Another Cougar?

More sightings reported up north:

• Police and wildlife biologists hovered low in a helicopter over the Skokie Lagoons Wednesday in a futile search for a second cougar after a police officer, two joggers and another person reported seeing a large mountain lion Monday, hours after a 2-year-old cougar was shot and killed by police in Chicago.
  
  The sightings prompted vigorous searches on foot Monday night and Tuesday of the 1,500-acre lagoon between Willow Road and Lake Cook Road in northeast Cook County, near the lake, said Chris Anchor, a wildlife biologist with the Cook County Forest Preserve District who participated in Wednesday's air search.

Through some of our suburban sources, SCC has been able to get one of the fliers that local police are passing out to residents and volunteer spotters:


Someone let Bruce Willis know.

More Indictments

How much more do we have to be smacked around before everyone completely gives up doing any police work for this mayor, this superintendent and this town?

Shortcuts wouldn't seem to rise to the level of "Official Misconduct" and certainly not to the level of 5 to 10 in the joint.

Read the Sun Times article if you care. We're rapidly losing our ability to care at all.

UPDATE: We didn't endorse lying. Stop thinking we did. But if you want cops to follow every single procedural nicety written by someone who has no idea what actual enforcing the law entails, you're going very shortly have no cops on the street. Or at least none doing any proactive police work.

Bloody Tues Night / Wed Morning

At least eleven shootings?

Two dead?

And one of them in 016?

It's going to be a wild summer.

And where's that contract?

Cougar Comments

You can hop over to the Tribune or the Sun Times and check some some truly ignorant comments. Ignorant not just from the standpoint that we (the police) should have snuggled the cute little pussy cat, found it a nice warm saucer of milk and maybe a small yuppie child to sate its hunger prior to finding it a fully furnished condo in Lincoln Park zoo, but ignorant in how the City and its different departments operate. A few points:

• One of the comments asks why Animal Control wasn't called to take the cougar into custody. Animal Control is lucky to have two trucks up at any given time. Response times in our experience run from 5 hours to 3 days. And even if they show up with a tranquilizer gun, there's only one dosage for the dart - FATAL. You read that correctly. Animal Control only uses one dosage because to do otherwise might aggravate the animal beyond all control or unduly inflict pain. So to keep it simple for the Animal Control idiots, they only overdose animals. Daley's first round of budget cuts destroyed Animal Control years ago, leaving them undermanned, under equipped and full of incompetent political hacks - but who's going to complain? The dogs and cats?
• Someone else bitched that after the recent pit bull attack of a woman by five strays, those dogs are in the pound and why aren't the police killing those dogs? Newsflash! CPD kills upwards of fifty, sometimes more dogs a year on the street, all without incident, news coverage or wounded bystanders. A certain new Captain was famous for it in a number of districts. Isn't a situation that ends with no civilians hurt, no cops hurt and only a completely replaceable air conditioning unit damaged something that ought to be chalked up as a win?

This is the public we've sworn to serve? That we're supposed to protect from not only four legged animals, but the two legged ones that will rob, rape, steal and kill them without a second thought? No wonder Daley is in a stuttering panic - his media puppets are raging out of control over a freaking cougar and it's making the citizenry edgy.

Obama Digs a Hole

Beginning of the end maybe?

Pennsylvania
Democrats	Mar 7-8	Mar 26-27	Apr 5-6	Apr 11-13
Clinton	52%	51%	45%	57%
Obama	41%	39%	45%	37%
Someone else	1%	2%	4%	2%
Undecided	6%	8%	6%	4%

April 5-6, Obama and Hillary tied.

Then the small-town, bitter, unemployed, religious gun nuts of Pennsylvania hear the gospel according to Obama and he's in a 20% point hole seven days later.

Anyone else wonder how this is going to play out in the small towns of Indiana and Kentucky that have their primaries next? There aren't too many places left that aren't made up of anything but small towns. Oh, and they like their flag lapel pins, too. And they usually stand with their hands over their hearts for the Pledge and National Anthem. Just thought we'd point that out to the junior senator from Illinois.

Go read the whole article over at HotAir.com.

Hypocrite, Thy Name is Obama

You think Obama doesn't know what a pile of shit he stepped in ragging on small town Americans? Does anyone remember this comment about not wearing a flag pin?

• "I decided I won't wear that [lapel] pin on my chest," he said in the interview. "Instead, I'm going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testament to my patriotism."

And what magically appears on Obama's suit today?

This guy is toast in Pennsylvania. And he's going to have a load of explaining to do in Kentucky and Indiana. In the meantime, the Rezko trail continues and Obama's name appears every so often, usually at dinners and assorted fund raisers.

Will Hillary catch up? Probably not. But if she strings together a set of late primary victories, the super-delegates are going to have a hard decision to make - nominate Obama who has more votes, but is a wounded and fading candidate or nominate Hillary who would appear to have momentum, but trails in every single poll, has negatives over 50%, and will galvanize the Right like no other candidate in history.

God help us, we love this stuff. Thanks to redstate.com for the photo.

SCC Exclusive

Lawsuit to be filed this afternoon.

Cougar Shot, Killed

Photos from the Sun Times and Tribune.

Coverage at the Tribune, Times, Channel 2 and Channel 5.

No word on protest marches and reverends shrieking about specie-ism on the part of the Police, though we expect the comments to be quite lively today.

One of the quoted individuals says the cat was untagged, leading to speculation this could have been an exotic pet. If not, and as evidenced by a booming coyote population, we might just be seeing a resurgence of medium sized predators returning to the area.

UPDATE: This quote is great:

• "It concerns me that this many shots were fired with children present and in close proximity to children," said David Cerda, resident.

No word about how concerned he is that a 150 pound killing machine is running around loose in a neighborhood filled with children and pets, restricted only by 6 foot high fences.

Give College Kids an Inch...

...and they'll run like hell with it.

Example #1:

• St. Xavier University has closed until further notice after two threatening graffiti messages were found at a freshman dorm. The latest promised people would die on Monday.

Resulting in Example #2:

• Malcolm X College on Chicago's West Side has been evacuated after a written threat was found on campus.
  
  Chicago police explosives experts and their bomb-sniffing dogs raced to the West Side campus late Monday morning. A threatening message found inside a bathroom stall had prompted the action, along with the evacuation of some 900 students who were attending classes.

And resulting in over reaction here:

• Threats of violence on one college campus have left several other Chicago schools closed for the day.
  
  [...] school officials say closing the schools is a matter of security; they'd rather be safe than sorry.

  The schools closed Monday are Mother McAuley High School, Brother Rice High School, Queen of Martyrs Elementary School and Evergreen Park Southwest Elementary.
  

Where do we find a middle ground?

Thanks CFD

Anything to take the spotlight away is appreciated!

• The Chicago Fire Department has banned all personal computers at fire stations amid an investigation into whether a firefighter inappropriately used his at work, an official said Monday.
  
  The department issued a general order to all firefighters on April 2 that personal computers could no longer be used at stations.
  
  While officials said the prohibition had been in the works for months, it was just issued after an investigation was launched into the firefighter's allegedly inappropriate use of a personal computer.

Look for Daley to use this as another hammer to try to take away the 24 hour schedule.

Obama Pro Gun?

