Another CCL Defends Self

And the same old media bias against anyone with a gun:

• A 21-year-old man was shot and killed Thursday night in a Target parking lot on Chicago's Southwest Side.
  
  He walked up to a 2014 Nissan Altima parked in the 1900-block of West 33rd Street in the city's McKinley Park neighborhood and started talking to the person inside around 8 p.m., police said.
  
  Moments later, witnesses told police they heard gunfire. The 21-year-old man suffered gunshot wounds to his back and chest. He was transported in critical condition to Stroger Hospital, where he later died. The victim has not been identified.

Here we go again - the VICTIM is the 27 year old Concealed Carrier. The OFFENDER is the dead guy who tried to stick him up. The Case Report will read the same thing, but the lib-tarded leftist Rahm-ass-licking media (but we repeat ourselves) think that anyone who gets shot is a "victim."

• The 27-year-old man was taken into custody and two weapons were recovered. Police said that the 27-year-old man was released without charges.
  
  The Chicago Tribune reports the shooting started out as an armed robbery attempt. The victim reportedly had a gun when he walked up to the vehicle and tried to rob the older man, who the newspaper said is a concealed carry license holder.
  
  The 27-year-old man reportedly fired his semi-automatic weapon - one of the two weapons later found in the vehicle, along with expended shell casings - after a struggle in the car. He was reportedly returning to the scene when officers stopped him in the 3300-block of South Damen.

While we don't wish a reporter any particular harm, we do wonder how they'd write about themselves if they were on the receiving end of a similar situation and defended themselves properly and legally - hahaha...we know, complete fantasy. "Reporters" in Chicago do what they're told by the politicians and licking the boots of their liberal masters.

Corruption in Foxxx's Office?

Who would have thought it?

• Fox 32 News has learned that State's Attorney Kim Foxx has accepted the resignation of one of her top aides, after an internal review revealed he was steering significant amounts of legal work to his former law firm at unusually high rates.
  
  The resignation of the acting Civil Actions Bureau Chief, Chaka Patterson, comes after Fox 32 News first made inquiries about the State's Attorney's use of outside counsel six weeks ago. State's Attorney Foxx’s office provided us with a statement saying that her own review of outside counsel practices revealed that Patterson was referring significant business to his former law firm, Jones Day. Documents provided to Fox 32 News show Jones Day attorneys were sometimes being paid up to $500 an hour, rather than the customary rates of about a $185 an hour for outside legal services.
  
  The state's attorney says an outside law firm has agreed to do a review of Foxx's use of outside counsel--at no cost to the county. And in the meantime, any outside counsel who are selected will only be chosen with the approval of the judge who's handling the case.

So are taxpayers going to be reimbursed? How much was this mope getting in kickbacks?

And more importantly, is anyone losing a law license and going to jail?

First Issue....Tie Bar?

What the hell is this? An AdMin Fax message came out Friday stating in part:

• All Commanders and Unit Commanding Officers should be aware that personnel assigned to pick up the payroll checks on 15 DEC 17 will also be receiving a small package of first issue uniform tie clips.

Tie clips? Seriously, First Issue tie clips? We've solved all the other problems and we're nitpicking on tie clips. Something that is never seen under vests or jackets. Something never needed if you wear the turtleneck.If you've seen the ties nowadays, they have little buttonholes on the back that holds the tie in place over existing shirt buttons.

We saw the clips Friday and they are just about the cheapest piece of stamped/folded metal ever. We don't know what connected uniform company supplied them, but the kickback must have been enormous. And what tool is going to try to get a gold star out of this pointless effort?

Tie bars.

The United Nations?

This is painfully stupid and hilarious at the same time:

• Some politicians in the past have recommended deploying the National Guard to help Chicago quell gun violence, but Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin went even further on Thursday, suggesting the United Nations perhaps send in peacekeepers in the face of what he called a “quiet genocide.”
  
  Boykin was traveling to New York to meet with Oscar Fernandez-Taranco of Argentina, the U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Support, to seek international help with “horrific levels of shootings” and other violent crime in West Side and South Side communities.
  
  “I’m hoping to appeal to the U.N. to actually come to Chicago and meet with victims of violence, and maybe even possibly help out in terms of peacekeeping efforts, because I think it’s so critical for us to make sure that these neighborhoods are safe,” Boykin said at O’Hare International Airport on Thursday.

Boykin obviously has no idea of the federal laws and Constitutional hurdles that would have to be overcome to have any sort of foreign forces operating within US borders, armed or unarmed. Not to mention Rules of Engagement and other such concerns. Add in the constant headlines of corruption, rape and sex trafficking that follow the UN everywhere and you have a recipe for disaster upon the disaster that already is the south and west sides.

Another Task Force?

Once again, from the brilliant mind of Eddie "foie gras" Burke:

• It’s no longer a matter of if, but when a truck is used to mow down innocent citizens in Chicago, an influential alderman said Monday.
  
  Ald. Edward Burke (14th) made that statement before pushing a resolution through the Finance Committee he chairs urging the city to create a Chicago Vehicular Terrorism Task Force and report back in 120 days with a specific response plan.
  
  That plan may include strategic installation of movable bollards in front of important buildings and other terrorist targets and regional coordination with truck rental agencies where terrorists might obtain their weapons of choice.

Brilliant - have the truck rental places racially profile clients? Form a new unit, taking coppers off the street to pore through rental agreements or run names thought some unknown non-existent data base?

Here's a better idea - require all rental vehicles to have the steering wheel airbag replaced with about half a pound of plastique explosive and two pounds of rusty nails and bolts. We'll hold the trigger here at SCC headquarters.

Rahm, You Prancing Pandering Pussy

Way to not hold the criminals accountable for their actions you suburban wuss:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel tried Friday to undo the political damage caused by a “callous” decision city attorneys made without his knowledge that threatens to undermine his efforts to restore public trust in the Chicago Police Department shattered by the police shooting of Laquan McDonald.
  
  Emanuel called the father of Quintonio LeGrier to apologize for his Law Department’s now-reversed decision to sue the estate of the bat-wielding teenager shot to death by a police officer in December, 2015 along with an innocent bystander.
  
  The mayor said he had no advance warning of the city’s motion and, when he found out about it, he ordered it reversed.
  
  “I called the father, Antonio, today and I said. ‘On behalf of the Law Department, I apologize,’ ” Emanuel said after the city’s abrupt about-face.
  
  “I’ve talked to him before. I met with him before. We had a good conversation and he was incredibly gracious and understanding.”

The fact is, no matter what Rahm spouts, this shooting was completely justified under Federal, State, Local Law, Department policies and practices. Had the now-dead assailant lived, he would have been charged with causing the death of Bettie Jones. His actions (and therefore the responsibility) led directly to the death of Jones.

If his family had had him properly medicated Bettie Jones would be alive today.

If he had actually taken his meds, Bettie Jones would be alive today.

If he had learned even the most basic of behavioral controls and coping mechanisms, Bettie Jones would be alive today.

That she is not is most definitely a tragedy.

But it isn't the making of the Chicago Police who responded.

Sue the Dead Assailant

Wow:

• In an unorthodox move, lawyers for the city of Chicago are seeking to sue the estate of a teen shot to death by a police officer two years ago, alleging he was responsible for the death of a bystander the officer accidentally killed as well.
  
  In a motion filed Thursday, the lawyers sought a Cook County judge’s approval to bring a lawsuit blaming Quintonio LeGrier, 19, for the shooting that also killed 55-year-old Bettie Jones.
  
  The proposed suit rests largely on allegations that LeGrier tried to hit Officer [...] with an aluminum baseball bat before the officer opened fire, killing both the teenager and Jones, a neighbor standing nearby.
  
  If successful, the suit could shift some of the city’s potentially hefty financial liability for the death of an innocent woman onto LeGrier’s estate.

