Seriously?

Oh no, no more flippers:

• A bill outlawing license plate flippers has passed the Illinois Senate.

  Senate Bill 1883 to explicitly ban license plate flippers is sponsored by State Sen. Steve Stadelman (D-Rockford). The flippers enable motorists to avoid tolls and identification by police when potentially violating the law with just the push of a button.

  “Many drivers are using plate flippers to avoid tolls and police, evading the consequences of their actions on our roadways,” Stadelman said. “Banning flipper devices is a crucial step toward keeping our roads safe and holding drivers accountable.”

Since Chicago doesn't want cops doing traffic stops, we just have our plates attached via a magnet. If we're driving in the city, we don't put them on and don't even think about speed cameras or stop lights any more - much less stressful and we know the cops can't chase.

If we're on the highway, we have the upper half of a paper Indiana registration. ISP is even more undermanned than CPD so we like our chances.

Are these things that prevalent that Springfield has to pass a law against them? It's going to go over as well as the "gun registration" that achieved all of 3% compliance across the state.

The New Engagement Rules?

An interesting statement by convicted felon and current alderasshole Burnett the other day:

• Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th, flagged the setting of the stop. Plainclothes officers stopped Reed in what Burnett described as a high-crime neighborhood.

  “I couldn’t imagine what was going on in the young man’s head. He should not have had a gun, he should not have did what he did,” Burnett said. “But if someone would have walked up on my car in that neighborhood, I don’t know how I would react.”

Taking Wally's bullshit to the illogical extreme, any time a black/white/brown person approaches our car, we're justified in blasting away? 

Wally, being a convicted felon....kind of like Dexter....is known to have a certain disregard for the law, so it's not too far of a leap to suppose he carries a gun when traveling. And knowing that, a smart politically aware officer on a traffic stop might already have his gun out and ready when approaching the alderasshole.

We must confess, we wouldn't know how we would react either.

Background Check Arrest

Someone occasionally doing their job correctly:

• Stephon Arnold walked into a Chicago Police Department station last October looking for a job, but prosecutors said details he revealed during his interview led them to uncovering he and his brother were connected to a nearly decade-old kidnapping and rape investigation.

  Arnold, 30, and his brother, Sherrow Harris, 35, were both arrested and charged on Friday with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated criminal sexual assault after investigators said they violently assaulted two 18-year-old women back in 2016....

Of course, our comment section is alive with horror stories of background checks going awry, not being done correctly, or purposefully being disregarded due to hiring and/or political issues. Look at the recent coverage regarding the woman beater or the habitual traffic offender asshole - you can't tell us there weren't warning flags in those background checks. We're old enough to remember who buried the Abbate warning signs back in the day.

But helping solve a nearly decade old sex assault is good news.

$15 Million?

From a foundation that has zero to do with police work or leadership as far as we can tell:

• All Chicago police supervisors will soon be enrolled in an innovative program aimed at using a $15 million gift to turn them into more effective leaders.

  Police Supt. Larry Snelling said he wants department members “to walk away with a feeling of confidence” — and crucial new job skills.

  “We want them to be able to think on a critical level [and] develop strategies based on things that they’re seeing in the communities,” Snelling told the Sun-Times. “It’s going to make for a much more effective police officer, and it’s going to make for much more effective planning around strategies that you need to reduce violence.”

  The Sue Ling Gin Foundation gave the funding to the Civic Committee, which will develop and run the program over the next five years alongside the University of Chicago Crime Lab.

  The first group of police leaders is expected to start training in January.

The foundation is known for advancing far left wing causes (mainly gun control) and appears to be run by a family that made millions supplying meals to airlines. How this is connected to anything police related is a mystery, but the Department got $15 million when Conehead has run out of money citywide.

What's Missing?

Rumorville is kicking up some dust in the comment sections - see if you can tell what's missing:

• SCC: mayor had a meeting with department heads. you think overtime is down now just wait til 2026 budget comes:
  
  OT budget tightened - have fun with your late arrest- pass it to the next shift. felony means only box 1 stays late.
  
  Position cuts will come from 9161- probably another 500 vacancies
  
  9164 is getting trimmed too- no need for 449 FTO’s when only 50 recruits are hired every month. will be cut via attrition to 350 and remaining FTO’s will just get more ppos to stress them out. supervisors are safe thanks to the consent decree
  
  canine will be shrunk as well. the city has wanted to do away with it for a while but hasn’t because of federal $$.
  
  CFD also in the hotseat, they want 3-5% of firehouses closed. nance-holt and BJ do not see eye to eye, so a new commissioner will be brought in this summer to oversee the trimming of the Daley days OT and paramedic OT and to find new “efficiencies”.
  
  other departments will be told to cut ot, delay some services like tree trimming, pothole remediation, minor ward projects, cuts to hours of operation at clerks office, libraries etc.
  
  taxes fines and fees all go up. 600k house in Beverly, you’re looking at a 3k increase over 2-3 years
  
  if city council grows a pair and insists on cuts, non critical layoffs will follow.

Did you spot it?

Supposedly, they want a 3-to-5% cut in firehouses....but still have something like over TWENTY high schools operating at less than 25% occupancy, some with full administrative and janitorial staff, not to mention a student-to-teacher ratio of  5-to-1 while other schools are nearly 35-to-1.

Conehead could close his entire budget "shortfall" just by reforming CPS expenditures.

Really Yoyo?

An amusing article over by Channel 7:

• Yolanda Talley is the new second-in-command at the Chicago Police Department, and she's making history. She is the first woman to ever hold the position of first deputy superintendent.

  ABC7 Chicago spoke exclusively with Talley about her experience on the force, and what it brings to her leadership role.  It's a place Talley never imagined she'd be.

Yeah, we never imagined it either:

• after the dope was found in your personal car 
• with your niece and her gang banger boyfriend
• the gang banger who was the "informant" on the "naked woman search warrant" debacle
• and the IAD cover-ups, including the woman-beating witness-threatening detective that was brought to the attention of your office with email proof....and you left him in place, told the victim to bid out, and told her not to mention "hostile workplace"
• have they addressed the "rumor" of your nephew being a shooter?

This part made us laugh out loud:

• She's now second-in-command to top cop Larry Snelling. The office had been vacant for nearly two years.

Um....if some position is vacant for two years and almost no one noticed, is that position even necessary at all? Perhaps it ought to be defunded and shuttered.

Yeah we know it was shadow-filled by that other jackass who spent his time putting all his lackeys, lickspittles, asskissers and suckholes in various positions, but seriously, who'd miss a useless layer of pension draining over-supervision?

Will He or Won't He?

Conehead did. Can Fata$$ be less of a....who are we kidding? Porkulous can't be "less than" just about anything except certain large ocean dwelling creatures. We're going to guess he'll decline:

• Calling the request a “partisan dog and pony show,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday said he is evaluating whether he’ll testify before the Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee next month over the state’s immigration policies.

  The request comes after Mayor Brandon Johnson on March 5 participated in a six-hour congressional committee alongside Democratic mayors who represent sanctuary cities.

  House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) has requested Pritzker, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul testify before the committee on their sanctuary state policies on May 15. In a letter to Pritzker, Comer asked Pritzker to confirm his testimony by April 17. Comer has also requested documents and communications about the state’s sanctuary status.
  