Hahahaha. From a blog called "mainehuntingtoday" we get this gem:

• [I]n 1996, Obama filled out a candidates’ questionnaire. In that questionnaire, he was asked if he was in favor of legislation to, “ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns.” Unlike most politicians who never come right out and answer a question, Obama’s answer was one three-letter word.

  “Yes”

Obama supports the Washington DC gun ban - the one that's about to be struck down by the US Supreme Court:

• “There is an individual right to bear arms, but it is subject to common-sense regulation just like most of our rights are subject to common-sense regulation.”………….“I think that local jurisdictions have the capacity to institute their own gun laws . . . the City of Chicago has gun laws, as does Washington, D.C.” He went on, “The notion that somehow local jurisdictions can’t initiate gun safety laws . . . isn’t borne out by our Constitution.”

Rights are "subject to common-sense regulation"? Since when? They are Unalienable Rights granted by the "Creator" according to the document we read. The state is not entitled to regulate them out of hand.

And from PajamasMedia:

• Obama said in the 1998 Illinois State Legislative National Political Awareness Test that he favored a ban on the sale or transfer of all forms of semi-automatic weapons.
• The semi-automatic firearms Barack Obama would like to see banned include rifles and shotguns commonly used for defense, hunting, and many forms of target shooting.

Anyone who thinks Obama is pro gun is simply an idiot - a useful idiot as Lenin would say.

UPDATE: post corrected for attribution

The Daley Way

Anyone who forgets who actually runs things in this city, county and state really ought to read Kass from last Friday:

• You might think the mayor is going ahead with his plans over the objections of his citizens because clout heavy rich people like Gigi Pritzker want it so. You'd be wrong. If Sorich stood next to Pritzker, she wouldn't know him. She might even flip him the keys to her car and tell him to be careful.
  
  But without Sorich, Daley wouldn't be able to defy his city and the local alderman by pushing for the museum that no one wants.

He owns the courts, the governor, the next governor, the county board, etc. Go read the whole thing.

New Rumor and Debunking a Rumor

This one has popped up once or twice now:

• sat morning 3rd district desk sergeant gets a call from a PO due to work day shift. PO needs 8 hours, desk Sgt asks why? PO says he s sick. Sgt says you sound fine to me. Sgt says you might have to come in. PO says I can't I'm sick. Desk Sgt refers him to watch commander. Someone is sent to his house and he answers door and they smell alcohol from him being hungover. They make him blow and hes stripped. There might be more to story but that's what I got.

BS? Or not BS? We're looking for info.

The following rumor however, isn't getting any traction:

• suburban departments have been contacted by J-Fed and been requested to call CPD Internal Affairs when an officer is suspected in any sort of wrong doing

We've reached out to a few people in the surrounding jurisdictions who in turn reached out to a few other people and everyone comes back with the same report - no such contact has been made with their departments at this time. But let's face it - why would anyone put their own careers in jeopardy in light of the way the winds are blowing at the moment? Continue to watch yourselves and your partners.

Please be True

From Sneed a few days ago:

• Is the Chicago Olympic bid in jeopardy?

  • • To wit: Sneed is told the growing controversy over China's treatment of Tibet and U.S. presidential candidates threatening to boycott the opening of the Olympics in China has Olympic insiders biting their nails.

  • • Translation: Sneed hears insiders fear International Olympic Committee members may take out their frustration over U.S. defiance by voting against Chicago's Olympic bid.

  • • The buckshot: Mayor Daley, who has pulled out all the stops -- including choosing a new police superintendent -- would have a conniption.

Wow, talk about your world wide irony - Dictator Daley, who has been making every attempt to turn Chicago and Illinois into a "worker's paradise" reminiscent of Stalin's USSR might get his Olympic dreams dashed by a backlash against the largest remaining communist dictatorship.

Great, Another "Panel"

First we have the mayor's "Blue Ribbon" panel that was exploring how to properly fund the police and fire pensions that are currently as some anemic number like 50% or less. We offered to save the taxpayers a boatload of money by pointing out the problems we saw:

• stop deferring payments to fund road projects and bloated social programs;
• as you sell off city assets, funnel the money to pensions.

Unfortunately, the mayor decided to spend more tax money and go with the "experts" who will no doubt say something like "raise taxes again."

Now, the mayor wants to study youth violence:

• University of Chicago researchers will interview victims, offenders and parents -- with a particular emphasis on single moms -- to get to the heart of youth violence and devise “out of the box” strategies to prevent it, Mayor Daley said today.
• “I asked myself the question: ‘What about these young men? Who are they? Did they drop out of elementary school? Did they drop out of high school? Do they have any brothers or sisters? Were they in the juvenile justice system? What happened to them?’ We have to look at it completely different. We have to look at things we’ve never talked about,” Daley told a news conference at the U of C's School of Social Service Administration, 969 E. 60th Street.
• The study will be led by U of C professor Jens Ludwig, who hopes to have “early results” — including new “intervention policies” -- within six to 12 months. The city would then launch a series of pilot programs to test those strategies.

Ludwig has already come up with an interesting hypotheses, one that any Chicago cop with more than one shooting scene under his or her belt could tell you:

• Ludwig said interviews with those who have pulled the trigger would be critical. His analysis of Chicago homicides shows that “75 to 80 percent” of both offenders and victims have prior arrest records.

Wow. What a fucking brainiac this guy is. Thank heavens he teaches at the University of Chicago - the doorways there are extra wide for his over sized brain so they won't have to make any capital improvements for Professor Ludwig to traverse the hallways.

Can we attempt to save everyone some money again? Please?

• stop having kids if you can't support them
• stop having kids if you don't have a stable family structure
  
• yes, that means TWO parents
  
• stop having kids if you don't want to take an interest in them
• discipline
• personal responsibility
• get a job
• pay your own way
• set an example worth following

We can see Professor Ludwig's solution already:

• raise taxes
• hire some more political idiots to run it
• more studies

We are so doomed.

Liberal Socialist Elitist

And decidedly un-American:

• Sen. Barack Obama was criticized Friday by his two fellow presidential candidates for statements he made recently at a San Francisco fundraiser that could be viewed as derogatory toward rural America.
  
  "You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them," Obama said Sunday, according to the Huffington Post web site.
  
  "And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not," Obama reportedly continued. "It's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

"...cling to guns"? Isn't that a Right enshrined in the United States Constitution?

"...or religion"? Again, a Right. People are free to worship or not as they see fit. And if religion is the touchstone that helps them live their lives morally, ethically and properly, who is Obama to claim they are "bitter"? We wonder why Obama seems to "cling" to the Trinity Church where an obviously deranged "reverend" claims the CIA invented AIDS and 9/11 was deserved.

"...anti-immigrant"? How about "anti people breaking the laws of the United States to come here, drain the economy and demand protections due only to actual citizens of this country"? Everyone here today is descended from immigrants, but most of our ancestors did it properly.

Hillary is circling the drain, but the more Obama speaks, the more people realize he's nothing more than an old-time big-government liberal elite who's going to raise taxes, kowtow to special interests and pretty much destroy the economy by implementing gigantic social programs on a level unseen since the 1930's.

Barring a disaster, it's McCain in November.

Go 010th District!

