good job:

• A man was arrested in Englewood Friday after police found him in possession of 23 pounds of cannabis during a traffic stop.
  
  Police stopped Alexander Brown, 39, at a traffic stop at approximately 7:45 p.m. Friday and arrested him. Brown is charged with one felony count of cannabis possession and one traffic citation.
  
  Englewood District officers stopped Brown in the 1000 block of West Marquette Road after observing a minor traffic violation. Officers found a large clear plastic bag containing cannabis coming out of a black book bag in the rear seat.
  
  Brown was immediately taken into custody. Police also found another bag containing cannabis, resulting in more than 23 pounds recovered at an estimated street value of $64,000.

Sure, the Vice unit gets a ton or more occasionally, but it still feels good to get a something that won't fit into the dope safe in the District sometimes. Nice pinch Officers.

Go Utah!

Glad to see the effort to bring this back:

• A hotly contested proposal that resurrects Utah's use of firing squads to carry out executions narrowly passed a key vote Friday in the state's Legislature after three missing lawmakers were summoned to break a tie vote.
  
  The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted 39-34 Friday morning to approve the measure, sending it to an uncertain fate in the state's GOP-controlled Senate. Leaders in that chamber have thus far declined to say if they'll support it, and Utah's Republican Gov. Gary Herbert won't say if he'll sign it.

Hey, if the prison systems can't get the necessary drugs from overseas and American companies are banned from or won't make the drugs needed to carry out executions, then we're all for bringing back the tried and true methods like firing squads, hangings and electrocutions, comfort of the condemned be damned.

Burge Free

Four-and-a-half years:

• Former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge has been released from a Florida halfway house after 4 ½ years in federal custody for lying about the torture of suspects.
  
  Darlene Tyler, the residential re-entry manager at the Orlando-area facility, says Burge was released Friday, a day early, because his scheduled release date fell on a weekend.

No doubt someone in the media will be bitching about that last day.

Hey Barb, You Want to Chime In?

You thought Maria was the only one?

• Well, Lil Barb has been in Command of 011 for just a few weeks and she and captain Lemon head are now attacking the 2nd watch.
  
  Today a Veteran PO was told he is no longer on a certain car because he did not bring in enough contact cards for the period. His punishment for not meeting the Monthly QUOTA FOR CONTACT CARDS was a new start time and assignment.
  
  I was unaware that there was a minimum quota for monthly contact cards?
  
  Next time I see captain Lemon head I am going to ask him, " Captain, what is the required number of contact cards that you require form me each month"?
  
  And Barb you of all people should know that requiring Officers to violate someone's constitutional rights for a simple contact card for you monthly comstat meeting is against the law.
  
  To all my fellow officers in 011, just do the minimum to get vri and no more. If no one does any more than 5 per month then what will Barb and Lemonhead do?
  
  Stand together like NYPD did against mayor William Wilhelm, oh, I mean his new name billy deeblasio.
  
  And lt kj, you sir are a turd

Can the brass in 025 and 011 require an actual number of Contact Cards? Is that a quota? Or are we misunderstanding the word "quota"?

Really Pushing the Camera Thing

Both papers had articles Friday:

• [Sun Times] - When Chicago Police Officer Michael Edens began his career 12 years ago, the only high-tech device he had on his uniform was his radio.
  
  But for the past three weeks, he’s been wearing a body camera on his chest in a pilot program in the Shakespeare District. He still is getting used to activating it every time he makes a traffic stop or in other encounters with the public.
  
  “It’s not second-nature yet,” he said.
  
  
• [Tribune] - The body camera being tested by Chicago police Officer Michael Edens can easily be mistaken for a small garage opener.
  
  Once he clicks on a small button in the middle of the camera and hears two beeps, its tiny lens and speakers capture the views and sounds in front of Edens' vest.
  
  During his patrols in recent weeks in the Logan Square neighborhood, Edens has noticed subtle changes in the public's behavior when he shows up to service calls and announces he's recording video and audio.

Amusingly, the justification for all this electronic media is the Ferguson and New York cases, neither of which involved police misconduct, but you know - racism and brutality and all that bull.

When are the bangers and the brass and the ball-less politicians going to be wearing these things anyway?

Yup....Pandering

But will the objects of the pander realize they are being played?

• The ring is the thing!
  
  Sneed has learned Mayor Rahm Emanuel plans to give a Little League championship ring to each member of the beleaguered Jackie Robinson West All Stars baseball team.
  
  The mayor, who earlier this week appealed to the president of the Little League International to reverse his decision to strip the kids of their hard-earned championship title, plans to present the rings to the team at a ceremony at next month’s City Council hearing.

The Sneed slobber here is unbelievable:

• The Jackie Robinson West All Stars were the biggest story in the country last summer when their dominant play in the Little League World Series brought them the national title.

"...in the country..." Remember that. What a tool.

Hammer Time Coming

Anyone notice the CO Book with the 21 page order stapled into it with the Uniform Standards in all the Districts?

Anyone else notice that they named a few new Inspectors?

Guess what's coming?

Don't say you weren't warned. Numerous 35th Street types have whispered to the blog.

Maybe they'll ensure it's enforced evenly across the board - no exceptions for front offices, because we're sure everyone has a few stories.

Good Times in 025

From the comments:

• Commander Pena Update 025th District
  
  2 weeks in and 025 is now probably the worst place to work. Her ludicrous ideas and hair brained schemes are going to turn 025 into one of the most difficult places to work.
  
  Hey Sup, what were you thinking when you sent this merit heavy know nothing to a working district.
  
  one of her early ideas because there is a spike in auto thefts, write the victim a ticket for unattended motor vehicle if their car is stolen while warming up in front of the house.
  
  really ? add insult to injury.....and she said that applied to cars running with remote starts on them. apparently she has never had a car with remote start because if she did she would know its impossible to steal a car that's running on remote start.
  
  I have been on the job less than 10 years but I have never not wanted to come to work since I have been in 025, well not until now....
  
  she is in over her head but for some reason the super thinks she knows whats going on
  
  time for a transfer, but I cant
  
  anywhere but working for this know nothing misfit of a boss
  
  010 I am sure you are glad she is gone

You know Garry isn't checking any of the backgrounds of these shining examples of policing. Pena should have (or might have) served a bunch of suspension time for assault and battery on students back in the day. Why does it seem that the boss who makes the most coppers miserable are the ones getting ahead?