Officers here and elsewhere have sued assailants and won, getting liens against any future assets that might arise via ghetto lotteries. We aren't sure if this is a first for Chicago or any municipality. It (amazingly) attempts to hold a criminal responsible for his actions and the resultant actions of responding personnel and injured bystanders. Sort of like the "felony murder" statute.

About fucking time.

Remember, Less Than Citizens

You should have no Rights to due process or appeal:

• A secretive appeals system has been knocking down the punishments of Chicago police officers no matter how serious their misconduct, undercutting the results of lengthy investigations and layers of review long after the public believes the cases were concluded.
  
  In the first examination of its kind, the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois found that 85 percent of disciplinary cases handled through the Chicago Police Department’s grievance process since 2010 led to officers receiving shorter suspensions or, in many cases, having their punishments overturned entirely.

And the first example cited?

• A suspension for punching a handcuffed arrestee, all caught on camera? Negotiable.

Really? Because the first thing that came to mind was a copper being tried twice and ending up in Federal prison for four years. But then again, we aren't privy to all the political machinations going on behind the scenes.

Should we point out a few of those instances? Command staff pissing hot, caught drunk over and over, climbing in police women's windows, violating state law concerning adultery, stalking, harassment, concealing numerous weapons in their lockers, double-dipping, misuse of department databases, equipment, personnel....we could go on and on, and we're sure some commentators will be more than happy to oblige.

But the "report" doesn't really delve into the political aspect, just the part where those darn cops actually think they have Rights to appeal a punishment they feel was unjust, over-disciplined or just improperly decided for a political end. And we don't know how it's a "secretive" process as it's pretty much delineated in the Contract, a piece of Public knowledge negotiated, overseen and voted on by the City Council. Anything the Labor Affairs Section does in the dead of night is on the political realm, not the Department.

We know we're going to get a bunch of tiny brains popping up in the comment section about how we defend all cops all the time. Your bullshit will not see the light of day - we've called plenty of cops out, especially those in the "blessed" category of evading punishment. We have no use for dirty cops, and if the Department and COPA can substantiate the charges, more power to them. As we've said numerous times before - police are not above the law, but they aren't under it either.

Arrest in Failed Robbery

Good news regarding an off-duty shooting last week:

• A 16-year-old boy has been charged with trying to rob an off-duty Chicago Police officer at gunpoint, prompting the officer to fire shots earlier this month in the Beverly neighborhood on the Far South Side.
  
  The boy faces one felony count each of attempted robbery while armed with a firearm and possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number, according to Chicago Police. His identity was not released because of his age.
  
  The officer, a 53-year-old man, was walking at 7:04 p.m. Dec. 1 in the 10100 block of South Bell when the boy approached and demanded money at gunpoint, police said at the time. The officer then fired shots, and the suspect ran off.

Unreported in the media and unconfirmed at this point, is that the offender had a nice little crease on his neck - the kind made by a piece of copper jacketed lead passing close enough to kiss you. Maybe next time.

Kimmie Foxxx is due to drop the charges to misdemeanors in time for the Saturday news cycle.

COPA Witch Hunt?

Can anyone confirm? And by confirm, we mean cite an instance of this occurring:

• Lil George said...
  
  COPA is signing complaints against officers after watching body camera videos. This is in total disregard of the general order that states officers cannot be punished for minor infractions after reviewing video footage. But copa is doing just that. Officers have been called down for swearing and their supervisors called down to be questioned on why they didn't discipline officer for swearing.
  
  Copa is Monday morning quarterbacking the hell out of these videos. If a scene is chaotic, copa still expects you to see all and hear all or else they accuse you of not rendering aid or inattention to duty. It's a dangerous game they are playing to get their numbers. Just be careful, they are literally looking at the smallest violations to sustain a CR while telling the media they are not Monday morning quarterbacking the police. FOP needs to step up on this

This just plays into the entire "stay fetal" mind set. Show up late, pick up the pieces, tender a report documenting what can be ascertained on scene, leave. No interaction with the public at all - which just might be the end-game.

Funny Officers

From our e-mail:

• Oh, FOP book
  Oh, FOP book
  In my mailbox
  For you, I look
  
  I need to schedule the coming year
  It’s mid December, you should be here
  Furlough picks were a week ago
  In the mail, you did not show
  
  (refrain)
  
  Who’s to blame, for the delay this year
  Whoever it is, is a horses rear
  On the ground, the snow is here
  Will it be spring, before you’re here
  
  (refrain)

Well done.

So where are the books?

Another Bright Dem Idea

This is what passes for intelligent thought in some locales:

• St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson (D) is reacting to the rising crime in her city by offering to give people groceries in exchange for their firearms.
  
  She will do this via the kind of buyback program that Democrats in other cities have unsuccessfully implemented around the country.

Why give up a gun when you can stick up someone for their groceries? And kill them if they resist?

We think she's missing something though in all the commotion:

• The SLMPD shows that 185 of those 197 murders were carried out with firearms. One hundred sixty-two of the victims were black males and 22 were black females. Ten victims were Hispanic. One hundred twenty-seven of the suspects in the killings were black, and one suspect was white.

If only we could put our finger on it.....

Stop Teasing

Just pull the trigger or shut up:

• Sneed hears former top cop Garry McCarthy, who is considering a thumbs-up for a mayoral bid, has been in continuing discussions with top Dem political strategist Joe Trippi, who was just credited nationally with helping elect Alabama’s first Dem U.S. senator in decades.
  
  Reached by phone Wednesday evening, McCarthy told Sneed: “Mike, this is such an important decision, I have to get it right!
  
  “And as I have done in the past, I have tried to surround myself with the best advisers and continue to work with my team.”

The baggage that this goof brought here is just begging for a re-airing, along with his wanton destruction of the Department at the behest of Rahm. We just can't yet determine if he's being used to keep some other names on the sidelines and who those names are.

Bad Judge!

No votes for you!

• SCC, can you ask your reading audience to expand this small list of judges that need to be voted out of office in the next election? Have them name the judge and submit a legit case that the judge ruled on that finds them unfit to further serve on the bench
  
  Judge Carol Howard, Sept 8th, she lowered the bond of a serial rapist allowing him out on electronic monitoring. June 15th, she freed a man convicted of setting his girlfriend on fire. July 11th, she gave 4 months probation to a mother who threw her newborn baby off of an 8th floor balcony
  
  Judge Hooks, sentenced a female to probation after kiddnapping and torturing a disabled kid
  
  Pleas add all others.......

What we really need is someone with the expertise/knowledge to compile a list of judges who are actually elected versus those who are appointed and don't have to face the voters. Then figure out what year each judge is up for retention so we can post reminders that this particular judge really needs to be removed. Remember, there's always the chance that they'll be appointed after losing anyway by Evans.

Or we could just keep spreading the word to vote "NO" on all judges regardless of good/bad/indifferent temperment. The chances of another Greylord investigation cleaning house are better than in years past, but it takes too much time to set up.

Hocus Pocus!

You are now "the police" again! (maybe):

• Chicago aldermen are again fighting city Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans’ decision to remove the word “police” from airport security officers’ titles after an infamous dragging incident on a United Airlines flight at O’Hare airport.
  
  An ordinance introduced Wednesday would take away Evans’ power to make the change and once again designate roughly 290 airport officers as police, instead of security guards. It faces an uphill battle though. The proposal’s sponsors said Wednesday they haven’t spoken to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration about the idea, nor have they taken a head count in the City Council to see if they have enough support to push it forward.

Typical Chicago politics, each trying to out-clout the other with no one knowing what is actually going on. Idiots all. What does all this mean for the supposed Airport North/South expansion plans?

Nice Expressway Rahm

Who knew that gangbangers got up this early?

