Good News

One shooting ruled justified:

• The Independent Police Review Authority concluded the Chicago police officer who shot and killed Ronald Johnson was acting within policy. IPRA released their finding Friday night.
  
  Johnson, 25, was shot and killed during a chase near East 53rd Street and South Martin Luther King Drive in the city's Washington Park neighborhood on Oct. 12, 2014. Police were responding to a call of shots fired in the area when the spotted Johnson.
  
  Then-Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez declined to charge the officer who shot Johnson in December 2015. The city also released dash cam footage showing the end of the foot chase between the officer and Johnson.

We're not sure when IPRA goes away and COPA takes over. We're also unsure if this ties Foxx's hands in terms of empaneling a Grand Jury. It sad we have to think in those terms, but that's what Cook County has forced upon us.

SeeBS Picks up Story

And does absolutely nothing with it:

• The price to pay for shoplifting in Cook County has changed. But as CBS 2’s [...] reports, some in law enforcement worry it could actually encourage thieves to break the law.
  
  When caught on video, brazen shoplifting makes headlines, but a good number of these crimes are often committed by one-time offenders for minor amounts. They end up with a felony record for life, and the paperwork bogs down the system.
  
  “There will be a concerted effort to change policy, but changing culture takes time,” Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx says. In a letter circulated to law enforcement agencies, her office says it will not approve felony charges unless the stolen property is valued at more than $1,000.
  
  That is despite a statewide felony retail theft threshold of $300.

Someone forgot to tell SeeBS and Kimesha that it isn't her job to decide what the threshold for charging is. That's the job of the State Legislature, and the Legislature has decided it's $300. Her job is to take the evidence collected and make the best possible case. The felony charge is the starting point.

And if you don't think that shoplifting/retail theft isn't going to skyrocket, just look at what happened when the Department decided to stop pursuits - every single day, we hear subjects fleeing at high speed from traffic stops, knowing that we can't chase for it. When you reward bad behavior, you get more of it.

Trump Meets Kanye

Seems the President-elect has a job offer for the troubled rapper:

Can't be any worse than the clowns currently in charge.

Thanks for Your Service

Now go die:

• A sizeable group of retired city workers are set to lose their health insurance just days from now and are scrambling to figure out how they will afford coverage. [...]
  
  “Maybe 86 years is enough” sighed retired City of Chicago employee, Julia Tyagay. The strain of Julia Tyagay’s situation adds to her list of ailments requiring physical therapy and prescription drugs. Years ago the retired civil engineer relied on the City of Chicago for her health insurance, but next year that’s scheduled to change costing her thousands. “They charge an awful amount,” Tyagay said.
  
  “The city promised them it should follow through with its commitment, these are retirees where are they going to get this kind of money,” said Attorney Clint Krislov. “That’s the problem.”

These retirees, numbering up around 1,000, are facing bills running north of $1,500 a month and are ineligible for Medicare, which could prove to be a death sentence for many elderly workers who worked for the city for decades.

A final glimmer of hope:

• There is a motion in the Illinois Supreme Court that would force the city to continue paying for worker health insurance near term, occurring Wednesday night. A decision is expected to be made any day now.

Sensitive Material Unsecured?

Not in Chicago we hope - damn, it IS Chicago:

• Chicago has spent nearly $140 million over the last decade to build a Big Brother network of 2,700 public safety surveillance cameras but has not taken steps either to limit access to authorized personnel or ensure that the system is properly maintained, the inspector general concluded Tuesday.
  
  Mayor Rahm Emanuel did not dispute the findings of Joe Ferguson’s latest audit. Instead, the mayor promised to tighten things up.
  
  “They have valid points about the need for oversight in the sense of access, etc.,” the mayor said.

Millions of dollars for connected contracts and almost none to actually secure the networks. Supposedly, Hillary's I.T. guy is on the short list for setting up the camera servers.

Newest Cop

These kids are getting younger all the time:

• David Juarez, a 3-year-old cancer survivor, became the newest honorary member of the Chicago Police Department on Wednesday, thanks to a collaboration between CPD, The Make A Wish Foundation and charity group Costumers With A Cause.
  
  David, whose dream is to be a police officer, was sworn in by Chicago Police Supt. Eddie T. Johnson before joining police officers at the McCormick Center for a training session complete with tactical scenarios.
  
  CPD filled the convention hall with police vehicles, including SWAT and undercover cruisers, which David said were “too loud with the sirens,” and even the bomb disposal unit robot “F68,” much to David’s delight.

An excellent job by all involved.

Aldercreature Indicted

Something like the 30th Aldercreature to face charges:

• South Side Ald. Willie B. Cochran has been indicted on federal charges he shook down a liquor store manager in exchange for his support and stole tens of thousands of dollars from a charitable ward fund intended to help seniors and children in his impoverished community.
  
  Another alleged shakedown involved a federal program intended to assist poor communities in getting vacant homes up to code and occupied as soon as possible, prosecutors said.
  
  The 15-count indictment, which was returned by a federal grand jury late Tuesday and first reported by the Tribune on Wednesday morning, alleges Cochran used the ill-gotten gains for personal expenses, including gambling at casinos and paying a portion of his daughter's college tuition.

One of the news reports couldn't wait to describe him as a "retired Chicago Police sergeant" as if that erased the stain of being an indicted Chicago aldercreature. Any opportunity to smear the cops we suppose.

In any event, there are supposed to be a few more indictments on tap. We have a list of who we're hoping for.

Rahm Drowns in Bullshit

Is the media waking up to the bill of good Rahm is selling? Probably not, but they're pretending:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday emphatically denied he was treading water with his ambitious plan to hire 970 additional police officers over the next two years over and above attrition.
  
  Emanuel did the political dance known as the sidestep as he welcomed 100 more recruits to a police academy he promised would soon be “busting at the seams” while churning out a conveyor belt of classes.

If it was "bursting at the seams," it'd be running nearly 1,000 recruits through right now so that they'd be on the streets before the killing season begins in May/June, and it'd be running full speed ahead until October/November so the retirement shortage would be unnoticed. That isn't happening.

Then you have the Fall Guy/Fall Gal speaking their pieces:

• It happened when the mayor was asked about the declining police manpower under his watch and about whether he has any regrets about his heavy use of overtime to mask the manpower shortage.
  
  “The question is not right. So, I’ll let Eddie [Johnson] speak to that,” the mayor said, deferring to his police superintendent.
  
  Johnson then stepped up and took the political heat for his boss.

Special Ed lapped it up with a smile on his face, didn't he? Sold his soul right there at the press conference for everyone to see. Granny Clampett was right there, too:

• Anne Kirkpatrick, chief of the Bureau of Organizational Development, was asked about the Police Department treading water under Emanuel with the hiring surge merely reclaiming ground lost over the last five years.
  
  “I’m here to speak to you about what I can do and what my mission is,” she said.

This from a woman who's biggest supervisory job (A) ended in failure, (B) cost taxpayers at least a million bucks and (C) was a department about the size of a typical Chicago Police District. No one asked her how she got hired and if it had anything to do with her threat of a Federal lawsuit for Rahm's running a "nationwide search" for applicants, then declaring he was hiring the black guy who hadn't even applied. Kirkpatrick weaseled a six-figure job out of that for herself. And no one asked about who followed her here from Washington for another high-paying taxpayer funded spot.

The Racism of Lower Expectations

In their inane quest for "diversity," the lure of lower standards:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday opened the door to allowing candidates with minor drug and criminal offenses to become Chicago Police officers to attract minorities at a time of high crime and deep distrust.
  
  Emanuel said he’s leaning toward relaxing the hiring rules at the behest of three powerful aldermen: Finance Committee Chairman Edward Burke (14th); Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th), chairman of the City Council’s Black Caucus, and Hispanic Caucus Chairman George Cardenas (12th).
  
  “I want to take a look at the general idea that, if somebody did something when they were 16 or 17, that doesn’t become an entire impossibility, as long as it’s not serious, to joining a police department,” the mayor said.