With all of the information about the Pritzker family being linked to over 50 different non-government groups getting tons of taxpayer money from the corrupt USAID coffers, he might want to avoid a hostile Congress.

Finally, a Good Decision

It's been years, maybe even decades since we've seen common sense prevail at the City Council - don't get used to it:

• A key City Council panel on Friday rejected a $1.25 million settlement to the family of Dexter Reed, who was killed in a hail of Chicago police gunfire after he shot and wounded an officer during a controversial West Side traffic stop last year.

  Two months after the payout had stalled in the Finance Committee amid bitter opposition from some of the Council’s staunchest police allies, it was turned down by a 12-15 vote, blocking it from consideration by the full Council next week.

  City lawyers had recommended the settlement, arguing that taking the case to court would cost taxpayers several times as much money to defend with outside counsel.

  But a vocal bloc of Council members rejected settling in a case that saw Reed fire the first shot before officers instantly returned dozens of bullets that continued even after the 26-year-old went down, authorities have said.

A few aldercreatures ventured into the unfamiliar area of actual truth: 

• “I don’t want to be associated with any conversation that justifies the shooting of a Chicago police officer. This is a bad day for Chicago, if this is the way the conversation is going to go,” Ald. Marty Quinn (13th) said.

• “When I hear someone vocalize that they don’t know if they would do anything different than what this young man did to try to take the lives of Chicago police officers, if they were in that same situation, what the hell is going on in this room?” [Ald. Ray Lopez (15th)] said.

  “We have an officer who nearly lost his hand because this young man took it upon himself to open fire,” Lopez added. “Yes, his loss is unfortunate, but he is the responsible party for it. You want to settle because you say it’s cheaper. You are sending a message to every criminal, and you are also sending a message to every officer on the street, that their lives do not matter any more.”

The family claims "racism!" the way ignorant people (or folks) always do. The black offender shot a black officer as his first target, so who's the actual racist? The tact team was actually racially balanced and reflective of the city as a whole.

This was a can of worms that shouldn't be opened. Ever. Because there is a subset of people (or folks) who will actually attempt to get shot for the resultant payoff. We met more than a few over the decades, all most likely mentally ill to some extent, but all wanting to get shot or bragging about it after they succeeded.

UPDATE: This was the Finance committee only. Trust Conehead or his lackeys to try to find a procedural end-around at some point. 

Tax Situtation Gets Worse

Prickwrinkle is ripping you off:

• The typical Cook County condominium or single-family homeowner paid 78% more in property taxes in 2024 than they spent in 2007, despite median property values only rising 7.3%.

  The median property tax bill paid by the owner of a single-family home or condominium in Cook County grew to $5,821 last year – an increase of $2,558 since 2007, the oldest data available.

  The median property values for the 1.17 million single-family homes and condominiums examined in Cook County only rose from $224,000 to $240,000, according to data from the Cook County Assessor’s Office.

This is why the outbound U-Haul rentals are so high statewide - with an emphasis on Cook County.

Don't forget about CPS's portion of the property tax levy - attendance is down tens of thousands from just a few years ago, but they raise their share of the property tax the maximum allowable.

Every. Single. Time.

And we have how many under-populated schools? How many kids who can't read? How many teachers making more than CPD captains and chiefs?

Go read the entire article - you aren't getting any bang for your buck any more.

This Will Do It, For Sure

A sternly worded letter ought to solve all Chicago's weekend problems!

• The Chicago Police Department is looking at ways to try and prevent teen takeovers as warmer weather moves in, and police are hoping for help from CPS.

  Scenes of hundreds of teenagers descending upon downtown have become all too familiar, blocking the streets and sidewalks, dancing on cars, and now in two recent incidents have turned violent.

  The Chicago Police Department sent an email to Chicago Public School parents overnight strongly encouraging them to refrain from allowing their kids to attend such events. CPD said in the letter in part, "In instances of large gatherings, we will use de-escalation and dispersal techniques to encourage our young people to comply with the law."

  If they do not comply, CPD warns, teens will be subject to arrest.

And upon "arrest" they will be either (A) released to the nearest upright being claiming to be related or (B) escorted to the nearest CTA station and put on board (free of charge!) and dismissed from the area....whereupon the accused will exit at the next available station and return to downtown.

We don't know how many times we have to say this: 

• without immediate, consistent, direct and painful consequences (physical or financial), then you are granting them free reign to continue the mayhem

And it's not a "takeover," it's what it has always been - wilding.

And just to let the politicians know what might be coming - one of these days, a shopkeeper or a tourist or a retired cop out for a pleasant evening is going to shoot one or more of these ne'er-do-wells. It might not even be downtown.

Our last decade on the job, we told people to get a gun, because cops weren't able to protect them. The last five, we told people to stay away from downtown. Now, we tell the neighbors keep the sidearm handy and don't stick around to answer questions.

Darn Those Blog Rumors

All that talk about OT restrictions....you know they just make it all up!

Click for larger version.

Who has the rest of the "rumor"?

Fata$$ Headed to Washington

In the face of threatened funding cuts for Chicago and the entire state, governor Porkulous is called to DC:

• President Donald Trump is threatening to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities, and that could have a huge impact on Chicago.

  The city is expecting more than $3 billion in grants this year from the feds.

  Meanwhile, more than a month after Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was grilled on Capitol Hill, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker could be next in line. In a letter, the Republican House Oversight Committee Chair requested ".documents and communications" related to Illinois' sanctuary policies and invited Pritzker to testify at a May 15 hearing.

Federal funds are funny things - if you accept fed money, you abide by fed rules. Period. There's no getting around it in the end. It's how the "21 to purchase alcohol" became the national norm and the 55 mph speed limit (since rescinded) was adopted years ago. Lawsuits by blue-state shitholes merely delay the inevitable.

If fed money is withheld, Porky isn't going to bend the knee and cut programs. Guess where Fata$$ is going to find the money to keep the giveaway spigot open?

Missing Info

From last Friday:

• Chicago police officers may have stopped a tragedy from unfolding at a Northwest Side high school on Friday afternoon: A troubled student who threatened to shoot up the school as he left campus was arrested by cops who allegedly saw him ditch a loaded firearm directly outside the school grounds.

  At about 1:50 p.m., officials at Foreman College and Career Academy, 3235 North Leclaire, notified police that a 17-year-old student had left in an Uber, saying he was going to come back with an AR-15 to shoot up the school, according to initial information given to responding officers.

  Cops in a nearby police district went to the boy’s home while other officers responded to the school.

  At about 2:03 p.m., an officer spotted the boy walking in the 5000 block of West Belmont, across from the school’s athletic field, and allegedly saw the boy toss something under a nearby vehicle. The boy briefly ran from the police, but the cops caught him and recovered a fully loaded Ruger 9-millimeter handgun from under the vehicle, according to a law enforcement source.

The principal sent out a letter to parents telling them there was an "incident" but failed to mention important pieces of information - that threats were made to use a gun, a gun was recovered from the known offender and police were actually the heroes of this tale.

After all, you wouldn't want parents to know that the threat was real and cops did an amazing job responding, identifying and arresting the offender peacefully.

Another Embarrassment

Guilty plea entered since it was all on video:

• A Chicago police officer has been given court supervision and ordered to perform community service for an off-duty incident in which he allegedly drove recklessly and evaded on-duty cops who tried to pull him over. Body camera footage of the same officer’s behavior during a previous traffic stop went viral in 2021.

