Spotted at HQ

To alleviate those pesky delirium tremens on CompStat Thursdays:

• A vending machine in the Ukrainian city of Melitopol that is supposed to sell coffee was jerry-rigged to dispense shots of vodka instead----at about $1 a pop. The BBC reports, citing the state-owned Interfax-Ukraine TV channel, that the machine also sold an array of fruit juice mixers.
  
  While this may seem amusing to some, authorities don't find the tricked-out machine funny. Ukrainian tax collectors are reportedly looking for the person or people behind the "wonder machine" --as it has been called--on suspicion of illegally trading in alcohol.

We wish we had thought of it first.

From the Ashes

Has it really been 12 years?

God bless the fallen.

Sex Offenders on Safe Passage

Someone is just realizing this now?

• The ABC7 I-Team uncovers a hidden danger lurking on school Safe Passage routes: sex offenders. Gangs and bullets aren't the only threats facing Chicago children walking to school along safe passageways. The ABC7 I-Team found numerous safe passage routes mapped out by Chicago school officials that direct students through a gauntlet of sex offenders, some who assaulted children.
  
  The I-Team cross-checked home addresses for convicted sex-offenders against Safe Passage routes that children now walk every day.
  Bright yellow signs and adults on lookout police on patrol: everyone watching for the obvious.

You know who's fault this is, right? The government!

• Even with all that they have to worry about, these parents are still outraged.
  "I'm mad as hell. You move in these areas and they don't tell you what's goin' on," said Yureka Coleman, "Safe Passage" parent.

Ah government - the cause and solution to everyone's problems.

Ice Cream Murder

Not Chicago, but it had all the hallmarks of a big city homicide:

• The mother of a slain Sauk Village teen has been charged in connection with his death.
  
  Robin Erwin, 31, was charged with first degree murder for allegdly stabbing her son, 17-year-old Diontae Erwin, to death Saturday, police said in a statement.

Mom kills her child. Over what?

• He was pronounced dead at 12:41 p.m. at Franciscan St. Margaret Health in Dyer, Ind., the coroner's office said. His death was ruled a homicide. During the investigation, a man, Larry Gray, 21, was charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. A parole violation warrant was also filed against Gray. Police say a total of 130 grams of cannabis was seized from the home.

Okay, okay, Mom was a piece of garbage, we get it. But why did she stab him?

• The defendant and victim had an argument over ice cream, police say. Witnesses heard the argument, during which Robin Erwin allegedly stabbed her son one time in the chest below the clavicle which pierced his heart.

Now that is some stupid bullshit. We're just saying.

• Friends brought flowers and other mementos to the house where Diontae Erwin lived. The death of the high school senior and aspiring rapper has stunned his longtime friends.

Sigh.....and the beat goes on.

Expanded Foot Patrols

Not the Safe Passage routes - the other ones:

• The Chicago Police Department has expanded the use of foot patrols to 20 of the city's most dangerous areas, part of a strategy initiated earlier this year that officials say has cut crime.
  
  The department in March deployed rookie officers on foot in the first of 20 "impact zones" on the South and West sides, where the city says 20 percent of all violent crime occurred during a recent three-year period. The rookies are now walking all 20 of the zones.
  
  On top of that, overtime has been offered to veteran officers to patrol those zones in cars.
  
  The department says the increased presence of officers is partly responsible for a drop in homicides and shootings from last year, when Chicago recorded more than 500 slayings for the first time in four years, drawing unflattering media coverage across the country.

Yeah, about that "drop" in homicides?

• Still, there have been five more homicides through Sept. 9 of this year than at the same time in 2011, according to preliminary 2013 figures.

Nice to see someone in the media is finally realizing that McCompStat and Rahm are cheery-picking the numbers from a year that makes them look better. Welcome to the party.

This also amused us:

• The rookies assigned to the foot patrols have completed 12 weeks of field training after graduation from the Police Academy.