While we agree that many minor offenses when 16 or 17 ought to be sealed, we also have to point out that tying this to "minority applicants" is insulting to the men and women from minority communities who manage to keep their lives unsullied, play by the rules, and raise their children to have drive, ambition and a desire to better their situations, the same as most functioning members of society.

The City can't make this job attractive to minority applicants by lowering the bar. There are enough assholes of all races who dirty the job already without bringing in extra because Rahm, Ed, Rod and George want to feel good about pandering.

So, About That Advice...

Someone brought up some points that we figure need to be addressed concerning our post:

• NEVER EVER meet with a Sergeant / Watch Lieutenant / Captain / Commander alone where he or she can threaten you.

We figured it was clear what we meant - meeting alone where he or she can threaten you. Evidently, it wasn't.

• What a ridiculous statement. If you're given an order to report to the W/C or Commander's office what are you going to do, bring your partner or watch rep with you? So let's say you do just that, then the boss tells you to step in and close the door. Are you going to refuse unless your witness is present? You don't have the right to refuse an order. And you don't have the right to have a "representative" present since it's not part of an investigation or hearing. This is very bad advice that could get someone a big suspension for disobeying an order. I've seen first hand someone refuse to report to the Sergeant's office when ordered to do so and they got 30 days for disobeying a direct order after the CR investigation was completed.
  
  SCC, you're generally on point but on this one you're way off. You should think through your advise before posting.

So let's address it. If there is something to be said to officers in general regarding activity, or lack thereof, then Roll Call is an appropriate locale for the supervisors to bring it up. That's the purpose of Roll Call - to take the roll, inform officers of ongoing events, conflicts, changes in policy, etc. Get the word out there bosses - with 10 or 20 or 30 coppers present to witness it all.

For any sort of individual meeting though, it would be in the Officer's best interest to have a witness present. Supervisors do it all the time, especially when they have to give a direct order. There's always a second white shirt in the room. Always. So why can't an officer have a witness present? Well, does this apply?

Weingarten Rights provide the following:

• During an investigatory interview, the Supreme Court ruled that the following rules apply:
  
  Rule 1: The employee must make a clear request for union representation before or during the interview. The employee cannot be punished for making this request.
  
  Rule 2: After the employee makes the request, the employer must choose from among three options:
  --grant the request and delay questioning until the union representative arrives and (prior to the interview continuing) the representative has a chance to consult privately with the employee;
  --deny the request and end the interview immediately; or
  --give the employee a clear choice between having the interview without representation, or ending the interview.
  
  Rule 3: If the employer denies the request for union representation, and continues to ask questions, it commits an unfair labor practice and the employee has a right to refuse to answer. The employer may not discipline the employee for such a refusal.

Do Weingarten Rights exist in CPD? If not, there's something called the Uniform Police Officers' Disciplinary Act that is codified in Illinois State Law (50 ILCS 725). There's plenty of loopholes to hang your hat on if you feel like trying, and in this atmosphere, why wouldn't you? Any "closed door meeting" is an invitation to abuse. It comes down to a "(s)he said, (s)he said" argument that you will almost always come out on the losing end of. So our caution to not get roped into a situation like that would be good advice.

We suppose we could offer the following advice instead:

• If you are "ordered" into an office with the door closed for a private threat session or berating, pull out your phone and tell the boss you'll be recording this for your own and his/her own safety, just so there isn't any misunderstanding of what was said. That way, both parties are aware of existence of a recording. The supervisor can then choose to back down or continue with the meeting.

There's nothing in the Contract or Orders that say you have to sit for threats. In fact, there are numerous items that say you will be treated respectfully and professionally. We'd hate for there to be an unfounded accusation that threats were made without an impartial witness present. That couldn't possibly happen in this day and age, right?

You Go Mexico!

What happens in when you piss off enough townspeople:

• In one of the stranger chapters of Mexico's drug war, townsfolk have kidnapped the mother of an alleged drug gang boss to demand the release of their loved ones.
  
  The government of the southern state of Guerrero said Tuesday it dispatched 220 soldiers and police in hopes of defusing the situation in the town of Totolapan.
  
  Totolapan has been essentially controlled for years by a drug gang boss known as "El Tequilero."
  
  His gang in recent months has been fighting turf battles with other cartels.
  
  The gang members known as "tequileros" kidnapped about a dozen Totolapan inhabitants who they apparently suspect of supporting rivals.
  
  A group of armed townspeople on Monday posted a video saying they had his mother and would exchange her for their loved ones.

Of course, this already occurs after a fashion across Chicago, where dope dealers gun down women and children of rivals when they can't get at their actual target. Or blast Momma when she's out with her "can't-do-no-wrong" son.

So does that make Chicago more or less civilized than a narco-state backwater town?

Where There's Smoke...

How does that saying end again? Oh yeah....."There's fire."

We didn't want to write this post. It pains us, because while we've always tried to do our job to the best of our abilities, we have to acknowledge that we are part of a broken organization. We knew it was bent when we got on, but we resolved to do it the correct way regardless, and we've pretty much succeeded as we move into the home stretch. We sleep soundly, not concerned about any late night knocks at the door - we've known too many people not as fortunate.

As we said, we didn't want to write this post, because the information we have available to us is pointing toward a justifiable shooting. We've always advocated for a prompt, thorough and legit investigation of "questionable" shootings because shootings have to be judged through the eyes of a reasonable police officer, not a political actor with an axe to grind.

So this revelation from the Tribune only makes us shake our head once again:

• A Chicago police sergeant who shot an apparently unarmed man last month — his second fatal shooting in three years — might have been fired years ago, but that disciplinary case fell through the cracks for reasons the Police Department cannot explain, the Tribune has learned.
  
  Chief police spokesman [...] said Superintendent Eddie Johnson has ordered that an audit be done to try to figure out why the internal investigation of Sgt. [...] was never completed.
  
  Multiple sources told the Tribune that the allegation against [...] was serious enough for the Police Department to consider moving to fire him well before the two fatal shootings, but it was a mystery why he was never disciplined at all.

A real mystery here. So mysterious that the Sun Times had even more information:

• Chicago Police Officer [...] was cleared of the fatal shooting of an unarmed burglary suspect in 2013, and he is under investigation in the fatal shooting last month of an unarmed teenager in West Englewood.  Police investigators now want to know why the department never closed a 2004 internal affairs investigation that could have cost [...] his badge more than a decade ago.
  
  Police Supt. Eddie Johnson has ordered an audit to determine why the 2004 investigation of [..]’ possible ownership interest in a bar, a violation of department policy, has never been closed.
  
  Owning or working at an establishment that sells alcohol is a firing offense, but [...] went on disability shortly after the department’s Internal Affairs Division began looking at his ownership of a bar in 2004. The investigation apparently went dormant because [...] stayed off the job for another seven years, according to department sources.

He stayed off the job for 7 years? A Leave of Absence is only granted for a year (though numerous superintendents ignore this rule for connected people.) Disability has a short shelf life. IOD runs out after a year, then you might go on Disability. But this guy stayed off the job for 7 years.

Then after returning in 2011, he shoots a guy in 2013 - with his brother's gun - and IAD doesn't find a "missing" investigation. He then gets "nominated" for a merit bump in, and a standard IAD background "investigation" found no trace of an open investigation that fell through the cracks for nine years.

