Millions "Found"

Is this Conehead's Magikal Money Tree?

• Following an advisory by the Chicago inspector general’s office, the city treasurer has asked the city council to dissolve the Community Catalyst Fund and return its more than $57 million in assets to general funds.

  The fund was set up 10 years ago to increase access to public and private investment capital for businesses and organizations in economically underserved areas.

  Inspector General David Glockner said the city provided half of the $100 million initially proposed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, but the fund has been been effectively dormant since 2020.

Fifty-seven million, just lying around in an account, doing nothing, earning nothing, benefiting no one?

Oh....not exactly:

• Glockner said there is no indication that the money was misused.

  The inspector said the fund only invested about $21 million of the $50 million that it received. No private dollars were ever invested in the fund.

  Glockner said the fund’s investments were all made in 2020 and the money was repaid.

If we're reading that correctly, $21 million was used for some unstated purpose....and then paid back?

For what? Who used it? What benefit was reaped from what appears to be a $21 million loan? Was there an investment? A buy-in to something? A stock market speculation where someone bought low, sold high, paid back the "loan" and kept the difference?

And guess who was nominally in charge of this untapped source of money?

• Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin is the ex officio chair of the catalyst fund’s board of directors. The fund failed to submit annual reports from 2022 to 2025.

And now, suddenly, she's asking for the fund to be dissolved and the money returned to the General Fund. Why now? Has the account served it's purpose? Are the feds sniffing around this (and other unknown) accounts? How much more is out there benefiting the selected few?

So many questions that no one seems to know - or want - the answers to. 

Here Come the Socialists

They've actually been here for years....Crimesha was the end result:

• A socialist lawmaker in New York City has claimed “biological need” gives shoplifters the right to steal from store shelves.

  State Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher, who describes herself as a “neighborhood organizer” and “democratic socialist,” made her comments on Thursday outside Manhattan Criminal Court, the New York Post reported Saturday.

  She was joined by members of Court Watch NYC, which claimed they monitored hundreds of arraignments for several days and found half of those cases were misdemeanors.

  Gallagher said:

  Most of what we saw were crimes of poverty-people who are stealing things like toothpaste, people who were stealing things like, you know, soap. And that means if you’re stealing those things, you need them. And we are choosing to protect billion-dollar companies, like CVS and Walgreens, over the people who are struggling to get by. So I would say that the true crime is that there is such incredible wealth disparity in this city that there are people who can be thrown in jail simply for having a biological need.

You understand what this Kommunist Karen is saying, right?

• minorities NEED to steal

Talk about the racism of low expectations....from white libtarded female. Everyone else just needs to pay more so certain people (and folks) don't have to pay at all?

About Those "Violence Preventers"

We guess being a creepy chomo isn't a particularly "violent" crime:

• The founder of one of Chicago’s most high-profile youth violence prevention groups, who also works as a Chicago Public Schools counseling assistant, is sitting in the Cook County Jail after being charged with criminal sexual assault and grooming involving two 14-year-old girls.

  Prosecutors said Charles McKenzie, founder of Englewood First Responders who refers to himself as the “Mayor of Englewood,” was working for CPS at the time of the alleged incidents.

  The allegations span nearly a decade, with prosecutors accusing McKenzie of grooming one girl beginning in 2017, when she was 13 or 14 years old, and sexually assaulting another girl in March of this year. CWB Chicago is not identifying McKenzie’s relationship to the girls to protect their identities.

But it's still a bad look.

Oh, and look - he's a CPS employee.  

Wonder if he worked closely with Conehead? 

CTU Burning Bridges

The CTU is getting bad publicity nationwide lately:

• The Chicago Teachers Union’s cupidity in enriching itself, and the dismal results of Chicago’s public schools, have drained the public’s reservoir of goodwill. Among the reasons for the CTU’s downfall is a school named for someone who, as a slave, taught himself to read — a skill poorly imparted by Chicago teachers, when they teach.

  
  The indispensable Illinois Policy Institute says the Frederick Douglass Academy, whose 47 classrooms were built to accommodate 1,008 students, has 27. But the CTU has seen to it that it has 28 full-time staff. So, in the 2023-2024 school year, Douglass spent $93,000 per pupil.

  But Douglass is not entirely an outlier. At more than 50 Chicago schools, the percent of students who achieve math proficiency is 0. The 20 lowest-enrollment schools, spending $33,500 per student, have an 11 percent average reading proficiency. Students graduate unprepared for flourishing; the CTU thrives. The adjective “wicked” should be used sparingly in political discourse, but it fits the CTU’s ongoing child abuse.

This leaves aside the actual child sexual abuse running rampant in the CPS system.

The column also cites the Davis Gates hypocrisy of not educating her own child at CPS and the chronic absenteeism of almost half of the teachers.

We're still of the opinion that things haven't yet gotten bad enough for voters to make this a top issue though.

Bad Week

In light of the HeyJackass.com hiatus, we're stuck searching around for reliable numbers tracking week over week violence.

This report isn't one of them (SubX News is kind of hinky), but it's a set of numbers we hadn't seen put together in a while:

• SubX.News® Crime Report Aug 11 2026

  Chicago violence that started Friday morning continued into early Tuesday with 29 people shot 11 fatally in less than four days, along with two women stabbed to death and a 25-year-old woman struck and killed by a driver.

  The violence included three triple shootings and five double shootings, with 14 people dead overall since the first shooting at 9:14 a.m. Friday Aug 7.

It was titled "Chicago Death Zone" which was kind of catchy and appealed to our darker sense of humor. 

They also had an article up about whether or not CPD stats could be relied on for accuracy (NEWSFLASH: they cannot be as detailed here for years). 

We'll see what the future holds.

Write the Ticket....That's All

The Slum Times is whining about Traffic Stops again:

• The Chicago Police Department made fewer traffic stops in 2025 than in the previous year and less than half the stops it made in 2023, according to a new report by the Illinois Department of Transportation, but Chicago police officers continued to pull over Black and Latino drivers at much higher rates than white drivers.

  The Chicago Police Department reported 224,851 traffic stops in 2025, about 23.3% fewer than in 2024 and 58.0% less than in 2023.

You would think the lib-tards would be ecstatic about less traffic stops. You'd be wrong:

• IDOT uses two methods, or benchmarks, to measure the rates at which drivers are stopped. Those attempt to estimate the driving population or the total mileage driven within the jurisdiction of each law enforcement agency. By one measure, Black drivers were 3.6 times more likely than white drivers and Latino drivers were 2.85 times more likely than white drivers to be stopped by the Chicago police last year. By another measure, Black drivers were 5.6 times more likely and Latino drivers 6.9 times more likely to get stopped.

