Friday, December 31, 2010

This is a Police Commander?

This caught fire in the comment section today. Usually we wouldn't care what anyone does off duty on their own time. But as this person has attempted to force officers to participate in street corner prayer sessions, has anger management issues, leaves threatening phone calls on boyfriend's answering machines along with all sorts of other mayhem (both documented and undocumented) and then buys her way out of trouble with the active support of the south and west side reverend associations, well we just can't help but give this front page play:



We're speechless.

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Dig Deeper Chicago

  • Chicago street parking rates are going up -- again.

    The third of five scheduled annual rate increases is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1. But it probably will take several weeks or so to reprogram all of the 4,100 electronic boxes, and drivers will be able to park at the old rates until they are.

    [...] According to published reports, Chicago will continue to have the highest downtown parking rates in the country, topping New York's $3.75 an hour and Los Angeles' $4.
And Daley has already spent all that money this budget year, so Chicago Parking Meters LLC will see record breaking profits again next year while the new mayor has to figure out a way to fill what is sure to be a $500 million hole in the next operating budget.

Every time you pay a meter, thank Dick - Shortshanks that is.

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Now It's $8 Million for Bail

  • A Cook County judge has set bond at $8 million for a 24-year-old Wilmette man accused of beating his aunt to death with an aluminum baseball bat.

    Police say the fatal beating of 49-year-old Nancee Rapoport occurred Christmas Day, only hours after her nephew, Anthony Rapoport, was released on bond on an unrelated assault warrant.

    Wilmette police say they were called to the residence Friday after the aunt and nephew quarreled about donuts he was supposed to buy. They say they arrested the nephew on the outstanding warrant for a Skokie hospital attack.

    Officers say that after Anthony Rapoport was released on bond, he returned home and attacked his aunt. He was arrested without incident a short time later.
And the attack that he was arrested for previously?
  • Just like Anthony Rapoport, who was given bail after slashing at one e.r. nurse and kicking another while threatening to kill them. He then was given a warrant after missing court; and when arrested for that . . . you guessed it, given bail, after which he went home and killed his aunt with a baseball bat. Bastards are never held accountable. Where's the media attention?
We don't know. You miss one court appearance for what sounds like a knife assault on hospital staff, you probably ought to sit for a while. But you know those judges and ASA's who don't push for the high bonds. Unaccountable to anyone.

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Thursday, December 30, 2010

Scam Alerts

NBC is reporting an outfit is raising money based on the recent CFD tragedy:
  • A North Carolina company has stopped selling a controversial decal commemorating Chicago's most-recent fallen firefighters and has lodged a complaint with the city's Inspector General claiming harassment.

    Firefighters claim the company was being opportunistic and trying to profit from tragedy, but the company says it's all just a big misunderstanding.
Now we're also hearing about some unauthorized fund raising on the south side in the name of Officer Flisk that might have no connection to the Department whatsoever.

As far as we know, the only authorized fund raising for the Flisk family is the account at the Credit Union. If anyone has any info on this or other suspicious events, let us know. Officers need to be aware of where their donations are going and who is collecting on behalf of the fallen.

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Funeral Today

  • The day after the funeral for one Chicago firefighter, a wake was being held this afternoon for the second man killed when the roof of an abandoned laundry fell on them last week.

    Visitation for Corey Ankum started at 2 p.m. and is scheduled to go until 8 p.m. today at the Apostolic Church of God, 6320 S. Dorchester Ave.

    Visitation will continue at 10 a.m. on Thursday, followed by his funeral at 11 a.m., also at the church. He will be buried in Lincoln Cemetery in Chicago.

RIP Firefighter Ankum. Final thoughts and remembrances here for the CFD.

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Better Call by Carol

  • Braun’s comments came at a news conference announcing her public safety platform. If elected, she said she would fire Police Supt. Jody Weis.

    Braun, who comes from a police family, said Chicago’s rank-and-file officers have “never been more demoralized” by serving under Weis, a former high-ranking FBI official in Philadelphia

    She said she would select a new top cop from within the department.