Golly. How can such a thing fall through the cracks? Not just fall through the cracks, but fall so far as to not jeopardize a "merit" bump from the current First Deputy Superintendent. All we can say is it must be a pretty deep crack. Deep enough that:

• an officer named by the Chicago Crime Commission as a known associate of the Outfit was hired and remained employed even when he was the last person to see three murder victims alive;
• an officer with a disqualifying history was screened through, only to be videotaped in a drunken rage missing countless hay-makers at a bartender;
• an officer beating an elderly couple in the suburbs, who had skated on numerous other Battery charges, and who had to be subdued by a suburban K9 Team;
• a commander with numerous CR's for stalking a boyfriend, domestic abuse, child abuse, an arrest record, battery to co-workers, and a record of general incompetence who had her ex's dogs put down after the breakup;
• another commander who stole money from fundraisers to gamble with;
• an Assistant Deputy Superintendent was promoted, demoted and promoted after using Department databases to stalk female cops and citizens;
• another exempt busted climbing in the window of a female officer;
• a Chief at IAD who overlooked dozens of Deviations and CR's directly related to the SOS scandal that might have exposed it years earlier;
• another Chief pissed hot for cocaine not once, but twice; 
• another Chief at Housing who handpicked most of his teams that ended up going to jail for stealing drugs and money;
• and another Chief who, as a PO, committed Aggravated Battery on juvenile students, washing their mouths out with soap;
• a First Deputy with a Domestic Violence CR, and a number of Captains with the same;
• a Superintendent of Police who was fired for associating with mobsters - and "nobody knew;"
• another Superintendent who was awfully close to the Marquette 10;
• an "outsider" Superintendent who had a history of drunken behavior, improper weapon discharges and a "colorful" vocabulary regarding minorities;

And that's just off the tops of our heads. There are undoubtedly dozens more incidents we could dredge up over beers with two of three other coppers with a few more years than we have. The connecting thread to all of it is "clout." Certain people have it and exercise it.

In fact, we'd bet that 90% of the scandals over the past 25 years, are directly traceable to clout - either someone handpicked a team, someone running a team was "merit" along the way, someone politician sponsored someone to a certain spot. You don't get a really good spot without some pull - and those who feel they don't have to play the game the legit way, don't feel any particular need to follow the rules (or the law) when they get there. They've beaten the system once, twice, three times, what's once more?

The Tribune has this laugh-line in the article:

• According to the department, [...] was nominated for the promotion by Kevin Navarro, then a South Side commander and now Johnson's top assistant as first deputy superintendent.
  
  At the time, Navarro would not have been aware of the 2004 complaint about [...] involvement in a liquor license or the mysterious inaction on it, according to the department.

Bullshit. Everyone knew. See the examples listed above - we're "aware" about those. The clouted are a law unto themselves. And that's where it really gets bad. Intelligent people eventually figure out when a game is rigged...when the odds are stacked against them. Sometimes they get out. Sometimes, they buy into the game, not matter how crooked they know it to be. Sometimes they just move through, hoping for retirement without too many hassles.

Unfortunately, the hassles sometimes find you. And that's when the un-clouted get fired....or sued....or jailed....and the charmed ones continue on their merry way, sometimes even going up the ladder, to bigger and better things, enabling an entire new generation of clout.

Felony Theft? Not Anymore!

The "new direction" the States Attorneys office is moving. This is an actual e-mail from the Cook County State's Attorney:

• Hello Everyone,
  
  The Cook County State's Attorney's Office has a new policy concerning retail thefts.
  
  Felony Review will not be approving felony charges unless the property in question is valued over $1000.
  
  However, if felony charges are based upon the offender's prior criminal history, then charges will not be approved unless the offender has ten or more prior felony convictions. [emphasis added - SCC]
  
  Felony review assistants will be looking at the defendants on a case by case basis with this in mind. There will still be scenarios where felony charges are appropriate even though the $1000. value or the 10 felony conviction threshold is not met. Those cases can still be evaluated for the upgrade.
  
  Officers and Detectives should communicate with Felony Review or Donna Norton and myself, on specific cases that require exceptions to this general rule.
  
  If you have any questions, feel free to contact Donna or me.
  
  Mike
  
  Mike Deno
  Supervisor of District 5
  Cook County State's Attorney Office
  10220 S. 76th Avenue
  Bridgeview, Illinois 60445
  

A-fucking-mazing...a States Attorney who won't prosecute a pretty straightforward State Law lest they fill Tommy Dart's jail with actual criminals. What's the felony threshold? $300? And now you can steal Three Times

Ten felony convictions. With ten felonies, you'd have been put away three-times-over in a "Three Strikes" state. Here, you just get to go steal again and again and again. As long as you don't target high end merchandise, you can furnish a couple of apartments.

Any bets on how soon this comes to Chicago? Not that they aren't already doing it under the radar, but when will they put out a notice? Loss Prevention just became a joke and everyone pays more for democrats catering to the criminal element. The gypsies just declared a national holiday.

Nice Job Charlie

We wonder if the City will be on the hook for damages:

• In a video that you'll only see on Eyewitness News, city crews were caught throwing shovels full of salt on parked cars in Chicago.
  
  Keeping the streets and sidewalks clear of snow is one of the city's top priorities, but in the rush to lay down salt on North Wacker Drive during Sunday's storm, ABC 7 reporter [...] caught a city crew doing something no person who parks downtown wants to see: a worker shoveling salt from a moving vehicle over the tops of parked cars. The result? A lot of that salt ended up on people's vehicles rather than the sidewalk.
  
  "I really hope that's not how they do it. Maybe they were just trying to get it done quickly, but that should not be the normal way to shovel snow on the sidewalk. i don't shovel it that way," driver Charlet Dupar said.
  
  The Chicago Department of Transportation is responsible for clearing North Wacker Drive, the city's bridges and bike lanes.

We're surprised that Channel 7 hasn't run with the headline, "Former CPD Boss Damages Dozens of Cars." Charlie always wanted to fire coppers - it was his fondest wish to launch everyone with a Rule 14 on their record. Is he shit-canning these morons?

Jobs in Dallas

Looks like a lot of people are leaving:

• Police recruiters are trying to bring in hundreds of new police officers in Dallas.
  
  Nearly 100 officers in the Dallas Police Department have quit or retired since October, according to multiple reports, worsening the department’s deficit of personnel.
  
  Interim Police Chief David Pughes told City Council members Monday night that the department wanted to fill the next academy class with 60 officers but has only hired 30 for the February class, the Dallas Morning News reported. The department is down to 3,252 officers and wold like to have at least 3,500.
  
  CBS 11 reported that most of the 99 who left since Oct. 1 were some of Dallas’ most experienced officers, according to the incoming president of the Dallas Police Association.
  
  The recruitment/departure rate problems stem from the last fiscal year, which ended in September, in which 294 officers left and 142 were hired.

Sounds like the same problem running nationwide - no one wants to be the police any more. Maybe they take laterals.

Great Idea!

If only someone had suggested this years ago....like hundreds of our readers:

• There was talk at the academy of making 50+ lieutenants in February or March so everyone would have three on each watch. They want to go back to the old watch commander system

Not only a Watch Commander, how about a Desk Sergeant? The two-level review process can only improve things.

You know, this place would improve by leaps and bounds simply by dismantling just about everything J-Fled and McCompStat put in place.

Crime is Down!

The Department Commendation goes, once again, to Tommy Skilling:

• Fifteen people were shot in Chicago over the weekend, less than half of last weekend’s toll and the fewest in the city in months.

Wait a minute - didn't McJerseyShore tell us that weather wasn't a factor in shootings? So what's the deal with this crap the Tribune prints? The greatest mind in all of Police-dom dispenses wisdom and the Tribune reverts to form printing Rahm propaganda once the snow starts to fly.

Stop the Shootings!

This is what happens when you put a three-time "merit" promotee in charge:

• That explains why the 025th district commander went on a psychotic rant  about how us gang and tac team officers need to stop the shootings and  violence.  He didn't like it too much when two homies got capped today  in the 30 sector.  I'm an old hair gel now, so I don't need this  bullshit anymore.  Me and my partner are not going to leave, we are just  going to bring in zeroes until they dump us.  Good luck filling the  spots.  025 is just a hair short of using reverse senority to fill those  tactical spots.  I really feel like a sucker now after I had to fork  over 150 bucks for me and my wife to go to the mandatory district  christmas party.  After several years of getting strong armed to go to  those 'shit shows,' I'm done.

If you want to stop shootings, just start locking up gang bangers for guns.All you need are a couple of spare guns in your locker and hope that IAD doesn't cut it open one day and take you out of the District in handcuffs. Even if they do, you can rely on your political connections to bury the case and eventually, rise to a gold star rank.