Unfortunate Headline

Someone wasn't paying attention:

Ouch. Different strokes for different folks we suppose.

The story itself is kind of amusing as the girl used the old "padlock on a shoelace" as a weapon to defend herself.

Copper Injured

Wreck on Lower Wacker:

• A Downtown crash on Lower Wacker Drive left three people hospitalized Thursday night, including a Chicago Police officer.
  
  About 9 p.m., a police SUV and another vehicle collided on Wacker near Garvey Court, police said.
  
  The police officer and two people from the other vehicle were taken to hospitals with “minor” injuries, police said.

The picture from the Sun Times:

Looks like the SUV hit that concrete pillar dead center. Best wishes for a speedy recovery

Rahm Getting Desperate?

If this isn't pandering, then we don't know pandering:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel is swinging for the fences.
  
  Sneed has learned that Emanuel has personally gone to bat to reverse Little League International’s decision to strip the Jackie Robinson West All-Stars baseball team of their 2014 national championship.
  
  Sneed is told Emanuel pulled out his battering ram during a 10-minute conversation Wednesday with Little League International President and CEO Stephen Keener in hopes he would rescind the league’s decision based on findings the team falsified boundaries to field ineligible players.
  
  The mayor, a huge JRW fan, said: “Every home run was real. Every great catch was real. The passion they brought from Chicago to Williamsport was real. And the character they showed on and off the field was real.”

Here's the thing though Rahm-bo. If Chicago holds a 3-on-3 basketball tournament for city workers and we show up with Michael Jordan as our third, someone is going to cry foul. He isn't a city worker and doesn't reside in the city - see how that works?

Another example might be if there was some sort of mayoral election and thirty-to-forty-thousand American citizens showed up from Dallas or Billings or Salt Lake City and voted for one or more of Rahm's opponents. Right at the head of the line complaining would be Rahm Emanuel - guaranteed.

Hey Maria? What the Hell?

Grand and Central having a banner week:

• A 16-year-old boy was found shot to death in a Hermosa neighborhood alley late Tuesday in the Grand Central police district's third gunshot wound homicide in three nights.
  
  He was found with multiple gunshot wounds about 10:10 p.m. in the alley on the 1600 block of North Keeler Avenue, police said.
  
  Officers covered him in a blue sheet and taped off the icy alley. The department's crime lab investigators arrived about 11:30 p.m.

Three homicides in three nights? Might be a slight change of strategy needed. Maybe someone needs more Contact Cards!

Baseball or DEATH!

Some cheaters got caught. And because they didn't follow the rules, there were penalties.

And of course, the penalties were all about.....racism:

• [Sun Times] The Jackie Robinson West All Stars became a yellow beacon of hope last summer to a city plagued by violence — and a country torn apart over race.

"torn apart over race"? We're sure they meant "torn apart over false allegations of racism regarding the criminal behavior by minorities and completely legal and justified action by law enforcement," right?

And the "plague of violence" was perpetrated in the minority neighborhoods by....oh yeah...minorities.

• [Sun Times]... the Rev. Jesse Jackson said the South Siders are also the victims of a “wholesale attack” on their integrity.
  
  “Is this about boundaries,” he asked, “or race?”

Um, it's about boundaries Jesse. They laid out the maps, explained their decision, explained how the rules were broken...it was all right there. But once again, you're a crisis in search of a cause and playing on the ignorance of your constituency isn't pretty.

• [Sun Times quoting Pfather Pfleger] “Are you telling me that the same kind of obsession of stalking, going over this for months, would have happened — would have been done — if the Las Vegas team had won?” Pfleger said. “I’m sorry. I live in America. Maybe I’m tainted by that. But I believe that. And I believe that racism is in the midst of this thing.”

You're an idiot. We've proven that time and again and you only cement your position as a moron each time you open your mouth. If you don't like it, there's the door. We heard the archbishop of Iraq is looking for priests.

• [Tribune] Venisa Green, mother of player Brandon Green, said Little League International’s decision felt like a familiar blow.
  
  “It is amazing to me that whenever African-Americans exceed the expectations, there is always going to be fault that is found in what we do,” she said. “Little League says that they teach character and they teach courage. Well, this isn’t an act of courage, and this sure isn’t an act of character.”

Really? What is truly amazing is that you feel to "exceed the expectations" you have to lie, cheat and subvert. And when you get caught, blame the organization for making rules that everyone is supposed to follow....except you.

It's actually courageous on the part of the Little League to strip the title and demonstrate that there are penalties to breaking the rules. Especially knowing that they're going to face a firestorm of Jesse and his minions flinging about unfounded and unprovable charges of racism in an attempt to bully the organization.

• [Tribune] The world we live in don't have much to offer black kids. They can't come out to play without worrying about getting shot or pulled into a gang.

The Tribune removed (surprise!) some of the more inflammatory quotes without noting the changes in an earlier version of this article. The essence of one was that the Little League would rather their children were killed in the street than actually succeed at baseball. This one is almost as asinine. This world, and despite what pfather Pfleger claims, this country offer more to black kids than anywhere else on the planet, but without some strong parental direction, and that means both parents, schools, churches and yes, even little leagues, aren't going to fix what ails the community.

Perhaps if more parents taught their children that there are penalties for lying, stealing, or cheating, there would be less burglaries, robberies, shootings and killings? Just a thought. And someone go tell that Eric Holder asshole were having that discussion.

Whoa? Another Study??

Does no one ever ask street coppers their opinion? We could save the tax payers billions:

• As overcrowding and budget shortfalls plague U.S. jails, the response increasingly has been to go softer on sentencing.
  
  But that trend is raising concerns that the jails are only feeding the problem, releasing criminals who in turn go on to commit more crimes.
  
  Washington state's King County is the latest to consider a softer approach to crime. County Executive Dow Constantine recently announced that if judges, prosecutors and public defenders can't figure out a way to speed up the time it takes criminal defendants to go from arrest to trial, he'll institute a "book-and-release" policy.
  
  "That would be an absolute last resort," Constantine said. "But the fact is we have a capacity challenge and a financial challenge."
  