• The outbound Dan Ryan Expressway was shut down for more than an hour, after a car was shot Wednesday morning.
  
  Police said the shooting was reported around 5:30 a.m. in the outbound lanes at 75th Street. The driver involved told Illinois State Police he was headed south when a gray Jeep pulled up along his passenger’s side, and fired several shots.

Or was it "road rage"? The article further states that upwards of 50 shootings have taken place on area expressways. Anyone have the State Police CompStat notes to see if this is an increase in the increase?

Gun Stops Crime?

Anyone have any info on this one? The media doesn't:

• Attempt car jacking in 004 this morning. Victim shoots offender and drives away. Offender circling the drain. Neither the dicks nor news affairs can seem to wrap their heads around it. Keep confusing the ccl holding victim as the offender. Any ways that didn't seem to make the news at all..... Biased media I suppose since its against their agenda.

Someone with a gun actually stopping a crime always confuses the politicians, media and liberals.

Camera Roll Out Done?

7,000 cameras....in Patrol:

• Every Chicago Police patrol officer is now outfitted with a body camera.
  
  More than 7,000 district-assigned officers, tactical officers and supervisors are equipped with body cameras, making Chicago the largest deployment of body cameras in the nation.
  
  “In addition to protecting the rights of the people that we serve, these devices help us take a look at what we’re doing right and where we can improve,” Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said at a news conference Sunday at the Grand Central District station.

How about the Units? There are a few major scandals costing the taxpayers tens of millions of dollars that involve clouted phone call people. Shouldn't the new Targeted Strike Force or whatever they're calling SOS Junior have body cameras when they roll out?

What about the D-unit? Aren't there a few lawsuits wending their way through various courtrooms that involve detectives? Shouldn't they be on body cameras along with the taped interrogations to present a seamless investigation to the State?

What about Source of All Evil? Our readers have pointed out over 240 persons didn't swipe even once during the HQ roll out. Is there no accountability from our "leadership" and their minions?

Or is it just the grunts being monitored and judged and nitpicked?

Are You Kidding Us?

What makes someone even think like this?

• The family of the alleged ISIS-inspired Port Authority bomber said they were “heartbroken” by the attack on Monday and blasted law enforcement agencies for what they claimed were heavy-handed tactics by investigators.
  
  “We are heartbroken by the violence that was targeted at our city today and by the allegations being made against a member of our family,” said the statement read by Albert Fox Cahn, legal director for the NY Chapter Council for Islamic Relations.
  
  “But we’re also outraged by the behavior of the law enforcement officials who held children as small as 4 years old out in the cold and who pulled a teenager out of high school classes to interrogate him without lawyer, without his parents.”

Poor babies. If you bring someone over on a "chain" visa, allow him shelter and the ability to radicalize while you stay silent, you should expect some heavy handed government response when he tries and fails to blow himself and New York commuters to pieces.

Anyone have any insight into what Bangladesh might do to terror suspects? Or any other "un-enlightened" dictatorship? But hey, blame the "authorities," that seems to work everywhere else.

Vigilante Rewards?

This might be a trend that stops/solves crime:

• A rural Kane County man is offering his own money – a $3,000 reward – for information leading to the arrest of the people who burglarized his car on Thanksgiving night.
  
  “I just feel that if we don’t stop it now, we’re just encouraging more,” said Steve Hindi, who lives south of Elburn.
  
  The Kane County Sheriff’s office said Hindi’s car and at least half a dozen others were burglarized late last month.

An interesting effort to say the least. If we were this citizen though, and it worked, we'd think about suing Kane County to get a rebate on our taxes.

NYC Subway Bombing

Following the terror attack in New York City, the CPD brass sent out their spokesweasel to do his best Kevin Bacon impersonation:

And the usual platitudes:

• Chicago police will increase the visibility of patrol officers in transit hubs on Monday in response to a suspected act of terrorism in New York City, local officials announced on social media.
  
  Anthony [Google-me], a spokesman for the Chicago Police Department, wrote on Twitter "there are no credible threats to Chicago." He also wrote that CPD stands with the people of New York and the New York Police Department, referring to news reports of a man strapping a pipe bomb to himself and detonating it inside a subway station near Times Square.

A tiny bit of truth slipped into the next paragraph by accident:

• In response, Chicago police plan to make officers "highly visible" at CTA stops and Metra rail stations, according to another tweet, that one from the police department's Twitter handle. [Google-me] says the call was made by Superintendent Eddie Johnson, though it isn't clear whether more officers will actually be working or whether they will just be posted in more public spaces.

Unsaid is that the CTA has over 224 miles of track and the Mass Transit Section fields approximately 18 Officers per watch to monitor those 224 miles. It's has been posted here that McCompStat was appalled at the tiny number of officers assigned to Mass Transit, and it certainly looks like no one has done a thing since. Hopefully, the lesson isn't learned in dead bodies.

It's Working?

We have our doubts - and we have many years of experience to back them up:

• In a novel experiment, the Chicago Police Department has rounded up dozens of drug addicts over the past two years and has given them an ultimatum: treatment or jail.
  
  Most opted for treatment and only a handful were rearrested.
  
  Now, the department plans to expand that pilot program.
  
  Starting next year, patrol officers will identify candidates for diversion and bring them to a West Side police station where treatment experts will evaluate them for entry into the appropriate therapy. The goal is to expand the program citywide.
  
  Until now, the department’s narcotics division has coordinated the experiment. The patrol bureau will take over the expanded program.

Patrol is taking over? Well this is going to be a hiding spot for another two or three or four dozen wives, girlfriends, boy-toys and connected persons, thereby shorting the Districts of manpower.

And although homicides are down, we'll just point out that junkies weren't usually the ones doing the killing or getting killed. Property crime (the statistic where junkies really shine) is up across the board in all categories, so we have to wonder how many addicts are truly turning their lives around. The Federal Government just declared an "opioid epidemic" and we're pretty sure Chicago is one of the many nexuses of distribution, and usage resulting in overdoses.

We, and anyone else with a functioning brain, knows better than to trust any numbers given out by the city and department. Frank Main, bless his heart, doesn't know that after how many years now?

Inefficient Use of Manpower

If you receive specialized training - and a pay raise - from the Department, you really shouldn't be shoehorned into an office doing things that a PO or even a civilian, is more than qualified to do. We'd even go as far as to say if you aren't performing the job you were trained to do, you shouldn't be getting that pay grade.

Yeah, we're talking about the Evidence Techs as we had to wait a few hours the other day for one and there were like eight available citywide with a backlog reaching two pages. The ET who arrived mentioned that the administrative office was full of house mice who were full-duty, fully trained ET's, but who never set foot outside.

Why train someone who isn't going to do the job? You want to be a secretary, fine, but don't take a spot from someone who might actually want to do the job. Hey Ed, didn't this come up in the "efficiency study" a few years ago?

Operation Santa

Easing some of the holiday pain:

• Santa, accompanied by few burly elves and a police motorcade, made his rounds to several special homes on the South Side Sunday morning.
  
  The do-gooders, all active or retired Chicago Police officers, were on a mission to bring presents and a bit of joy to the families of officers who died in the line of duty.
  
  The annual expedition, dubbed Operation Santa, is jointly run by the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation and the police department.

Always remembered.

Politics as Usual

Shenanigans going on at Personnel:

• The “second chance” psych results for candidates that were re-evaluated had a higher “PASS” outcome than the city anticipated.
  
  Now, S(t)upEd has a pile of “dog shit” candidates that should not be on this job (thanks to Eddie Burk and his desire to get his wife’s guy from her State of IL security detail on the job after he failed the psych test earlier this year). The final numbers/results are in but the City is holding their files until they figure out what to do with this load of crap.