This is a big change from the Safe Passage routes, where rookies are being put on foot patrol without having spent a single day with an FTO. You read that correctly. Has no one at City Hall heard of the concept of "liability?" The kids don't even have a more experienced officer guiding them around - they're just out there in their groups with radios and guns doing 12-hour shifts at straight time for a 60-hour week. Talk about taking advantage.

Gun Registry Gone (Soon)

About time:

• A decades-old requirement for Chicago gun owners to register their firearms will soon be off the books after a panel of aldermen on Monday recommended repealing it.
  
  If the full City Council agrees as expected on Wednesday, it will be the first time in Chicago since 1968 that legal guns don't have to be registered. That's when then-Mayor Richard J. Daley set up a city gun registry.
  
  The latest blow to the city's gun control efforts was set in motion by a federal appeals court ruling late last year ordering Illinois lawmakers to allow the carrying of concealed handguns. The General Assembly gave final approval in July to a concealed carry law that gives sole control of gun permits and licensing to the state. That meant the city gun registry had to go.
  
  Although Ald. Ed Burke, 14th, the architect of many of the city's gun control measures, and several of his colleagues accepted the changes like a dose of bad medicine, Todd Vandermyde, an Illinois lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, called them "a start."

Crime is still down and at last report, not a single registered gun had anything to do with any homicides. Now maybe we can stop calling the Gun Desk and hearing the words, "Clear, not registered." We could use the help on the streets.

Special Elections in Colorade

In a little noticed (by the lame stream media) development, Colorado citizens pushed two recall elections following a flurry of anti-gun legislation, including the Colorado Senate president.

Both were successfully recalled and are currently looking for work

No word if MagPul will be returning to town though.

Taking Matters into Hand

Anyone in Chicago thinking about doing this?

• Citizens across the country have grumbled about speed cameras, but someone in Wicomico County, Maryland appears to be making a physical — and political — point.
  This traffic camera, supposedly in Wicomico County, Maryland, was spray-painted over the lens and tagged with the year 1776, the year the U.S. declared its independence. (Photo via SBY News)
  A photo posted on the blog SBY News shows a traffic camera that’s been spray-painted over the lens and tagged with the year 1776, the year the U.S. declared independence.

And the offending camera:

Chicago's cameras appear to be placed a bit higher however.

Safe Passage Silliness

There were some other observations made in the Sun Times article from yesterday about Safe Passage.  Here's one:

• Leo Allen Jr., another O’Toole grad who currently has a child in nearly every grade of the elementary school plus older kids in high school, too, jaws with his father over how long.
  
  Sitting on his porch across from O’Toole’s back doors, the younger Allen predicts the extra support will last until mid-September; the elder a whole year.
  

Call us silly, but shouldn't Leo be out working to support his six, seven or eight kids, rather than sitting on the front porch commenting to the media about Safe Passage and how it's going to end shortly?

And this one:

• Another mother on her porch at 66th and Damen watching three of her children run across a field onto school property worries that all the police will have another effect:
  
  “I think they’re making kids scared of school,” she said.
  

Great, another thing we can get blamed for - it's all part of the conspiracy you know.

Casper Lauer Motocycle Run

Safe Passage Extended a Week

And guess who isn't buying into the illusion?

• For the most part, O’Toole [Elementary School] loves the extra security and attention. Perhaps that’s for good reason. During the last school year, the Safe Passage route now drawn to O’Toole, 6550 S. Seeley Ave., had more shootings on it than any other in the city, according to a Sun-Times analysis, with 13 people shot and three murdered.
  
  But the O’Toole community is totally skeptical about how long the attention will last.
  
  Especially since Mayor Rahm Emanuel spent part of the first day of school at O’Toole Elementary, walking a little girl to school along the new Safe Passage route. Police, firefighters, city inspectors and community workers were out in full force that day, Aug. 26. A police helicopter hovered overhead during the mayor’s visit. A streets and sanitation worker even painted fire hydrants as children headed to school.
  
  By the second week of school, the mayor is gone, as is the overhead chopper.
  

And in another two weeks, the cops will be gone, too. At least the "extra" coppers drawn from all over the city, HQ, inside spots and PPO's who haven't even sat one day with a Field Training Officer. And all for what? And at what cost?