  Washington state leads the nation in property crime, yet car thieves, package pilferers and home burglars rarely do any real time. Book-and-release would keep even more of the suspected criminals on the streets. People arrested for most property and drug crimes would simply be booked, given a court date to appear for arraignment and released. Even after their initial appearance, few would see a jail cell until they're convicted, if at all.

This sounds almost exactly like Cook County and IDOC problems with parolees and persons supposedly on "house arrest" going out, dealing dope, banging on the corners, getting they-selves shot and in more than a few cases, committing burglaries, robberies, rapes, aggravated batteries and :::gasp!!::: murders.

As you reduce (or eliminate) the time spent behind bars, the criminal realizes they pay no real penalty for their misbehavior. And if you reward bad behavior, you get more of it. Current sentences are like a temporary time-out for these scumbags -they get three hots and a cot, medical check ups, hours a day with TV or weights, and a learning environment on improving their criminal behavior. Plus, they won't usually get shot in the joint, so it's a relaxing trip all in all.

How Did This Happen?

Seriously?

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration says it’s investigating how the lightly trafficked block of Ald. Edward Burke got special treatment from city snowplow crews during last week’s massive blizzard.
  
  When I initially asked why Burke’s street was plowed repeatedly even as 19 inches of snow was still falling, the powerful politician’s spokesman told me it was merited because Burke lives on a street that’s “classified as an arterial street — not a side street.”

Ummmm......Clout maybe?

Wasn't Luis Gutierrez's house listed as a vacant lot for years, allowing Luis to avoid property taxes for years before someone in the media actually did some research? Amazing how these "listings" always seem to benefit some crooked politician.

Lend a Hand

Another police family in need:

• SCC,
  
  I work in the 007th District and wanted to send this your way for you to post, if possible, to get the help of all of the Blue Family out there. There is a daughter of a Chicago Police Officer that was in a terrible accident and trying to recover in the hospital. The recovery is going to take some time and the medical bills will be piling up. The Police Officer’s friend has started a Go Fund Me page to help this family out. I’ve attached the link for you to check out and get the story. A small donation from some of our own will add up to a huge difference in this family’s life.
  
  Thanks for the time and for checking this site out.

Check it out here. Every little bit helps and you know that your contribution is helping one of our own.

Comments closed here - informational post only.

Missing Pipes

An appeal for assistance from a CFD Piper:

• Hoping you guys could lend a hand.
  
  This past weekend one of the CFD bagpipers auto was broken into in 22nd District after playing a charity event. A $5000 loss for a guy that spends much of his free time playing for firefighters and police officers mostly for free. Can you spread the word to have the CPD keep their eyes peeled. We are also passing the hat and dropping donations at the Quinn FA.
  
  Any help would be appreciated,
  
  Thank you,
  Captain Tim Walsh Squad 1 CFD

That's a big hit for a musician who does charity gigs many times a year, including a number for CPD. Keep an eye out boys and girls.

Detectives Made

One hundred detectives made last night.

That's the first class in what? Six years?

Congratulations to those who made it. It's been a long time coming and the D-unit could use the help.

Post it if you got it.

UPDATE: Second class in six years or so - we forgot the one they threw together last year.

St Baldricks

Sign-ups are behind from last year and time is running out:

• Six weeks to go so the time to sign up is now. Please go to THIS LINK HERE and choose the Academy or Area North to sign up for our 2015 events. If you have any questions you can contact Bill O’Reilly via e-mail, chromedome1269@sbcglobal.net.
  
  The number of participants signed up so far is behind last year’s so I’d like to challenge all of you to find a friend or coworker to register with you this year. Once you’re signed up you’ll get your personal web site and can start your fund-raising so it’s definitely not too late.
  
  St. Baldrick’s grants have led to countless breakthroughs and many of the dollars stay right here in the Chicago area at Lurie’s, University of Chicago Comer’s Children’s Hospital, Rush and others, helping doctors and researchers do everything they can to help the children and families dealing with this horrific disease.
  
  Sign up today and help us end this disease that has affected too many of us.

You'll need that Spring haircut right around March anyway - let's get this done folks.

Narrowing the Field

Our tin-foil hat conspiracy post.

So Rahm and the Machine front up four candidates, all with colorful histories of their own, in an effort to make Rahm seem like a moderate, sane individual. As some start to stand out, someone - the Machine, Rahm's people, the bought-and-paid for media - knocks out the underpinnings in an effort to drive voters to chose Rahm and get him to 50%-plus-one. Examples:

• Willie Wilson "stumbles" and tries to appeal to "whiteys" then has a mild kerfuffle as he denies, is confronted by media recording, backtracks and claims his heavy accent made him misunderstood. As one of the two black candidates, he's already splitting the voting bloc with Doc Walls. Now he looks a bit like a racist loon which might scare white folks (especially liberals who were thinking he was just a successful businessman) into giving Rahm another look and the more moderate black voters into not wanting to vote for a nut job.
  
  
• Chewie/Chuy gets dragged through the mud this weekend with revelations that his felonious gangbanging offspring got free legal representation from a pretty heavy law firm. Chewie/Chuy denies having anything to do with that, but now the stories start up about the apple not falling far from the tree and suddenly, the guy who was suddenly running second, looks like another whack job with a shady past and an even shadier future. Is he even running second after this week?

As the other candidates get painted with the crazy brush, connected brush or criminal brush, Rahm' inches closer to 50%-plus-one and may actually avoid a runoff. If Wilson and Chewie/Chuy end up cratering, Rahm gets the runoff he wants against....another white guy!  The black and brown voting blocs don't have a horse in the race, so they sit it out.

Discuss.

First Responder Mass

From the Chaplains:

(click for a larger view)

Informational post only - comments closed here.

Let's Disarm

Wow....just wow:

• Speaking to the Aspen Institute on February 6, Michael Bloomberg said cities should ban young minority males from owning guns, both as an effort to reduce crime and to keep those minority males “alive.”
  
  According to The Aspen Times, Bloomberg addressed a variety of topics, and after commenting on poverty and education, he discussed guns. The Times reported that he said, “Cities need to get guns out of [the] … hands” of persons who are “male, minority, and between the ages of 15 and 25.”
  