The psych portion of the entry process had been "tweaked" by Tracy Ladner in years past, resulting in most people with a military or CPD background being rejected. A number of lawsuits were filed, but we aren't sure of the status of any of them. Now someone connected gets flagged, and a retest reveals a boatload of people labeled as "unfit" are actually provable "fit for duty."

Release the Felons!

These two get $10,000 personal recognizance bonds:

• It was all her idea.
  
  It’s what a Minnesota man told police after admitting he and his girlfriend completely fabricated a story about being robbed last week at knifepoint of several high priced items by three black men.
  
  Ryan Reiersgaard and Katie Mager, both 27, appeared separately in bond court on Sunday, where Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Carlson detailed the contrasting tactics each allegedly took in admitting their misdeeds.
  
  “Reiersgaard stated that the whole scam was Katie’s idea and he just went along with what she was stating [to police]. He stated that he and Katie lied about the whole robbery and he doesn’t know Katie’s motives,” Carlson said.

He threw her under the bus so fast, you'd think he was running for office in Chicago.

Maybe these two jagoffs will luck out and get Judge Hooks to handle their case.

Hooks the Asshat

This is Judge Hooks a while ago:

But if four criminals video/live-stream a kidnapping and torture of a mentally handicapped individual, Judge Hooks can dismiss that evidence out of hand, disregard statutory penalties and grant probation. We seem to recall a similar attack in Bridgeport a while back that got the attacker eight years in prison, and people (or folks) thought that was a light sentence.

Don't Look Now....

The homicide clearance rate has plummeted to about 17% last week.

Approximately 100 solved homicides out of 600-plus.

Special Ed thinks we're about to turn it all around though.

Probation? For Kidnapping?

What in the holy fuck is this?

• A Chicago woman who live-streamed video of the racially charged beating of a teen with mental disabilities pleaded guilty Friday to a hate crime and was sentenced to four years of probation.
  
  Brittany Covington, 19, has been in custody since her arrest in January.
  
  Calling the incident “horrific,” Cook County Circuit Judge William Hooks banned Covington from social media over the four years, prohibited her from contact with two of her co-defendants and ordered her to do 200 hours of community service.
  
  Hooks told Covington he could have imposed a prison sentence but added, “I’m not sure if I did that you’d be coming out any better.”
  
  Hooks said he hoped the strict terms of probation would put Covington on a more productive life path, but he warned she would face prison time if she violated any of the restrictions.
  
  “Do not mess this up,” Hooks told Covington, who stood quietly in a blue jail uniform with her hands clasped behind her back.

A few weeks ago, our comment section lit up with word that the State had vacated the Hate Crime portion of the charges. It was explained by a few people that the Kidnapping charge had a better chance of conviction and provided for more severe sentencing. So what is this "four years probation" crap and a reinstatement of the Hate Crime charge? We have two theories:

• (A) the obvious one - cooperation - which we see no evidence of;
• (B) it's Judge Hooks, and he's been told to sentence the "least culpable" criminal to probation to gauge the reaction of the electorate and how damaging this might be to Rahm or Kimmie or any other Chicago pol who are pandering to the "community" once again, giving them carte blanche to "express" themselves in a manner ....we can't even finish this bullshit.

This, not even two days after Special Ed complained about sentencing and lack of punishment allowing an asshole out on parole where he could shoot an Officer. Now, one (of four) black criminals who live-streamed a kidnapping/torture of  a mentally handicapped white individual has just learned there are no significant penalties for her behavior. Are three more about to find out the same thing?

Friday's Bad News Release

As per usual, City Hall releases bad news late on a Friday:

• Embattled Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool resigned Friday after being accused of engaging in a “full-blown cover-up” during an ethics investigation by the district’s inspector general
  
  Chicago school board President Frank Clark said Claypool’s resignation is effective Dec. 31.

The vigor with which Rahm defended Claypool's corruption means one of a few things to us:

• Rahm is losing his touch;
• Claypool knows where too many bodies are buried

Maybe Rahm's resistance to an elected School Board is about to collapse?

And that wasn't the only bad news released late Friday:

• Moments before it was supposed to be considered by a jury, the city of Chicago has moved to settle a major police misconduct case in which it failed to produce a critical disciplinary report involving the officer until the middle of the trial, years after such documents were first requested.

Rahm is obviously counting on the weekend news cycle (and the SNOW EMERGENCY!!! reporting that the news channels are already running - like it doesn't ever snow in Chicago) to deaden the impact of two political black eyes.

Swiper, No Swiping (Seriously)

So why are the clouted and connected being permitted to ignore policy without consequences:

• Anonymous said...
  
  Naughty list out for no swiping at hq. Over 240 never swiped. From way on top to lowly PO. Entire units, inspection unit, civ dir's, n of course the waste of salary from a previous post is on there....The nerve of these people.

So no one is being penalized for ignoring the directive of Special Ed - where do they get the idea that they can do this?

What's really amusing is that HQ has more personnel in violation than quite a few districts have in total manpower.

Listen Here Snowflake

The entitled thinking they're better than lowly ol' you:

• OT- So there was a shooting in 007 and the female detective that showed up gets all bent out of shape because the sergeant told the paper car to go into 007 to do the report because the Area said the detectives were going to the hospital first. This female det gets on the scene and starts yellling and screaming at the officers that were on the crime scene. The Sgt comes back on the scene after having to respond to another job and gives it to the female detective about her yelling at the officers. The poor female detective calls her Lt who then calls the 007th district Lt to find out why the detective got yelled at. Really??? What are we in grade school now?? Someone’s feelings got hurt so she has to cry about it?? No wonder we are in the state we are in.

Speechless.

Charges

Filed late yesterday:

• A convicted felon was charged with shooting a Chicago Police officer during a foot pursuit late Wednesday in the Rosemoor neighborhood on the Far South Side.
  
  Anthony Woodridge, 25, was charged with felony counts of attempted first degree murder, aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated battery by discharge of a firearm, according to Chicago Police.

And a surprise:

• Woodridge then shot the officer in his hand during an ensuing pursuit, and continued firing at him when he fell to the ground, said Johnson, who insisted that the shooter was “obviously trying to kill the officer.”
  
  An additional bullet was found lodged in the back of the officer’s ballistic vest.....

So the Officer was hit multiple times. The offender is no stranger to the Criminal Justice system:

• Johnson explained Thursday that Woodridge had been arrested 25 times as an adult, and convicted of four felonies. Most recently, he was convicted of possessing a handgun as a felon on parole and sentenced to nearly five years in prison last June.

Sentenced to five years in prison just six months ago....and walking the street just Wednesday. Armed.

And with 25 adult arrests, that's about 3-to-4 arrests a year since coming of age. If he had been sentenced to just a single year for each offense, concurrent, he'd be in jail until he was 50 or so.

Ed couldn't leave well enough alone though, but had to prove he's still Rahm's ass-kissing superintendent:

• Johnson stressed the need to pass “more commonsense gun laws” to give police and citizens “the tools to be safe.”

Aren't there already laws to jail violent offenders? Didn't happen. Aren't there laws that say felons shouldn't have guns? Didn't happen. Maybe there are laws that say if you violate parole over and over again on 25 previous arrests, you should be incarcerated to finish the sentence you were paroled on? Didn't happen.

How about enforcing the fucking laws on the books? That'd be the most common sense of all.

Imagine If....

Can you imagine the outrage if you, a lowly police officer, was accused of repeatedly lying?

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s schools chief “repeatedly lied” to investigators and engaged in a “full-blown cover-up” of behavior that he and the top attorney for Chicago Public Schools engaged in over the past 20 months, the CPS inspector general says in a report released Thursday.
  
  In a blistering, 103-page document he sent Tuesday to the Chicago Board of Education, Inspector General Nicholas Schuler said he was “left with no recourse but to conclude” that the board should fire CPS CEO Forrest Claypool.
  