Special Ed Needs Leadership?

This is just a suggestion, but why not look to the top scorers on the most recent Lieutenants exam?

They obviously know the job, they must have done wondrous things on the job (awards, arrests, life saving, etc).

They're beyond reproach, having served in the Internal Affairs Division, where the Department only puts the best, brightest and un-corruptible. Some are even sleeping with the current command staff - and we all know that the command staff is beyond reproach in their choices of bedmates.

Why not use the personnel already in place?

Huh?

Granted, we could use the help, but as a support unit, not as a partner:

• Chicago police are teaming up with the Cook County Sheriff’s Department to combat violence in the city.
  
  ABC7 reported that Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said the partnership will place Cook County deputies in the patrol cars with officers in violent neighborhoods.
  
  "We are going to put a Cook County sheriff's officer in a squad car with a Chicago police officer so that both entities can come together and help us tackle this crime because there are some things Cook County brings to the table that we just don't have, and vice versa," Johnson told the news station. "Like domestic issues they can arrest people for that we generally don't."

We don't arrest for domestics? That's news to us.

You know what we think? And someone posted it in a comment section yesterday - Chicago doesn't have enough squad cars and neither dies Dart, so we're combining underfunded agencies.

Is This a Concern?

We haven't utilized the benefit so we're unaware of Don O'Neill playing politics with it:

• I have become aware of a situation that I believe effects many police officers. if one utilized fmla they lost that amount of time in seniority. Hence this effected furloughs, special employment, ot, etc. This is no longer being done. I contacted Kilmer, who essentially blew me off.
  
  I am going to file a grievance, but I think there might be a class action suit against Don Oneill and the city. I just dont think that many effected by this know that this is no longer being held against members at least for last 2 years.
  
  I need this to get out so we can have our seniority restored and maybe even hold city financially resposible for our losses. I know I personally missed out on many special employment days as a result.

This FOP has noticeably reticent in confronting Don O'Neill's abuses of the Contract. If we recall, Dean Angelo either went to school with O'Neill or had some similarly close relationship. We also seem to recall he said it was a good thing and would benefit the membership because of the nature of the relationship. Sadly, but predictably, this seems not to have been the case, and there's still the rumor of Dean Jr being made "merit" on an upcoming list.

UPDATE: Not FLSA - FMLA. Family and Medical Leave Act. 12 weeks (corrected - thanks to those pointing it out) of unpaid leave whereby the employer maintains your health care coverage and keeps your position open.

Oldie, but a Goodie

Timely, not just for the weather, but the homicide totals:

• The city of Chicago is steadily recovering from an overnight snowstorm that delayed hundreds of murders on Friday morning and will likely continue to push numerous homicides across the city drastically behind schedule, public authorities announced. “As we speak, maintenance crews are working diligently to restore public transportation, de-ice roads, and clear back alleyways so that Chicagoans can quickly resume murdering again,” Department of Streets and Sanitation spokesman Dave Michelson said of the heavy blizzard, which caused numerous homicide cancellations this morning at peak murder times. “Unfortunately, we’re backed up by about 35 deadly shootings at the moment, but we hope to restore regular death tolls as soon as possible. We apologize to anyone forced to postpone shootings or other killings today and assure concerned murderers that they will be able to resume slayings by the early afternoon.” At press time, authorities reported that murders were up and running in many parts of the city, with four teenagers already gunned down on Chicago’s South Side.

The Onion sure has had Rahm's number for a while now.

Heroin OD's Pass Guns

Guns now kill less people than cars, medical errors and heroin:

• Opioid deaths continued to surge in 2015, surpassing 30,000 for the first time in recent history, according to CDC data released Thursday.
  
  That marks an increase of nearly 5,000 deaths from 2014. Deaths involving powerful synthetic opiates, like fentanyl, rose by nearly 75 percent from 2014 to 2015.
  
  Heroin deaths spiked too, rising by more than 2,000 cases. For the first time since at least the late 1990s, there were more deaths due to heroin than to traditional opioid painkillers, like hydrocodone and oxycodone.

You know what this country needs? A law against heroin. It's long overdue. Let's see if Congress can't get it passed before Sparklefarts leaves office.

Poetic

Much laughter at this one:

• Thaddeus “T.J.” Jimenez — who became a multimillionaire four years ago in a wrongful-conviction lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department — just lost about $6 million of that fortune for shooting a man.
  
  In 2012, a jury awarded Jimenez $25 million in the lawsuit he filed against the police.
  
  Since then, though, he has spent his money on Lamborginis and other fancy cars; real estate; and on men whom he recruited into his gang, the Simon City Royals. He paid them to tattoo the gang logo on their faces in return for thousands of dollars each, police say. Earlier this year, he told a federal judge he’s now practically broke.
  
  On Friday, Jimenez’s legal windfall took a huge hit when a Cook County judge awarded $6.3 million to a man whom authorities say Jimenez shot and wounded about a year ago.

Word on the street was the old gangsters were about to kill this asshole anyway, so he's probably a tiny bit safer behind bars. Maybe not if he's broke though.

Arrest, Charges, Disturbing Info

And the shooter ends up being...:

• A man charged with firing a gun at Chicago Police officers early Thursday in the University Village neighborhood collapsed during his bond hearing Saturday.
  
  Macro Dipaolo, 22, collapsed during an epileptic seizure just before 2 p.m. in the Cook County Criminal Courthouse, 2650 S. California, according to Fire Media Affairs and Dipaolo’s private attorney, Thomas A. Durkin. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in fair condition.
  
  Dipaolo, of the 1000 block of West Taylor Street, was charged with three felony counts of attempted murder, a felony count of aggravated discharge of a firearm and misdemeanor counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm without a valid FOID card, according to Chicago Police.

He's a Taylor Street "businessman" and son of the owner of Mario's Italian Ice.

Word also trickling in that once again, a police officer, who was fully authorized in using Deadly Force, declined to do so because the officer "was worried about the consequences" should he have actually shot the assailant - despite taking fire from the would-be-murderer.

Blue Shirts Winning

A couple of hints that something is up at HQ on Thursday:

• Heard the exempts got their asses chewed out by the supt. And Navarro yesterday.
  
  
• Eddie's losing it. Yesterday he yelled at the command staff because of the violence. He left and then Waller apologized.

When the guy at the top is losing his cool, it's because someone above him is chewing on his ass and we all know that shit flows downhill. Another clue, since this story seems to be getting some steam:

• OT. All of the Commanders and XO's were called down to HQ under the guise of Leadership Training and were chewed a new ass by the Supe and 1st Deputy claiming that the reason shootings and homicides are at record levels is because of a lack of leadership at the district level. The Supe said he will replace any commander or XO that can't get their troops on board with the ISR's. He claims nobody is stopping anyone anymore and it's because commanders don't know how to be leaders. Now commanders will be forced to carry out BS missions in order to generate BS numbers and he thinks that will help? A years worth of incompetent leadership at the top and now he's going to once again throw the Po's under the bus? GFYS

The Department has been "merit" promoting political cronies for years now, not anyone who has an inkling of what Leadership means, and Special Ed is surprised he has no leaders? You know what this tells us?

• That coppers, with no help from the FOP (which by Contract, cannot advocate a job action), communicating amongst themselves, are taking a stand and denying the brass the numbers needed to give the politicians cover from the voters. The street cops, the men and women of the Department, the Thin Blue Line.....are winning.

Police work is still getting done in a fashion. Jobs are answered. Reports are written. Tickets are issued occasionally. But proactive police work is pretty much dead, and the blame for that is squarely in the political realm. Cops aren't sticking their necks out, knowing that Special Ed is looking to strip officers, the Police Board is looking to fire cops and Kimesha Foxxx is looking to imprison officers. Why bring attention to yourself, when it can't end well?

The next step for the brass is obvious - it's the only play in their book and this commentator describes it being underway perfectly:

• Has anyone else been told at roll call, or were the victim of the stripper himself, That well fed Ed has stopped coppers on the street and asked them what the gang conflict areas are in their districts, then pulling up their activity while they are still on scene asking for them why they aren't doing shit?
  