  He claimed that “95 percent of all murders fall into this category” and that taking guns away from them will not only reduce crime, but will “keep them alive.”

Since publication, the Aspen Times has altered the story a bit, taking out some of the inflammatory language that would get any right-leaning individuals tarred and feathered. But this is the Bloomberg nanny state in all its glory. Not a word about "responsibility" or "parents" or "self-control." Nope, just "ban the guns!" not seeming to realize that most people of all stripes are subject to all sorts of restriction already, none of which stop the criminals.

Oh Drew

Couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?

• Moments before he learned his sentence for murdering his third wife, Drew Peterson told James Glasgow to look him in the eye.
  
  “Never forget my face,” Peterson told Glasgow, the Will County State’s Attorney. “Never forget what you’ve done here.”
  
  Then a judge sentenced Peterson to 38 years in prison — where prosecutors now say Peterson plotted to have Glasgow killed.
  
  It’s not the first time the former Bolingbrook cop has been accused of trying to hire a hit man.
  
  Peterson, 61, now faces one count of solicitation of murder for hire, and one count of solicitation of murder. The charges were filed in downstate Randolph County, home to Menard Correctional Center, where Peterson has lived for nearly two years.

You were so slick, they had to pass a special law and defend it in court just to convict you of murdering your third wife. They couldn't even touch you on the fourth one. All you had to do was serve your 38 years peacefully, quietly, humbly. You might have been out in 32 years or so, at the ripe young age of 90. Plenty of time to find another young wife to disappear before Satan claimed you as his own.

But now, that's all gone.

Chances of Getting Shot

An interesting concept:

• If you and another person get arrested together in Chicago, you’re both part of a loose network of people with a high risk of getting shot in the future, Yale University researchers say in a newly published study.
  
  Only 6 percent of the people in Chicago between 2006 and 2012 were listed on arrest reports as co-offenders in crimes, the study says. But those people became the victims of 70 percent of the nonfatal shootings in the city over the same period.
  
  The study, called “Tragic, but not random: The social contagion of nonfatal gunshot injuries,” was published in the January 2015 issue of Social Science & Medicine. It shows the risk of becoming a gunshot victim in Chicago is “more concentrated than previously thought,” according to Andrew Papachristos, one of the authors.
  
  More than ever, the Chicago Police Department is borrowing ideas from academics like Papachristos to fashion anti-violence strategies. For instance, the department used his social-network theories to generate its own list of at-risk people.
  
  Police Supt. Garry McCarthy believes that list is helping his beat officers concentrate on those people most likely to become shooting victims — or to shoot someone else.

An attempt to build a usable tool. This is actually intelligent. Of course, this study points out a number of uncomfortable truths, the main one being that this over-reliance on Contact Cards for people that aren't part of these criminal networks are truly a waste of time. Then there's this: 

• Such social network analysis allows the manpower-strapped Chicago Police Department to “discern who’s at risk rather than casting the net really wide,” he said.

"manpower-strapped"? That damn shortage that everyone and their brother sees, except Rahm and Garry.

And this one:

• And as was previously known, race was a key risk factor in getting shot, the study noted. For every 100,000 people, an average of one white person, 28 Hispanics and 113 blacks became victims of nonfatal shootings every year in Chicago over the six-year study period.
  
  But Papachristos and his team sought to go beyond a racial explanation for nonfatal shootings. They were trying to explain why a specific young African-American male in a high-crime neighborhood becomes a shooting victim, while another young black man in the same neighborhood doesn’t, the study said.

Here's the SCC summary of the study - it took six minutes, not six years:

• If you engage in criminal enterprises, you stand a good chance of getting shot
• If you hang out with people who are criminals, you might get shot
• If you hang out with people who have a familiarity with guns, no moral compass, no conflict resolution skills and criminal intent, you might get shot
• This subset of a "social network" is comparatively small to the entire neighborhood it interacts with, but is supported in the main by a large portion of the neighborhood because it is the economic engine of the 'hood.
• Oh, and if you brush up against this "social network," as in my cousin, my play-cousin, my brother, my uncle, etc., you might be one of those "innocent victims" that aren't really that innocent.

Of course, this study summary isn't free - Rahm and Garry can have a check made out to "Bearer" and we'll take care of the rest.

Airbag....for a Bullet

This is about the dumbest thing we've ever seen:

• The maker of a gun attachment called The Alternative has just wrapped up his company’s first-ever police training for the device, with the police department in Ferguson, Missouri, which is considering buying it, six months after a police officer shot and killed unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown.
  
  Christian Ellis told Here & Now’s Robin Young that The Alternative makes a bullet less lethal by slowing it down and trapping it. He says more than 400 agencies and police departments have expressed an interest in it.
  
  Former New York City police officer and prosecutor Eugene O’Donnell says police have been searching for a reliably non-lethal weapon to prevent lethal encounters with suspects. But he isn’t convinced that The Alternative gun attachment is the answer.

Wait until you see how this thing works:

This is going to get some copper severely injured...or worse. How many police shootings only use one bullet? And if you've got your gun out pointed at someone, it's often past the point that "less than lethal" applies.

Mayoral Candidate Websites

We've discovered a whole cache of websites supporting various mayoral candidates that have been flying below the radar so far this campaign season. Here's a few:

• FormerFelonyFranksFelons4Fioretti.com
• IamNotChewbacca.com
• TheOtherBlackGuySplittingTheVote.Com
• WhiteysForWillie.org

 Anyone else "discover" websites? Reasonably clean?

Storage Costs

Someone is paying attention to the big picture:

• The rush to outfit police officers with body cameras after last summer's unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, threatens to saddle local governments with steep costs for managing the volumes of footage they must keep for months or even years, according to contracts, invoices and company data reviewed by The Associated Press.
  
  The storage expenses — running into the millions of dollars in some cities — often go overlooked in the debates over using cameras as a way to hold officers accountable and to improve community relations.
  
  Yet those costs can have a significant effect on city and county budgets, and in some cases may force police chiefs to choose between paying officers on the street or paying yearly video storage fees.

In light of Rahm's screeds about no money for the pension, the balloon payment, etc., taking on additional millions in storage and management fees would be highly irresponsible. Unless it was with some brand new fresh start up...a connected start up...a Vanecko-type company formed just this year to handle body camera videos.