  Most traffic stops made by the Chicago police last year, about 67.6%, were for non-moving violations, according to IDOT.

  Those stops in particular have drawn flak, with some critics contending that police officers routinely use minor traffic violations as a pretext to stop drivers — and sometimes to search their vehicles — in hopes of uncovering more serious crimes.

  A lot of traffic stops in Chicago are for things like expired plates, tinted windows and broken taillights, said Maya Simkin, an Appleseed Network Collaboration for Justice Fellow with Chicago Appleseed and a member of the Free2Move Coalition. “It’s not about posing a genuine safety risk.” 

We've said this maybe a hundred times or more:

• A "minor" traffic violation is still....A VIOLATION!

Imagine that! It was proposed, debated, voted and codified into LAW by the elected representatives of the State and SIGNED by the Executive in charge when passed. A small part of it is about SAFETY. A larger part is about making sure tax revenues are paid to the government by ALL citizens.

And a stopped vehicle can be visually evaluated for additional violations because it's easier to inspect when it's standing still. An Officer can ask questions of the driver which might lead to more questions which might lead to the driver being asked to exit the vehicle (which they are required to do under the Law)....

...BUT...

...a driver being ignorant of their Constitutional Right to deny a search of the vehicle absent a Warrant or Exigent Circumstances isn't the responsibility of the Officers to correct. That responsibility would belong to an educated populace who understood and passed Civics 101 in a successful school system, which most blue-state shitholes don't have. And lib-tards don't want an educated populace lest they vote against leftist bullshit.

So how to solve this "issue." There are two ways to do it:

1. propose, debate, vote and codify a new LAW eliminating these so-called "minor" violations and get the governor to sign it so it applies to ALL Illinoisans - not just the black and brown ones who - for whatever reasons - economic or other - fail to properly maintain the licensing and operational safety of their vehicles, or;
2. Officer write the ticket for the stop AND ONLY THE TICKET FOR THE STOP - and walk away. No "pretext," no questions, no further investigation incident to the stop. Give them their envelope and instruction sheet about how to go through the process and let the Courts handle it all.

That's it. No more imagined scandal. No more "You only pulled me over because I'm purple" bullshit.

• you got pulled over because your ghetto hoopty is missing A, B and C, 
• it's on the squad cam, 
• it's on the body cam, 
• here's your ticket, 
• tell the judge all about it.

End of story, end of media "outrage," end of race-baiting crap that's been long overdue for a reckoning. 

Hey Look....Journalism!

You can tell the Machine doesn't want Conehead running again because stories like this keep popping up as the bought-and-paid-for "media" is told to undermine him:

• When thousands of migrants started flooding Chicago from the Southern U.S. border four years ago, a new report shows a company was paid more than $78 million to do virtually nothing.

  As the migrants arrived, the city scrambled for shelter space and contractors to handle the humanitarian crisis.

  In 2023, NBC Chicago investigations uncovered out-of-control spending by City Hall. That was the first shoe to drop, when we found millions in taxpayer dollars going to contract relief workers in questionable paychecks.

  Now the other shoe has dropped, with a new state of Illinois Auditor General report finding contract employees paid millions of dollars to do no actual work.

This $78 million is on top of the $250 million spent on other ILLEGAL ALIEN expenses after Groot lost her re-election bid.....a quarter of a billion dollars that would be pretty helpful right about now.

Another Porkulous Success!

And by "success," we mean driving another job producer out of Illinois:

• A decision to restructure its beef operations has prompted Tyson Foods to abruptly close an Illinois facility, affecting about 2,500 workers in the Quad Cities area.

  Citing “one of the most historic cattle shortages the country has ever experienced,” Tyson Foods announced Thursday that it was permanently closing its beef processing plant in Joslin, Illinois, and its case-ready facility in Eagle Mountain, Utah. The company also announced plans to sell its beef processing facility in Pasco, Washington.

We drove through the Quad Cities a year or so ago on the way to somewhere else....and believe us, it can't afford to lose 2,500 decent paying jobs. 

Officers Honored

Heroism in the face of tragedy:

• Six Chicago police officers and detectives were honored Thursday for their response to a shooting at Swedish Hospital in April that killed Officer John Bartholomew and critically injured Officer Nelson Crespo.

Story and video at the link.

And in related news - the Fundraiser for Officer Crespo remains active and is a mere five-grand from the targeted amount:

• Police Officer Nelson Crespo has dedicated more than 20 years of his life to protecting the people of Chicago. On April 25, Nelson survived a tragic shooting and is now in the ICU, facing limited mobility in his arms and no mobility in his legs. His commitment to public service and his bravery have touched countless lives, and now he needs the support of the community he has served so faithfully.
  
  Nelson’s journey to recovery will be long and challenging. He will require extensive rehabilitation for the foreseeable future, and his home will need significant modifications to accommodate his new needs. These changes are essential to help him regain independence and comfort as he works toward healing. The financial burden of medical care, therapy, and home adjustments is overwhelming, and every contribution will make a meaningful difference.

The Memorial Foundation and City insurance cover the majority of expenses related to long-term disability care, but there are items that might need addressing immediately, like adapting the house to a purpose it wasn't specifically designed for. If you can, click the link and donate.

Conehead Finds Money Tree

Rahm's Magical Money Tree must have bloomed this past week, and Conehead is taking full advantage:

• Chicago will move ahead with its full $260 million supplemental pension payment, Mayor Brandon Johnson promised the city’s investors Thursday.

  Johnson pledged to make the payment — aimed at chipping away at the city’s towering unfunded pension liabilities — during the Chicago Investor Conference. But as he argued City Hall “cannot simply cut our way out” of its fiscal woes, he did not reveal what new taxes or fees he will propose to balance the city’s next budget.

  “Let me say that one more time: I want to reassure this audience that the city will make the second budgeted supplemental pension payment this year,” he told the investor crowd. “Because of property tax delays from the county, it’s a question of when, not if.”

  The pledge adds another, and possibly final, chapter to the saga of the $260 million payment, which has become a key source of contention between Johnson and the City Council.

Got to love how Conehead claims he "cannot simply cut our way out," without ever making a serious effort to make cuts. 

We'll just remind him where there are plenty of cuts that would save a hundred million tomorrow:

 And that's from three years ago.

The Axe Falls

The investigative phase has begun:

• The Chicago Police Department and Civilian Office of Police Accountability have both opened investigations after a viral video surfaced this week purporting to show an off-duty CPD sergeant profanely threatening a group of teenagers and their families on the Southwest Side.

As an aside, the post about "Abatte 2.0" wasn't a reference to the actions by the accused, but rather a observations that "now the media has another video clip to run for a dozen years or so to paint the entire Department in a bad light."