  Lately in Rollcall they have been threatening us that if they don't get numbers they are going to start fucking with us; ie time due denied, splitting up partners, taking away guys regular cars, putting people who don't get along together, ect. They really need a good federal indictment these white shirts. Just wish the Feds would stop turning a blind eye to it, they have to know what these assholes are saying to us.

Gee, sounds like something the Department of Justice might want to look at....if President Trump doesn't slash and burn their entire organization. Does everyone know what the most devastating response is from the men and women of the Chicago Police Department?

• Stay Fetal

Continue to respond to jobs and generate paper. Arrest on signed complaints. Politely ask for the exact number of tickets, arrests, curfews, ANOV's, or ISR's that will allow you to continue working the car / start time / with the partner of your choice. Ask for it in writing. And do it in front of witnesses. NEVER EVER meet with a Sergeant / Watch Lieutenant / Captain / Commander alone where he or she can threaten you.

The Blues are winning. Special Ed is out of options, so the threats are starting, and that's a losing proposition every single time.

Rahm Lied About Numbers?

Say it ain't so Rahm:

• Even if Mayor Rahm Emanuel manages to add nearly 1,000 cops in the next couple years, his promised surge of new hires would barely make up for the decline in the Chicago Police Department’s ranks on his watch.
  
  There were 6,244 rank-and-file police officers working the city’s 22 police districts as of Oct. 19, records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show. That’s down more than 800 from the 7,047 beat cops shortly after Emanuel took office in 2011.
  
  A decade ago, overall police department staffing totaled more than 14,000, according to police pension fund documents. At the start of 2011, the year Emanuel won his first term, the department had 12,737 members. Now, that figure has fallen below 12,000.

They released this on a Friday afternoon so no one would notice, but we can say that this is the first time we've seen the number "14,000" in any format other than what we've written here on the blog.

When we came on, the overall number on the Department was 15,000. We have no idea what that encompassed - we weren't interested in anything aside from our next court dates and who was buying the next round. There may have been detention aides, civilian timekeepers, clerks, etc included in that number. But it was 15,000+ people listed in a phone book sized roster.

So once again, Rahm is lying about the Department numbers and what he expects to hire / promote. You know what number he isn't going to be able to lie about next year? 2017 homicide totals.

Stay Classy Rahm

Dear Leader:

• Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel had a fiery response when asked Thursday night whether he would consider running for president in 2020.
  
  The former White House chief of staff to President Obama and senior adviser to President Bill Clinton flipped off consultant Neil Hare — twice — after being posed the question at BLT Steak, prompting laughter from others at the bar.
  
  Emanuel, famed for his coarse language and caustic retorts, was hanging out at the restaurant located blocks from the White House during a swing through Washington this week.
  
  But the mayor isn't shy when it comes to how he feels about being asked about potential presidential ambitions.
  
  “She’s a reporter,” someone at BLT said after the Chicago mayor gave Hare the bird, referring to your ITK writer.
  
  “I don’t give a f--- who she is,” Emanuel shot back.

Remember, this guy was a hero to the media when he was part of the Clinton and Obama administrations, until he became too toxic to keep around. So he came here...and became toxic once again when he hid the McDonald video from the media for over a year. How he's part of the "opposition" to a guy who hasn't even taken office yet, and he still treats the media like shit...and they love it the way a beaten wife "loves" her abuser.

He's not "famed for his coarse language and caustic retorts"

He's just a sawed-off 9-fingered asshole.

"Professor" Protess the Pimp

More movement in the fight against the "wrongful conviction" shysters (from Martin Preib's site):

• In a decision that could have far-reaching impact on the thirty-year wrongful conviction narrative, a federal magistrate last week granted attorneys for two accused Chicago detectives the right to pursue a defense theory based on the claim they are the victims of an ongoing conspiracy by wrongful conviction activists.
  
  Federal Magistrate Sheila Finnegan stated last week that accused “Burge” detectives can pursue discovery from former Northwestern University professor David Protess and several students who worked with him in an effort to exonerate a convicted rapist by claiming the detectives coerced a confession.
  
  According to Finnegan’s memorandum, the detectives, who arrested Stanley Wrice for the brutal gang rape and severe burning of a woman in 1982, can pursue depositions and discovery in an effort to assert that Protess and his students “have a playbook for obtaining false affidavits,” which includes allegations of “using female students as bait to induce witness statements and cash payments.”

Anyone with half a brain can see that Protess, abetted by media shills, manufactured evidence, coerced false confessions and pretty much sprung guilty monsters free upon society in furtherance of a leftist political agenda. Northwestern University, Lib-tard Central, discovered this and cut Protess loose once they became fully aware of the scope of his malfeasance. A significant monetary award against the involved parties would be completely justified.

Video Thanks

A "thank you" video from the Department:

• The Chicago Police Department on Wednesday released a tribute video thanking the many officers who worked to help Cubs fans celebrate the team's World Series win.
  
  The more than 5-minute video thanks the "thousands of officers and partners who worked countless hours in front and behind the scenes to ensure America could celebrate our World Champion CUBS safely."

Amusingly, Special Ed appears in the video about 82 times. Rahm, a few dozen. Actual officers are filmed for, literally, tenths-of-seconds, as the Cubs buses rush by. There were a couple of personal thank yous from players and some of the crowd shots were interesting.

We know it's the thought that counts, and we were certainly thinking of the Cubs when were were laying out cash for our Gremlin. But it was sort of obvious the boys and girls at the Video Services were writing a love letter to the brass to save their spots in some future budget cutting move.

Check your Department e-mail if you want to see this thing.

Nuclear Physicist Beats 94 Year Old

We don't know how much of a threat a 94-year-old woman is, but some of those elderly people can be cantankerous:

• Police are looking for a man who allegedly beat a 94-year-old woman, stole her purse and took off in a stolen vehicle before crashing it in Chicago's Garfield Ridge neighborhood.
  
  The victim's daughter, Judy Dusk, said her mother, Josephine Regnier, is a World War II Navy veteran.
  
  Dusk said she was waiting for one of her daughters outside her building in the 5100-block of South Long Avenue to pick her up to go to the dentist when she was attacked around 11:50 a.m. Wednesday. Police said a man pushed Regnier into the hallway of her building.
  
  "This man just came in the gangway and assaulted her, beat the **** out of her, took her purse and ran," Dusk said.

Channel 7 breaks with tradition and actually describes the suspect, probably because there was video and they couldn't think of a good reason to suppress it. A local restaurant is offering a $5,000 reward.

Shot Fired at Police Again

Hasn't hit the media yet, but our comment section says it happened in 012 about 0200 hours. Offender in custody, weapon recovered, cops okay.

When Special Ed heard about it a little while ago, he called it "concerning," and stripped himself so he could take a shower. Discipline forthcoming on everyone else.

"Fetal" Politicians?

Kass asks if the political wing of Chicago have "gone fetal"

• How bad is the bloody violence in Chicago, where more than 700 people have been murdered so far this year and thousands have been shot in the street gang wars?
  
  The gangs keep shooting, the survivors mourn, police morale is down, anti-police sentiment is up and the mayor says some cops have gone fetal.
  
  And the politicians do nothing in the bloody city. Street gang violence in Chicago is as bad, if not worse, than the record-setting death years of the 1990s.
  
  But there is no penalty for Democratic politicians who sit back in the Democratic city and do nothing to compel tougher sentences for gun crimes to keep the most aggressive shooters off the streets.
  
  Some say this a gun issue. But that's a con job. There are many guns in the suburbs, yet suburbanites aren't slaughtering each other.
  
  This is a street-gangs-with-guns problem, on the South and West sides of Chicago. And calling it anything else is a distraction to give cover to the politicians.
  
  If there is a downside, it is only for the dead and the maimed and their families.
  
  And there is a downside for police, too. Because if something goes wrong, the cop is the headline.
  
  Yet what of the politicians who do nothing? They really have nothing to lose. And they're doing just fine.