Nah, not in Chicago.

Juvenile Charged

Things that make you go "Hmmmmm:"

• A boy was arrested and charged as a juvenile Saturday in connection with the December robbery of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s teenage son, police said.
  
  The male juvenile, whose age was not immediately released by police, was arrested Saturday in the Dec. 19 attack in 4200 block of North Hermitage Avenue, police spokesman Martin Maloney said in an email.
  
  The boy confessed to the robbery and was cited as a juvenile with robbery and aggravated battery in the public way, Maloney said. No information on when he might be in court was released.

A juvenile, so the law forbids the release of most of the arrest information. A confession, negating the need for any appearances by the mayor's family. No court info released, so the media won't be over by Juvie staking it out for pictures, statements, etc. An awfully convenient way for the whole incident to die and be buried in the memory hole.

A statement of mayoral thanks:

• Emanuel spokesman Adam Collins issued a statement following the arrest.
  
  “The Mayor and Amy (Rule, Emanuel’s wife) are grateful to the dedicated men and women of the Chicago Police Department for their hard work, and they would like to thank everyone who shared kind thoughts and wishes for their son’s well-being,” Collins said in the statement. "But he's still going to bend you over a barrel and fuck you on your pensions."

We might have added that last part.

No Openings?

Last month, there were two, count em, one...two, openings citywide in 019.

This month, there are zero. Why?

There are a few sergeant openings, mostly south, but some west and north.

But nothing for the P.Os.

Good News of a Sort

Well, not really good, but it lessens the impact of some bad news:

• Police are asking for help in finding the driver of a dark-colored SUV that apparently struck a 60-year-old man and fled shortly before an unmarked police car hit the same pedestrian on an unlit South Chicago street early Wednesday.
  
  The wanted SUV was traveling eastbound in the 2800 block of East 79th Street when it hit Kevin D. Garrett around 1:10 a.m., according to a Chicago police alert.
  
  About five minutes later, an unmarked police car also struck Garrett. Police initially said that the man was hit only by the police car.

So the driver of the unmarked is almost certainly blameless in that no one expects a body to be lying in a darkened street during a major snowstorm.

Assailant with a Car Shot

"...but he was unarmed!" will be the rallying cry of the morons:

• Chicago Police officers shot a man who allegedly tried to run down an officer with an SUV on Saturday afternoon in the West Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side.
  
  The shooting happened in the 300 block of West 115th Street about 2:45 p.m., according to Larry Merritt, a spokesman for the Independent Police Review Authority.
  
  Gang enforcement officers pulled over a vehicle as part of a narcotics investigation when the man behind the wheel crashed into a police vehicle and tried to strike an officer with his SUV, according to a Chicago Police statement.
  
  Officers then shot the man and he was taken to a hospital where his condition was stabilized, police said.

"Dead" is stable, too, but society wasn't that lucky this time. Good job to the involved officers.

Rahm Says "Stop Writing Tickets"

Quotes to use in your To-Froms (it starts around the 1:00 mark):

• "I don't want police officers writing tickets for accidents or for traffic violations. I want our police officers focused on gangs and guns and bringing security to every neighborhood in Chicago"

There you have it - right out of the mayor's mouth. So no more movers boys and girls. And when Patrol tries to deny you VRI based on tickets, tell them the mayor pretty much said stop writing tickets.

Wilson Demands Apology

The Sun Times, actually displaying some balls, refuses:

• After the Sun-Times posted a report about the speech on its website, Wilson’s campaign issued a statement saying it “categorically denies the statements that were attributed to him” and demanded a retraction and apology.
  
  “I’m not sure where this is coming from,” Wilson said in the statement. “I am proud to count people of all races as friends and supporters and would never refer to anyone as ‘Whitey.’ Maybe the reporter didn’t understand my Louisiana enunciation.”
  
  The Sun-Times stands by its report and posted the audio snippet and the full video from the City Club of Chicago’s website. But Wilson’s campaign still insisted Wilson was not saying “whiteys.”

Sure sounds like "whiteys" to us, and Wilson doesn't offer any other word that could have been misspoken or misheard.

This Sounds Familiar

Rahm's feeling the heat over snow removal, so he's jumping on the suburban method for clearing snow:

• Side street snow removal — or the lack of it — has been a political trick bag for Chicago mayors for decades, but Rahm Emanuel said Friday he just might have a way out of it: alternate-side-of-the-street parking.
  
  Minutes after South Side Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) suggested the idea, Emanuel said he was already considering requiring motorists to move their cars from one side of the street to the other whenever heavy snow is forecast.
  
  If the city can find a place in parking-starved neighborhoods where people can temporarily move their cars, that would allow snow-removal crews to plow residential streets all the way to the curb — and without having to worry about burying vehicles that homeowners have painstakingly dug out.

Again, old news, but everything old is new to Rahm, so he's grabbing credit for this idea and he's going to stake his rep on it.

WTF???

A-fucking-mazing - these people live and breathe among us:

• Denver police are facing a backlash from Latinos after shooting Jessica Hernandez during a “joy ride” in a stolen car when she allegedly tried to run them down.
  
  According to the Los Angeles Times, 17-year-old “Hernandez and four other girls were cruising Denver’s middle-class Park Hill neighborhood in someone else’s Honda when they were spotted by police.” Police say “they ordered the girls out of the car, but that instead Hernandez tried to run them down.”
  
  Officers shot Hernandez, who was then “dragged from the car…and handcuffed before she died.” Some of those who were in the car say the vehicle did not careen toward police until Hernandez had been shot.

Okay. Teens in a hot car, cruising, caught dirty. The usual suspects are up in arms:

• The Greater Denver Ministerial Alliance’s Reverend Patrick Demmer commented: “It is extremely troubling that those empowered and permitted to carry guns whose primary charge is to serve and protect are continually involved in the taking of lives of so many minority children who themselves are not armed.”

Yeah, because a 3,000 pound piece of metal traveling at high speed isn't any sort of weapon, right "reverend"? And the "so many minority children" just happen to all be coming home from church instead of riding in hot cars, robbing convenience stores or attacking concealed carry permit holders. Thank goodness she didn't have any loose cigarettes on her.