More Attacks on Off-Duty Officers?

We can only guess that since they didn't involve gun crime, they don't count, but the guys over at CrimeInBoystown blog have an exclusive as far as we can tell:

• In a stunning development this morning, the 19th district handled two calls of off-duty police officers being jumped, apparently in two separate incidents near Wrigley Field around 5 o'clock this morning. Few details are available at this hour.
  
  In the first incident, an off-duty officer who was riding his bike to work was jumped by four men near the intersection of Grace and Sheffield. An on-duty unit made contact with the officer and the officer is OK. According to a "flash" issued to on-duty officers, the attackers, described as four male blacks in their 20's, were last seen running south and possibly west from the scene of the attack. One offender wore a red sweat jacket with two white stripes and the other three offenders wore all black. News of the attack came first from the 19th district desk.
  
  Moments later, at 5:07AM, dispatchers announced that two off-duty offers sought shelter in the CFD firehouse at 1052 W. Waveland, just outside of Wrigley's left field wall. According to dispatch reports, the police officers went to to fire station for help after being "beaten up." No further information is available at this time.

So in a single weekend, we have 7 attacks on officers at 6 locations. But hey, crime is down!

Speed Camera Locations - New Info

Rahm and his people are shading the truth.

Someone mentioned in a comment that the list of locations provided by the City isn't quite accurate. The City listed the name and address of the involved property, but the actual camera locations are within the larger geographic boundaries. Then we got this e-mail last night:

• SCC, the camera listed in at Garfield Park isn't actually AT the listed address of 100 N. Central Park. There are two cameras, one on Jackson and one on Madison, both "in" Garfield Park, but both a good distance from the mailing address of the Field House.

That would seem to nail it as the cameras begin nailing people with warning tickets until 01 October or so. Your best bet seems to be locating these devices and letting our fellow officers know so as not to give Rahm an opportunity to get his hand in our pockets. Again.

Charges on Parolee

We'd really like to see the criteria Quinn and the IDOC use to decide prisoners can go back on the street without completing their sentences, because this seems to be happening all the time:

• A parolee who police said was shooting at someone before he turned his weapon on officers early Saturday morning was charged with aggravated battery this afternoon, police said.
  
  David Johnson, 23, of the 3200 block of West 66th Street, was charged with two counts of aggravated battery to an officer, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, aggravated assault-discharge of a firearm, unlawful possession of a fire arm by a street gang member and armed habitual criminal, police said. Johnson also had a warrant out for his arrest for a parole violation.
  
  The charges stem from a Saturday police-involved shooting on the 6300 block of South King Drive.

We would wish him a long and extensive stay in the Illinois penal system, but that doesn't seem likely, regardless.

One, Two, Three Shootings?

Did a batch of assholes suddenly hatch with the warm weather?

• An off-duty Chicago police officer fatally shot a man on the Near West Side this morning in the third police-involved shooting since midnight and the fourth in the last 24 hours, police said.
  
  The incident happened at 6:45 a.m. at a Chicago Housing Authority building in the 1800 block of West Monroe Street, according to Chicago Police Department News Affairs...
  
  The male officer was off-duty and working a part time job when he saw an armed female civilian security guard in a physical altercation with a male offender attempting to gain access to the property, according to a statement from police News Affairs.
  
  The officer, in fear for his safety and the safety of the security guard, discharged his weapon striking the offender,who died, statement said. [News Affairs] said he was in [shot] the chest.

And in another other incident:

• In another police shooting early this morning, police working in the West Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side heard gunfire, drove toward it and found a 23-year-old man shooting a handgun toward others, according to authorities.
  
  The shooting happened about 2:10 a.m. near the intersection of 63rd Street and King Drive and the man police shot was taken to an area hospital with injuries that are not considered life-threatening, according to a statement released by Chicago Police Department News Affairs office.
  
  Patrol officers working the Violence Reduction Initiative were patrolling when they saw a person shooting at an unknown target, the statement said.