Say what you want about the 010 District, they keep on trying until they get better at it.

Thursday, they fire a few rounds at an honor student running around with a gun, miss him, but get the gun and his sorry ass.

Saturday morning, they catch someone firing a gun, and when he won't drop it, they wound him before taking him into custody and recovering the weapon:

• Police wounded a person in a shooting early Saturday on the Southwest Side’s Little Village neighborhood.

  Police shot a person in the 2600 block of South Kedzie Avenue about 2 a.m., police said. Police observed a person firing a weapon, and then fired shots.

And once again, no drama. Great job all around.

St. Jude's

We've noticed, as have a large number of our readers, an upsurge in comments advocating a boycott of the St. Jude's march. We've allowed these comments for the same reason that we allow most of the other comments - we don't censor out of hand and it's important to keep readers aware that these sentiments exist. We were also hoping someone would write something eloquent and heartfelt to counter the anti-march feelings.

• In reference to anonymous: regarding the St. Jude Tribute March. Today is April 10th, and 54years ago today, a very special person was born into this world. This very special persons' name is Chicago Police Officer Donald J. Marquez. My brother Don's End of Watch was March 19, 2002.
  
• To the few officers' who say let's boycott the St. Jude March, to make a statement to the new Supt.: please let me explain that this St. Jude March is not about the new Supt. It is not about the Mayor, nor any other politician. It is a very special day for us, the Chicago Police Departments' Gold Star Families. It is one day out of the whole year when about 8,000 or more officers come together and show honor, respect, support, and love to our families. They march to let us know that our loved ones who paid the ultimate sacrifice, will never be forgotten. There are partners and co-workers who worked with our heroes, and they too still come out to show us their support.
  
• My phone just rang, it's about 11:30pm, I said, "who would be calling me this late?" It was my brother Don's close friend, Officer Fernando Alonzo. He called me to tell me he and his family have been thinking about my brother Don all throughout the day. I told him, you would not believe what I am doing, I told him I am on the police blog trying to explain what the St. Jude March is all about, what are the chances that he would call me at this exact moment. He shared how he and his family miss my brother. If my brother was alive today, he would be having a celebration with his buddy and pal Alonzo right now. So you see Officers, we need to see you in unity out there on Sun. morning May 4th. You make us feel so proud that we are still a part of the police family. We look forward to seeing the officers march in loving memory of our fallen heroes. Some Gold Star Families come from across the United States to be a part of this special march. Sgt. Mark Golosinski (16th) and a few other officers' who commented and said, "the only people you would be hurting are the families of our fallen officers". They are absolutely correct. Today my brother Don would have turned 54 years old. He served and protected this city for 20 years, he had just become a brand new grandfather for the first time. Just as he was so proud to be a brand new grandfather, he was also so proud to be a Chicago Police Officer. His life was taken from us, from a 77 year old who opened fire on my brother as he was serving a warrant. Officers, you never want your family to ever become a Gold Star Member. It is so true when someone said, "this is one organization you wouldn't want to belong to". This pain in our hearts is real, it never goes away, how could it, we loved them, we miss them and til the day we reunite in heaven with our loved ones, we will never, ever forget why they died, they died doing something they loved, and that was serving and protecting their city.
  
• I encourage you to look beyond all the changes that are happening, just for one day. We lost our heroes in the line of duty. You see, when we lost our officer and our loved one, all of our lives changed. I tried not to cry today, but I miss him so much. I wish I could just call him one more time and hear his voice, and tell him Happy Birthday. If you knew my brother Don, you were so blessed, he was the greatest brother that ever lived. I would like to personally say thank you to each one of you for coming out and showing your respect and support. You are a very big part of our healing process. We appreciate you and we honor you the living. We are extremely proud to be part of the greatest police department in the world. Believe me, we never stop praying for you and every officer. Go home to your families tonight, tell them how much you love them while there is still time left.
  
  Donna Marquez
  President of The Gold Star Families
  
  any comments please feel free to email me at donnamarquez8620@yahoo.com

Long time readers of the blog will remember we took a number of people to task for advocating a boycott a few years ago over the Hampton sign controversy. Our opinion then, and our opinion as it remains to this day, is that the march is for our dead. We don't march for the mayor, the superintendent, the brass, the media or the citizenry. We march for the men and women who can't march anymore and we remember the sacrifices they made.

A boycott of St. Jude's is a lazy boycott. People are attempting to take a well known event that honors our dead and twist it into something it should never be instead of creating their own event, developing a following, and making a statement there.

Promotions at Last

Captains named:

• 006 O'Donnell, James
  013 Denk, Edward
  126 Forlenza, Brigid
  141 Bay, Roger
  253 Pilipuf, Cynthia
  384 Thompson, Diane
  601 Gibson, James
  650 Batrich, Richard

Only two from Districts. Amazing.

And does anyone know what J-Fed thinks or feels about being saddled with another set of bosses that he had absolutely no input on? Word from 35th Street is he's still smarting about that class of twenty Lieutenants rushed through before he made it to town.

An Unfortunate Union

Don't you just hate when this happens?

• A couple fighting about which gang their 4-year-old toddler should join caused a public disturbance that resulted in the father's arrest, Commerce City [Colorado] police said Thursday.
• His girlfriend told police that they had been arguing about the upbringing of their son and which gang he should belong to. The teen mother, who is black, is a member of the Crips. Manzanares is Hispanic and belongs to the Westside Ballers gang, the woman said.
• "They have different ideas on how the baby should be raised. Basically, she said they cannot agree on which gang the baby would 'claim,'" Sandoval said.

How is any amount of money thrown at whatever social programs you can imagine ever going to solve a problem like this? It isn't.

It's Only Money

We mean, what else does Daley have to spend it on?

• After launching a study of youth violence by the University of Chicago, Daley said today he would like to change the city's motto.

  “I'm passionate about children. We put too many other things above our children. Children, to me, should be what we stand for here in the city of Chicago,” the mayor said.

  “We’re the city of flowers. We’re the city of trees and gardens and all that. I’d like to maybe change that motto to, ‘City of Children.’ I really believe that.”

It's not like there are any potholes up and down the length of Lake Shore Drive slowing traffic to a crawl. Or an entire fleet of squad cars in disrepair. Or how many separate unions without contracts who are going to be owed at least a year, maybe 18 month of retro pay. And that graduation rate - did it climb above 51% yet? Maybe all the way up to 52%, which by itself is double the homicide clearance rate.

SCC CONTEST:

• Who can come up with a truly spectacular "City Motto"?
  

And don't forget - to be authentic, it should be in Latin.

Sneed a Day Late, A Dollar Short

What is this woman smoking? Because it seems to slow down her brain function so badly, she's moving backwards:

• The Name Game: The popular cop blog titled "Second City Cop" refers to new top cop Jody Weis as . . ."J-Fed."

Does she even read her own paper? 30 March, the Sun Times editorial cartoonist publishes this cartoon:

Did Higgins get it from SCC? Probably not, because way back on 01 March, Fran Spielman quoted Greg Bella as follows:

• “Let’s bring some broccoli and cauliflower and let us boil it. Let’s get healthy. Maybe J-fed [Weis, a former FBI agent] would like to stock the fridge for us so we can have healthy food,” Bella said.