This left us flabbergasted though:

• Youth organizer Mimi Madrid Puga said that many in the Latino community see carjacking as a “rite of passage” that shouldn’t attract police attention.
  
  “I was Jessica 10 years ago. I took cars. It’s a rite of passage for many teens, but it shouldn’t carry the death penalty,” he said.

Really? Rite of passage? Stealing a car, a significant piece of property to most individuals, a means to get to a job, to transport children, to make a living, passed off as a "rite of passage"? Golly. And this will be the newest "heroine" of the leftist cause?

By the way:

• The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 allows for convicted carjackers to be sentenced to death.

So the cops saved the State the cost of a trial and incarceration, not to mention their own well being and the well being of any citizen unfortunate enough to be in the path of the guided missile.

And the leftist's newest angel?

• Less than a month before the shooting, Hernandez resisted arrest after police found her driving 80 miles per hours in a 55 mph zone with a revoked license. She was due to appear in court on February 10.

We're sensing a Bench Warrant on this one.

Hey Whitey, I Ain't Pejudiced

Well thanks for clearing that up:

• Mayoral candidate Willie Wilson said he had a message for the “whiteys” listening to his speech at a River North restaurant Thursday.
  
  After calling out African-American aldermen for not supporting his mayoral campaign and for “voting pretty much 100 percent with Mayor Rahm Emanuel,” Wilson told a crowd of more than a hundred that he’s accepting of all people.
  
  “To the whiteys here, I’m letting you know, I ain’t prejudiced,” he said to some laughs.

And evidently, he has no concept of proper English usage and grammar either.

As an amusing exercise, try imagining Fioretti or Garcia saying something like this, but using any of a number of less-than-flattering terms for black folks (or people). Can you imagine the shocked faces? Can you feel the outrage? Can you see Jesse "Hymietown" Jackson or Al "Greek Homos" Sharpton or even Louis "White Devils" Farrakhan calling for marches and protests and violence?

Pope Cavorts With Sinner

Aldercreature Pope that is:

• With frustration mounting and the Feb. 24 election fast approaching, Chicago aldermen will do just about anything to get the snow removed from side streets, sidewalks and alleys buried by the Super Bowl Sunday blizzard.
  
  But how about taking help from a corrupt city contractor and thanking him publicly on Facebook?
  
  That’s what Ald. John Pope (10th) has been doing in recent days after Anthony Cappello and Cappello’s disgraced company, Diamond Coring, helped Pope’s Far Southeast Side ward dig out from the storm that buried Chicago in 19 1/2 inches of snow.
  
  [...] Cappello is a corrupt city contractor-turned-FBI informant who’s been barred from doing business with the city after using his wife as front to cash in on $2.3 million in contracts earmarked for minorities and women.
  
  His clout-heavy company, Diamond Coring, actually did the work. Diamond Coring was also responsible for carving the giant X’s into Meigs Field’s only runway on the infamous night in March 2003 when then-Mayor Richard M. Daley sent in the bulldozers under cover of darkness.

There might be a few aldercreatures who take a fall over poor snow removal. We can only hope it goes higher.

Wortham Killers Get Life

A small measure of justice:

• The murder of Chicago Police Officer Thomas Wortham IV not only affected his family and his South Side community, but hundreds of others whose lives he touched, a Cook County judge told a packed courtroom Wednesday before sentencing two men to natural life in prison without parole.
  
  The nearly two-hour sentencing of Paris McGee, 25, and Toyious Taylor, 34, marks the first time Cook County has allowed cameras inside a criminal courtroom.
  
  Both men faced mandatory life sentences after separate juries convicted them in simultaneous trials in November.
  Wortham was killed on May 19, 2010, in a botched robbery outside his parents’ home near 85th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
  
  Before sentencing, Wortham’s father, retired Chicago Police Officer Thomas Wortham III called his son, “Tommy,” a man who “stopped and stepped up” for everyone he met.
  
  He said his son spent his entire life helping others. Wortham, 30, died just a month after returning from his second tour of duty in Iraq.
  
  “My life will never be the same,” Wortham III said.

No one's will be Sir. God bless you all.

Debate Fixed?

Chicago can't even have a legit debate (from our e-mail):

• Chicago, IL – ABC, the League of Women Voters and Univision confirmed to mayoral campaigns late Tuesday that debate notes and potential questions for candidates had been leaked to the Garcia campaign. Because of this leak, the sponsoring organizations sent all campaigns the notes and questions in a good faith attempt to level the playing field.
  
  However, these actions raise serious questions that are yet unanswered for Thursday’s debate:
  
  
  • Who from the sponsoring organizations gave the Garcia campaign working documents and potential questions?
  • How long did the Garcia campaign have the working documents and potential questions?
  • Who from the campaign had access to the notes and questions?
  • What actions are being taken to ensure that this does not happen again?
  • What faith do candidates and viewers have that Mr. Garcia’s campaign is not receiving further help in this debate and others?

So is someone in the media helping Chewie? Or someone in Rahm's camp setting up the challenger Rahm wants to face?

Squad Accident

Bad set of circumstances:

• A man was struck and killed by an unmarked Chicago police squad car in the city's South Chicago neighborhood overnight.
  
  The man was walking east in the 2800-block of East 79 th Street around 1:15 a.m. Wednesday when he was struck by the car. He was pinned underneath and had to be extricated by emergency crews. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
  
  "He was wearing black clothing. And he was looking out for the bus trying to see if the bus was coming. And that's the point when the car came out and hit him, as soon as he was looking out for the bus," Tareon Hardin, who saw the incident from his window, said.
  
  Witnesses also said the street lights in the area have been out for several days.

No manpower to fix the lights. Plows driving around "blades up." Sporadic shoveling of the ghetto sidewalks. A copper who's going to be having nightmares for the rest of their life. And of course, the dead guy who was just looking for a bus.

Officer Cleared

Get ready for a flood of John Kass articles:

• Park Forest Police Officer Craig Taylor has been found not guilty on wrongful death charges in connection with the death of 95-year-old John Wrana at an assisted living facility in July 2013.
  
  The case was brought to trial in January as prosecutors and family members argued that Taylor used excessive force when he fired a beanbag gun at close range, sending five rounds at the World War II veteran.
  