As many vets might remember, every time some scandal popped up, the media ran the video from inside the bar - even if the incident had nothing to do with a tavern or a drunk off-duty. They ran it because it was available and worked to undermine the image of the Department without actually doing anything to hold the people accountable who buried previous incidents and red-flags that would have prevented 99-out-of-100 other people from even being hired.

It became so repetitive it lost all meaning. But now they'll run this for years, but never mention other incidents that were far worse, like off-duty sergeants shooting autistic kids 

Checking Those Numbers

Not saying that this was us....but we were in the area:

• A Powerball ticket sold in Illinois matched all six numbers in Wednesday night's drawing, winning an estimated $1.04 billion jackpot, according to the lottery organization.

  The winning numbers were 4, 26, 66, 67, 69 and red Powerball 9. The Power Play multiplier was 2x.

  It's the largest Powerball jackpot so far this year, and the eight-largest Powerball jackpot in the game's history.

If we disappear suddenly, assume the best.

Is Crimesha in Trouble?

Usually, this would be an investigation working its way up the ladder....but to what end now?

• The woman who served as Kim Foxx’s top assistant in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office must sit for an under-oath deposition to explain why her office decided not to object to people convicted of murder receiving certificates of innocence even though Foxx personally believed some of the recipients were guilty.

  Foxx herself gave a sworn deposition in April and made the stunning revelation that she personally believed two exonerated men whose certificates of innocence were not opposed by her administration were, in fact, guilty of “a heinous act of murder.”

  But during her deposition, Foxx often said she did not know the details of exoneration cases or how her office investigated and determined whether to challenge certificates of innocence, legal documents that mean an exonerated person is actually innocent of a crime. Those matters, Foxx said, were under the purview of the office’s number-two executive, then-First Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Risa Lanier.

That sounds like Crimesha pretty much tossed Lanier under the bus there, so Lanier has no reason to lie for Crimesha moving forward.

The trouble is, Lanier was instrumental in the deal that freed the French actor Juicy Smollet and sealed the records from public view....until the whole thing blew up all over Crimesha....like a large root beer beverage.

It isn't exactly clear what the goal of these depositions will be because it's the City of Chicago demanding sworn testimony from Lanier and how certain decisions were arrived at. It seems like it may be an effort to fight some of the "project innocence" payouts?

Don't High Five Me Bro

These sound like fun:

• Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers will soon receive gloves that deliver a painful electric jolt to those who choose to fight rather than comply.

  They are called G.L.O.V.E., or Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, and work like a Taser. If someone becomes any kind of physical threat to the officer or chooses to become physically combative rather than comply, the G.L.O.V.E. delivers a shock.

  “ICE plans to spend up to $20 million to purchase thousands of ‘conductive distraction and de-escalation devices’ for officers and agents by March,” reports the far-left Associated Press.

  “Compliant Technologies says the devices function as a normal pair of patrol gloves until officers press a switch to activate their electrical mode,” adds the AP. “The gloves must be applied directly to someone’s skin to deliver a pain stimulus that typically helps an officer gain compliance within seconds, according to the company.”

It would certainly be amusing if the switch was "accidentally" left on during a pat down.

Just be careful shaking hands with the ICE people though. 

Good Question

From the comments:

• Hey SCC,
  
  111 days since part 2 of the Detective exam and still no scores.
  
  Anyone have the scoop?

Obviously, they're "massaging" the numbers to get a desired outcome.

CPD Political Games

Looks like the Department might be stuck with Waller for a while:

• The process of selecting Chicago’s next top cop hit another pothole Monday when four of the seven commissioners charged with finding finalists for the job skipped a meeting where they were supposed to select a firm to conduct a nationwide talent search.

  The absence of a quorum forced Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability President Remel Terry to adjourn the meeting after taking three brief comments from audience members. Exactly what will happen next is unclear as the clock ticks down on the commission’s 120-day deadline to identify three world-class candidates for the mayor to choose from.

The four no-shows were throwing a hissy fit because they weren't permitted to change the rules and remove the one person who might have conservative leanings and happens to support the police far more often than any other panel member....because her brother was a murdered CPD Officer.

And as noted before, keeping Waller around in spite of finally having a First Deputy in place to serve as an interim Supe just shows the utter uselessness of pretty much the entire upper echelon of the Department.

 

Stadium Talks Silent

Notice what hasn't been in the news lately?

• The Chicago Bears are busy gearing up for the new NFL season, but off the field their quest for a new stadium continues to make headlines.

  As the team gathered at Stevenson High School for a walk-through practice on Monday, team Chairman George McCaskey spoke briefly to media, and was asked about the process the Bears are going through as they try to get a new domed stadium built either in Indiana or in Illinois.

  Currently the team is focusing its efforts on Indiana, and when asked about that process, McCaskey said there could be new information coming out soon about the location of that proposed project.

The lack of movement or desperation on the part of Illinois politicians leads us to believe there's a lot of backroom negotiating going on and the involved parties have been told to dial back the rhetoric while the final under-the-table donations pay-to-play bribe money negotiations take place.

CWB Quick Hits

CWB doing most of the media heavy lifting these days.

First up, downtown isn't safe?

• A concealed carry holder is among two people critically wounded in a shootout near the Magnificent Mile Monday night, Chicago police said. At least one person is in custody.

  Witnesses said a group of people had gathered in the 800 block of North Dearborn Street, behind the Lawson House Apartments, when two men got into an argument that turned physical around 9:17 p.m.

  The confrontation escalated when the two men, and potentially others, began shooting at each other, police said. A 34-year-old man was struck in the abdomen and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition. A preliminary CPD report identified him as a licensed concealed carry holder. The other man, 37, suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was also listed in critical condition. He has a lengthy criminal record involving firearms. Court records show he was charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon in 2015, and he was subsequently charged with being an armed habitual criminal in 2017, 2021, and 2024.

Gee, all those "armed habitual" charges, but you know where he's not very habitual? Being held in prison.

Violent Monday by the way:

• Chicago suffered a horrific Monday, with at least five murders reported within six hours citywide, nearly matching the number of slayings reported over the entirety of the just-concluded weekend. According to information released by CPD 

Details at the link.

And another Concealed Carrier prevents a crime:

• A concealed carry holder shot a man who opened the window screen of her South Shore home during a burglary attempt early Tuesday morning, Chicago police said.

  The 30-year-old man approached the woman’s home in the 1500 block of East 73rd Street around 4:50 a.m. and opened the screen while standing on her front porch, according to CPD. The 49-year-old woman, who was inside the home, armed herself and fired a shot, striking the man in the arm, police said. 