  Jonathan Mehrhoff, who joined the force in June 2018, continues to work as a $108,012-per-year officer in the Austin (15th) District, a police spokesperson said Wednesday.

  On the evening of November 27, 2022, a Harrison (11th) District tactical unit tried to pull Mehrhoff over after seeing his Acura MDX run two red lights in the 400 and 500 blocks of South Kostner, a CPD arrest report said. But the Acura “accelerated in speed and disregarded [the officers’] attempt to stop the vehicle,” the report continued.

  Mehrhoff, 34, headed onto the inbound Eisenhower Expressway, drove on the shoulder, then “came to an abrupt stop causing [the officers] to make an evasive maneuvers [sic] to avoid crashing into the Acura MDX,” said the report stated.

So....an asshole AND a dick, trying to make Officers crash into him. 

And not his first instance of being recorded acting as a Grade A jagoff.

The mugshot over at CWB isn't a surprise either. 

How does this behavior fit into Larritorious' vision for the future of the CPD?

What the ??!!?!

Bad situation getting worse:

• Chicago police were conducting a death investigation after a 34-year-old off-duty officer died early Thursday at the 18th District station on the Near North Side.

  In a written statement released early Thursday, Chicago police say they were “mourning the tragic loss of an officer within the 18th District station.”

  The 34-year-old female officer was found about 2:30 a.m. at the station, 1160 N. Larrabee St., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

  According to a law enforcement source, she was found in a first-floor bathroom with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

There is a link in the post directly below this about the "strategic plan" and Larritorious states:

• “My objective since I got here is the top-down effect. It starts with me,” he said. “We have to be responsible, and we have to take full responsibility for everything that happens in this department when it comes to accountability, when it comes to wellness.”

  With off-the-charts daily stressors that have all too often led to death by suicide by his men and women in blue, Snelling says a big part of his plan centers on mental health wellness.
  

Well?

Sympathies to everyone over in 018. 

"Strategic Plan"

We're in the midst of this article from the other day:

• Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling introduced a new strategic plan Monday that includes his vision of CPD in 2025.

  The Chicago Police Department Strategy for Organizational Excellence is a 59-page how-to manual based on best practices gathered from law enforcement across the country. It is also very Chicago-centric.
  

In the quoted paragraphs is a link to the sixty-page "manual" that we're paging though. More than a few opinions have already been ventured in the comment sections, so we thought we'd post one place ot deal with it all until we've finished reading.

The WGN article is (so far) a typical puff piece. We'll wade through it and see if anything hops out for discussion and/or criticism. Stay Tuned.

No More Sigs?

Our old friend Paul Huebl is still out there blogging and he brought this to our attention:

• In a move that’s rocking the rank and file, the Chicago Police Department has abruptly banned the use of the once-trusted Sig/Sauer P320 pistol as an authorized duty weapon. The order came down swiftly, leaving thousands of officers scrambling. The official reason? Alarming reports that the weapon can fire without the trigger being pulled.

  For years now the gun-maker has brushed off horror stories about negligent discharges, usually blaming human error. After all, it’s easier to blame the gun than admit to a deadly mistake. Just think back to Alec Baldwin’s tragic shooting on a New Mexico movie set—he insisted he never pulled the trigger, yet a woman lost her life. But experts were quick to point out that the revolver in question simply doesn’t fire on its own. This, however, isn’t Hollywood.

  The Sig Sauer P320 has a documented pattern of discharges—many occurring while holstered. Lawsuits are piling up, and the manufacturer continues to deny fault, but the incidents are too numerous, too consistent, and too dangerous to ignore.

  In a city already struggling to staff its police force and control spiraling violence, CPD brass made the call: better to pull the plug than risk another injury or death. The P320 is now officially de-authorized.

As Paul points out, the Sig is currently the issued sidearm for the US Army. We know a lot of ex-Army people and we haven't heard about negligent discharges or self-firing incidents. We haven't heard of any here either.

Paul also mentions this isn't a small expense - Sigs cost nearly a grand and along with magazines and holsters will easily run a few hundred more. He does add this to his report:

• Update: Under the current fraternal order of police labor contract, the City of Chicago is required to cover the cost of a new service weapon if the police department deauthorizes a previously approved firearm. Officers are not financially responsible when the department mandates a change in duty weapons.  However, this is only for officers below the rank of Sergeant.  Calculating the average replacement weapon cost indicates the city will be paying upwards of $1 million to affect this change.

If a Sig cost a grand and a new Glock is only $600, is the city making up the difference?

And how many Sigs are we talking about here? Because the pistol you bought and trained with at the Academy is a very personal choice. You train for around 400 hours on the range, breaking in the holster, drawing and holstering thousands of times and putting thousands of rounds through the most important tool on your belt.

Now you're starting over at zero? This is a very dangerous situation. How many cops are going to crease their legs, damage squad cars, lockers, roll call rooms,  (or worse) in the coming months?

Welcome to the Party

The States Attorney's office has caught up to where we were years ago:

• Cook County’s electronic monitoring program has become “a serious threat to public safety” because the office of Chief Judge Timothy Evans, which recently assumed responsibility for its operation, is not equipped or prepared to handle it.

  That’s not us talking. That’s Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke, who instructed the county’s prosecutors to publicly object anytime a judge places a defendant on an ankle monitor instead of granting the state’s request to keep them in jail.

Credit to O'Neill Burke for saying what Crimesha never would:

• After years of effort, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart successfully transferred responsibility for the electronic monitoring program on April 1. Dart has repeatedly said the county is misusing the program by putting violent and dangerous offenders on ankle monitors when the system was designed for low-level offenses like drug possession.

  Evans’ office has operated a separate electronic monitoring program for many years, but it has generally been used for defendants who are given nighttime curfews, not for 24/7 monitoring.

  In a memo to her staff, O’Neill Burke said Evans’ electronic monitoring staff members are not law enforcement officers, and they cannot make arrests. If an electronic monitoring participant goes AWOL, the top prosecutor said, Evans’ staff must “call 911 or seek assistance from law enforcement” and then take the matter to court.

More calls that CPD won't be able to answer, more warrants to be issued (weeks later). Maybe you'll stumble on these fugitives on a traffic stop that Fatass, Prickwrinkle and Conehead are actively telling you NOT to do and passing laws to make it illegal for you to even do that.

Fun times!

Nationwide Fetality

Building on the below post about NYC, here's an article about the west coast and the nationwide phenomenon we've been writing about for how many years now?

• At a January Police Commission meeting, Oakland Police Chief Floyd Mitchell gave remarks highlighting concerns that the excessive disciplinary measures his officers face are discouraging proactive policing and negatively impacting officer performance.
  
  He said, "If you make a mistake in the Oakland Police Department ... you are going to get allegations levied against you that will ruin your career and your opportunity to work anywhere else in the United States. Our officers have been conditioned to do as little as possible to stay out of trouble and that is a problem."
  
  According to Oakland Report, which posted the initial article on this, Oakland's police oversight policies have led to an excessive number of disciplinary investigations of officers, even for minor infractions. The data shows that 92 percent of officer investigations are not "sustained," meaning that the allegation was untrue, within policy, or lacked evidence.
  
  Of those that are sustained, 75 percent are for minor offenses, such as use of profanity or conducting personal business while on duty. All of these incidents become part of an officer's permanent personnel record, the police log, and supervisory files as well as making officers feel inferior.