  Police were called to the assisted living facility after prosecutors say Wrana had become violent with staff. Park Forest police said Wrana refused repeated requests to drop a knife, and Officer Mitchell Green testified that Wrana threatened the officers with the weapon.

We believe we saw his Chief with him at numerous points during the trial.

Important Things

Priorities!

Here's a Clue - Drop the Blade (UPDATE)

We watched a plow go by the corner house earlier today. Funny thing though - the street was still covered in snow, but now it was a bluish tint. We drove through that intersection on the way to work and it was horrendous. So were all the other streets we drove past.

We observed many comments in the "Streets Still Suck" post and a good many comments related pretty much the same thing - plows driving with the blade up. So we followed a plow at work today and guess what he wasn't doing? If you guessed "plowing," give yourself a pat on the back.

We trying to figure out how widespread this is and why it's being done. We can only conclude it is occurring on a massive scale across the city in most neighborhoods due to what we've observed first-hand. As to why:

• speed humps
• traffic circles
• save money on sharpening plows
• save money on damage claims against the city
• save pothole creation for the thaw
• it'll melt in 2 months anyway

The main thoroughfares are clear, but the places where people live, not so much. Too bad if they dug out a parking spot by tossing snow in the street - plow the center lane and they'll learn to throw snow on the parkway. Hey Charlie, you were an asshole at IAD and quite possibly the worse Chief of Patrol ever. Now you are without a doubt the worst Streets and San stupid-visor in memory. Congrats.

UPDATE: Oh Charlie, you silly whore:

• The stretch of West 51st Street is far from Chicago’s busiest road, carrying only two lanes of traffic and dead-ending before Pulaski and the CTA’s Orange Line tracks. Still, the 3900 block of 51st got lots of attention from city snow-removal crews during and after last weekend’s intense winter storm.
  
  The plows pushed through the block as early as 6:48 a.m. on Sunday and again at 10:31 p.m. that day. They returned two times Monday and gave a fifth sweep on Tuesday morning, according to city Plow Tracker data gleaned by clearstreets.org.
  
  You see, 51st is where you’ll find the 5,600-square-foot home of the City Council’s longest-serving and most-powerful member, Finance Committee Chairman Ed Burke, and his wife, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke.

Such a tool who wanted nothing more than to fuck coppers over, again and again. Remember those speeches Charlie?

Pension Money Arrives!

We're saved!!! (not)

• Standard & Poor's Rating Services' tab is $1.38 billion — including $52.5 million for Illinois — to resolve long-standing allegations by federal and state authorities that the firm misled investors in the run-up to 2008's financial collapse.
  
  The dollar figure attached to the pact with the world's biggest ratings firm, announced Tuesday by the Justice Department and 20 state attorneys general, is larger than the company's profits earned from rating mortgage-backed securities from 2002 to 2007.
  
  In Illinois, the funds will go toward restoring the losses on the investments by Illinois' pension system, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said.
  
  The settlement comes as reports surface that the Justice Department has been meeting with Moody's Investors Service over similar allegations.

Gee, another $52 million from Moody's and that'll be a cool $100 million - one-tenth-of-one-percent of the current $80 billion state pension deficit.

Ethics for Thee, Not for Me

The infamous Chicago two-faced-ness continues:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel side-stepped reports about his political fundraising practices, while making his own points about ethics reform.
  
  At an unrelated news conference Monday, the mayor did not directly answer Chicago Tribune stories about how he seems to use his political connections to fuel his campaign fundraising, or how some donors benefit from city business.
  
  Emanuel did say he has worked for ethics reform since he was in Congress, right up to his present job.
  
  “The first thing I did as mayor was sign six executive orders that changed the culture, and the rules, as it relates to financial support. Not only that, I then also had three separate ethics reform ordinances put into place that changed the way both lobbyists dealt with the city, and the city dealt with people lobbying on behalf of interests,” he said.

Yeah, but still no explanation on the $11 million in a field that had nothing to do with his Dance major that relived him of money worries for the rest of his life.

Don't forget - Ethics testing is coming up soon! Don't use Rahm's life experience as a guide if you want to pass though.

HB 0298 - Bluff or Policy?

A move by the Legislature to change the law:

• Short Description: MUNI CD-BANKRUPTCY PETITION
  
  House Sponsors
  Rep. Ron Sandack - Jeanne M Ives
  
  Synopsis As Introduced
  
  Amends the Illinois Municipal Code. In provisions concerning finance, provides that a municipality may file a petition and exercise powers pursuant to applicable federal bankruptcy law. Effective immediately.

And the chances of this making it to Rauner's desk? Both houses are run by democrats who pretty much owe their very existence to Madigan and his Illinois Combine, coincidentally, made up and funded by the very people the Bill seeks to undercut.

Sounds like a risky proposition. Certain smaller municipalities may be able to pull off a bankruptcy with limited assets and outstanding debt, but the courts might end up being rather draconian with the balance sheets.

But Rahm isn't about to open the TIF books. And Rahm has economic engines like two airports, park land, public art, exploitable assets that a federal bankruptcy judge would be accountable for.

Anyone know where the unions are on this piece of legislation? We can't seem to find any mention of it.

Streets Still Suck

Even the papers are commenting on it:

• Chicago police and paramedics are having the same issues navigating the city as everyone else – side streets aren’t plowed and the snow often sits higher than the bottom of cars.
  
  “We haven’t had any issues I’m aware of other than the fact it’s a pain in the neck,” a Chicago police supervisor said. “And everybody’s dealing with that."
  
  Police Department supervisors have been warning patrol officers of the risks of getting stuck and to avoid traveling side streets.
  
  Some officers are parking their cars at intersections, putting on their lights and walking to calls in the middle of blocks if the snow is too high, police said.

General Services failed to clear many parking lots in a timely manner, so entire watches had to push squads, vans and SUVs out to the streets. PPO's and some officers were given shovels and told to clear pathways to the streets. On a brighter note, we did see garbage trucks outfitted as plows. We get it, it's a blizzard, the fifth largest on record, but during an event like this, it's easy to see where Rahm (and previously, Shortshanks) skimped on spending.