    “We need to start with people who are already here working for the Chicago Police Department . . . that would better understand the communities and the neighborhoods, but what the officers have to deal with. That I think is the missing ingredient,” Braun said.

    “The fact that the superintendent is not from here, doesn’t understand this city, having to learn it, get a guide book out. You need to get someone that knows Chicago to run the Chicago Police Department.”

Lovely. And J-Fled responds:
  • Weis issued a statement disputing Braun’s take on his leadership, department morale and the results of his tenure — “two years of straight month-to-month reductions in nearly every category of crime.”

    “Hyperbole does not get the mission done. More than 30 years in the military and law enforcement have taught me that it is results that count. I am proud of the results that we have had...and I am most proud of the efforts made by the members of the Chicago Police Department, Weis said in the statement.

    “Anyone that questions their morale is questioning their dedication to serve and protect...and has clearly not been on the streets with them, or seen them working as I have.”

Three years of reductions in manpower, clearance rates, and shootings through the roof - thank medical science for the falling homicide numbers. On the streets, leading from the rear, looking over his shoulder as he runs from the sound of gunfire. And just where are the results of that "Morale Survey" anyway? It's been something like 2-years-plus now.

Keep believing the hype folks.

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Good Call by Carol

  • Mayoral hopeful Carol Moseley Braun lashed out against Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg on Wednesday in response to a column criticizing the former U.S. senator.

    “He is a drunk and a wife beater, and that’s a matter of record. I didn’t make that up. It’s the truth,” Braun said at a news conference called to outline her public safety platform.

    “You know that old ‘Give ‘em hell Harry.’ I tell the truth, and they think it’s hell. I’m just going to tell the truth about these things. He is a drunk and a wife beater, and he insulted the entire African-American community in Chicago. And the Sun-Times, particularly based on its demographic . . . ought to do better by Chicagoans than to give this man a continual platform for his divisive rantings in the newspaper.”

Very nice. Now let's see her say the same thing about Jesse's column and we've got something to work with.

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Probation

Four years worth for defending himself:
  • A University Park grandfather placed on probation for gunning down a dog owner after the man’s puppy urinated on his prized lawn was “absolutely relieved” he won’t go to prison.

    But relatives of Joshua Funches, who was shot to death during the May 9 confrontation, were outraged that Charles Clements will not serve time behind bars.

We're just glad a 70-year-old veteran doesn't have to take a beating from a 23-year-old punk. In the end, this wasn't about a dog peeing on the lawn, but about a bully biting off more than he could comfortably chew.

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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Breaking - Charges in Blake Killing

  • A Chicago teenager was charged tonight in the slaying of Chicago Police Officer David Blake, who was shot and killed last month in his SUV on the Southwest Side, authorities said.

    A charge of first-degree murder was approved tonight against Bernard Williams, 18, the Cook County state's attorney's office said.

    Blake was off-duty when he was found dead inside the vehicle in the 2900 block of West Seipp Street in the Wrightwood neighborhood on the evening of Nov. 22.
Excellent work.

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Police Fatalities Up 37%

  • So-called cluster killings helped make 2010 a particularly deadly year for law enforcement, with deaths in the line of duty jumping 37% to about 160 from 117 the year before, according to numbers as of Tuesday compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

    There also was a spike in shooting deaths. Fifty-nine federal, state and local officers were killed by gunfire in 2010, a 20% jump from last year, when 49 were killed. The total doesn't include the death of a Georgia State Patrol trooper shot in the neck Monday night in Atlanta as he tried to make a traffic stop.

    And 73 officers died in traffic incidents, an increase from the 51 killed in 2009, according to the data.

  • The two law-enforcement agencies with the most deaths were the California Highway Patrol and the Chicago Police Department, each with five.
Definitely not a list we like to see anyone a part of, let alone the top spot.

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Where the Money Is; Where the Cops Aren't

  • Two men were charged in connection with the armed robberies of two Bakers Square restaurants, including one that was held up Sunday night on the Far North Side, according to Chicago police.

    Eugene Wright, 37, of the 6300 block of South Sangamon Street, and Michael Morgan, 27, of the 10600 block of South Racine Avenue, were each charged with felony armed robbery in the holdups, police said.