Did Bella get it from the blog? Probably. But it's been around for a while now. 11 February, we had this Chicago Enquirer front page:

And this blog started using the term on 10 January in this post here. And we didn't even start it - it was one of our readers in an anonymous submission.

We guess if you can't be timely, read the Sun Times.

Hey, that could be their new motto! Copyright SCC 2008, All Rights Reserved, Hands Off - Intellectual Property of SCC and all affiliates. Frank Main, this means you!

Pat, Come Work for Us

Evidently, it's true. Pat Camden is no more.

And if the rumors are to be believed, Skeletor herself is to be eased out shortly.

In the meantime, we'd like to make this offer:

• Pat, come work for us.

Obviously, we can't match your recent salary over at media affairs ($118,260), but we can offer you the chance to tell your side, mingle with the rank and file again, and redeem yourself after that horseshit job you and John Henry were doing at the "official" police department blog.

What have you got to lose? Your pride?

K-9 Sniffing in 016?

From two different comments, we have word of an outside unit being used to sniff locker rooms in the 016th District.

Please tell us this isn't another scandal?

Mette Bus Trip

According to the website, there is a bus trip being arranged:

• The Mike Mette Defense Fund is setting up a bus trip to Iowa for a protest of Mike's injustice. Currently the date is being set for July 22nd, 2008. We plan to March on the County Courthouse and possibly the Dubuque County Fair, during their opening ceremonies...Further info and details will be posted on our website regarding meeting location and time.. All are welcome to join us.

CLICK HERE for the website. We'll try to update as able.

Shots Fired

No one hit, cops ok, gun recovered and once again, no comments by IPRA or Monique:

• Chicago police officers fired shots at a 15-year-old boy who allegedly started to point a gun at them during a chase Wednesday morning on the West Side, but no one was hit, police said.
  
  The incident occurred about 10 a.m. near 23rd Street and Millard Avenue, police said. The teen was suspected of selling drugs and was running from officers when he raised the gun toward them and they opened fire, police said.
  
  The boy was not hit and did not fire back. He was arrested on the scene, and his gun was recovered. Charges were pending.

We had our doubts that putting the gag on the Orange One or Monique was going to pay dividends, but we'll admit to being wrong in a big way. This not releasing any info to the media is a huge plus for police shootings because anyone the media actually finds to comment seems like a freaking insane alien with no counterpoint from the Department, so nothing gets aired. It's a nice break from Camden's canned speech, which Monique couldn't deliver even if Camden used her as a ventriloquist dummy.

Understanding Miranda

So what's the liability factor for the Detectives who didn't explain what a lawyer was to a 15 year old juvenile who probably has more time in the justice system than in the classroom?

• In a blow to prosecutors, a Cook County judge threw out the confession of one of two teens charged with the May 2007 murder of Julian High School student Blair Holt.

  Judge Michael Toomin ruled that statements Kevin Jones made to police and prosecutors could not be admitted at trial, because Jones -- who was 15 at the time -- did not understand his Miranda rights.

  “The state has failed to show ... that there was compliance with the mandate of Miranda, that he understood the right to counsel, that he understood the right to remain silent,” Toomin said this morning.

  “It cannot be concluded that he really knew what an attorney was,” Toomin said.

So in addition to being social workers and marriage counselors, it falls on the police to teach the dropouts what they couldn't be bothered to learn in a fifth-grade civics class.

Anyone think we'll ever get to be the police again?

Thanks Toomin, you ass.

Quick Hits

Just a few.

Missing school again?

• Chicago Public School officials announced on Monday night that three more students had been shot. Now concerned school officials are looking to Springfield for funds to keep students safe.
• For school board president Rufus Williams, the drive to Springfield is an annual pilgrimage to get more money. But this year, Chicago Public School student bring a new urgency to this trip.
• Between now and the middle of May, as many as 16 high school groups were planned to go to Springfield to endorse safety for Chicago schools and stricter gun laws.

Because it's not the bats or the complete lack of family structure or a general disregard for rules, basic respect for the law and a willingness to abide by societal norms - it's the guns.

Suburban oddity:

• A 55-year-old Crystal Lake man was found chained by the neck in the basement of a burning home Tuesday, police said. After the man was rescued from the building, he told police that he had been confined in the basement of his own free will and was not a victim of a crime, Crystal Lake Police Deputy Chief Dennis Harris said. "He's not elaborating on the unusual circumstances," Harris said. "We have some doubts about the veracity of his story. We are still investigating why he was where he was and is saying what he says."

Uh huh. Right.

And as soon as the Supreme Court strikes down blanket gun bans, get ready for a whole bunch of these headlines:

• The parents of a 14-year-old boy say the teen was shot and killed while invading a home in north central Illinois.

  Authorities say 14-year-old Travis Castle of Durand entered the home along with two other young men. Police say the three wore white hooded sweat shirts as they broke a window and entered the house, located near the village of Stillman Valley.

  Ogle County Sheriff Greg Beitel says the owner wasn't there, but a house guest hid in a bedroom with a loaded handgun. The sheriff said the guest fired at one of the three in a narrow hallway before calling 911.

Good riddance to bad rubbish. At least we won't be paying for this jagoff's upkeep over the next six decades.

History Gone

More history lost to incompetent government and a lawsuit driven society:

• The last toboggan slides in the Cook County Forest Preserve District will come down despite an impassioned plea to preserve the historic attractions enjoyed by generations of city and suburban residents.
  
  The Forest Preserve Commission approved contracts Tuesday to demolish the storied, southwest suburban Swallow Cliff slides and a set of similar slides at Caldwell Woods on Chicago's Far Northwest Side.

On a brighter note, the Toddler promised to raise taxes again to fund a previously undiscovered branch of the Stroger family tree.

French Surrender - Again

Of course, we've never expected much from the French authorities:

• Paris' Olympic torch relay descended into chaos Monday, with protesters scaling the Eiffel Tower, grabbing for the flame and forcing security officials to repeatedly snuff out the torch and transport it by bus past demonstrators yelling "Free Tibet!"
  
  The relentless anti-Chinese demonstrations ignited across the capital with unexpected power and ingenuity, foiling 3,000 police officers deployed on motorcycles, in jogging gear and even inline skates.

The English police on the other hand, kept things in hand:

• LONDON (AP) - Police repeatedly scuffled with protesters as Olympians and dignitaries carried the Olympic torch through snowy London during a chaotic relay Sunday.
• Police Cmdr. Jo Kaye called the incidents minor. "It's going to be a long day but the torch is progressing on schedule," Kaye told British Broadcasting Corp. television.

And it's another month of protests before the torch even reaches mainland China. Today, the run goes through San Francisco and the police there are already publishing fake maps of the route. We can hardly wait for the 2016 Torch Run.

FOP Shakeup?

Someone commented that John Capparelli has been removed from his inside spot.

Originally, the field reps were each of the 7 inside spots (President, 3 VPs, Treasurer, Financial and Recording Secretaries). That all went out the window when Capparelli and six others won Board spots in the 1999 election against the Nolan team (the other 6 were trustees). Nolan denied Capparelli an inside spot and the Field Rep duties that went along with it. Following a disastrous contract negotiation by Bob Podgorny and the Nolan Team, the Citywide team rose to power in 2002 sweeping all 27 board spots. Capparelli was returned to the inside spot due a Treasurer and the Field Rep spot.