Still Scamming

Shortshanks must not have gotten the Obama memo about "I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money." He's still got his paws in the mix:

• Former Mayor Richard M. Daley is aiming to cash in on a federal program that gives foreigners the chance to obtain permanent U.S. residency in exchange for investing in businesses that create jobs in the United States.
  
  Tur Partners — which Daley formed with his son Patrick Daley after leaving office — has permission from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to solicit money from foreign investors who would bankroll construction projects or other businesses in the Chicago area in exchange for green cards allowing them to live here forever.
  
  The Obama administration granted Daley’s company authority to pool money from foreign investors to help finance a “hypothetical” skyscraper that Magellan Development has talked about building at 195 N. Columbus Dr. in its 28-acre Lakeshore East development that Daley approved while mayor, according to hundreds of pages of heavily redacted documents the Homeland Security Department released to the Chicago Sun-Times under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.
  
  Daley’s company also could solicit foreign financing to help Magellan build another skyscraper in Lakeshore East — the proposed $900 million, 88-story Wanda Vista tower — condos, hotels and stores — that Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced with fanfare shortly before Christmas. Financed primarily by Chinese businessmen, it would be Chicago’s third-tallest building, rising on the south bank of the Chicago River east of Michigan Avenue.

And this is just an amusing sentence:

• The Emanuel administration had been unaware that the former mayor’s company had any involvement with Magellan, according to a City Hall source.

Really? Rahm the micro-manager had no idea his predecessor, who stuck him with all sorts of bad options for running the city into the ground, and who made millions himself in the "investment banking" sector with zero experience, was completely unaware that Shortshanks was involved in the "investment banking" business, financing a $900 million as-of-yet non-existent skyscraper that might be built in Chicago?

Sounds completely plausible.

Crime is Dow....Wait, What? Up?

And not just up. Up 40%:

• Chicago police have released their first crime report of 2015, and it's up slightly from last year.
  
  There were eight more murders this January compared to last year. There were also 31 more shootings compared to last January, and 38 more shooting victims.
  
  Chicago police point out that 2014's crime was the lowest since 1964.

Nearly a murder a day....in January. Nicely done thugs! We heard at least one report saying, "Well, this is still less than January 2013." They play these numbers so badly - if it isn't good to compare to 2014, well let's go back to 2013. And if that doesn't work, say that 2014 was low compared to whatever, so we're just returning to the average or whatever. And the shooting numbers...didn't McCompStat only start keeping track of shootings his way since 2010 or so? It's all so much bullshit.

Man of God Catches Lead

Won't somebody think of the clergy???

• A pastor was wounded when someone fired into a Back of the Yards neighborhood church Sunday afternoon.
  
  The attack happened about 3:30 p.m. at a small Evangelical church in the 1700 block of West 47th Street on the South Side, police said.
  
  The pastor, a 40-year-old man, was shot in the arm and taken to an area hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said.
  
  It's not clear why he was shot. According to preliminary information gathered by police, someone walked up and fired into the church, striking the pastor but not injuring anyone else.

What kind of city do we live in when a pastor isn't even safe in his own church?

Oh yeah, Chicago. Sorry, we forgot.

ARGH!!! Snow?!?!??!

The media in full panic mode...again:

• A Winter Storm Watch has been issued for the entire Chicago area with forecasts now calling for more than 8 inches to fall over much of region starting Saturday night with the potential to “raise havoc” on Super Bowl Sunday.
  
  It’s not the “historic” storm billed for the East Coast earlier this week that dumped more than 2 feet over parts of New England, but it would certainly be the most significant snowfall of the season for the area.
  
  A “storm system developing over the Great Plains will raise havoc across portions of the central U.S. this weekend,” the National Weather Service said Friday.

How will this "raise havoc" on Super Bowl Sunday? They aren't playing the game here, are they?

And it's a weekend, so travel ought to be at a minimum aside from church and Grandma's house.

No garbage pick-up, so Rahm and Charlie should have a full crew on hand to man all the plows, trucks and loaders.

And it's the Midwest in the wintertime, Shouldn't this be on everyone's radar as part of a Winter Action Plan or similar such? You kind of expect snow around these parts during this part of the year.

Personally, we hope it's double the estimates and Rahm loses the election in Bilandic-type fashion.

On a side note, apologies if posting or updating is a bit behind...blame it on the weather if you like, but even the crew here at SCC gets OT once in a while.

State Overreach

Acquiescing to State control, even at your home:

• A new law will force state schools to investigate reports of cyberbullying — even when it happens outside of school.
  
  The law, which took effect Jan. 1, doesn't tell schools how to investigate cyberbullying. And it doesn't ask school officials to troll students' social media posts, looking for bad behavior. Rather, it requires school boards to figure out the best way to help a victim if cyberbullying is reported.
  
  One method became controversial this month after a southern Illinois principal sent a letter to parents saying the school may ask for social media passwords if a student is suspected of violating any district rules.

Any parent who allows their child to be bullied by the state is no parent at all. Our kids are already under orders to demand Mom or Dad to be present for any questioning by anyone at school.

Of course, here come the typical excuses:

• State Rep. Laura Fine, D-Glenview, who sponsored the law requiring schools to investigate cyberbullying, said the law was never intended to give schools the right to a student's social media passwords.
  
  "This (law) means the victim can bring forward information about bullying outside of school," Fine said. "We had no intention to ever talk about what someone's password is."

Yeah, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, Congress-asshole. You jagoffs and your ilk did the same thing with health care and 99.9% of any type of gun legislation pushed through the ignorant legislature.

A generation of sheep are being raised before our eyes.

Hello Big Brother

The media in general is at the beck and call of democrats - even when Nature calls:

• Reporters covering the House Democrats' retreat in Philadelphia this week are having a much different experience than when they’re on their home turf on Capitol Hill.
  
  Reporters are being escorted to and from the restroom and lobby and are being barred from entering the hotel outside of scheduled events, even if they've been invited by a member of Congress.
  
  During Vice President Joe Biden’s remarks at the retreat Friday, reporters were required to have a staff member, usually a junior member of the press team, escort them when going to the bathroom or to the lobby.

Anyone out there remember a time when any self-respecting reporter would bristle, then refuse, to accede to controls like this? It was only 25 or 30 years ago after all.