He was apprehended later at the hospital 

To read the full stories, hop over to the links and boost the CWB traffic numbers.

Abatte 2.0?

Yes, we have now seen the video and some of the reporting:

• The Chicago Police Department is investigating one of its sergeants after a video posted online shows him threatening to knock out a teenager’s father before apparently striking or knocking a phone from the hand of a girl who was recording the off-duty confrontation.

  A CPD spokesperson confirmed Monday afternoon that an investigation is underway but said it has not yet been determined whether the matter will be handled by the department’s Bureau of Internal Affairs or the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the city’s external police oversight agency. 

Not a good look, but then these types of situations rarely look like anything professional or good.

There will be an investigation. It will take a while. More so if there are political sponsors involved in how someone got their spot.

If IAD investigates, long suspensions most likely.

If COPA, firing recommendations followed by appeals.

Lawsuit inbound - 100% guaranteed.

Whenever minors are involved, it never turns out good for the police:

• the Park Ridge bike thief
• lil homicide
• this incident

And when it's off-duty, it's usually worse, because you're supposed to be the adult in these situations, taking the place of the obvious failures of parents to raise and discipline their spawn properly. 

But this one will be replayed for the foreseeable future since the media wore out all the Abbate footage a few years ago and haven't been able to make deep-fakes to replace the video tapes. 

There He Goes Again

Get ready to fill up your gas tanks!

• Chicago businessman Willie Wilson on Monday joined the race for mayor of Chicago — for the fourth time.

  Wilson announced this candidacy Monday evening at a gathering of several dozen supporters in East Garfield Park.

  “Everywhere I go, citizens ask me to represent the city of Chicago,” Wilson said. “I believe in Chicago and I believe you deserve a leader who wakes up every morning ready to serve.”

  He joins a crowded field that already includes several public officeholders — but does not officially include the man occupying the mayor’s office now.

So how much of this is the Machine trying to split up the voting blocks and engineering a runoff between two chose candidates?

Casino Doomed?

It used to be that a casino was a license to print money....but not in Chicago:

• Bally's Chicago is pausing construction on several parts of its permanent casino as a political fight intensifies over the future of video gaming terminals in the city.

  The company says the growing push for hundreds of new terminals could drain revenue from the casino; it's a concern that has divided members of the City Council.

  At issue is a decision made during last year's budget negotiations to authorize several hundred video gaming terminals, or VGTs, as a way to help close the city's budget gap. Bally's is now pushing back, hoping to get the city to reconsider, prompting frustration from some aldermen who argue the casino operator is overstating the threat.

A casino twenty years ago might have solved a bunch of problems.

A casino ten years ago might have alleviated problems that have since grown to huge issues.

A casino tomorrow would probably end up costing taxpayers untold more millions....and still might.

The incompetency is staggering. 

Another Conehead Corpse

More than 90 now:

• Chicago Fire Department pesonnel found a man shot to death in a Back of the Yards alley early Sunday, police said, and record indicate there were no 911 calls about gunfire in the area despite investigators later recovering roughly 17 shell casings near his body.

  Chicago police officers were dispatched to the 4500 block of South Honore Street around 12:24 a.m., according to CPD dispatch records. Police said fire department personnel had discovered an unresponsive man with multiple gunshot wounds. The man, described by an officer as appearing to be in his early 40s, was pronounced dead at the scene. He remained unidentified as of Monday afternoon.

How soon until 100?

Another Flyer

A flying pedestrian this time:

• A 10-time convicted felon jumped from a third-floor window in a South Shore apartment building in an ill-fated attempt to escape Chicago police who arrived while he was allegedly burglarizing a woman’s home, prosecutors said.

  Martel Brown, 37, is charged with burglary, and officials are seeking to revoke his parole following the August 5 incident in the 2000 block of East 68th Street.

  According to a detention filing, CPD responded around 2:30 p.m. after a woman reported seeing a man with face tattoos kick in the front door of her apartment via her Ring camera feed. When officers arrived, they went to the back of the building and saw a ladder leaning against the building toward an open window, a CPD arrest report said. As officers tried to enter one of the units, they were told the burglar was escaping through a third-floor front window.

  Brown then jumped from the third floor to the ground, prosecutors said. He suffered injuries to both legs and was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was reported to be in good condition. The woman who saw the burglary on her Ring camera arrived and provided the video to police, according to the CPD report.

Evidently he wasn't drinking his allotment of Red Bull, which we're told gives you wings.

Really Eileen?

We don't know if she is just catching up or this is some political posturing for a run at higher office:

• Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke is asking Illinois residents to contact their state legislators and push for an overhaul of the state’s electronic monitoring law.

  “The whole system right now is broken and it needs a legislative fix,” Burke said in a wide-ranging interview with Landon Campbell posted to YouTube on Sunday. “So, I’m going to be asking you and everybody you know and everybody who’s listening to this to please reach out to your legislators and tell them that you do not believe that violent criminals should be on electronic monitoring. They should not and we can work out an agreement with the legislators of okay, where do we draw the line?”

  Burke said electronic monitoring was never intended to function as an alternative to detention for people accused of violent crimes.

  “Electronic monitoring first came about when we were under a bond system and it was a way if somebody didn’t have the money to make bond but they weren’t a dangerous person you could put them on electronic monitoring,” Burke said.

  But the system has evolved, Burke said, while the law governing it has created a series of problems that become more consequential when defendants accused of violent crimes are placed on monitoring.

Seriously, this has been covered here how often? For how long?

And CWB has led the way with documenting:

• 87 people charged with murder or attempted murder free on EM
• 181 defendants charged with sexual assault roaming the streets
• and over 300 people missing from EM - as in no one knows where they are

Don't get us wrong, we're more than happy to see O'Neill Burke on board with what we've been broadcasting for years, but please don't pretend it's something you just noticed now. 

It's actually the reason you got elected over Prickwrinkle's hand picked moron.

Australian Vigilante Jailed

Maybe the United States can offer her asylum?

• A female homeowner who allegedly kidnapped, chained and padlocked an intruder before taking a baseball bat to his suspected accomplices is an NDIS support worker.

  Kylee Barbette Robinson, 52, allegedly found a thief in her shed at her home in Raymond Terrace, north of Newcastle, NSW, and attacked him with the baseball bat.

  She is then accused of tying him up by the neck with a padlock and chain before ordering him to take her to other items that had already been stolen from her. 

  A bail court heard the man took her to a homeless camp in nearby Boomerang Park, where she then allegedly assaulted two other men with a baseball bat. 

  The vigilante rampage allegedly continued when she is alleged to have smashed up a car with the baseball bat, shattering its windscreen to recover stolen possessions.  