Now, if you read the FOP website biographies, Capparelli's biography has been removed and Trustee Rich Aguilar is listed as a Field Rep.

What's up with that? No explanation? Anyone have a scoop? Bad blood less than two months after an election? Capparelli was tight fisted with the finances after the excesses of the Nolan era. Capparelli was instrumental in uncovering tens of thousands of dollars in unethical expenditures by the previous office holders. The membership deserves an explanation.

Mette Hostage to Cash?

This is ludicrous. We got a letter from Mike Mette's father and the situation in Iowa is just defying explanations:

• Visited Mike over the weekend and he is in surprisingly good spirits considering the Iowa powers to be keep walking on his rights and messing with him.
  
  Going back to his trial, the pre-sentencing investigator completed a ten page report saying there is no way Mike deserved to go to jail on this case. Of course the judge, prosecutor Gallagher and Jacob's father Curtis Gothard saw it differently.
  
  His counselor in jail said he couldn't file for parole until he finished an anger management class where he was taught he shouldn't respond with force unless he was in danger of being attacked or as in his case he was hit three times before he responded with one punch as pointed out in the judge's ruling. He finished the course and his counselor put him in for a parole hearing on 4-16-2008.
  
  The parole board sent Mike a letter saying: "They didn't feel he was able or willing to full fill his obligations as a law abiding citizen. They didn't feel it was fair to society to release him on parole." How do they come to these conclusions having never interviewed Mike or looked into the facts of the case? They now want him to complete a victim impact course which doesn't start til August 2008 and in six months they will again consider him for parole. Who are they kidding? How many more times can the State of Iowa Violate Mike's Rights?

And part of the motivation Mike is getting fucked over?

• The parole board is either listening to the lies Curtis Gothard and prosecutor Gallagher have failed to prove in court, has no idea what this case is about or they are just playing the money game. You see the prison gets another $18,000 June 1st 2008 if Mike is still there and another $18,000 if he is there January 1, 2009.

Meanwhile Gothard has racked up two DUI's. Un-freaking-believable.

Another Crazy Rumor

This just seems like another goofy idea to distract everyone from some other boneheaded move. From the comments (lightly edited for spelling):

• Regarding the rumor that J-Fed is planning on putting all light duty officers assigned to headquarters into the districts to work the desk and then the desk officers in that district will go to the new school unit.
  
• The problem J-Fed would encounter with that is that in each district there are 1 or 2 bidded desk officers per watch. They can't be arbitrarily moved to a "new" unit and some light duty copper take their place. These bidded desk spots are part of the contract and he can't go changing things like that just because he gets a bright idea.
  
• If he needs more coppers for some new school unit maybe he could continue trimming the fat at headquarters and then start looking at the districts that have (3) commander's secretaries,(2) Tact secretaries, A P.O. and a civilian timekeeper, (2) Crime Analysts, and 12- 14 C.A.P.S. officers. If he really wants to look hard enough he'll uncover plenty of officers who could be better utilized.

You can't just create a unit and staff it with hand picked people. Well, scratch that - you can't create a unit that does EXACTLY what a previously biddable unit did in the past and staff it at will. There are rules in place that must be followed.

Again, J-Fed not being familiar with contracts and being advised by people who don't think much about rules (because they've flouted the rules since day one) serve to make J-Fed look incompetent and advised by fools. And after the grievances are filed and won, taxpayers will be on the hook again for overtime, damages and restitution. We're starting to think that certain changes are proposed only to make lawyers rich. Anyone else?

The Vicious Circle

Isn't this grand?

• A man shot Sunday night near where 18-year-old Albert Vaughn was beaten to death with a baseball bat late Saturday, occurred at a makeshift memorial for the slain teen, police said.

  Just after 8 p.m., a man in his 20s was shot in the wrist in the 7000 block of South Throop Street, police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli said.

Same address and everything. Anyone else want to bet there's another one before the week is out?

This is the type of thing that J-Fed will never understand. Did anyone else hear the audio clip on WBBM 780 AM Sunday where J-Fed was talking about how he and his driver convinced a pregnant teenage mother of three not to bring a knife to a gun fight? He sounded like a PPO telling his first war story...which actually, he probably was. Now imagine doing that 3 or 4 times a night and you begin to see where even young cops are cynical and a middle aged FBI retiree thinks he's doing real police work.

WBBM has done a masterful job of hiding the clip as we're having a helluva time finding it on their website, but we heard it and so did a couple of coppers we happened to be drinking with playing tiddley-winks with at the local watering hole at the church social. Any finds it, post the link

Track These Rumors

Rumor #1:

• The orange one has been eased out.

This started popping up just before the weekend and we hope that Pat isn't being made the subject of a late April Fool's joke. We'd hate for him to not show up at work for a few days and someone has to call him at home and tell him everything he reads on the blog isn't true.

Actually, that would be kind of amusing. We know he's a big fan.

Rumor #2:

• [from the comments] Rumor and I hope this one is true. A couple of recently fired exempts are feeding FOP some inside dirt which may help us in contract negotiations.

We aren't sure, but what info could exempts give the FOP that wouldn't land them in prison somewhere? A secret stash of Mayoral cash that would allow everyone to get a 20% raise over 4 years? The actual "Family Tree" of connections that might once and for all reveal the location of mysterious Fountain of Clout? The real reason the City wanted to keep CR files open for 7 years instead of 5?

We just wonder.

Outlaw Bats

Another violent weekend. The media is claiming two more students among the dead. And the cause of death?

• Families are grieving once again, after more Chicago High School students are killed.
  
  One of the students died after he was beaten during a party on the South Side; the other was killed by gunfire.
  
  Albert Vaughn's many siblings and cousins signed posters and placed stuff animals near the spot where he lay dying Saturday night.
  
  At about 11 p.m. Saturday, someone hit Albert Vaughn, 18, in the head with a baseball bat during a dispute at a party at 7039 S. Throop St., police said.

Would a curfew mission have saved this student? We can only wonder.

However, we expect that later this week, the mayor, Jesse, Phleger and the rest of the "reverends" will be out protesting Sportmart, Sports Authority, Toys R Us and any other retail store that sells bats. And golf clubs. And anything else that could be used to render another CPS student dead. Or are they going to be complete and utter hypocrites right until the end?

And aren't they using a pretty liberal definition of "student" lately?

• About two hours after Vaughn was attacked, Marcus Johnson, also a public school student, was leaving a friend's home near 11429 S. Calumet Av. and was walking towards his car when a gunman shot him in the head. [...]
  
  Even though he was 20, Johnson was trying to finish high school. His father said his youngest son was not involved in gangs or drugs.

This is like the second or third student over the age of 19. At some point, doesn't the definition of "student" kind of fall by the wayside and a new definition of "GED candidate" take over?

Promotion Restrictions?

One of the amusing things about this site is the rapidity with which rumors can catch fire and spread. A rumor or a policy decision appears on the blog and suddenly it's gospel. Watch the bosses scurry.

Of course, we should use this power for good once in a while, too. So let's try to find out where this rumor started:

• The story someone posted earlier about J Fed being named in a CR# is true.
  