  “Claypool greatly compounded the severity of his misconduct when he repeatedly lied to the [inspector general’s office] through two separate interviews,” Schuler wrote.
  
  But Emanuel rushed to Claypool’s defense after the release of the report. And Frank Clark, the president of the school board — whose members were chosen by Emanuel — also has praised Claypool since getting the report.

Does anyone truly think they'd get the benefit of the doubt if they lied as often and as completely as Claypool has?

On the bright side, Rahm has now done everyone another solid:

• First, he established in a Court that residency can be proven by as little as a wedding dress stashed and forgotten in a crawl space;
• Now he has established that anyone can lie and obstruct an investigation by the Inspector General and all will be forgiven, along with a statement expressing unqualified support

It's a great day to be politically connected.

Nice Tourists Rahm

Though we suppose this isn't technically his fault:

• Charges were pending Thursday night against an out-of-town couple who falsely claimed they were robbed at knifepoint of a $12,000 engagement ring while they were downtown early Thursday, police said.
  
  The pair, both 27 and from out of town, originally told officers they took GPS directions to the lower level of 300 North Columbus Drive around 1:50 a.m., according to police. The couple said three people then approached them with a knife and took the ring, along with a $3,000 suitcase purse, a $2,000 MacBook Air laptop, a $300 suitcase and an $150 iPad Mini.
  
  The two were in police custody Thursday evening, and charges were pending against them for filing false police reports, a police spokesman said.

We're pretty sure that Rahm bears much of the blame for making Chicago a place where people pretend to get robbed and thinking that everyone will believe them.

Cop Shot in Hand

Far south side:

• A Chicago police officer was shot in the hand around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday on the Far South Side, police said.
  
  The officer was shot after a short chase near East 95th Street and South Calumet Avenue, according to Chicago police spokesman Anthony [Google-me].
  
  A weapon was recovered from the scene, and a suspect is in custody.....

As far as we know, Google-me didn't tweet a picture of the weapon.

Copper is in good condition, but hand wounds are tricky. Best wishes on a speedy recovery.

Did No One Pay Attention?

The dumb-assery of Chicago politician knows no bounds, as proven once again this aldercreature:

• Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) is organizing a petition drive aimed at pressuring the Chicago Police Department to re-open the shuttered Wood Street station — as a satellite location at the very least — to combat a surge in violent crime tied to a reduction in police manpower.
  
  When the Wood, Prairie and Belmont district stations were closed five years ago, local aldermen were assured there would be no corresponding loss in police manpower.
  
  But Hopkins argued Tuesday that’s precisely what happened — to the tune of up to 100 fewer officers — in neighborhoods like Ukrainian Village, West Town and parts of Wicker Park once served by the Wood Street station.

100 fewer officers? Try almost 200 Sherlock. Behold, the power of FOIA!

And that's covering an area twice as big as a single 012 or 013 was back in the day. McCarthy estimated/promised that there would be around 524 officers in the new 012, knowing that the new building couldn't possibly hold more than 350 on a good day, and even that was going to be a tight fit.

NEWSFLASH to the media and the public living in 013:

• The Department lied to you
• McCarthy lied to you
• Rahm lied to you

You were targeted because crime was "down" and it was thought that putting a new police station closer to Pilsen would enhance Rahm's rep among the constituency he decided to impress to win the next election. And besides, white people behave better (the racism of lowered expectations).

Except that when you dilute the police presence in "quiet neighborhoods" and double the police presence in "crime ridden 'hoods," well.....the criminal isn't completely stupid - they go where the police aren't.

Every cop on the Department warned that this was going to happen. We wrote about it. And we were ignored. Welcome to the new normal.

Code of Excusing Bad Behavior

Politics as usual in City Hall:

• Chicago Public Schools Inspector General Nicholas Schuler says district CEO Forrest Claypool should be fired for his handling of an ethics investigation involving the district’s top attorney, according to sources, but Mayor Rahm Emanuel is sticking by his embattled schools chief.
  
  Emanuel issued a statement Wednesday night saying Claypool “made a mistake” but called for no rush to judgment.
  
  “These are serious allegations, and I know the board is reviewing them with the scrutiny they merit – but Forrest himself has already acknowledged the lapse in judgment, and apologized for it,” Emanuel said in a statement. “And I think we should all take a deep breath before making snap judgments about a man with a sterling reputation and a sterling record of public service.”

Well thank goodness he was only mishandling ethics investigations. Chicago pols haven't had any ethics to speak of since early 1837 and weren't about to actually enforce ethical behavior nowadays. Rules are for fools, not Claypool.

How Many Arrests?

That funeral "procession" for some dead gangbanging piece of shit sure had some interesting characters in it:

• Charges are pending against four people arrested Tuesday afternoon during a funeral procession from Chicago to a cemetery in west suburban Hillside.
  
  Forest Park police alerted authorities in Hillside about the rowdy procession as the group headed toward Oakridge Cemetery, 4301 Roosevelt Road, according to Hillside Police Chief Joseph Lukaszek.
  
  The procession was “total chaos,” Lukaszek said. Passengers were hanging out of the vehicles’ windows and driving in and out of traffic as they headed toward the cemetery.
  
  One of the vehicles in the procession was identified as having been involved in multiple shootings earlier Tuesday in Chicago, including one in front of a church, Lukaszek said.

"Total chaos" isn't a phrase we usually associate with funerals. Well.....most funerals we should specify. And for the vehicle to be identified as being involved in "multiple shootings"? Seriously, what the fuck?

And that's not all:

• Police stopped the vehicle “with force” at Mannheim and Harrison roads in Hillside after a passenger inside showed a weapon.
  
  Lukaszek said he used his SUV to ram the vehicle in order to end a short pursuit. A foot chase followed, and three men and a woman — all in their 20s — were taken into custody and are awaiting charges.
  
  Inside the vehicle, investigators found three handguns with high-capacity magazines and high-impact ammunition

Because you always bring three handguns in a wanted car to a gang funeral, right?

And to top it all off:

• Between the four taken into custody, they had been arrested more than 160 times.

160 arrests among the four. Assuming that the police aren't sexist and had arrested everyone equally, that's 40 arrests apiece on average. Being the police for decades now and knowing that females are typically arrested less than males, we figure that the three males probably had 50 arrests each and the female maybe 10.

All before the age of 30.

By the time we were 30, we (the writers) had a combined total of 5 movers, 4 parkers, and 2 ass kickings by a cop who wasn't a parent or family member on our "record." We had been working a total of around 20 jobs and been paying taxes for around a decade.

Anyone else wondering why four career criminals were able to get three guns and an arrest total rivaling Charles Manson, Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer combined. At least the dead guy is finally contributing to society as fertilizer and worm food.

[SCC NOTE: This article was originally from the Tribune, but for some reason they took it down - it's probably insensitive or something to point out verified arrests. The link is now from Channel 2, but the article verbiage might not match]

Retiree Murdered in Arkansas

Retired CPD officer, instructor, and perennial aldermanic candidate:

• MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. (AP) — A shooting in northern Arkansas has left one person dead and another in custody.
  
  The Baxter Bulletin reports that 71-year-old Chester Raymond Hornowski was fatally shot Tuesday in a rural Mountain Home residence. Police arrested 59-year-old Robert Dean Penny, alleging he was the one who shot Hornowski.
  
  Baxter County deputies were dispatched to respond to a report of a shooting. Deputies allege they were confronted upon arrival at the residence by Penny, who was driving a pickup truck. Two deputies fired at Penny when he tried to flee, but police say his truck went airborne and hit a vehicle.

Decades in the mean city only to be cut down in retirement. Not the optimal ending. RIP.

Sun Times Hacked?

Are some of the interns having fun over at the Sun Times site? This popped up in the Sun Times internet feed today - check out the date (thanks to sharp-eyed reader TD):

That was yesterday's date. But the article reads as follows:

• Comic David Letterman and former comic Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., are the headliners for a high-dollar Oct. 25 fundraiser for the Senate campaign of Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
  
  [...]
  