For those wondering, the NDIS is Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme (scheme being another name for Agency), so she's probably of a liberal bent....but even the liberals in Australia are fed up with soaring crime brought in by uncontrolled and unvetted immigration, and this particular one took a baseball bat to express her frustrations, resulting in charges against her.

We must admit we are greatly entertained by it. 

Pay Up

What is it with CTU people not paying their fair share?

 

Between this and Conehead's water bill, not to mention the almost eight-hundred fraudulent PPP loans by CPS employees, the schools ought to be Ground Zero for reform efforts.

Citizen Speaks Up

This is from a citizen making first hand observations of the Billiken Parade, but it's not going to be a popular view amongst the community or the media that's supposed to keep you informed:

• video link here

View at your own risk.

HeyJackass.com Hiatus

Stepping back for a break:

• After 13½ years of daily tracking of silly decisions and other non-demonizable actions, we’re hitting pause. This site and its archives aren’t going anywhere, and ShopJackass.com will still be selling stupid crap, but updates will be minimal going forward, likely once a week or less. This isn’t the end, it’s just a pause in a very long, very stupid journey.

Thirteen-and-a-half years is quite a long time (A) for a blog and (B) keeping track of violence statistics that show just how hopeless segments of our society have become. It's exhausting, depressing and it wears you down. We've felt the same way many times.

Hopefully it's not the end as they provide a valuable service to the lies put out by the politicians and the Department statisticians. 

Remember, Don't Demonize

But think about carrying something in the event you have to defend yourself:

• A mob of as many as 16 teenagers and young men attacked and robbed a man near the Roosevelt CTA station Thursday night, prompting Chicago police to renew a warning about a string of similar attacks in the Loop.

  The latest victim was attacked around 11:45 p.m. Thursday near the train station and robbed of his white gold chain and wallet, according to a CPD community alert and preliminary police report.

  It was the fourth reported mob attack and robbery in the area since July 24, when a woman was assaulted just around the corner from the Roosevelt station.

  The department issued its first community alert late last month after groups attacked two women in the same area within days. Two more attacks have been reported since then, according to a new bulletin released Saturday.

You'll never guess who the criminals are....unless you read unbiased sites like CWB.

Can't Let Go

Some people just have to hang on:

• The Illinois Supreme Court has announced the appointment of Cook County Circuit Judge Timothy C. Evans to the First District Appellate Court.

  Judge Evans has served on the bench since 1992 when he was elected to the Circuit Court of Cook County.

  Evans was elected as Chief Judge of the Circuit Court in 2001, becoming the first Black person to serve as Chief Judge.

  Evans, age 83, will fill the vacancy created when Justice Terrence J. Lavin retired in March of this year.

He's older than the last two presidents and there were calls from both sides saying that each should have stepped down when it was politically advantageous. 

But here's Timmy, hanging on, sitting in judgement of all sorts of important issues, unable to just enjoy his massive "earnings" after a quarter of a century presiding over one of the more crooked systems in existence.

Billiken Day

We don't miss these canceled days off, mandatory OT and involuntary details at all.

Be careful out there. 

Off Duty Officers Injured

Jumped at the beach:

• Two off-duty police officers were among four victims injured in a fight Friday afternoon at a beach on the city's South Side. The incident happened around 4:05 p.m. at 31st Street Beach in the 3100 block of South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago police said.

  The two off-duty officers, a 23-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman, were with two other victims, men both age 22, when they were approached by two male offenders and two female offenders whose ages were not yet known, CPD said.

  A verbal argument began, and the two off-duty officers announced themselves as police officers and attempted to de-escalate the situation, officials said. A physical fight then took place. The 23-year-old off-duty officer had a cut on his face and nose and was taken to a hospital in good condition, Chicago police said. The three other victims had various cuts and other injuries, but refused medical attention at the scene, police said.

Someone said there was an overwhelming response to the 10-1 as the 4-vs-4 got out-of-hand in a hurry.

Speedy recovery to the victims. 

Good Idea Maybe

From an aldercreature no less:

• Twelve Chicago aldermen are calling for changes to the city’s legal settlement policy after a CWBChicago report revealed that a man who received an $8 million wrongful-conviction settlement from the city has pleaded guilty to traveling to meet a 13-year-old.

  The aldermen made the request Thursday in a letter to Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry, explicitly citing CWBChicago’s report about Francisco Nanez, a 61-year-old who served decades in prison for a murder conviction that prosecutors moved to vacate.

  In their letter, the aldermen asked the Department of Law to change how approved settlements are distributed, requiring payments to be made in quarterly installments rather than lump sums. The proposal would also suspend payments to anyone arrested for a felony and void the settlement if the person is ultimately convicted.

Of course, this is another one of those "project innocence" cases where guilty people got Crooked Crimesha to refuse to re-try cases that were reversed over nonsense, made-up bullshit, lies and waiting for witnesses to die (or get paid off to recant.)

This murderer turned out to have a second career as a child molester that the City Council gave $8 million to over Crimesha's refusal to do her job.

Well This is Unpleasant

How can you be this unable to complete your job?

• The discovery of over 50 decomposing bodies in a South Deering funeral home was not the first time its business’ operators were found to have mishandled remains.

  Last year, state officials shut down a Chicago Heights crematory, also operated by Clark and Johanna Morgan, amid allegations they had mishandled around 100 bodies at the facility.

  That business was permanently shut down by state officials and nearly two dozen lawsuits were filed against the Morgans in the wake of the investigation.

  But they continued to operate South Chicago Chapel at 2939 E. 95th St., and now dozens more families find themselves in the same position demanding answers from the Morgans and seeking accountability for their deceased loved ones.

Fifty-six bodies, openly decomposing, infested and being eaten by bugs and rodents.

NOT the first time this couple was caught mishandling the dead. 

But somehow they slipped through the cracks, continued operating with out licenses or authorization, exploiting the bereaved and ....

What the actual f@#$? 

 

Real? Not Real?

This is from a reader who says it was at an off-site training class:

The instructor (civilian?) claimed this was a "joke slide" after some objections were raised.

Kind of an inappropriate joke if true. 

Missed opportunity for the Keesing Bandit however, as he has zero sense of embarrassment. 

And Speaking of Rats....

Rodent problems up north in 020:

• Officers at a Chicago police district say overgrown brush and delayed maintenance have led to a rat infestation outside their station, prompting concerns about conditions and city response.

There's a video report at the link. Or try this one.

Obviously, Conehead is cutting the exterior maintenance budgets and also interior services as there is an Officer saying they don't even have janitors three days a week to empty trash cans and make sure the buildings are cleaned - because Officers never ever bring filthy dirty bedbug infested arrestees into police stations.