And in the third:

• In the third police-involved shooting of the morning, officers shot at a man about 12:25 a.m. in the 5100 block of North Christiana Avenue. It's unclear exactly where the incident occurred, but that address is near the North Park University campus in the Albany Park neighborhood on the North Side.
  
  Police were called to that area at 12:10 a.m. for a gang disturbance and report that gang members were blocking a bridge.
  When officers approached a group, a number of young men fled holding their waistbands, police said.
  
  It's not clear what happened between then and when the officer fired toward one of the men, but no one was struck and one man was arrested.

Camden earned his money last night. And the good guys are safe in each and every shooting - good job Officers.

Sergeant Carjacked

South:

• A Chicago police sergeant was carjacked while off-duty in the South Shore neighborhood Friday night, police said.
  About 10:20 p.m., the sergeant was behind the wheel of a silver 2006 Infinity SUV when he was carjacked near 71st Street and East End Avenue, police said.
  The sergeant was not taken to a hospital but was treated on the scene for minor wounds, police said.
  His gun, badge, and bulletproof vest were in the SUV, which is still missing this morning, police said.

An awful lot of this shit going around lately. Check the AdMin Fax messages for specifics on the jacked car.

More National Coverage

Breitbart.com, one of the big conservative websites, gives Rahm the red carpet treatment yesterday, and manage to give an acquaintance of ours some coverage:

• No matter how Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendant Garry McCarthy spin it by touting overall crime being down in the city, the numbers for 2013 are still horrifying.
  
  The website HeyJackass.com, which keeps some pretty interesting data regarding Chicago crime statistics, reports that the city saw 53 homicides in August, with 41 deaths and 224 wounded as a result of shootings.
  
  The August crime wave ended on a tragic note, with 11 people shot and killed over Labor Day weekend; more than 25 more were shot and wounded.
  
  For September to date, there are already seven shooting homicides with another 29 people wounded. The city crime data portal shows that murders and shootings are down, but only when compared to 2012. When compared to 2011, the number of murders is almost identical. HeyJackass.com shows a total 309 homicides for 2013, and things don’t seem to be getting any better.

Almost 1,700 comments as we write - it'll be 2,000 shortly if it isn't already. And they even point out that 2012 is the outlying year - Rahm and McWhatever have to be biting nails.

That Time of Year!

Bears favored by 3 in their season opener. New coach, lot of new faces, and hope springs eternal.

Plus it's almost Hockey Season - preseason next week as the Blackhawks attempt to defend the Cup.

Another Off-Duty Female Attacked

This time in her own home - but she had the answer:

• An off-duty Chicago Police officer shot and seriously wounded a man who police said broke into her South Side Ashburn neighborhood home Friday morning.
  
  The officer was awakened by a commotion on the first floor of her home in the 7900 block of South Sacramento about 9:40 a.m., police said.
  
  The officer brought her pistol downstairs to investigate and was confronted by a man who “lunged” at her, Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden said.
  
  The suspect had climbed through a window in the officer’s home and was removing items, police said.
  
  The homeowner identified herself as an officer and ordered the man to show his hands, but instead, the man charged at her and she fired her weapon, police said.
  
  The man, thought to be 17 or 18, was shot several times and taken in serious condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Camden said. He is expected to survive.

Well done Officer.

30,000 Applicants?

Not even close:

• The Chicago Police Department is looking for thousands more people seeking to become police recruits before the deadline for applications later this month.
  
  About 20,000 people have applied to become police officers since the beginning of August, but Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said Friday at a news conference that "I'd love to get it up to about 30,000." The deadline is Monday, Sept. 16.
  
  "This is a great opportunity … to make a difference in people's lives," McCarthy said.
  
  Police spokesman Adam Collins later clarified the number of applicants, saying about 18,000 people have at least begun the application process, and said the 30,000 number is not a firm target.

This guy counts applications exactly the opposite way he counts robberies in Boystown and wildings downtown. And as a reader pointed out, it's ironic as hell that Ladner is encouraging officers to have their family members test when she is doing everything in her power to deny family members of police a job.