Golly!  A fetal police department....haven't we been warning and writing about that for probably a decade now? And all of the issues that come with a demoralized and downgraded department?

Cops aren't robots and police work isn't measured and evaluated like corporate work. But lib-tarded blue city shithole politicians will insist they can "fix" it.

NYC to Ban Traffic Stops

Keep making this job easier:

• A new bill would ban cops in the state from stopping and searching drivers over a slew of low-level violations — including the one that ended up nabbing serial killer Joel Rifkin.

  Top law enforcement officials are calling the Albany proposal the “most dangerous” and “craziest” bill they have ever seen, warning it would limit cops’ ability to conduct routine traffic stops that can uncover much more serious crimes.

  “It is the most ridiculous thing I have seen in my 36 years in law enforcement,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly told reporters Friday outside the county’s police memorial in Mineola, LI.

  The proposed legislation would no longer allow officers to stop or search drivers over such issues as busted head- or taillights, expired registrations and inspections, window tints and even the smell of marijuana.

We've already seen a push for this here, banning "pretextual" traffic stops. The problem is the years-long push for Sparklefart's TSSSSSSSSSSSSS blue cards. If you stop someone for a violation, you really ought to write the mover. The ticket should be a "must appear" violation so that the driver has no choice but to show up in court and prove to a judge that they fixed the reason for the stop.

No "pretext," no problem, and you can still ask questions and make observations that might lead to bigger crimes being discovered - you know, like actual police work.

Welcome to France

Long time readers might remember we occasionally cover international stuff. Years ago, we mentioned the "banlieues." or suburban areas of France that were essentially "no-go" zones for police, areas controlled by illegal muslim gangs and routinely exploding in riots.

Well Congratulations have to go out to Conehead, Fata$$, Smelling, Groot, Prickwrinkle, Dart, Evans, all the way back to the 9.5 Digit Midget. You have aided and abetted the beginnings of the first ever No-Go Zone in Chicago:

• Four members of the [latin bitches] gang are said to be behind bars following an ambush attempt on a Chicago Police Department (CPD) vehicle, while authorities continue to search for one more suspect, according to a source familiar with the incident.

  The police source confirmed that charges have not yet been filed in the ongoing investigation and that law enforcement is aware of the identity of the remaining suspect.

  According to the source, what's being described as an "ambush" on police was premeditated and comes a week after an anonymous warning call received by the 10th District.

  The caller, believed to be connected with the [latin bitches], reportedly declared a "war" on law enforcement, stating that they would target officers due to the increased pressure from police crackdowns in Little Village, an area known for heavy gang activity and drug dealing.

Thirty years ago, the Department would run Edge Missions following an occurrence like this. Every gang member would be swept off the street and locked up. Special Operations and Gang Units would flood the area. Vice would shut down every single money-making corner for as long as it took for the morons to get the message. Former shooting galleries would be quiet for weeks on end, kids would actually be able to play in the parks, parents would thank us for locking it all down and ask why we didn't do this all the time?

The reality was CPD could do it for a little while, but the social ills were just too widespread and (to be honest) the legal issues weren't codified adequately. That type of manpower use was short term even in the heady days of the Clinton money pouring into big cities. New York had "stop and frisk," we had Edge.

But then, the pendulum swung waaaay over to the left and all sorts of restrictions were placed on the police. Again (to be honest) some were Constitutionally necessary. But it went overboard and the Police were painted as the enemy for the next few decades. That mindset took over, culminating in the "defunding" movement, based on lies, exaggerations and progressive propaganda.

The result - a beyond fetal police force, reactive only, with inadequate recruitment, even more inadequate retention, lowered standards and now, being driven out of neighborhoods, unable to respond to a challenge to lawful authority. 

Larritorious has little-to-no response available, and even if he did Conehead wouldn't let him. On the minuscule chance that Conehead allowed a police response, Fata$$, Prickwrinkle, Dart and Evans have completely limited the justice system from dishing out consequences, even if that consequence was simply an overnight in lockup.

It began under the 9.5 Digit Midget, accelerated with Groot and may be peaking with Conehead. But maybe not. If one "no-go" zone is permitted to be birthed into existence, there will be others. And the death spiral will accelerate as we pass Detroit and look more like suburban Paris.

Strange Bedfellows

There were a few firefighters in the comments disavowing this:

That's the head of the Firefighters' Union marching or appearing with the head of the CTU union. And according to every leftist in existence, that's some sort of nazi salute he's giving, but whatever.

Here's the Tribune article accompanying the photo (paywall warning):

• When rank-and-file firefighters joined them to demand a contract last month, the Chicago Teachers Union framed the team-up in powerful terms: “Two unions. One fight.”

  Now, with a pending deal for teachers clinched last week, only one of them remains in the ring.

  Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 is rounding out the fourth year of its battle for a new collective bargaining agreement. Unlike their counterparts in school classrooms, the first responders have gone without the vocal support of Mayor Brandon Johnson throughout their relatively drama-free standoff.

  But behind the scenes, sources from both sides of the bargaining table described an impasse in negotiations that has them hurtling toward arbitration. By state law, police officers and firefighters cannot strike.

There's no upside to this. If this goof thinks the teachers are going to walk out in support of the CFD, then he's pretty stupid. 

Davis Gates is a known commie, racist, Indiana resident who isn't about to support a traditionally white Irish union. She got her contract already, and Local 2 is climbing into bed with the head of a union that regularly chants "Fuck the Police" isn't going to win him many fans among the rank-and-file.

Hell of a Rumor

From the comments:

• Can anyone confirm the offender in the shooting at McArthurs restaurant parking lot in the 15th District was Yolanda Talley’s nephew?

So a niece who hangs with dope dealers, using auntie's car to transport heroin....and a nephew who is an alleged shooter?

Anyone want to confirm? 

We remember when even the hint of impropriety was enough to keep you out of exempt spots.

Anyone Have Descriptions?

This suburban crime wave sounds so familiar:

• Downers Grove police are investigating burglaries to retail businesses and restaurants that happened early Monday morning.

  Along the Butterfield Road and Ogden Avenue retail corridors were several businesses with doors still boarded up late Monday evening after suspects smashed through the glass to get inside.

  According to police, officers responded to the 2900 block of Finley Road around 3:40 a.m. in response to a commercial burglar alarm. They began to piece together how many businesses were impacted in the overnight crime spree, determining at least 20 had been broken into.

And what's this?

• In surveillance video viewed and obtained by WGN TV, at least two vehicles, a red sedan and a darker color vehicle, appeared to be used by the suspects in these crimes. Multiple police sources confirm one of the vehicles allegedly involved was recovered on Chicago’s Far South Side Monday morning.

As usual, the media has a better description of the involved vehicles than the actual suspects.

And the Kia being found on the far south side - who didn't see that coming?

Shooting

Civil lawsuit, COPA "investigation," and Conehead's checkbook are at the ready!

• A man was shot and critically wounded at a River North hotel after police responding to a call of a man with a knife fired shots Monday afternoon.

  Officers saw a man with a knife in the 100 block of West Hubbard Street, but said when they tried to stop him, he fled. The officers chased the man into the Courtyard by Marriott hotel at 30 E. Hubbard St., where they tried to deescalate the situation, Chicago police said.