Of course they are. They have their scapegoats - the cops, the guns, the cops, the president-elect, the cops, etc. Not a word about teens "raising" the next generation of welfare dependent super predators, destroyed family structure, no punishment or responsibility assigned for misbehavior. Just demands for "more money" for "programs" that do nothing but buy votes and perpetuate the spiral of destruction.

Business as usual.....and the bodies stack up.

New Lieutenants

Hey look, assignments for the new guys and gals:

011 got four new lieutenants, so it looks like half of the Johnson v Johnson Homicide Race is chasing out the previous leadership.006 got three. A smattering of others here and there.

Amusingly, we got an e-mail or two from people in the know - it seems the new lieutenants were given a list of places that were open for assignment and they ranked their choices. 018 wasn't on the list, but somehow, someone landed there. Odds are he makes commander within 12 months.

Humor Break

This is amusing, especially as Chicago crossed into 700+ homicides for the year:

• Promising that every effort would be made to limit the impact on residents’ day-to-day lives, Chicago officials announced Wednesday that a fleet of plows was working around the clock to clear more than 18 inches of fresh bullet casings that had blanketed the metropolitan area overnight.
  
  Sources at the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation confirmed that over 250 ammunition-removal vehicles had been deployed to deal with the knee-deep layer of spent cartridges, which have been steadily accumulating on Chicago’s streets, alleys, and pedestrian walkways since the previous evening.
  
  “Our crews have been out there all night trying to make our roadways passable, but given how quickly the handgun and semi-automatic shells have piled up, it’s going to take some time,” DSS commissioner Charles L. Williams told reporters, thanking the public for its patience while crews made their way across the stricken municipality. “We’re making good headway, but as you can imagine, it’s not an easy job, especially with casings continuing to fall throughout the city.”

The picture accompanying the article is hilarious:

Supposedly, Charlie Williams is towing cars in the "2 Inches of Brass" zones, even if the brass is only 1.5 inches.

016 Gets....Rookies?

There certainly weren't 32 bids to 016, we can tell you that:

• Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson will assign an additional 12 police officers to the Jefferson Park District by the end of the month, fulfilling his September promise to beef up the force, according to Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38th).
  
  A total of 230 officers will report to the city's most expansive police district by year's end, up from 192 over the summer, Sposato said.
  
  The district saw 10 new officers added in October, then another 10 in November, the alderman said. On Tuesday, Johnson told district Cmdr. Bill Looney he'd get another 12 this month.
  
  Johnson "kind of dribbled along with his promise there for a while, but now it's complete," Sposato said. "I'm thrilled, the commander's thrilled. ... This was very much needed."

Well, we're happy for you 016. Anyone have the totals for 008 or 022 now?

Shots Fired....Again

The target - the police....again:

• Shots were fired at Chicago Police officers Tuesday night in the South Side Auburn Gresham neighborhood, marking at least the fourth time officers have come under fire in about a week.
  
  About 7:30 p.m. shots were fired at officers in the 1100 block of West 86th Street, police said. No one was hurt, and a person of interest was being questioned, police said.

Does anyone know how many times shots have been fired at the police this year? We know we've missed instances, but it has to be higher than previous years given the state of things.

A Bad Penny

Keeps turning up:

• Uh-oh word is leaking out that Rerun has been visiting quite a lot with a certain Captain who was a former Commander regarding her becoming a Commander again. 1st stop for her is Area North and then a couple of quickies with Rerun and back to Commander. Watch it weezie, there is a new hen in the office.

Seriously? This joke? With her history of stalking boyfriends and ex-boyfriends? How much did the Department pay that mailroom guy for the hell she put him through? Maybe someone could find out that amount of money? And that was only when she was actually arrested:

Not to mention the investigation regarding abusing her own child. And the numerous bat-shit crazy incidents when she was running around the west side, berating police officers, walking into the line of rifle fire, showing up at crime scenes without a gun.

Anyone wonder why VRI is so fucked up lately? Where they have to re-bid entire days and reassign supervisors to the places they actually work? That would be Henny Penny's last assignment. We say "last assignment" because it looks like she got moved to the D-Unit again, where she has a previous history of Battery to Detective in the locker room.

Hey media? You want to know why this Department is so fucked up? Because Fuck-Up / Move Up. These types keep their jobs, get promoted after being demoted, and are even considered for further promotion even after being a disgrace to the job.

On the bright side, we'll have tons more to write about if Special Ed makes this truly stupid decision a reality.

Totally In Control

Special Ed has got this!

• Top cop: 'Chicago is not out of control' — just parts of it are violent

Well thank goodness for that!

• Chicago's top cop says he's personally upset by public perception that the city is overrun by murder and other violence, even as a deadly November pushed homicides overall here to the highest level in nearly two decades.
  
  "The truth of the matter is Chicago is not out of control. There's certain parts of the city that we have to address the violence," Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said Tuesday at a downtown City Club of Chicago breakfast. He and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart told the room full of civic leaders and others gathered at Maggiano's restaurant that they continue to push for new legislation to toughen penalties for repeat gun offenders.
  
  Johnson's comments serve as pushback on President-elect Donald Trump's comments earlier this year, when he described violence in Chicago as "out of control" and said Chicago cops weren't being tough enough on crime.
  
  While Johnson said, once again, that the state needs harsher penalties for repeat gun offenders, Dart said Cook County Jail detainees often tell him they're more concerned with being confronted unarmed on the street than being caught with a weapon by authorities.

First up, good to see Special Ed not missing the most important meal of the day. A growing boy needs a lot of calories.

Second, who are these "inmates" Dart talking to? The jail is empty. They're tearing down three buildings. Prickwrinkle has declared everyone will be I-bonded so they can spend Christmas with their families.

The only smart thing to come out of this is the need to sentence gun criminals to harsher penalties - EXILE-type penalties - to cut down on violent crime. The police are doing their part, seeing as how we've taken how many more guns off the street than in years part. The system isn't doing its job.

"Experts" Weigh In

Of course, they say Special Ed and Granny Clampett don't go far enough:

• Proposed changes by Chicago police to its policy on use of force fail to spell out that deadly force should be a last resort and fall short of other key goals such as limiting Taser use and improving transparency, two leading police reform experts say.
  
  In comments submitted to the department Monday, Sheila Bedi, a professor with Northwestern University's MacArthur Justice Center, and Craig Futterman, a law professor at the University of Chicago, said the overhaul doesn't go far enough in spelling out clearly when officers can use force, particularly deadly force.
  
  The policy should begin with the premise that physical encounters with civilians are appropriate only when there is probable cause for arrest or a public safety emergency, Futterman and Bedi said. The policy also needs to be clear that the department's highest priority is the sanctity of life and that deadly force is "a matter of last resort" used only to protect the lives of officers and citizens, they wrote.

These liberals have zero law enforcement experience, except where it comes to criticizing and suing the police for doing a highly dangerous and unpredictable job, imagining their 20/20 hindsight is applicable to an endless number of scenarios.

The so-called "sanctity of life" has always been a hallmark of the Department's Use of Force paradigm, seeing as how it has always been more restrictive than state law, and continues in this new permutation, not to mention that Deadly Force has always been "a matter of last resort" except where dictated by the criminal/offender/assailant who is already using Deadly Force. Police work is necessarily reactive in nature - 100% of the time, the police react to the situation presented to them, be it a call they respond to or an incident observed on the street.

Perhaps the so-called "experts" would do better educating the community as to what sort of behavior is expected of them, by the police and by the law, to prevent tragedies from unfolding due to their own misbehavior.

Bias? What Bias?

You mean this bias?

• [...] When Black Lives Matter protesters planned to demonstrate in the neighborhood after a black man was gunned down by an off-duty Chicago Police officer on Nov. 5, someone in the girls’ text conversation shared a tweet claiming protesters were going to bring along gang members to kill white residents in retaliation, the suit says.

You mean this black man?

That one waving that gun-shaped object around in the middle of a busy Mount Greenwood street? NEWSFLASH to NBC - that will get you shot on most Chicago streets, even if you're purple.