If we recall, that was reserved for the filthy dirty ILLEGAL ALIENS sleeping in lobbies for weeks and months at a time. 

Rats Abandoning Ship?

You can tell a failed administration by the number of people leaving high positions.

For example, Conehead's people:

• City Budget Director Annette Guzman resigned;
  Larritorious Snelling retired;
  CFO Jill Jaworski left;
  CFO Steven Mahr left;
  Deputy CFO Noor Shaikh left;
  Human Resources Dir. Sandra Blakemore left;
  Fleet and Facility Management’s Julia Hernandez-Tomlin left;
  Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Dorian Gatewood fired;
  Manny Whitfield-Director of Violence Prevention and Community Safety also fired.

A whole bunch of financial and money people in the mix. What do they know that isn't being said....or reported....by those "watchdogs" in the media?

Another Blown Search?

What the actual f#$%?????

• A man arrested for allegedly possessing a little pot and resisting Chicago police officers was facing only misdemeanor charges until he was taken for a quick court appearance and a routine security screening revealed that he had a loaded firearm in his crotch, according to authorities.

  Chicago police officers arrested Philip Robinson, 23, around 9:30 p.m. last Tuesday, July 28, in the 6600 block of South Laflin Street on misdemeanor cannabis possession and resisting charges, according to CPD records. Ordinarily, he would have been in and out of the courthouse within hours.

CWB even managed to get the picture from the x-ray:

 

 

There are obvious questions being asked - at what point did this prisoner have the weapon - because of what happened just three months ago. And we're afraid we all know the answer to it.

That isn't some sub-compact semi-auto by the way. Is this a training failure? Are cops scared someone might call them gay if they search the easiest and most obvious place to hide a weapon? Does someone have a death wish? Because this is how you get yourself and your fellow officers killed. 

Reach down and jingle the boys. If dude gets squirrelly, punch him right in the groin. He'll get the message and you'll save everyone's life - including his.

FOP Follies

Yet another rumor, this time that the First VP had charges filed against him for misappropriation.

Revenge for filing the charges against the president months ago?

Sure is a lot of drama over there. 

Recruit Shot?

Rumor today that a recruit got shot on the range? Tourniquets had to be applied?

Any details? Are they going to live? 

UPDATE: an emailer claims this wasn't a recruit, but a staff member who laid open most of his hand cutting up part of his lunch and Officers applied a tourniquet due to the heavy bleeding.

So a Lifesaving Award may be in order. 

Demote Them All

The Department is waaaaay too top heavy anyway, but Conehead is gutless:

• A group of high-ranking Chicago police officials are pushing to form their own union, setting up a possible fight with Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration.

  In a letter last month to Militza Pagán, Johnson’s deputy mayor of labor relations, an attorney with the Illinois Police Benevolent & Protective Association asked the city to “voluntarily recognize” a new collective bargaining unit of police commanders and deputy chiefs. The union already represents sergeants, lieutenants and captains.

How about "No." It's defined as "Exempt" for many reasons, all of which you VOLUNTEERED for. 

You took no test for your spot. In most cases, you demonstrated no actual job skills aside from who you knew or who you blew. You played the political game, you serve at the pleasure of the administration, and you get an undeserved / unearned pension bump that puts you head and shoulders above just about every other public sector retiree, not to mention the "good ol' boys" network that lands you six-figure retirement jobs ON TOP OF the unearned pension.

• A source with knowledge of the unionization push said it was launched after the city curtailed how much time exempt-rank supervisors can spend on medical leave.

  The issue only surfaced when two commanders were told they needed to return to work, as one remained hospitalized with a serious illness and the other was recovering from back surgery, the source said.

Okay, that's just wrong, but wholly undeserving of all of the other protections that come with unionization. If it's that big a deal, go back to your previous Patrol rank that has a Contract.

• Commanders and deputy chiefs aren’t afforded other benefits that other rank-and-file cops get, including earned time off, pay for being prepared to work during off-hours and allowances for uniforms, the source said.

  Lieutenants are now turning down promotions to become commanders because of the disparities — something that never used to happen, the source said.

That makes them the smart ones, and perhaps the ones that Conehead should be looking at to run Units and Districts. 

Would you want to try to run a city Department with leftover deadweight who owe their spot and allegiance to previous mayors? They could spend their days undercutting the policies you ran and got elected on and you wouldn't be able to remove them because of union rules. 

Screw that. 

A Slum Times Miracle!

A PPP fraud case....that doesn't involve the CPD?

• A former top Chicago Public School official was charged with ripping off two pandemic relief programs, nearly three years after the school system found she had lied about her income in order to receive loans.

  Crystal Cooper, the district’s former chief operating officer, was among at least 14 CPS staffers who left their jobs in 2023 after the district’s inspector general uncovered they had falsified information on applications for federal Paycheck Protection Program loans.

  This May, Cooper was charged with three counts of wire fraud, according to a recently unsealed federal indictment.

  Beginning in June 2020, Cooper applied for two federal loans through the PPP and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, according to the indictment. Those programs were intended to help small businesses survive the pandemic, but they were overrun with fraud.

  Cooper was accused of lying about her income and the revenue she received from a side business that she’d never disclosed to CPS. She ultimately received over $28,000 in loans that she tapped for “her personal use and benefit,” according to the indictment. Like most of the country’s 11.4 million PPP loans, Cooper’s were forgiven and she didn’t have to pay anything back.

How did this one get past the Slum Times editors?

Wait....wait.... 

• At least 36 Chicago police officers were found to have defrauded the PPP program, according to reports by City Hall inspector general’s office. The list includes eight cops highlighted in a report last month who bilked a total of $282,639 in PPP funds.

Ah yes....there's the Slum Times bias we've all come to know and love. Over 1,000 city employees were found to have received fraudulent loans, including 780 CPS employees (none of whom actually missed a paycheck), but they have to mention 36 cops.

Assholes. 

Poor Hiring Practices

The fact that this isn't local is surprising, considering some of the recent scandals to hit the CPD exempt ranks:

• A Westchester County police bigwig and her ex-con hubbie chaperoned their gangbanger son to a botched hit on a rival in the Bronx – then she took over as the getaway driver, officials said Tuesday.

  Mount Vernon Deputy Police Commissioner Jennifer Lackard, 49, and her husband James Lackard drove their 20-year-old son Chase Lackard to the Grand Concourse on June 29 at around 11:57 p.m. and helped him plan a brazen hit right outside the Bronx Criminal Court, according to police and court records.

  Once there, the proud parents sat in the front of the family’s Chrysler Pacifica while their “Slutty Gang” member son opened fire with a semiautomatic out of the window toward members of the rival street crew P. Laafay – but missed his targets, sources and documents said.