  Duckworth is running to replace Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill. She first faces a March 2016 Democratic primary against lawyer Andrea Zopp.

So the article is obviously from before the Spring primary of 2016. And now with Franken's pending resignation, one has to ask, (A) did Duckworth return all of the ill-gotten money raised, seeing as how it came from two serial sexual harassers and (B) who over at the Sun Times is pointing out the hypocrisy of the democratic party in Machine-controlled Illinois?

Taxpayers Fleeing

Politicians are going to have a hard time spinning this:

• The Land of Lincoln is experiencing heavy losses of people and income to other states, new IRS data reveal. Illinois lost more than 86,000 people and $4.75 billion in adjusted gross income to other states from 2015-2016.
  
  Illinois’ problem with wealth flight isn’t just persisting, it’s getting worse. That’s the takeaway from new data released by the Internal Revenue Service on Nov. 30. In terms of both people and income, the Land of Lincoln saw a record-breaking exodus in the 2015 tax year (2015-2016).
  
  Illinois saw a net loss of nearly 42,000 tax returns to other states on the year, representing a net loss of more than 86,100 people (measured in exemptions), according to the IRS. That’s an all-time high.

Those are actual taxpayers (as opposed to tax takers) leaving. And guess which taxpayers?

• It’s not retired snowbirds who are driving the flight from Illinois. Analysis of IRS data for previous years shows how millennials are in fact leading the Illinois exodus. Further, the most recent IRS data show Illinois lost income and people on net to every neighboring state.

Millennials are where new taxpayers spawn from, meaning Illinois is losing future taxpayers as well as current ones, also known as a "death spiral."

Corp Counsel Misconduct Again?

Hiding evidence seems to be part and parcel of the Corporation Counsel Office's job nowadays:

• A high-stakes wrongful-death trial alleging a code of silence in the Chicago Police Department took a dramatic turn Tuesday after documents suddenly surfaced mid-trial showing an off-duty detective was involved in a drunken bar fight nearly 17 years before he killed two young men in a fiery DUI crash on the Dan Ryan Expressway.
  
  At an emergency hearing outside the presence of the jury, U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall said the undisclosed report of former homicide Detective Joseph Frugoli’s 1992 arrest and five-day suspension went to the heart of the allegations against both Frugoli and the department that officers are inclined to cover up for wrongdoing by fellow cops.
  
  “This is the damning report, and it comes up out of nowhere, six years after the beginning of the lawsuit,” an exasperated Kendall said. “It’s really a mess.”
  
  Plaintiffs’ attorneys asked for immediate sanctions, including a possible directed verdict in their favor. After conferring in private with attorneys for both sides, however, Kendall announced that the trial would go on — though with incriminating new evidence that could cripple the city’s case.

So the plaintiff attorney begins the trial by quoting Rahm's completely unsupported assertion that there is a "code of silence" in the police department (this assertion will be used for the next two decades in order to sway jury settlements against the city). Then the plaintiff attorney brings in a convicted ex-cop who reveals an unknown five-day suspension from 1992 that the Corporation Counsel supposedly didn't know about. Finally, Corporation Counsel suddenly discovers a 115 page investigation that in essence, proves his contention.

A few observations:

• Corporation Counsel is completely incompetent and this "undiscovered" investigation ought to cost a few lawyers their jobs and their law licenses;
• The so-called "code of silence" always seems to be lead back to some connected or clouted individual whose wrongdoing was covered up, concealed or "disappeared." If more clout people were held accountable instead of covered for, maybe these things wouldn't be so damaging and the reputation of the Department wouldn't be destroyed;
• IAD should be considered the birthplace of the "code" since they're the ones burying the DUI's, domestics, thefts, sex scandals, harassment, gambling investigation and test cheating. In fact, they birthed the entire Lieutenant Cheating scandal when six or eight sergeants from IAD, all with ties to Wysinger's sergeant-wife made top twenty scores.

Get ready for another excessive payout which will be used to tar the entire Department, despite the fact that the only one actually benefiting from the "code" was another political animal with connections running back a generation or more.

Ramming Speed!

Here's one way to stop gang funeral mischief:

• Four people suspected of firing guns from a vehicle during a funeral procession were taken into custody Tuesday in Hillside after the western suburb’s police chief ran his SUV into the suspects’ vehicle following a brief chase.
  
  The incident began just before 2 p.m., when a 911 caller reported shots fired on the Eisenhower Expressway in Forest Park as a funeral procession was traveling west. Moments later, police were dispatched to a call of shots fired at Harrison Street and Mannheim Road in Hillside.
  
  The second 911 caller said gunfire was coming from a vehicle in the funeral procession, said Chief Joseph Lukaszek of the Hillside Police Department.
  
  Lukaszek and other responding officers attempted to pull the car over, but the chief eventually made a decision to ram his SUV into the vehicle to force it to stop.

We can't even imagine a CPD exempt dreaming about thinking about actually doing something like this. Nice job Chief.

Fake Diplomas

We can only imagine the amount of money being stolen, hand-over-fist, at these diploma mills:

• A Southwest Side City Colleges campus artificially doubled its graduation rate by awarding nearly 300 diplomas to aspiring electricians as part of an unapproved program loaded with ineligible students, records show.
  
  A scathing 246-page confidential report from City College’s inspector general, John Gasiorowski, recommended an immediate halt to the troubled apprenticeship program at Richard J. Daley College, which he charged was also used as the basis to seek hundreds of thousands of dollars in state tuition reimbursements for courses offered for free.
  
  The report was delivered to City Colleges administrators in February, but there is no evidence the program has slowed in any way since then.
  
  The report, never released to the public in full, was obtained by the Better Government Association.

And not just in Chicago. It's a national problem (sorry about the NPR link):

• An investigation by WAMU and NPR has found that [Washington DC] Ballou High School's administration graduated dozens of students despite high rates of unexcused absences. We reviewed hundreds of pages of Ballou's attendance records, class rosters and emails after a district employee shared the private documents. Half of the graduates missed more than three months of school last year, unexcused. One in five students was absent more than present — missing more than 90 days of school.
  
  According to district policy, if a student misses a class 30 times, he should fail that course. Research shows that missing 10 percent of school, about two days per month, can negatively affect test scores, reduce academic growth and increase the chances a student will drop out.
  
  Teachers say when many of these students did attend school, they struggled academically, often needing intense remediation.
  
  "I've never seen kids in the 12th grade that couldn't read and write," says Butcher about his two decades teaching in low-performing schools from New York City to Florida. But he saw this at Ballou, and it wasn't just one or two students.
  
  An internal email obtained by WAMU and NPR from April shows two months before graduation, only 57 students were on track to graduate, with dozens of students missing graduation or community service requirements or failing classes needed to graduate. In June, 164 students received diplomas.

Setting up another entire generation for failure.

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Rules

Can someone tell us why this is posted in every police facility:

But a police commander can show up at a shooting looking like this?

We don't think that follows a single regulation at all. Why is that?

Oh yeah - two sets of rules. Maybe three.

Don't Brag

How many times have we said this? Don't brag about numbers because the numbers will come back to bite you:

• SCC, you're going to smile. Special Ed had a press conference Saturday at the Harvest Church in 011 with one of the Johnson twins. He told the ministers, citizens and media that Beat 1133 wasn't the most violent beat in the city any more at 7 AM. By 1230 that day, a guy driving through Beat 1133 got ambushed and killed less than 250 feet from the Harvest Church. 18 hours later, another guy got robbed and gut shot on the same block Sunday morning. When are these bosses going to learn not to tempt fate?

That's either bad luck or the crime gods crapping on Special Ed.