  Last weekend J Fed, Brust (sp) Skahill and others were in 003. They responded to a call of a man with a gun (domestic) who also fired a shot while the victim was calling 911. The offender was arrested as he tried to run out the back door and 2 guns recovered. Felony charges (convicted felon UUW) approved.
  
  The Officers put J Fed etc, in the case report(not arrest report)as being on the scene. Great job!!
  
  While all exempts were there on scene, the offender threatens to call OPS and have everyone fired. Everyone laughs!
  
  Well guess what..........Momma, who let everyone in , gets a CR with a bunch of phony allegations. Because he's on the paper, J Fed is named as an accused.
  
  Flash forward to this weekend......
  J Fed at 003 midnight roll call. He now understands that people make false accusations against officers that are doing the right thing. He is now going to "rethink" their new policy of denying a promotion to anyone with an open CR.

"new policy of denying a promotion to anyone with an open CR"? Where in the hell did this come from? Promotions are granted via test (and political ass kissing). We're pretty sure this would be a violation of a number of sections of the existing labor contracts. Not only that, there is existing precedent of persons with numerous open CR numbers and even sustained CR findings being promoted. We can cite more than one person who was off the job when their number came up on a promotional list and after they got their jobs back, they were in the next available class.

Can anyone cite an actual policy, directive, order or notice that would prevent a person from receiving a promotion based on an unfinished disciplinary process?

Time Warp?

For years, we've been getting postings about a scandal or three brewing, including the Airport. Now Sneed thinks its news?

• Sneed hears rumbles that a Chicago Police overtime scandal being probed by the Internal Affairs Division, tipped in Sneed's column Friday, is expanding big-time.

  Word is a major audit of overtime records for officers at O'Hare and Midway airports is under way. Sneed is told that Internal Affairs Division officers arrived at both airports last week and seized the overtime files for programs funded by the feds.

  Several weeks ago, the IAD busted traffic officers who allegedly falsified traffic arrest reports in an overtime scam dealing with a traffic safety program funded by the state and the feds.

  Were papers shredded? Looks like top cop Jody Weis means business. The alleged scams were reportedly discovered by new airport law enforcement police recently selected by Weis.

God forbid anyone mention the Mayor's kid skimming tens of thousands or Burke's 20 year body guard detail for a non existent threat or the Carother's connections that could jail another two or three aldercreatures from that august body known as the City Council. Might as well kick the police again.

Casual Sunday

Open post. Rumors of promotions and policy changes. Might be an interesting week coming up. Otherwise, we got nothing.

Englewood Killings

Word trickling in that the three victims from the Hermitage address were close relatives of one of our own. Keep him in your prayers.

Haiku Case Reporting

We were forwarded a letter recently. Evidently, a district has been having some sort of contest where the officers attempt to write an entire case report in the traditional 5-7-5 syllable poem known as Haiku. No word on what the winner gets, but there are some amusing coppers out there. A few of the better ones:

• Classification Lesson
  Three shots to the head.
  No witnesses found yet. Death
  investigation.
  
• Quiet
  Listen! Hear it now?
  Silence. Golden. Unnatural
  The Bulls must be on.
  
• Curfew Lament
  Curfews, where are you?
  Yuppies don't have kids, you fool!
  Telephone book time.
  
• Domestic #2
  There's no sign of theft
  Told him not to eat my food
  Stab! Stab! I warned him.
  

It's not as easy as it looks. Try wrapping up a homicide investigation this way. You'll be at it for days.

Good Call Ike

Wow. Ike Carothers actually says something right on target. Something we and our readers have been saying for months though:

• "He's [Weis] stuck with the same number of resources. ... He's really trying to figure out where he can rob Peter to pay Paul," said Police Committee Chairman Isaac Carothers (29th).

And what is Ike talking about?

• Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis said Thursday he plans more foot and bike patrols, a crackdown on "quality-of-life crimes" and a re-deployment of tactical teams to prevent the traditional surge in summer violence.

How will we meet the challenge?

• "I know we're talking about getting [more] officers on the street. But, that usually means they're in the cars. Is there a way they can ... walk the beat as they used to do?" asked Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd).

  Weis replied, "I'm a big fan of foot patrols. I'm a big fan of bike patrols. ... I've been pushing for as much foot time as possible. It's critical to have that interaction with police officers and the community to build up the relations that we need so badly."

  Taking a page from New York City's "broken windows" theory of crime-fighting, Weis said Chicago Police officers need to start sweating the small stuff -- such as public drinking and street gambling -- when they're not responding to violent crimes.

Well, with the fleet in complete disarray, we imagine that there are going to be a whole lot more foot and bike patrols...hey, wait a minute. Could this all be part of some master plan? Some devious plot to get everyone in shape and not have to deal with the contract issues and the Fitness bonus? If everyone is walking or biking, they're getting healthy. Oh good lord, J-Fed is a satanic genius!

The Next Trend?

In England now, but coming to America?

• Gun control groups have condemned a new “bullet-proof hoodie” which claims to protect against street violence.
  
  

  The £300 Defender hoodie makes the wearer’s upper body invincible to every bullet up to a high velocity rifle, its makers claim.

  It was developed by Bladerunner, a London based company which also makes stab-proof tops.

£300 works out to just under $600. Anyone who has seen the goofs killing one another over the $150 baseball hats can have no doubt that $600 for a hoodie to make you bulletproof is going to be a "must have" item shortly.

Be aware.

Thanks to AceofSpades for the tip

Absolut Bullshit

An ad currently running south of the border:

We personally know about half a dozen Texans who'd like to see the Alamo re-fought once and for all. And two of them are of Mexican descent.

And guess who's never getting another dime of our liquor money?

Bad News

It seems to come in threes. Or maybe thirties, we can't really tell. First up was the allegedly drunk PPO. Ok, maybe it wasn't first, but it's a convenient starting point for this post. Who can tell where all this crap starts lately? We warned everyone without contract protections (PPOs) to watch their asses.

Next up, we have the 16-year vet involved in a domestic:

• After chasing his estranged wife's friend down the block but failing to catch him, Officer Donald Branch returned to his wife's house, got a shovel and smashed out the windows of the man's truck, prosecutors allege.

  Tuesday's altercation between Branch and his wife resulted in felony charges against the Chicago Police officer. Branch, 37, allegedly put his hands on his wife's neck, slapped her and pushed her to the ground before pointing his gun at her male friend, prosecutors say.

  "This is a very severe, violent crime," Assistant State's Attorney Michael Evans said.

We won't make any judgments as to fault or blame. We don't know the back story and we don't really care. An observation though - "estranged" means that the soon-to-be ex-wife can pretty much sleep with whoever she wants.

Finally, and this should be overly worrisome to any who DOES have contract protections, the Cozzi indictment:

• A Chicago police officer was indicted this week on a federal charge of violating the civil rights of a man beaten while handcuffed to a wheelchair, an incident that was caught on videotape.
  
  A federal grand jury indicted William Cozzi, 50, on one count of violating the man's civil rights during an arrest at a Chicago hospital in August 2005, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Cozzi will be arraigned at a later date.