CPD has had all sorts of high ranking scandals - sex, stalking, PPP fraud, more sex, cheating on promo tests, DUIs, consorting with felons, even more sex....the list is extensive.

This other one is sort of local and is highly disappointing:

• An Illinois State Police trooper charged with sexual assault allegedly drugged and assaulted a bartender last year in south suburban Tinley Park.

  Douglas Lee, 54, was stripped of his police powers and ordered held at Cook County jail after he was charged Friday, according to court records and state police.

  Lee is accused of drugging a woman while she was out with friends, taking her to a hotel and sexually assaulting her before leaving her in her car overnight.

We guess even the ISP bureaucratic masters drop the ball once in a while, so this shouldn't reflect on the regular Troopers we dealt with for years - smart, professional, willing to help out with the intricacies of Traffic Law, and if they were on the Zone with you, always on the way to assist. Sorry you guys and gals have to deal with this.

Giannoulias Interview

We're told this is from an interview given by Giannoulias recently to Fran Spielman of all people (we don't have a link at the moment):

• “I would say it was dangerously irresponsible…this is on top of assuming another huge TIF surplus of nearly $600 million in the city, half of which would go to CPS. And instead of adopting the CPS CEO’s proposed budget, which included some staffing cuts, the CTU-linked members of the board jammed through this alternative budget, which avoids any hard choices about structural changes. That’s not leadership.”
  
  
  “And I believe that Springfield must be part of the solution to addressing CPS’s budget issues. And as mayor I will work with the board president to advocate for more funding. But we have to start with a more responsible budget.”
  
  
  “I think what was passed yesterday on potentially, glittery, possible revenues [was] not responsible. I want to tell you a fact as I’ve been talking to families. Since 2019 CPS enrollment has dropped by more than 40,000 students (361,000 to 316,000) even as staffing has increased by 10,000 (38,500 to 48,500). And the CPS budget deficit is as high, maybe even higher, than the city’s overall budget deficit. So you have to make tough decisions.”

The fact that someone is pointing this out is amazing in and of itself.

That the someone is running for office says this out loud shows that the CTU polling numbers must be in the gutter as people get more and more fed up with illiterate morons teaching (and graduating) illiterate morons in the midst of declining enrollment and staffing / tax increases

More money for a failing product.

But given Giannoulias's own series of failures and ability to "fail upward" don't make him the solution by any stretch. 

This Guy Gets It

But he doesn't want to rock the boat too hard:

• An Illinois lawmaker who also serves as a police officer says Chicago’s new campaign posting signs on CTA trains and stations warning that violence is illegal is a positive step, but real improvements in public safety will require stronger enforcement and a greater law enforcement presence.

  The CTA recently began displaying signs throughout its transit system reminding riders that violence is illegal.

  In a video that gained traction on social media this week, Cook County State’s Attorney said the campaign is intended to deter crime and encourage witnesses to report criminal activity.

  “We are putting up these signs as an indication of what the consequences will be to any fearful actions on the CTA,” Burke said. “We are hoping to deter crime and to encourage people to move forward if they are witnesses of a crime.”

  State Rep. Patrick Sheehan, R-Lockport, who also serves as a police officer, said he appreciates the campaign’s message but questioned why such reminders are necessary. “I’m not opposed to the sign. I actually appreciate its forcefulness,” Sheehan said. “I just think it’s an absolute shame that these need to be posted in the first place.”

"Forcefulness"? It's a freaking sign. There's no "force" behind a sign. There need to be consequences, and that means substantial fines, jail time and for repeat assholes, prison. 

It didn't "need" to be posted, but if you're looking for a reason, look no further than Crimesha Foxxx.

Shot-a-palooza Results

The guess was 5 and 12.

The result was 2 and 11.

No idea on CSAs and overdoses ate the concert, although ten arrests were reported (with no mention of charges) along with sixty-seven ambulance transports (again, with no mention of why people were transported).

Draw your own conclusions.

Unbelievable Hypocrisy

This call for transparency is pretty amazing, considering who it's coming from (click for larger version):

 

So what would you call the Financial Records of the entire Lodge 7 FOP that are paid with members' dues? Wouldn't those belong to the membership who might want to inspect them all?

For those unaware, John is the First VP of the State Lodge and the State Lodge has allegedly been undergoing a bit of their own upheaval lately involving possible outside investigations....

::cough cough federal cough cough::

....and certain State Lodge officers are suspected of cooperating with the outside agency....

::cough cough fbi cough cough::

....and certain other Officers are desperate to find out who and what the extent of the cooperation was or continues to be. 

Get the popcorn. 

Well This is Embarrassing

We'll just take out the name, address and phone number here:

 

If we had a nickel for every time this happened....

....we'd have about fifteen cents. 

The Keesing Bandit however, would be rich beyond belief. 

Machine Tool Enters the Race

He's declared for mayor:

• Taking aim at Mayor Brandon Johnson’s revolving door of senior leadership, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias joined the race for mayor Sunday, portraying himself as the coalition builder needed to solve Chicago’s enormous problems.

  Giannoulias enters the race as a presumed frontrunner with a political target on his back after raising $22 million from business leaders and building trade unions.

  At the risk of biting the hand that fed his campaign, Giannoulias vowed to support the millionaires tax that Johnson has also championed. 

He's also turned against the CTU (so you know they're going all in on Conehead), echoing many of the complaints we've had for decades....but that doesn't excuse his own sordid past. 

Remember, this is the Machine politician who:

• lost $150 million for Illinois Bright Start college funds via Oppenheimer investments;
• lent $20 million to convicted felons Michael Giorango and Demitri Stavropoulos;  
• help cost taxpayers $394 million when his family's Broadway Bank went under;
• has been granting Drivers Licenses to ILLEGAL ALIENS for years now....and registering them to vote;
• has based his early campaign commercials on defending ILLEGAL ALIENS from deportation

This ain't the guy. 

More SAFE-T Act Failure

What's the definition of insanity again? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? Like this:

• A nine-time convicted burglar wearing a court-ordered ankle monitor is now accused of breaking into two more garages, including one just three days after a judge decided not to keep him locked up on yet another garage burglary allegation, according to court records.

  Ronald Moore, 53, is now detained after a different judge decided he should stay in jail given the allegations and his “extensive criminal history.”

  During a detention last week, prosecutors said Moore jumped a man’s back fence in the 1100 block of West Chestnut Street on June 2 and walked into the victim’s garage through a side door. Ring camera footage allegedly showed him stealing a lacrosse bag and a motorized drill.