  Several officers tried to incapacitate the man with Tasers but failed, they said. The man then turned toward officers while holding the knife, and two officers fired shots about 2:45 p.m., they said. A weapon was recovered at the scene.

We're only being sarcastic with the opening line up top. Of course, the Officers did everything correctly. Unfortunately, people will claim it wasn't enough.

On the plus side, no one got stabbed and the only person to blame for the asshole taking a few rounds is - of course - the asshole.

An excellent job by the Officers. We're just sorry that you're still going to have to go through the political rigamarole that follows all legal and justifiable shootings nowadays.

Guess What?

No one called for another person shot:

• Nobody called 911 to report gunfire before a 26-year-old woman was found shot near a West Side gas station early Monday.

  She is the latest shooting victim who may have benefited from the city’s ShotSpotter gunfire detection technology, which Mayor Brandon Johnson disconnected in September.

Aside from the entertainment value of these incidents, we would hope (haha) that other people (non-police) reading the CWB blog would be shocked and appalled at how little human life means on the south and west sides. So little that people don't even bother to call 9-1-1 on nearly forty shooting incidents.

We know we're not shocked. We're entertained.

But we're already going to Hell for assorted offenses.

Seventeen Days?

Give or take:

• Jim Tinaglia was tending bar in the northwest suburbs when the 1985 Chicago Bears shuffled to their Super Bowl title. Tinaglia hopes the team’s next championship run comes while he’s in the mayor’s office in Arlington Heights — and with the team playing games in his hometown.

  “It was crazy fun,” Tinaglia said of his tenure slinging drinks to Bears fans at the Snuggery watering hole in nearby Mount Prospect. “Nothing could be finer than to have that kind of a celebration a few years from now.”

Readers might remember that we posted a rumor that immediately following the NFL Draft (24-thru-26 April) the Bears would announce their intended move to Arlington Heights along with a commitment from the League to host a Super Bowl after the inaugural season, probably around 2027 or 2028.

This would be the crowning un-achievement of Conehead's reign and cement his ranking as the Worst Mayor for Business in Chicago History once and for all.

Hey Media

"governor" Hippopotamus Hypocrite speaks!

 

"...the decrees of an aspiring king..."

"...disenfranchising millions of voters...."

Do us a favor there Porky - google "Illinois COVID orders 2021" and then start reading. Get someone to explain the big words to you. Order out for lunch because you'll be reading for a while.

Then remember that you, an aspiring king-sized a$$hole, restricted the Rights of tens of millions, while you attempted to force an unproven, ineffective and untested poison into their bodies.

And then, you were transporting your wife, daughter and your daughter's horse to competitions around the United States where there were zero restrictions.

Maybe the media will remind you when you're running for president, but probably not. Maybe Gutfeld will put you on blast. Again. We'll keep reminding people

Good Sentencing

About time we started seeing sentences like this:

• A man has been given a 45-year prison sentence for shooting at a pedestrian on the Far South Side and then firing on two uniformed police officers who responded to a ShotSpotter alert triggered by the initial gunfire.

  Around 1:46 a.m. on January 17, 2024, Antwan Dixon shot at a man who was walking to a bus stop to go to work, prosecutors said.

  The shots set off a ShotSpotter alert, sending Chicago police officers to the 13000 block of South Evans.

  As two officers arrived in their marked squad car, Dixon emerged from the rear of a building and began shooting at them, according to a report completed by COPA, the agency that investigates police-involved shootings.

GASP!!! 

ShotSpotter sending cops to where gunfire was detected?!?!? Isn't this racist or some such bull$hit?

We did hear that Conehead and Prickwrinkle insisted that the attempted murder count of the pedestrian be sentenced at forty-three years and the attempted murder counts of the cops at a year each. Conehead also indicated the City checkbook was open and amenable to a large settlement.

The Return of Station Security?

Great building security there guys:

• Instagram Link here

Seems someone not the police wandered into a District building and proceeded to film and broadcast their trespassing in the non-public areas of what should be a secured building.

Comments claim this is 012, but we don't know. We do recall years ago 003 used to prop the back doors open for ventilation and the main door to the lockup didn't work at all. Plenty of other stations used to prop open doors in the pre-McCompstat days. We didn't even need a door code for years of VRI on the west side, even after they installed the locks....it took months to repair broken ones.

But someone roaming the back hallways?

Weekend Safety Plan

Guess what? 

There isn't one, but the Contrarian proposes someone should come up with one:

• By now, we all know the Brandon Johnson drill. When episodes of teenagers swarming the downtown area create havoc, the mayor reacts with an outpouring of sympathy and understanding for the conditions in which marauding teens live. As Johnson expresses his worry over teens ravaging downtown, he readily dispenses the valid concerns of residents, visitors, and businesses owners in the affected areas.

  Part of a troubling pattern demonstrated by Johnson, the mayor’s impulse to excuse teenage lawbreaking extends back to the period prior to his assuming office in 2023. For those who are willing to remember, on the evening of April 15, 2023, throngs of teens descended on the downtown and pandemonium followed. One day later, as Loop residents dug themselves out of the rubble, the damage done was significant and visible: Gunfire wounded two teens, motorists were assaulted, and teens battered pedestrians on the public way.

  At the time, Johnson, then mayor-elect, reacted by declaring the city was in need of a “comprehensive approach to improve public safety.”

Since then, of course, Conehead has done diddly-squat.

The Contrarian suggests (as we and others have) that police resources from CPD, Cook County, and ISP should proactively be deployed at origin points, like the Red Line. If manpower allowed it, it might work....IF there was a political will to bring enforcement, detention and punishment. 

There isn't, so it will continue.

Shots Fired at Police

Something about this sounds very....very familiar:

• At least one gunman opened fire on a Chicago police squad car as officers were investigating reports of men aiming weapons at passing vehicles in Little Village on Friday night.

  Fortunately, the officers escaped injury, but bullets struck their squad car.

  CPD units went to the area after 911 callers reported that four males were pointing guns at cars traveling in the 2400 block of South Sacramento around 10:40 p.m. The men had also blocked off a nearby alley with garbage cans.

Shots fired.....

....at passing vehicles....

.....in Little Village....

....Sacramento Blvd (3000 W) which is two blocks away from Sawyer Ave (3230 W). 

Golly, if only we could remember why this sounds so familiar! 

Someone help us out?

"Habitual" Criminal on Bail Again

Way to keep women and girls safe Conehead, Prickwrinkle, Dart and Evans!

• Last May, Chicago police asked the public to help them identify a man who attacked a woman on a downtown CTA platform.

  Within days, they charged Robert L. Cook, a man with a history of attacking women on the city’s transit system, with the crime. But, as CWBChicago reported at the time, prosecutors didn’t ask a judge to keep Cook in jail and the judge didn’t even put him on an ankle monitor.

  Now, Cook is accused of sexually abusing and fondling several more females, including a teenager on the city’s train system. And he did it all while still awaiting trial on the charges filed against him last year. This time, however, prosecutors asked a judge to keep Cook behind bars, and the judge agreed.

We're sure that's a wonderful comfort to all the females molested in the intervening months.

It sure is a good thing that Stacy Conehead doesn't have to ride the CTA, right? Prickwrinkle would probably get more action this way. Dart and Evans most likely have some kink.

Open Post

Light weekend posting:

But governor porkulous is anything but light.