Again, we make no judgments. We've seen the tape played on the news and we'll keep our own counsel on it. What we wonder aloud about is this:

• Cozzi pled guilty to the charge, received probation and went to anger management classes as directed by the court;
  
• the arrestee sued the City and settled for $125,000;
• the Police Board determined that Cozzi should be suspended for two years. If we aren't mistaken, Cline took the unusual step of appealing the Board decision to ensure Cozzi was fired. We thought this action failed and Cozzi served his two years suspension and was in the process of being re-treaded;
• Thursday, a single count Federal indictment is handed up, derailing for the moment, perhaps forever, Cozzi returning to duty.

A few ways to read this:

• Clout is dead;
• Clout will not be expended in "heater" cases;
• If J-Fed doesn't get his way from the County Courts, the Police Board and the Appellate Court, he'll go for the simple "civil rights" indictment to enforce his will.

Hell, there's no indication that the arrestee who got the settlement even appeared in front of this Grand Jury. We wonder. Debate among yourselves.

Staffing Callback

This would explain why the Department is stripping Officers on old beefs and such (from the comments):

• OEMC/911 is sending more jobs to call back in response to the P/O shortage. It's in their C.O. Book and for the call takers to send more paper jobs to ARP.
  
  What ever happened to the Beat copper knowing what's going on, on his Beat, or will call back know more about the Beat than the Beat copper.

Since they need more bodies to do reports at Callback, it only makes sense to strip everyone possible so they can have officers answering the phones.

Savor the Irony

Can't you just taste it?

• An anti-violence rally at George Washington High School turned ugly Thursday when a series of fights broke out in a crowd of students being dismissed for the day.
  
  Parents and students had gathered at 3 p.m. to protest what they said has been escalating violence between black and Latino students at the school, at 3535 E. 114th St. on the Far Southeast Side.
  
  Tensions between the groups have persisted for years, parents and students said. But this week has been particularly violent, with several flare-ups that caused some parents to pull children out of school for their safety. Several parents said they would not allow their children to return to school until the violence was addressed.

Looks like we'll need another fifty or so bodies out of headquarters to man the cars down south since the fifty already out are being utilized exclusively on the west side. Another band-aid.

What's Up With This?

A source at fleet/police states that they set up a black Tahoe with blacked out windows and legit state of Michigan covert plates for J-fed.

What? The Crown Vic and the Tahoe aren't good enough?

Do the plates come back to the mayor's New Buffalo address?

Only in Iowa

Someone sent this to us. Anyone else see a pattern of insanity in our neighbor state?

• An Iowa state senator has vowed to stop buying Pizza Hut products if the chain fires a Des Moines delivery man who shot a teen who tried to rob him last week.

  Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, told other lawmakers that he supports the delivery man, James William Spiers, according to a report in the Des Moines Register.

  "I think what he did was the right thing," Zaun said Tuesday. "If I was in a situation to protect my family, protect myself, to continue being a father, I would’ve done the same thing."

  The chain has suspended Spiers pending an investigation, the Register reports.

  "We have policy against carrying weapons," Vonnie Walbert, vice president of human resources at Pizza Hut's corporate offices in Dallas told the paper for a March 28 story. "We prohibit employees from carrying guns because we believe that that is the safest for everybody."

  But Zaun thinks Spiers, who had a permit to carry the concealed weapon, was well within his rights when he fired the shots March 27, so Zaun is "going to be watching Pizza Hut."

  Kenneth Jimmerson, 19, who was hit with three bullets, called 911 for medical help and subsequently was arrested on a charge of first-degree robbery.

So a pizza delivery guy can carry a concealed weapon in order to protect himself from a stick-up guy and in fact, can blast the stick-up guy 3 times and garner support from state senators. But Mike Mette can be followed for numerous blocks to the residence he was visiting, be attacked not only verbally, but physically, and not just once, but numerous times, and he gets 5 years?

Hmmmm.

New Jib Jab

The dancing feebs:

• CLICK HERE to view the latest

When will it end?

Everything Old is New Again

Where have we heard this before?

• Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis has ordered his 25 district commanders to hit the streets on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights --and he plans to use helicopter patrols on weekends -- to curb an outbreak of violence targeting young and old.
• Weis believes that his new team of district commanders need to get their fingers on the pulse of their communities, and the best way to do that is to be on the streets between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. on weekends, when most of the gang-related crime occurs.
• For years, all exempt-rank officers have been asked to give up their Friday nights. Now, district commanders are also being asked to do the same on Saturday and Sunday nights, following Weis' lead.

This was a either a Cline or a Hillard idea a few years back, but it was only for Fridays. Even they recognized that bosses liked to be off weekends. We guess that once again, a perk (commander) becomes a liability (no weekends off ever again).

Someone remind us never to ask for a Commander spot. It just isn't worth the hassle anymore.

IPRA Still Backlogged

If they'd stop taking BS complaints, they'd have adequate manpower to do their job within a reasonable amount of time. From the FOP:

• The Lodge was contacted today by the Independent Police Review Authority who informed the Lodge that they cannot meet the standards established by the City Council in completing investigations within six months of initiation. Because of this, the ordinance states that the Chief Administrator shall notify the employee of the general nature of the complaint or information giving rise to the investigation and the reasons for failure to complete the investigation within six months.

  This position should not come as a surprise to anybody. The City Council passed this ordinance with little understanding of the investigative process or concern for the fact that there was an extensive back log due in part to years of understaffing. Today there are 83 cases that fall into this category and officers will be getting a letter explaining the details outlined above. This covers both complaints that have resulted in CR #’s being issued and other investigations that have yet to be resolved. This action does not impact our membership and is more of a nuisance to the Authority in having to justify their actions or lack thereof.

The media also noticed, but we don't have a working password for the Tribune right now. Here's the Sun Times version.

Shouldn't They be Learning?

Way to make that 57% attendance rate look even more anemic:

• Three hundred anti-violence activists and Chicago Public Schools students joined local leaders in their fight for gun control this morning following the shooting death of an 18-year-old Simeon Career Academy student over the weekend.

  “It’s up to the children to tell the adults to do what’s right,” Mayor Daley said while standing outside the Thompson Center next to 20 empty desks representing the 20 CPS students killed in shootings so far this school year.

As long as the children are parroting what the mayor and the "reverends" are telling them to say that is.

• Daley, who has blasted national gun laws as lax, reiterated that theme as students chanted and yelled encouragement.

Nationwide, twenty-two thousand gun laws on the books. This is laxity? We'd say it's more a case of hodgepodge reactionary stupidity by gun grabbers and their idiot followers.

Oh My Lord

Have we died and gone to heaven? No, but Bill Wirtz did. And we benefit:

• All 82 Blackhawks games will be on TV next season. All 82 in high-def. [...]
  
  For most franchises, televising games is as elemental as selling watered-down beer. But in the Blackhawks' case, this was the fall of the Berlin Wall.
  
  "Every Blackhawks fan has been waiting for this announcement," team Chairman Rocky Wirtz said.
  
  Waiting and waiting. Now it's finally here.

Finally. Someone pinch us.

Keep Voting Democratic

Stroger just can't wait to pick your pocket:

• Reaching into your pocket for a higher sales tax isn't enough for Cook County Board President Todd Stroger.

  He'll soon be reaching in for even more, his cousin and chief financial officer told civic leaders Monday.