And Here it Comes

Weren't we just talking about this?

• The Chicago Police Department should revamp its psychological exam and forgive minor drug offenses to attract minority police officers at a time of high crime and deep distrust, an influential alderman said Monday.
  
  Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th), chairman of the City Council’s Black Caucus, urged Mayor Rahm Emanuel to embrace at least some of the recommendations of the Obama administration’s Advancing Diversity in Law Enforcement initiative.
  
  At issue is a report from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to push the recommendations made by Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.
  
  The report suggests that police departments across the nation should disregard minor criminal offenses of candidates from “underrepresented communities,” revise the controversial psychological exam and lower the bar for written and physical exams.

Again, we thought that it was a selling point that a police department was staffed by non-criminals. Criminals serve on City Councils on the Cook County Board. Sure, you get your occasional criminal slipping through the screening process, but that's usually because they were sponsored by an aldercreature or other political entity. And once they get on the job, sometimes they're protected and promoted via the corrupt "merit" process, like certain members of the past and current command staff.

And that's not even taking into consideration the test cheaters who are an entirely different classification altogether.

"Reshaping" the Office

Danger! Danger!

• Newly elected Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx detailed her plans Monday for shaping the second-largest prosecutor's office in the country, including creating a gun crimes unit and revamping the team that reviews potentially wrongful convictions.
  
  [...] In an interview with a Chicago Tribune reporter in her corner office on the 32nd floor of a Loop high-rise, Foxx said her office is looking at its authority to investigate police shootings and not wait for months or years while the Independent Police Review Authority completes its investigation.

Danger!!! BIG DANGER!!!

• "We're looking at our authority to go in immediately like with the other cases, collect evidence and do a parallel investigation so ... that we get results in a timelier fashion," she said. "Waiting for secondhand information to come after the completion of an investigation by another agency and then reviewing their work months later, I don't think necessarily gives us the best results."

Best results? Or best political result?

You think we're joking?

It's already here.

An "Earful"?

Golly. Rahm must be shaking in his tutu:

• Members of the tony East Bank Club might want to give the gym's locker room a wide berth if they spot former police Superintendent Garry McCarthy> and Mayor Rahm Emanuel getting changed at the same time.
  
  The frosty relationship between the two macho men might cause anyone caught in the middle to catch a chill.
  
  "I haven't spoken to the mayor since last December 1st," said a visibly upset McCarthy in an interview with WGN-TV Ch. 9. "I ran into him a couple of times at the East Bank Club."
  
  Asked if he wanted to speak to Emanuel, he said, "Um, that's a great question. I'm not sure how to answer it. You stumped me because I'm really angry about what happened, and I'm very angry about what is happening.

You got that? He's angry!

• "Where is the black caucus screaming?" he added. "When they were calling for my resignation we had the lowest murder rate in the city since 1965."

Notice, he said "murder rate." To be fair, he and Tracey were better at hiding "death investigations" than Special Ed is, probably because NYPD was where people codified the practice so as to deflect media attention from it. Special Ed couldn't even hide a crooked exam that managed to promote five people from IAD, all good friends of McCompStat's First Deputy's wife.

What Could Go Wrong?

Another brilliant idea from Washington DC:

• In a push to hire minority police officers, the Obama administration is asking the nation’s 18,000 law enforcement agencies to forgive drug use, disregard the criminal records of candidates from “underrepresented communities” and lower standards on written and physical exams. It’s part of the administration’s Advancing Diversity in Law Enforcement initiative following a string of officer-involved shootings involving African Americans. Key to the mission is the racial diversification of local law enforcement agencies so that they “better reflect the diversity of the communities they serve.”

The article is about a month old, but correct us if we're wrong....

• we thought cops were supposed to represent....you know....law and order types, seeing as how we enforce the laws duly passed by the legislature

We might be misunderstanding part of the job, but not that part.

And we're thinking, once again, someone in DC hasn't been paying attention to what happens when you lower the requirements. For reference, we'd suggest they look at the history of the DC police after they lowered requirements.

Snowflakes Unite!

OEMC story:

• Too funny not to share: Last night my friend got a call at the station. The caller was very distraught that Trump would pick a guy named Mad Dog for Secretary of defense. Dead serious. The officer had to explain that it was a nick name, not his real name. This woman from Hyde Park actually called the police! Lol

Anyone have the event number on this call?

Not KING 810??!!

Canceling gigs because of "violent imagery"?

• A metal band has had its upcoming Chicago show canceled over its “excessive use of guns and violent imagery” on stage.
  
  KING 810 was booked to play Thalia Hall on Dec. 18 but the venue’s promoter has told the band he was having a tough time defending the gig in light of Chicago’s gun violence epidemic. There were 701 murders in the city through November.
  
  KING 810 has appeared on stage with masked characters dressed in black and armed with automatic weapons. Their first album includes "Killem All" and Murder Murder Murder."

What's next? Banning rap acts? Oh, the humanity!

Rookies? No Kidding? (UPDATE)

This is news......if you live under a rock:

• Faced with a surge in killings and a breakdown of trust in law enforcement, the Chicago Police Department is sending its least experienced cops to neighborhoods that see the most violence.
  
  The six police districts with the highest total of murders and shootings this year have the most rookie officers, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of police deployment data found.
  
  Those districts — all of them on the South Side or the West Side — also have some of the least experienced supervisors, on average.

Yeah, because as soon as you get this little thing called "seniority," you tend to want to get out of the crappiest neighborhoods (i.e. high crime) and head to someplace that actually appreciates the police. Where you aren't subject to taunts, spit and solving the problems of people (or folks) who refuse to take responsibility for their lot in life.

Certain aldercreatures feel like they have to force veterans to work where they don't want to be and are going to be pushing for that when the Contract expires, which will make a happy and productive workforce - just like when they let the ACLU and #blm run things.

We'd think about doing it for an extra $20,000. And after we got the suitcase full of money to think about it, we'd probably still say no. But it'll cost them $20,000 to hear us say it.

UPDATE: Someone in the comment section had a good point/idea - why doesn't the City experiment with moving the veteran teachers back to places like "Fenger, Kelvyn Park, Bowen, Bogan, Douglass, Tilden, CVS, VOISE"? After all, the children are our most important resource, right? And they deserve to be taught by the most experienced teachers so that they can be successful astronauts and physicists and doctors, right?

This sounds like a great idea, and it's all "for the children," so Rahm can get behind it and feel he's still supporting the Hillary Agenda.

Hypocrites

So as a wise reader pointed out....

• “We know that holding people in jail destroys lives. Even a short period of pre-trial detention can result in the loss of your job or your home,” Preckwinkle said. “Every effort needs to be made to be sure that people can keep working, attending school and caring for their families as they await trials.”

And just how much was Van Dyke's bail?

• $1.5 million

Good thing he had all that money lying around so he could keep working, attending school and caring for his family, right?

Money for Illegals?

No money for retirees, raises, vehicles, equipment, training.

But lots for this:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Friday kept up his postelection push to position himself as a protector of immigrants against President-elect Donald Trump, announcing the creation of a $1 million "legal protection fund" to help those fighting possible deportation.
  
  The fund was created in partnership with the National Immigrant Justice Center to "provide immediate legal information, screenings, consultations and representation to individuals who may be at risk for deportation," according to a news release from Emanuel's office.

And just where is he getting the money?

• The money will come from the $20 million the city set aside for Emanuel's property tax rebate program, according to city spokeswoman Jennifer Martinez. That initiative fell flat, with just 12,000 households applying for tax relief to the tune of about $1 million, leaving ample leftover money to pay for immigrant defense

Um, that isn't "leftover" money. It's already been collected and tasked for rebates. Rahm shouldn't be able to just redirect it to something that is in violation of Federal Law. If residents were overtaxed (which is just about always), then the money ought to be returned.

What Happened to Downtown Brown?

Seems like his past sins caught up with him:

• A top Cook County official was fired last month because of his work as a Chicago police commander, WBEZ has learned.
  