Secret Meeting

Unfortunately for the connected, too many people know about this. And many people can keep secrets only if all but one are dead.

• Strangely 02DEC17 at city hall a meeting was held on a Saturday with Mike Madigan and rahm! Long meeting was this the get out of our way my daughter Lisa will be next mayor? So many things happening rumors of detail being told to look for a place! Too many coincidences!

This makes the other rumor about Rahm's detail being told to find soft landing spots look more realistic.

There is a disturbance in the Machine - Little Luis, Chewy, Munoz, Stroger in-then-out of the race, Dart articles, etc.

Crime Hits Home

For the media at least - and guess what's missing?

• A Chicago Tribune reporter was carjacked as she sat parked outside a Dunkin Donuts in the Bridgeport neighborhood early Monday.
  
  The reporter, 29, was inside the car in a parking lot in the 700 block of 31st Street when two males approached around 2:30 a.m., according to the reporter. One of them tapped on the driver's side window and told her to get out.
  
  The reporter got out of the late model Malibu, and the two robbers got in and sped off on 31st Street. She was not injured and told police she did not see a weapon.

Great descriptions there. We're going to rush right out and look for any males we can find.

In the meantime, perhaps the media can start looking at other crimes that might be rising instead of the homicide count which isn't always indicative of crime trends? Or is that too much to ask?

Loooooong Memories

Well, not that long. A reader pointed out that we had this post up in late March:

• On March 1, 2017, the Board of Directors of Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), elected Ron Huberman to the Board of Directors. Mr. Huberman will hold office until the next annual meeting of stockholders (and until his successors shall have been duly elected and qualified). The Company has not yet made a determination as to the committees of the Board of Directors on which Mr. Huberman will serve. Mr. Huberman currently serves as Senior Advisor of PeopleAdmin, a talent management software company.
  
  There are currently no arrangements or understandings between Mr. Huberman and any other persons to which he was selected as a director of the Company and he is not a party to any transaction that would be required to be disclosed by the Company to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.
  
  Mr. Huberman shall be eligible to participate in all previously established and disclosed compensation and benefit plans in which non-employee directors participate. Information regarding these compensation and benefit plans are described in the Company’s Information Statement, filed as Exhibit 99.1 to the Company’s Form 10-12B/A, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 11, 2016 and is incorporated by reference.

Guess what just popped up on the radar late last week?

• Pinnacle Entertainment, the owner of East Chicago's Ameristar Hotel and Casino, is in talks with gaming operator Penn National Gaming that could result in Pinnacle's sale.
  
  Las Vegas-based Pinnacle and Wyomissing, Pennsylvania-based Penn acknowledged the discussions late last week.
  
  [...] Penn also owns the Hollywood casinos in Aurora and Joliet, Illinois, and Prairie State Gaming, a video gaming terminal operator with more than 1,100 gaming terminals at 270 bars and other retail gaming establishments in Illinois.

Consolidation of gambling interests, one of which numerous gambling interests in Illinois already, which will undoubtedly benefit connected interests - like Luberman. Our reader with the long memory relates:

• Pinnacle tends to cater to higher heeled customers.  They're negotiating with Penn National Gaming who tends to cater to lower level gamblers.  After Chicago opens up their casino, the northwest Indiana casinos will lose a majority of their business; most gamblers live in Illinois.

Any media-types looking into all of this?  Joravsky maybe?

Dart is a What Now?

We've seen some media snow jobs over the years. We've seen reporters literally drop to their knees and fellatiate politicians in all sorts of embarrassing ways. This however, takes the cake (for the moment):

[NOTE: If link is out of order, it's because HuffPo took it down or is having issues. It worked when we tested it - SCC]

• It’s the plot of every classic Western film. The Sheriff, concerned that the violence in his town has gotten out of hand, deputizes the entire community to fight crime and restore order. And order is restored.
  
  The only difference – this isn’t a movie. It’s the ultra-violent 6th District of Chicago’s South Side, home to record numbers of homicides this year.
  
  There’s a reason why shootings and homicides in the 6th have dropped precipitously, after endless headlines of multiple shootings in Chicago night after night.
  
  And that reason is the Sheriff of Cook County, Tom Dart.

That must be news to the working cops in 006, their supervisors, the brass at HQ, and the bean counters.

The solution to all of the crime in 006 was under everyone's nose all this time - we just never knew it. It's brilliant! And we were there! Dart took the idea! He saw it ripe on the tree, he plucked it, and he put it in his pocket. It's, it's, (dare we say...) genius?

And perhaps when the author of this article comes up for air, he won't forget to wipe his chin.

UPDATE: Here's a Google cached link to the article. It may expire as the Google Robots refresh every few days, so read it now.

Wasted Salary

Why is the Department paying this person again?

• Not sure this is anything news worthy... But it is to me... Have you looked at Robin Robinson's Twitter account? If she is a Deputy or whatever her 'title' is, doesn't she have to follow the same rules as us? Her Twitter account is VERY political for being a CPD employee. Guess the rules don't apply to everyone.  

This is a quid pro quo for what? for whom? And if you have her twitter link, throw it in the comment sections.

Interesting Read

This is an interesting take on the current situation, aggravated by the previous administration and possibly un-addressed by the current:

• The revival of America’s core cities is one of the most celebrated narratives of our time—yet, perhaps paradoxically, urban progress has also created a growing problem of increasing inequality and middle-class flight. Once exemplars of middle-class advancement, most major American cities are now typified by a “barbell economy,” divided between well-paid professionals and lower-paid service workers. As early as the 1970s, notes the Brookings Institution, middle-income neighborhoods began to shrink more dramatically in inner cities than anywhere else—and the phenomenon has continued. Today, in virtually all U.S. metro areas, the inner cores are more unequal than their corresponding suburbs, observes geographer Daniel Herz.
  
  Signs of this gap are visible. Homelessness has been on the rise in virtually all large cities, including Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, even as it declines elsewhere. Despite numerous exposés on the growth of suburban poverty, the poverty rate in core cities remains twice as high; according to the 2010 census, more than 80 percent of all urban-core population growth in the previous decade was among the poor. For all the talk about inner-city gentrification, concentrated urban poverty remains a persistent problem, with 75 percent of high-poverty neighborhoods in 1970 still classified that way four decades later.
  
  Clearly, then, the urban renaissance has not lifted all, or even most, boats. San Francisco, arguably the nation’s top urban hot spot, is seeing the most rapid increase in income inequality of any metropolitan area in the nation, according to a Bloomberg study. The ranks of the country’s most bifurcated cities include such celebrated urban areas as San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, where the poverty rate is higher now than before the 1992 riots, both in the city proper and in the riot zone.

We realize many readers come here for the lighter fare. But some like the heavier reading and this is a short piece, probably three pages, expounding on things that directly affect the working middle class - something most city workers aspire to.

Oh Mope-rah, You Idiot

This is a hilarious bit of "reporting" by Mope-rah regarding her daughter's vehicle getting stolen - the car is nicknamed "Tootie" by the way:

• Where in the world is Tootie? My daughter left her parked a block from her apartment when she went away for the Thanksgiving holiday. When she came back a few days later, Tootie was gone. There wasn’t even broken glass to mark the spot where the car had been.
  
  Thank the Lord; my daughter and granddaughter weren’t carjacked. Still, the theft is upsetting. Is Tootie being stripped naked for parts? Is the thief using poor Tootie as a getaway car in a crime spree?
  
  Given the prevalence of identity theft, we’re also concerned that my daughter’s personal information could be gleaned from items left in the car’s glove compartment.

Remember, this is the same woman who had her car stolen a number of years back and when the police got it long with a number of arrests, Mope-rah refused to even sign complaints for the lowest of Criminal Trespass charges because she couldn't see her way to actually stand up for herself and teach habitual criminals that stealing was wrong.