    Bail was set at $400,000 each for Wright and Morgan when they appeared for their bond hearing on the charges today before Cook County Criminal Court Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil.

Let's look at those offenders' addresses again, shall we?
  • 6300 block of South Sangamon Street
  • 10600 block of South Racine Avenue
And the locations of the robberies?
  • 7131 N. Western
  • 5220 N. Harlem Avenue
Golly. Who would have thought it? Take police away (or short district manpower) in one location to fill another and guess what happens? The criminals go to where the police aren't!

So if we're in our 24th straight month of crime reduction, why are we seeing this phenomenon? And why are we still going to strip low-crime districts of exactly what keeps them low-crime and give it over to the leeches?

And as an added bonus:
  • Wright and Morgan, who each have at least one armed robbery conviction in their criminal backgrounds, are currently under investigation for similar crimes, police said.
Whose doorstep can we lay this one on? Quinn, Blago, Anita or the courts?

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Funeral Coverage

A sad day:
And an article that says maybe those "defined benefit pensions" aren't so undeserved after all:
  • Maybe those defined-benefit pensions aren't so lavish after all.

    Maybe there are some jobs so dangerous, so demanding of steady nerves and sound judgment under pressure, that the men and women who work them deserve the benefit of our doubts.

    Even when times are tough, even when most of us can only wish we could retire at age 50 with 75 percent of pay, maybe we should take a deep breath, dial down the envy, and just say: "Thanks, guys. You deserve every penny."

    Chicago firefighters Edward Stringer and Corey Ankum will never get to enjoy their retirements or their defined-benefit pensions. Their lives were cut short last Wednesday morning after they dashed into a fire-compromised building on the South Side to look for survivors, only to become victims themselves when a truss roof collapsed. More than a dozen other firemen were injured, two seriously.

The comments are not worth reading if you have any sort of stress or ulcer problems, but it's nice to see someone who realizes that maybe, just maybe, it isn't the police and firefighters that are the ones causing the problems.

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The Fourth Detail

  • Lewis A. Jordan, CEO of the Chicago Housing Authority, has a Chicago Police security detail — a fact police had refused to disclose but the CHA confirmed Monday after a Chicago Sun-Times report about the costs of protecting public officials.

    Personal police protection for Jordan and his predecessors dates to 1999, when then-CEO Phillip Jackson announced and had begun attending community meetings about the agency’s controversial plan to tear down high-rise public-housing buildings and relocate residents.

    “As you can imagine, that was kind of a contentious deal and there were security issues,” said Adaku Onyeka, a CHA spokeswoman.

"contentious"? "security issues"? But we thought all those CHA buildings were merely temporary shelters for people between jobs, down on their luck or working their way through a rough patch? We had no idea they were havens for six and seven generations of welfare recipients, dope fiends and warlords more reminiscent of backwater third-world nations than a world class city like Chicago.

Things that make you go, "Hmmmm."

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Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Stringer Wake

  • An oversize American flag hanging from an extended fire ladder could be seen from blocks away from the Blake Lamb Funeral Home in Oak Lawn, where hundreds of Chicago firefighters were lined up Monday to pay their respects to fallen comrade Edward Stringer.

  • As the investigation into the blaze in the 1700 block of East 75th Street continues, firefighters from around the Chicago area dressed in their finest uniforms and winter coats, a tradition painfully familiar to many in attendance. Standing in the frigid cold, many were reminded to count their blessings in their often dangerous job. About four months ago, firefighters gathered at the same funeral home to mourn the death of Christopher Wheatley, who died in August after falling 35 feet while fighting a restaurant fire.
RIP Firefighter Stringer.

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More "Transparency"

  • Congressman Danny Davis announced his agenda for reforming Chicago government Monday, pledging to stop the practice of what he called “overnight deals” made by executive decision if he’s elected mayor.

    Davis didn’t mention Mayor Daley’s name. He also didn’t mention his mayoral opponents who include former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.

    But Davis made pointed references to Daley’s style, a day after the mayor surpassed his father’s tenure to become the longest-serving mayor of Chicago.