  County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced Nov. 18 that Ernest Brown was no longer the executive director of the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Preckwinkle has remained tight-lipped about why Brown left, but sources close to her say she dismissed him after reading an article that argued a code of silence protected corrupt cops working under him.
  
  Brown commanded the Chicago Police Department’s Public Housing Section from 2000 to 2002. During that time, there were several investigations of his officers.

"several"?

Dozens. Not to mention the endless parade of sexual harassment beefs. But somehow, all of these red flags were missed by the background checks Prickwrinkle had done before she hired Downtown.

What? She didn't do any background checks? What kind of government is this, not checking on who is being hired? Is this some sort of den of cronyism and phone-call-hiring where there are no standards?

Oh wait.....yeah it is. Sorry.

No One is Immune

Even Commanders are getting shot at:

• SWAT teams swarmed a home in the city's South Chicago neighborhood after shots were fired at a police district commander late Thursday night. A five-hour standoff with the suspects ended early Friday morning.
  
  Police said five suspects were taken into custody around 3:30 a.m. Friday without incident and several weapons were recovered from the scene.
  
  The commander was checking out a suspicious person in an alley in the 8800-block of South Saginaw Avenue around 10:20 p.m. Thursday when one or more people opened fire on his unmarked patrol car, police said.

Just to be on the safe side, Special Ed stripped the commander for taking fire.

All is well that ends well, but let's be serious - until these offenders and other gun offenders start getting real prison time, extensive prison time, far from here, things like this are going to keep on happening.

Minimum five year sentences in federal prisons far from home has worked wonders in the past in other states (look up Project Exile and similar sentencing). Ten year sentences would likely cut the homicide rate by half if politicians had the guts to stick up for the law abiding instead of catering to the criminal underclass.

Fort Worth Hiring

And all you have to do is out shoot this recruit:



Good luck!

Thank You Cubs

The Cubs overtime check hit the other day. We've been counting on that money to fulfill a desire of ours we've had for quite some time now:

It's been over 40 years, but we finally got it.

It's Over as of.....Now

Danger Will Robinson! Danger!

• Promising “transparency” and building trust with the community, Kim Foxx was sworn in Thursday as Cook County’s first African-American female state’s attorney.
  
  Chief Cook County Judge Timothy Evans swore in Foxx before a crowd that included Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, police Supt. Eddie Johnson, former Gov. Pat Quinn and several Chicago alderman.

We can't make it any clearer - police work is over, dead, finished, done. The actions you take from here on out will be scrutinized with a magnifying glass a hundred different ways. And if there is the slightest gray area, you will be stripped by Special Ed and indicted by Foxx.

Stay Fetal - Stay Employed.

How Empty is the Jail?

This empty:

• Cook County is demolishing three divisions, representing close to a half-million square feet of cell space, as the jail population has hit the lowest level in 25 years.
  
  Cook County officials stood in a muddy yard behind the razor wire and walls at the jail complex as demolition started on the first building. WBBM [...] reports.
  
  “Jails are for violent people,” said Sheriff Tom Dart, “and we have a lot of violence in our society.”
  
  “We are always going to have places for them here,” Dart said. “But for the non-violent people, for the mentally ill, they don’t need to be here and through a lot of the work we’ve been doing for the last few years we have been able to get a lot of those people out of here.”

This non-police lib-tard (along with Prickwrinkle and the media) doesn't seem make the connection that the rising violence in Chicago just might be directly connected to the jail being empty. Because we've noticed in our decades of policing that when the jail is full and people are held in a secure environment, they don't seem to victimize the rest of society.

We can't prove it, but it must have something to do with the razor wire, twenty-foot high walls, regulated atmosphere and sniper towers. We're hoping to get funding for a study soon.

Prickwrinkle has this laughable take:

• “We know that holding people in jail destroys lives. Even a short period of pre-trial detention can result in the loss of your job or your home,” Preckwinkle said. “Every effort needs to be made to be sure that people can keep working, attending school and caring for their families as they await trials.”

No word on the families destroyed when their "screening process" fails miserably.

One Year

We forgot that yesterday was the one-year firing anniversary of McCompStat.

Who misses his New York arrogance? His ham-handed attempts to play the political game? His keeping the brass's assholes puckered at the "accountability" meetings.

Not us.

More Good News for Chicago

That housing "rebound"? Ain't happening:

• The housing market in the Chicago area is expected to be the weakest of any of the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas during 2017, leaving opportunity for people to buy homes at affordable prices while perhaps frustrating home sellers.
  
  Both prices and sales will increase, but at a stunted rate compared with other areas, according to a forecast by Realtors.com, a website for the National Association of Realtors. The prices of homes throughout the Chicago metropolitan area are expected to climb just 1.95 percent, and sales of new and existing homes are expected to increase 2.27 percent.
  
  [...] Chicago's problem is a combination of slow growth in both population and jobs, said Jonathan Smoke, an economist at Realtors.com. The area's population is expected to increase only 1 percent next year. Given the size of Chicago, the city should be among the nation's top three markets for job creation, Smoke said. Instead, Chicago is ranked eighth, with job growth much stronger in areas such as Dallas and Phoenix.

Rising crime, rising taxes, rising unemployment, shrinking prospects.

Indictment

Some good news:

• A Cook County grand jury has returned an 8-count true bill against a man who allegedly beat an off-duty Chicago police officer during an altercation outside of Wrigley Field this summer.
  
  Tremaine Wilson was charged with aggravated battery of a police officer and reckless conduct in the June 22 incident.
  
  But criminal-friendly Cook County Judge Marvin Luckman threw out the case citing “no probable cause” two weeks later even though cops identified Wilson after reviewing footage from a nearby surveillance camera.
  
  Flummoxed prosecutors took their case to the grand jury.
  
  Wilson’s now facing six counts of aggravated battery to a police officer and two counts of aggravated battery in a public place.

So we've got that going forward now. Let's see if the States Attorney's Office stays on this one...or drops it.

Damn! This Guy is Good!

He really ought to be put in a leadership position of some sort:

• After a pair of gang shootings in the 15th Ward erupted minutes apart Monday night and left two dead, Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) called on the Chicago Police Department to be more aggressive in its crackdown on gang violence.
  
  "The department needs to go from passively engaging these individuals to aggressively going after them," Lopez said. "These are the same individuals who are routinely at the center of these conflicts. We have to rout them out and remove them from our communities. My residents simply can't take it anymore."

Wow, what a great idea!!! Let's have the police go after lawbreakers, drug dealers, gang bangers and shooters! This is fucking brilliant!!! Why hasn't someone thought of this before 700+ got killed or 4,000+ got ventilated?

Rahm? Special Ed? Let's step up! Get this done! Why are you sitting around on your asses letting the gangs run the streets?

Lead the way!!!

Winter Parking (UPDATE)

Despite the 50 degree weather....

Despite the lack of snow.....

Despite the lack of anything resembling winter, Winter Parking Regulations are in effect tonight!

That means that it's time to set the over/under for vehicles towed tonight. In years past, it's been right around 100 to 120 cars, depending on how much money Chicago needs.

We'll guess at 111 cars.

UPDATE: Unconfirmed report on WBBM NewsRadio 780 - 170 cars towed overnight. The tow companies get $48 per car towed, so you know they had a bit of an incentive to clear the streets.

This Ass?

Someone who attempted to intimidate an entire organization based on an endorsement they never made:

• Often tipped as a potential mayoral candidate, Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th) is eyeing a different political office — Illinois governor.

Sure, a giant lurch to the left couldn't possibly do any harm to a city foundering under nearly a century of democrat rule.

This is truly amusing though:

• "You create 'the other' and everyone is divided. We fight over scraps instead of looking at the top," he said. "That's the perfect strategy for maintaining the status quo."

You mean like when Pawar's "othered" the local police for an endorsement the National Lodge made, based on the non-responsiveness of Pawar's chosen candidate and his subsequent framing of future Contract talks being held as a club over the National endorsement?

Good thing Hillary won, right?