"Where is the Glock?"

A "turned in gun" goes missing - again???

• On a typically brisk day in December 2023, a throng of people gathered in the basement of St. Sabina Church in Auburn Gresham to hand over hundreds of guns.

  The scene was similar to dozens of other gun buyback events held at the Catholic parish, where more than 5,100 guns have been exchanged for gift cards over the last 19 years, more than any other location in the city.

  That day was marked by excitement, confusion and ultimately chaos after one cop inventorying the weapons at a police station noticed something unusual. A Glock handgun that cops had been admiring was missing.

  A tag identifying the gun had been slipped onto another one, and an envelope for that gun was soon found in the trash. In an office full of cops assigned to inventory the guns and keep them secure, someone had walked off with the Glock.

The article goes on to report that this isn't the first time this happened:

• The lost weapon’s journey mirrored an earlier event in which a gun turned in by a Cook County judge disappeared from another buyback in Chicago — only to resurface at a fatal police shooting in Cicero, as the Better Government Association and Chicago Sun-Times reported in 2017.

  After that report, the city launched an investigation that lasted more than five years. But investigators decided it would be “difficult and unwise” to question everyone involved in the buyback. So they didn’t interview anyone.

"...unwise..."

We all know what that means. You don't ask questions if you don't want to know the answers.

In this most recent case, a sergeant took a day. No one else got dinged. Shortcuts were implemented to the inventory process and someone managed to circumvent the shortened process.

How about going back to the tried and true method, add in a layer of visual inspection by two individuals, both signing the gun envelope before sealing it, and then put it in a one way flap on an armored box or armored truck or something that can only be opened at ERPS? The Department has done it with how many tons of dope behind the Desk for years.

The Future of ShotSpotter is....

Skynet?

• In Chicago's search for new technology to assist police and paramedics, plans proposed by companies across the country run the gamut, ranging from practical to radical ideas.

  Next Friday is the final deadline for companies to submit proposals to the city for new gunshot detection tools after the controversial ShotSpotter system was dismantled last year. Companies have already submitted pitches to the city that the ABC7 I-Team obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

  Proposals from 15 companies include networks of drones stationed across the city to deploy as "first responders to 911 calls"; an artificial intelligence "deep learning neural network" to monitor both public and privately-owned live video camera feeds across the city; and a plan to position cell phones across the city that are turned into acoustic sensors to detect gunshots.

  SoundThinking, the parent company of ShotSpotter, is among the 15 companies that responded to the city's "request for information."

No word on our proposed drones with flame throwers, tasers or Hellfire missiles.

Just remember, your murderer may never be caught, but the crime will be recorded in 4K for posterity....and for that blooper reel at Conehead's City Hall Christmas party

Conehead Doesn't Care

 Petitions? We don't need no stinkin' petitions:

• A petition urging Mayor Brandon Johnson to support an 8 p.m. curfew for unaccompanied minors in the downtown area has gained over 3,000 signatures as of midday Friday. But there are no signs that Johnson plans to change his mind.

  Two people, including a tourist, were shot during separate “large group” incidents in Streeterville last month, leading residents and their alderman to call for an earlier curfew. Charges were filed this week in connection with the tourist shooting.

At last count, Conehead was at a 6% approval rating, so he doesn't really give a shit about what voters or concerned citizens might say. He certainly doesn't care what white liberals in Streeterville have to say. It's not like they're going to vote republican or for someone vowing to crackdown on crime.

Broken System

Remember when there was nationwide support for a "three strikes" law? A lot of states passed legislation....but not Illinois! Criminals get to re-offend - over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over....:

• Randall Brown, a 30-time convicted felon accused of stealing motorized scooters in Lincoln Park and Streeterville two years ago, is heading back to prison for his 31st and 32nd felony convictions.

  Brown, also known as Randall Browning, pleaded guilty on Thursday to two counts of possessing a stolen motor vehicle to resolve the scooter cases. Judge Anjana Hansen gave him concurrent six-year sentences. However, because he earned 942 days of credit in jail, and the state will cut his sentence by 50% for good behavior, Brown is expected to be back on the streets in about 153 days.

  Brown had been on parole for less than a month for ten similar cases when Chicago police detectives began looking at him as a suspect in a string of scooter thefts stretching across the North Side and downtown. They eventually charged him with two cases that involved photo and video evidence.

Thirty-two felony convictions. 

And he'll be back in Chicago before summer is over.

But this time will be different, right?

Keep voting for democrats.

DSI Details (Allegedly)

From the comments (edited for paragraphs):

• Did some digging today on the new DSI program with some “friends”. Sounded good right? More OT opportunities for everyone? NOPE.

  So it’s starting just weekends from 1900-0400hrs for the first month to work out the kinks. In June, it will be rolled out in 2 watches, 0800-1700 and 1900-0400. They want two start times because the 0800 start will help days and afternoons. 1900 will help afternoons and midnights. So it’s starting just weekends from 1900-0400hrs for the first month to work out the kinks. In June, it will be rolled out in 2 watches, 0800-1700 and 1900-0400. They want two start times because the 0800 start will help days and afternoons. 1900 will help afternoons and midnights.

  The reason they are doing this is to put ALL OT in the hands of the chiefs and 1st deputies office. Commanders are pretty much going to lose control of how OT is assigned. For example.. in a district, 10 people volunteer to work an RDO on 3rd watch.. in reality, they really only need 4 officers to cover down cars.. who cares right?? Hire them all back and pay the OT to have more cars. So what’s going to happen, is on a weekly basis, every district will send patrol and the 1st deputies office the manpower projections for that week and request DSI cars to supplement. They will then decide through the DSI program how many officers to assign. So if they are only down 2 cars, then that’s all they get. If patrol thinks the district is fine being down only 1 car on the watch then they may not fill it at all.

  Voluntary RDO OT is gone. If you want to do it, you need to sign up for DSI because it will no longer be allowed in units and districts without the authorization of the 1st deputies office and with the proper approved OT code. The commander can no longer let their watch commanders hire as many people as they want. The only hiring back in districts will be for supervisors and that will be done by a bid system open to all supervisors in that area. Highest in seniority of those that volunteer will win the bid to work that OT. Same with LT’s and all of that will be coordinated by the area deputy chiefs office so no more of just offering OT around the watch for someone to pick up the shift. All will be done by the area and open to all same area supervisors.

  Voluntary traffic missions are gone. Snelling hates the blue card game and he hates the waste of money on “violence and robbery missions” that bring in 4 blue cards and a few parkers.

  Tac and unit OT missions are gone and the reasoning is that they have plenty of time to do missions during their regular tour… technically their entire tour IS a anti violence mission so they don’t need them doing it on OT.

  All Bureaus will be affected with OT being handled by the Chiefs office who will report to the first deputies office. Narcotics, gangs, intel, fugitive, Detectives, academy, caps everything.. it’s all getting changed and squeezed in all places.

Seems like .... overly complicated? Area-centric? 