  In pushing to more than double the county's share of the sales tax in February, Stroger argued it would provide enough money so that the county would not have to come back for more taxes for years.

  But in a speech to the City Club of Chicago, Donna Dunnings said while the sales tax hike will help "protect our bond rating" and "protect taxpayers from future economic downturns," the county has bigger problems that need even more taxes to tackle.

More taxes on the way. Toddler has LOTS of cousins and they need $140,000 a year jobs with 12% raises damnit.

Even Daley Agrees

Feds are "silly"

• Mayor Richard Daley said Tuesday the city's court-appointed hiring monitor was "silly" to award $75,000 to a losing candidate for alderman as part of a patronage-lawsuit settlement.
  
  Noelle Brennan, the lawyer picked by a federal judge to monitor the city's hiring process, decided last week to award the money to Jay Stone, son of Ald. Bernard Stone (50th). Jay Stone lost his 2003 bid for 32nd Ward alderman to incumbent Ted Matlak, whose re-election effort relied heavily on a campaign army of illegal patronage workers directed by Daley aides.

We're still waiting to see what other people won awards. We heard a sizable number of police who applied for payouts got money. We're still trying to figure out how people who benefited from a corrupt political system ("merit promotions," rigged hiring, and overtime favoritism) can turn around and claim additional damages when their clout wasn't heavy enough to get them additional positions that were also purely political.

Noelle Brennan must be a complete and utter moron.

Obama's Next Big Mistake

The national dead-tree media is still reeling from the explosion that was Obama's "close spiritual adviser" being a batshit crazy lunatic. They were hoping that Obama could release them from the devil's contract they signed with the Clinton's shortly after W took office. The media knows that Hillary carries more personal negatives than any candidate in history and is losing to McCain in every reputable poll conducted nationwide.

Now, the blogs are finding about what Chicagoans have known about for years - James Meeks. From AceofSpades:

• But one that caught my eye promises to be a more than satisfactory follow-up to the Rev. Wright drama. Meet Obama's next major miscalculation when it comes to choosing spiritual counsel and campaign adivsors: Rev. James T. Meeks, another firebreathing racewarrior and a virulent homophobe.

  Obama is going to face some tough questions about this guy and it will resuscitate the media's flagging interest in Rev. Wright since now we have a pattern. Meeks' sermons are just as stunning as Wright's and are also available on CD, which makes me think we'll be seeing more arm-flapping goodness in the near future. (BTW, is it common for churches to sell recorded services?)

As the democrats tear themselves into pieces, there are bound to be hurt feelings all over the political left.

J-Fed to Resign

Blockbuster news out of 35th Street tonight. Word is that the new Superintendent is drafting a PAX 501 announcing that he will step down effective 02 April 08 at 0001 hours (click to read full size):

At least this is keeping with the tradition of Superintendents resigning on the second of April.

Lies and More Lies

Wake up boys and girls. As pointed out to us by a west side copper:

• Has anything that has come out of J-Fed's mouth been even remotely true yet? Or close to reality? Let's review:
• fitness standards
• uniform standards
• same gun for everyone
  
• 12 hour shifts
• new cars
• working computers
• capable radios
• Why the hell would anyone get their panties in an uproar over 12 hour rotating shifts? It isn't about to happen.
  

We heartily agree - just more bullshit and smoke obscuring the fact that nothing has been settled, negotiated or sent to the membership for a vote. This isn't 1950, 1960 or 1970. There are rules. The previous contract is in full force and effect until such time as it is superseded by a new agreement. Stop panicking.

PPO's - Watch Your Ass

Reports from the cursed Indian burial ground of 025th District officers:

• What is the story in 019 on Sat. nite when a PPO was railroaded by the brass. PPO aparently had a few beers at a party with his g-friend. At home they got into an argument where she attacked him. He left, police were called, he walked into 019 on his own. He was ordered to do a breath test, then given his admin rights and that was it. IAD Price was in there, as a street dept.
  
  HE was NOT on duty, he was NOT driving. Why did the brass see fit to fuck this kid. Is he the Supt. first example.

Rule 15 states in full:

• Intoxication on or off duty

That's it. Five words.

Five words that will derail a career if you aren't heavy (witness much of the existing or recently retired CPD brass). Five words that will enable the Department to take disciplinary action against literally thousands of persons over the course of their careers should they so choose. Five words that will enable the Department to fire without comment or explanation any at-will employee, to wit, a Probationary Police Officer, and give the fired individual no recourse under law or contract.

Newbies, beware. YOU are the examples that are going to be used by J-Fed to prove he is taking this allegedly "out-of-control" Department into his iron grip. You can be fired on a whim and your name burned on the altar that is the foundation of "reform." No one wants to hear about a 15 year veteran getting caught drunk, serving some time at callback, suing to get his back pay and winning based on the previous historical rulings of the Police Board. That would just play into the "business as usual" model the Machine is trying to hide.

Unclouted PPO's will be fired out of hand to promote a new image. It's happening already.

More Futility

So opens the baseball season up north:

• [...] the start of the Cubs' 100th season since winning the World Series ended in familiar fashion. Tony Gwynn hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning and the Milwaukee Brewers beat Chicago 4-3 on a wet Monday at Wrigley Field.

And down south:

• The defending AL Central champions won in familiar fashion at Progressive Field -- their ballpark previously known as Jacobs Field -- as Casey Blake hit a three-run double in the eighth inning Monday for a 10-8 opening win over the Chicago White Sox.

Have the Blackhawks been mathematically eliminated yet so we can go into hibernation?

This has to Suck

For the defendant we mean:

• In a decision that restores the prosecution's strongest evidence against the remaining defendant in the Brown's Chicken massacre, an appellate court ruled Monday that jurors can watch a videotape in which James Degorski acknowledges his role in the 1993 slayings.
  
  
  During the 41/2-minute video, Degorski, now 35, admits killing two of the seven people slain at the Palatine fast-food restaurant. Cook County Circuit Judge Vincent Gaughan had thrown out the tape last year, saying authorities should have reread the defendant his rights before filming the statement.

The defense motion went something like this we're sure:

• Defense attorney: Your Honor, we'd like this particular piece of evidence suppressed.
  
  Judge: On what grounds?
  
  Defense attorney: One the grounds that it makes my case impossible to present with a straight face your Honor. I mean, he admits to killing two people, one of them by cutting a woman's throat. How can I make any sort of reasonable doubt based on that?
  
  Judge: Well, you have a point...

We're almost amazed that an appellate court had to make a 2-1 decision to restore this critical piece of evidence. Remember the name Jill McNulty - that's the dissenting judge who attempted to keep a freely given admission of guilt out of the juror's earshot.

Violent Weekend

The Sun Times tallies up the carnage. They attempt to dilute the damage by including suburban statistics:

• Seven people -- not one older than 26 -- were killed and at least five people, all in their teens or 20s, were injured in acts of violence in the city and near suburbs over the weekend.

  The dead range from a 15-year-old eighth-grader who was shot while walking to a shop on the Northwest Side to a 26-year-old woman allegedly stabbed to death by her husband because she wouldn't have sex with him.

As of yesterday, the City was allegedly one single homicide short of last years total. We're not sure why it feels like a worse year, but so far the actual numbers are flat. We'll see if it holds.