We're surprised she hasn't taught her kids to leave their cars parked with the windows down, keys in the ignition and with a full tank of gas so that the "less fortunate" can get around on "borrowed" wheels for a while.

Find a Cure

Someone was asking about the Early Onset Arthritis recently observed in the room-temperature dirt-napping assailant from the other day. We found this handy guide to help interpret the primitive sign language of the afflicted:

If we've posted this before, apologies. If not, enjoy.

How Much Will This Cost?

The Chief Judge suing the Board President:

• Cook County ditches the Sweetened Beverage Tax on Friday, but the newly approved budget is not getting implemented without a court fight.
  
  Chief Cook County Judge Timothy Evans is suing to stop court layoffs. CBS 2’s Susanna Song has a look at the legal fight.
  
  Chief Judge Evans is suing Toni Preckwinkle to keep her from laying off at least 156 court employees. There is a hearing at 11 a.m. Friday morning before a Lake County judge.

We're pretty sure the separation of power applies to local units of government - and the Executive Branch can sign or veto any budget passed by the Legislative Branch regarding staffing of the Judicial and associated branches. One branch suing another merely enriches connected lawyers.

Maybe while Evans is out in Lake County he can do a little shopping? Get a feel for how taxes differ between poorly and less poorly run counties?

Attempted Carjacking of Off Duty?

Just a rumor or two popping up on the radar.

Supposedly some armed youth confronted an off-duty and gunfire may have been exchanged. Helicopter was up part of the night on the far south side. Any info?

Stay aware and stay safe.

Officers Not Wanted

Even for a premise check:

• During vri lakefront last night on XX-nov-17 in the area between Illinois- grand and lake shore drive (apartment building on west side of lake shore). So 500 lake shore drive. We went in to warm up and were immediately approached (didn’t even have time to removed our hats) by a female manager who stated we weren’t welcomed because the staff and most of the residents were always concerned to see the police in their building and were uncomfortable with us there. We were asked to then leave and basically to stay out of site.

And here we thought that Michigan Avenue VRI was a good thing, welcomed by the citizens paying some of the highest taxes in the nation. Just goes to show you....

Racist Glass

Just when you think St. Sabina is run by a morons who is near the pinnacle of stupid ideas, someone else comes along and raise the bar a few feet:

• Earlier this month, Councilwoman Cindy Bass introduced a bill to better regulate the hundreds of “stop and go” convenience stores that operate predominantly in Philadelphia’s low-income neighborhoods. Among its stipulations, the controversial measure would prohibit any physical barrier that separates cashiers from customers at these so-called “nuisance” establishments – including protective bulletproof glass.

So did she take her cue from pfather pfleger or did she come up with this on her own? The glass is racist now?

• According to Bass, these storefronts take advantage of the city’s lax restaurant liquor license provision while contributing to a variety of quality-of-life issues in low-income communities. Content to rely solely on the sale of cigarettes and alcohol, along with a bag of Doritos or two, many of these business owners don’t even sell the food that they advertise.
  
  “Nuisance establishments like stop-and-gos harm neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia in several ways,” Bass tells Philly Mag. “First, they contribute to increased crime. On any given day, you can find people in front of these businesses selling ‘loosies,’ or loose cigarettes, and engaging in other nuisance behaviors like loitering, public drunkenness, possible drug sales, and even public urination.”

We're pretty sure that these problems would exist even without the scourge of the convenience stores. And we know who will be first in line bitching when the food "desert" grows ever drier.

Alcohol + Flame = Fun!

Someone missed the Fire Marshall Bill presentation at the beginning of the school year:

• CINCINNATI — Officials in Ohio say a 13-year-old boy trying to kill a bed bug sparked an apartment building fire that displaced eight people and caused $300,000 in damage in Cincinnati.
  
  Officials say the fire was reported around 11 p.m. Tuesday and began when the teen lit a match after dousing a bed bug with alcohol. Six apartment units were damaged in the fire.

Well, at least he knew heat kills bedbugs.

Assailant Identified

The dead guy was identified Thursday:

• The man was transported in critical condition to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 1:26 a.m. Thursday. He was identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office as Aquoness Cathery, who lived in Chicago's Park Manor neighborhood.

And as we suspected, he suffered from Early Onset Arthritis, a common ailment among the neighborhood down that way:

Someday society will find a cure, although this one - clocking in around 1,200 feet per second - seemed to work just fine.

Morons

A round of applause to DC Ryan for correcting (or acting confused - it was hard to tell) when a reporter kept asking about the "victim" in yesterday's shooting. Just as a quick reminder to the morons, the Police Office is the victim of the Assault (Handgun) by the deceased offender.

Kind of disturbing was Google-me posting this on the Department twitter account:

As someone asked in the comment section, "We tweet evidence now?" We don't recall that one in the orders, but it's been a few years since we took a promotional exam. This will be Exhibit A for anyone brought up for "tweeting" or "facebooking" a crime scene selfie.

Also particularly disturbing was at least two media outlets "reporting" that COPA-cabana was investigating whether the now-deceased had actually fired his weapon.

Um, what now? If this is something new in the COPA-cabana directives, we're going to have to strenuously object. There is nothing in any law, anywhere in the United States that says Officers have to take fire to return fire. In fact, there isn't a Department policy nationwide that we've ever heard of that says that. The mere act of pointing a gun at an officer, or any innocent bystander, is grounds for an officer or legally armed citizen, to lawfully shoot an offender.

Perhaps the Department should spearhead some sort of Public Service Announcement so that offenders, the "community" and members of the media become slightly familiar with State Law and Use of Force.

No Parking!

It's our favorite time of the year - the IQ test to see if Chicagoans actually read the Winter Parking bans.

We're predicting a record year this time around as temperatures are going to be in the 50's and 60's tomorrow, and there isn't any snow in the foreseeable future.

We'll guess at 145 cars this year.

Bye Bye Soda Tax

We don't know about you, but we've kind of gotten to enjoy shopping outside of Cook County. It's only about 20 minutes from home, the people are unfailingly polite, we save on groceries and toss in gas and a big ticket item every other month or so. If we happen to pass a sporting good store, a few hundred rounds of ammo are always happy to make a home in our redoubt.

And we aren't the only ones.

A "Free" Train?

Rahm says it won't cost a dime, which probably means it'll saddle the taxpayers with a few billion in bond debt:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel is beginning his official search for firms to help turn his vision for a high-speed O’Hare express train from dream to reality. Today, City Hall along with the Chicago Infrastructure Trust will issue a formal Request For Qualifications (RFQ) seeking companies to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the new service.
  
  An express link between downtown Chicago and its busiest international airport was first proposed by former Mayor Richard M. Daley in the early 1990s. The concept was more recently revived by Emanuel as a second term objective with the announcement of a feasibility study in early 2016. The results have apparently provided the administration with the confidence to move forward with the FRQ.
  
  [...]
  
  Though the O’Hare express is expected to cost billions of dollars, the City still insists that it will not rely on any taxpayer-derived funds. It is hoped that ride fares, advertising space, and other “project-specific revenues” will entice a private operator to foot the ten-figure bill.

Rahm got his first nibble already:

• Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk says he’ll get in on the competition to construct an express train service to O’Hare Airport.
  
  “The Boring Company will compete to fund, build & operate a high-speed Loop connecting Chicago O’Hare Airport to downtown,” Musk tweeted Wednesday night, referring to the company he founded to dig tunnels for underground transit systems.

Musk, who is in charge of Tesla, can't possibly think he'll make a profit in the most corrupt of sewers like Chicago. Of course, seeing as how he's made some sort of money via massive government subsidies for an electric car that can only be powered by a hundred-fold increase in coal-fired power plants (or ten-fold increase in nuclear power plants), he might not be the vulture picking over Chicago's corpse just yet.