Some comments already say this is a complete misreading of the program, or even a fabrication. Someone else thinks that it's a way to field personnel on weekends that will be immediately deploy-able downtown for "protests" or "teen takeovers." We think that THAT is most likely of all the scenarios

F.Y.I. on Gun Arrests

Seems there was a recent court decision about street stops:

• ....stopping someone for a gun alone, i.e. L shaped object, bulge, butt of handle sticking out of waist, seen on pod, etc. Is not enough to justify a Terry stop. The appellate court on 31Mar affirmed the lower courts decision. The court noted, at least regarding probable cause: “We wish to emphasize that under the current legal landscape, police cannot simply assume a person who possesses a firearm outside the home is involved in criminal activity. Likewise, they cannot use a firearm in partial view, such as a semi-exposed gun protruding from the pant pocket of a person on a public street, alone as probable cause to arrest an individual for illegal possession without first identifying whether the individual has the necessary licenses. We thus caution against an ‘arrest first, determine licensure later’ method of policing".
  

This would seem to bring into question the visual ID portion of the camera room in a post we made last week. It would also seem that "Terry Stops" are now in play for re-litigating?

The full case is People v. Dorsey, 2025 IL App (1st) 240933 if you're interested in the full decision.

No Sympathy Here

Recognize this parking lot?

That's "Public Safety Headquarters," or 35th and Michigan. Officers were ticketing numerous vehicles in between rain storms yesterday. No idea what the tickets were for (our emailer didn't let us know), but there were a bunch.

No front plates? City stickers? Tints? No idea at all. But if you're working at HQ among all of the brass and the media wandering in and out for pressers all day, then you better be 100% legit each and every day.

Now let's see if they do uniforms and personal grooming standards.

 

Dart Dumps E.M.

 Tommy is finally ditching the hot-potato and political anchor that was dragging down his ambitions:

• The Cook County sheriff’s office is ending its decades-old electronic monitoring program, handing it over to the chief judge amid questions about who will arrest violators and how extra staff will be funded.

  Beginning Tuesday, anyone placed on electronic monitoring after being found to be a flight risk or a danger to the public will be overseen by the Adult Probation Department, administered by Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans.

  The sheriff’s office, which has complained it can no longer safely administer the program, will continue handling its current caseload of people on monitors.

  Questions remain about how the Adult Probation Department will scale up its operation, with about 900 new cases expected over the next six months.

Now Evans gets a bunch of patronage hires for Prickwrinkle's army and taxes will no doubt be raised to fund the extra one-hundred-fifty new monitoring personnel.

Let's see if the political blowback lands in the Courts instead of the sheriff.

Income Based Fines

California giving everyone another reason to leave:

• San Francisco is launching a new program backed by Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom that will issue speeding tickets based on income.

  The Speed Safety System Pilot Program was signed by Newsom in October 2023 and allows cities across California to use speeding cameras to fine drivers. Those considered lower-income are eligible for a steep discount if they receive a speeding ticket.

  Violations for speeding range from $50 to $500, but individuals with a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level are eligible for a 50% discount, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Indigent persons, or individuals who are homeless, are eligible for an 80% discount on the speeding ticket.

If you can't afford the fines, perhaps you shouldn't be owing a car? Maybe take public transit everywhere.

At this point we have to wonder if the California government is just trying to make the state unlivable so anyone who can afford to leave will depart....and f#$% up the rest of the country. 

Watch for Fata$$ to propose something similar.

PPP Fraud Discussion

The IG goes on the radio and discusses the PPP loan fraud:

• Deborah Witzburg, Chicago Inspector General, joins Lisa Dent to discuss PPP fraud among 41 Illinois employees. Of the 41 Illinois employees who committed fraud, many worked for the Illinois Department of Human Services. But Witzburg explains that some were police officers, and even state politicians.

There is an audio file at the link.

Is the statute of limitations approaching? Because we figure Debby Downer is in place meremy to run out the clock. We've linked to a few cases where well known exempt members of the CPD are listed as getting PPP loans.....but as we recall, the Police Department never actually shut down where they could plausibly justify their one-person security companies or hair salons that only seemed to have home addresses.

Great Idea

From HeyJackass.com:

• At a ribbon cutting today on Chicago’s West Side, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced that his People’s Plan will now include the nation’s first crime-related loyalty program called Rap Sheet Rewards.

  “Today, I’m announcing that all residents of Chicago 11 years or older, who have at least one arrest will be receiving a loyalty card in the mail that will be good for up to 10 free crimes a year. I like to call them, Rap Sheet Rewards, y’all.” The mayor continued, “This isn’t going to be some fancy card with a chip and an app… we can’t afford that with my teachers’ contract and all… we’re going old school with a simple, raggedy punch card.”

  While the mayor did not provide much detail on how Rap Sheet Rewards is likely to work, City Hall has hinted that every crime will have a set number of punches, much like a sub sandwich or cup of coffee would garner at a local cafe or restaurant. For example, a simple battery or garage burglary would only be good for one or two punches while a shooting could be worth five and a homicide would be worth the entire card or 10 punches.

  It is also not clear what a full card would grant the holder. However, it’s possible to be a form of amnesty from arrest and conviction for “punched” crimes or possibly lesser “rewards” such as the ability to “get busy in a Burger King bathroom” as Mayor Johnson suggested.

  “For far too long, we have seen disinvestment in our community. Our top priority is to mobilize full spectrum stakeholders to tackle community issues with the addition of Rap Sheet Rewards”, the mayor said while appearing to roll a marijuana cigarette. He wrapped up his comments on the new loyalty program stating, “This top-down, yet bottom-up limp to the side like your leg was broken, shakin’ and twitchin’ kinda like you was smokin’ approach will allow those who’ve made a silly decision or two to now have the ability to commit crime without the burden of the 27-tiered justice system.”

Hopefully we'll be seeing this graphic on a t-shirt soon? Lord knows our other t-shirts are seeing a bit of wear and tear. We could use a new one or three for summertime. 

Support the only trustworthy source for crime numbers in the Raggedy Windy City.

Another Great Idea from Springfield

You know those homeless encampments in the parks, under the bridges, up and down the lakefront? Be prepared for even more of them:

• A growing group of Illinois legislators is sponsoring legislation that would prohibit local governments from enforcing fines or criminal penalties when “people experiencing unsheltered homelessness” occupy or engage in “life-sustaining activities” on public property.

  Among the “life-sustaining activities” that would be protected are “moving, resting, sitting, standing, lying down, sleeping, protecting oneself from the elements, eating, drinking, and storing such personal property as needed to shelter oneself.”

  So far, 23 state representatives, including Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, have signed on as sponsors or co-sponsors of House Bill 1429, also known as the Homeless Bill of Rights.

  Tent cities and group camps have caused problems in neighborhoods across Chicago, from West Loop encampments that sparked shootings and drug dealing to the two-year occupancy of Gompers Park.

What we really need is for these "tent cities" and encampments to be built on property owned by politicians or trusts controlled by politicians so they can enjoy the crap they're saddling everyone else with. Kids can't play in public parks any more because of these homeless assholes blocking access to play lots, ball fields, leaving all sorts of needles, trash and bodily waste all over the place. Where do the politicians think they are - San Francisco?

VRI Returns?

So what's this "DSI" program we're hearing about?

Are they addressing the shortages via massive OT again?

Will they finally admit the manpower shortages are going to be acute this summer?

Is this last ditch effort to stave off the twelve-hour shifts being proposed, piloted and negotiated in secret?

It's a Draw!

All sides are claiming victory in the CTU negotiations:

• Mayor Brandon Johnson has a long way to go to realize his dream of becoming Chicago’s longest-serving mayor. But he proudly proclaimed Tuesday that there are “a couple of things that Richard M. Daley and I do have some alignment around: running successful Democratic National Conventions and avoiding teachers strikes.”