  CPD arrested Moore on July 22 after identifying him from the video and, two days later, prosecutors asked Judge Robert Kuzas to keep him in jail, saying Moore had “several” burglary convictions dating to 1992. Kuzas denied the request and instead ordered Moore released on electronic monitoring with a curfew requiring him to remain at home between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., according to court records.

Sure, because burglaries NEVER EVER happen during the day when most decent people are away from home, working to earn money to buy stuff....that burglars like to steal.

Judge James Murphy III ordered the nine-time convicted felon to remain in custody for a while until some other moron releases him again. 

Biker Takeovers

First it was undemonized yutes.

Then, undemonized yutes with cars taking over intersections.

Now it's motorbikes, by the dozens upon dozens:

• Once again, a large group of motorcycles riders were seen taking over a portion of the Eisenhower Expressway on the city's West Side Friday night.

  An ABC7 viewer says they saw hundreds of motorcycles driving at high speeds and swerving between traffic.

  A similar scene was seen on the Dan Ryan Expressway Friday morning.

  In that video, riders were seen weaving through traffic and popping wheelies.

  Police have not released any reports regarding the mass rides happening across Chicago.

There were also groups riding back and forth over by HQ, popping wheelies and flipping off the building while filming themselves. Our readers up north say there were similar gatherings in 020, 019, 017 and 016 also.

So how does it get addressed? Safely? 

Or is this another of those things we just pretend isn't happening because of who's doing it? These machines are all street legal, right? With plates and stickers? And everyone is carrying a Class M license?

How long until they kill someone or get killed by a short tempered individual they're picking on?

School Safety? Hahahahaha

And there it is - the real reason they wanted police out of schools:

• Chicago Public Schools is poised to cut in half the money and staff the district provided to some high schools after they removed police officers stationed at their campuses.

  High schools were given money roughly equivalent to a school resource officer’s annual salary in order to implement alternative approaches to safety, known as Whole School Safety Plans.

  A Chalkbeat analysis of the proposed 2026-27 budget found that funding for Whole School Safety Plans at 54 high schools would go from $8.7 million to $4 million and the number of positions would go from 80 to 42. Most schools would see a reduction from $160,000 or more to around $80,000 and the loss of roughly one position, under the proposed budget.

So they removed the actual police, hired cheaper staff with the "savings," then finally, cut the cheaper staff personnel to redirect the money to favored proommiesgrams.

The other reason tehey got rid of cops was because in certain situations, the cops are REQUIRED to take police action, i.e. arrest offenders....and that fed into the "school to prison pipeline" nonsense the demo-lib-commie narrative was preaching. 

Can't have kids thinking they might go to jail for criminal offenses ya know. Gotta get that entitlement thought process indoctrinated as soon as possible.

Just What We Needed

More taxes!

• If you’re shopping this weekend, you will be paying a little more in sales tax. 

  Beginning Saturday, sales tax across the city of Chicago and five collar counties will increase. It’s no secret that living in certain parts of Illinois, things can add up fast. And the state’s tax hike story continues. 

  “It’s kind of gut-wrenching, I think that is going to affect things, and it’s really hard, it’s egregious, actually,” said Sara Plocker, owner of local boutique Sara Jane.

  The business owner referenced Senate Bill 2111, which passed in Springfield last October. The bill raises the sales tax from 10.25% to 10.50%.

Still amazing how no one in government thinks of cost cutting, but goes right to the taxpayer wallets, and then claim that Trump is making it harder on working families to afford living here.....just like in New York and California, too. 

Reap What is Sown

Back on 14 July, we wrote a post about this ATV versus SUV accident:

The woman driving the ATV on the sidewalk t-boned an SUV, disregarding the traffic signal (and the law about ATV's on city streets) and died. Darwin wins again.

And on 10 June, we had this item, asking if this was legal:

Of course it isn't, but we were being sarcastic.

Because CPD isn't supposed to chase for traffic, isn't supposed to pursue over misdemeanors, and has been restricted from even following fleeing motorcycles for any pretty much any any reason whatsoever lest there be a crash.

End result? 

• no pursuit is interpreted as no consequences, 
• no fear of being stopped leads to more law breaking

And now, Chicagoans reap the whirlwind:

• A woman riding her bike on the Lakefront Trail suffered catastrophic injuries after a man on a motorized dirt bike crashed into her in the Gold Coast, according to Chicago police, who are now trying to track him down.

  The crash happened around 3:47 p.m. on July 20, when the 45-year-old woman was riding along the trail just south of North Avenue. Police said a man wearing a black ski mask and dark clothing was riding a yellow dirt bike recklessly when he struck her.

  The woman’s injuries were serious enough that Chicago police turned the investigation over to the department’s Major Accident Investigation Unit, which handles the most severe crashes.

Who should society blame (besides the guy wearing a ski mask in the middle of summer)?

• The crash is a flashpoint in what’s become a growing complaint from regulars on the 18-mile trail: motorized vehicles speeding along a path where they don’t belong. The trail was built for walkers, joggers, and bicyclists moving under their own power. But those users increasingly find themselves on the lookout as people riding motorized bikes and skateboard-style devices zip along at breakneck speeds.

  Pedal-assist e-bikes get some of the blame, particularly when riders strip out the devices that are supposed to cap how fast they can go. But the bigger worry, according to those who use the trail regularly, is heavier, faster machines that don’t belong on a bike path at all: gas-powered minibikes, electric dirt bikes, mopeds and electric motorcycles built to look like bicycles — some of which exceed 40 mph. Those devices also accelerate faster and weigh more than standard bikes, raising the stakes when something goes wrong, as it did on July 20.

Until someone invents something that disables these types of vehicles (ATVs, cycles, scooters, e-bikes, etc) expect more of it with proportional body counts.

In the meantime, maybe a clothesline at neck level would discourage this behavior? 

New Meaning to "Tree Police"

They never had this job around when we were rookies:

• Drivers could not beat around the bush when it came to being charged with distracted driving in a New Jersey suburb this week as a cop disguised himself as a shrub to spot motorists on their phones while behind the wheel.

  The Dunellen police officer camouflaged himself and employed a pair of binoculars to covertly execute  the distracted-driving enforcement operation in the town of 8,000 about 30 miles from New York City.

There's even a picture:

We'd agree with arguments that this is nothing more than a money grab by the Dunellen, New Jersey PD and local government (the fines start at $200 and escalate from there). But we've also seen more than enough distracted drivers hitting, injuring and killing people to say something ought to be done.

Shoot-a-Palooza

How many? 

Rain has come and gone for Friday and temps are expected to be reasonable.

Five and twelve? 

Let's use 1700 hours Friday until 0500 hours Monday - a sixty hour stretch.