  A former middle school teacher turned paid organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union, Johnson is claiming victory for having delivered a new tentative contract agreement for his former union brethren — and for Chicagoans like him who send their children to Chicago public schools.

  As the CTU’s House of Delegates and rank-and-file members prepare to vote on the contract, questions remain about who really came out ahead in this hard-fought battle and whether the contract was worth the months of acrimony and the political price that Johnson had to pay.

But we're told by people who know and people who have been pretty close to negotiations that this Contract is - in essence - a repeat of the 2019 agreement. In fact, where the Police Department got 5% raises, the CTU will get 4%.

Stacy Davis Gates comes out the biggest loser here, which is actually where she started - a loser, and she can go back to her Indiana home and await what is looking to be a contentious election for her spot in the near future. The opposition is going to hammer her for demanding the world and settling for 2019 numbers.

Conehead is still basing a lot of his budget numbers on hope, dreams and pure fantasy regarding revenue streams, so he's probably a loser on this one, too.

This is a Strategy?

We knew he was dumb, but can Conehead be this dumb?

• Mayor’s Crime strategy “if they downtown, they ain’t on the block”.
  
  
  
  His strategy is to let “them” run wild downtown so he keeps shootings down in the hood.

And as more and more downtown businesses shutter their doors and pack up their tents, who's going to pick up the slack in tax revenues? We've already pointed out a few articles that document the hoods are losing citizens who are being buried by property tax hikes.

Again?

Out on "bail" and committing more crimes? Say it ain't so!

• A man accused of being the second gunman involved in a mass shooting earlier this month was on probation for burglary and AWOL from a pending felony gun case when he opened fire on the victims at a liquor store in Back of the Yards, prosecutors said.

  [...] Vargas is charged with three counts of attempted murder for allegedly shooting three victims: a 22-year-old man who was struck in the chest, a 47-year-old man hit in the abdomen, and a 46-year-old man struck in the wrist. Chicago police officers who arrested Vargas said he had a pistol with an extended magazine in his waistband when they took him into custody.

  Court records show that a judge detained Vargas on a separate gun charge one year ago, but a different judge later allowed Vargas to go home to await trial. He never showed up in court again, according to court records.

  [...] Judge Ankur Srivastava agreed with prosecutors that Vargas was a public safety risk who should be kept in jail on the gun charge. But four months later, on September 5, Judge Angela Munari-Petrone agreed to let Vargas go home. He failed to show up for court 11 days later and a warrant had been out for his arrest ever ince.

And in case anyone thinks it doesn't matter:

• He is the fourth person accused of shooting or trying to shoot someone in Chicago this year while on felony pretrial release. Those four individuals are accused of killing or trying to kill 16 people, including 9 Chicago police officers.

Fata$$ and Evans are deliberately trying to kill police officers.

F#$% Off with This $hit

A bunch of ignorant people (or folks) confronted the ignorant mayor the other day:

• A loved one of a man who was shot to death by two Chicago police officers interrupted a speech Sunday afternoon by Mayor Brandon Johnson at a community listening session.

  The mayor had just begun speaking at the listening session, hosted by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression at Trinity United Church of Christ in Roseland, when people began to shout from the audience, according to video of the event.

  Among them was Charlotta Pritchett, partner of 58-year-old Timothy Glaze, who was at the listening session with members of the organization Dare to Struggle to try to get answers from the mayor on her boyfriend’s killing, according to a press release from the group.

She wants to know why:

• after calling the police 
• and telling the call taker that her boyfriend had a knife and was going to stab her,
  
• that the police showed up and shot him when he opened the door with the knife in his hand and approached the officers in a threatening manner.

The boyfriend that she had gotten an Order of Protection against, and still allowed him back into the residence.

• His family has said he was in “mental distress” and officers should have tried to de-escalate the situation. The family is also incensed that the two officers are back on patrol after spending 30 days assigned to administrative duties, per department policy following a fatal shooting.

  “They were there trying to get the mayor’s attention and to get his answer as to why the officers who were the cause of Timothy Glaze being killed are still on the force,” said Jasmine Smith, an activist with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, who was one of about 100 people at the meeting.

F@#$ off Jasmine. And F#@$ off Chicago Alliance of Mopes Who Don't Know Shit.

We hereby make the offer to Jasmine that we've made a few times before to other morons, including members of the media (maybe some small variations to the details):

• We will outfit you with a gun, live ammo, taser, baton, vest, handcuffs and OC spray;
• We will hide in a residence of our choosing, armed with one of the following - knife, bat, board or other blunt instrument;
• You will "deescalate" or use a non-lethal option to disarm and secure us;
• We will also provide you with a signed and notarized letter absolving you from being sued by ourselves, our families, or any surviving relatives.
  

Scoring:

• If you use the gun, we win;
• If you use any of the non-lethal weapons, we win;
• If we make physical contact with you (fist, kick, headbutt or chosen weapon) we win;
• If you get us into handcuffs, you win....unless we suffer any identifiable cut, bruise, contusion or wound, then we win;

If you win, we'll give you $100,000 cash money.

If we win, you admit publicly that you don't know shit about police work, disband your pathetic organization and donate any assets to the CPD Chaplains.

We await your email....we're pretty sure we'll be waiting a long time.

Unknown Motive

Dear ol' dad has no idea:

• Aquino called for an arrest to be made in the shooting and questioned who would want to take his son’s life.

  “I want to see who did it and why,” Aquino said. "[Justice] is important.”

But as we posted yesterday, the family wasn't quick enough to purge "shadow's" social media.

Oh, you didn't know he was nicknamed "shadow"? Didn't notice the black and beige clothing?

You didn't see the "down with the crown" hand signs, typically used by two-six bangers to dis the kings? 

Don't worry - someone will get shot over near Central Park or Homan or Kedzie shortly.

Another Credit Downgrade

We're pretty sure the Pension Fund is never going to see a dime from the casino:

• Bally’s has received another credit downgrade from a key Wall Street ratings agency, dealing the latest tough card to the corporation behind Chicago’s casino.

  Fitch Ratings cited “execution risk in the development of the Chicago projects” along with high debt and other issues for the Rhode Island-based gaming company while lowering their rating from B to B- in a decision announced Friday. Fitch analysts say Bally’s “should have sufficient funding to complete” their $1.7 billion permanent casino at 777 W. Chicago Ave., which is supposed to open in September 2026.

  But potentially lowering Bally’s odds of maxing out their River West jackpot are “a saturated Chicago gaming market, the higher-than-average gaming tax rate, and the typical ramp-up of a new casino development,” according to Fitch, which downgraded the company last year, too. All three major Wall Street ratings agencies have dinged Bally’s since it landed the Chicago casino license in 2022. Lower credit ratings make it more expensive for companies to borrow money.

And just to make it even more painful:

• But it hasn’t come close to revenue projections set by the city. With new competition from a freshly opened south suburban casino, Bally’s made less than $8.8 million at Medinah in February, its worst monthly showing in more than a year, according to Illinois Gaming Board records.

The city "spent" those "projections" last year, meaning the shortfalls will have to be made up somewhere else....like tax hikes, fee and fine increases, hiring freezes, cuts to services. 

Not from the CPS/CTU though. Gotta keep those empty schools open!