    “We have faced scandal after scandal in this city,” Davis said, promising to back the city’s inspector general and ethics office in their oversight of city contracts. Davis criticized the role of political clout in awarding those contracts.

Transparency should involve a mirror being given to taxpayers so they can see who's poking them in the ass every time they open a tax bill or read about another clouted contract being given away to connected firms, because we highly doubt that Davis has any intention of doing anything but changing the players who get the contracts.

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Borrow $15 Billion?

  • As the state's stack of unpaid bills grows, Gov. Pat Quinn is floating the idea of borrowing roughly $15 billion to alleviate the pressure, though taxpayers would be saddled with loan payments for years.

    The governor has approached several lawmakers with a plan he's dubbed a "debt bond." While the name is somewhat redundant, the thinking is the state can pay back what it owes and plug its big budget hole — if only for a year.

    Supporters say the outsize loan would provide instant cash to schools, doctors and social welfare agencies that have laid off workers and cut services as they await long-overdue payments.
A slow moving train wreck.

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Monday, December 27, 2010

Mysterious Security Detail

  • When Miguel del Valle took office as Chicago’s city clerk in December 2006, he immediately made clear he’d make one change: He would do without a perk enjoyed by his predecessors — his own police security detail.

    Given that his duties involve things like handling vehicle stickers, keeping City Council records and licensing dogs, del Valle — now running for mayor — “felt it was unnecessary to use taxpayers’ dollars for a police security detail and a driver,” says Kristine Williams, his spokeswoman.

    Four other city officials, though, do have the taxpayer-funded bodyguards. They include Mayor Daley, city Treasurer Stephanie Neely and Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th), chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee.

    And the fourth? The police won’t say.

Won't say? Why not? This is funded by the taxpayers, right? It isn't some Praetorian Guard protecting the royal court, is it?

And why does the mayor have such a large detail? Wasn't it something like twenty-four officers, all paid at the Sergeant rate and two sergeants being paid commander's pay? A fleet of cars squirreled away in the old neighborhood and drivers at the beck-and-call of his children and grandchildren?

Jane Byrne has the right idea though:
  • But former Mayor Jane M. Byrne, a onetime Daley rival who had a security team of 12 police officers during her time at City Hall, says she wasn’t offered protection since leaving office in 1983.

    [...] Byrne says she thinks Daley shouldn’t have a detail after he leaves City Hall.

    “I’ve had to get along fine, and I think he could also get along fine,” says Byrne, 76.

Good call. In the meantime, who's the fourth official detail?

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Pension Warnings

  • PRICHARD, Ala. — This struggling small city on the outskirts of Mobile was warned for years that if it did nothing, its pension fund would run out of money by 2009. Right on schedule, its fund ran dry.

    Then Prichard did something that pension experts say they have never seen before: it stopped sending monthly pension checks to its 150 retired workers, breaking a state law requiring it to pay its promised retirement benefits in full.

Go read the entire article and wonder how retirement is going to look in a few years.

We are headed for massively rough times in short order.

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Be Very Aware

Even headed home off-duty:
  • Off Topic but Important,

    This could have been a repeat of an incident some time ago in the 10th District. An MSF cop on his way home from Homan Square after 0300 finds himself followed in his car by some gang bangers out to do some damage.

    Only this time the Dispatchers and everyone else were on the ball.

    Offenders in custody. In previous incidents shots were exchanged and officer went to station to get help.

    These assholes know the districts are low in manpower and the "special units" are all gone at 3AM. So that is when they go hunting, sometimes they get other gangbangers, sometimes they get a couple of Irish students walking home and sometimes they confront a ODPO.

    Stay safe, be aware when you go to and from work, carry your gun and a lot of ammo. Have a good cell phone with 9-1-1 on voice dial and the local district desks. Make sure your car is in good shape and always wear your seat belt and think about wearing body armor to and from work.
No hint that off-duty cops are being specifically targeted, but headed home that late, the odds are a bit against finding someone up to anything good. Watch yourselves.

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Hibbity Jibbity

Oh Ernie, your Christmas greetings to the exempt staff are a thing of beauty:
  • As we along with our families prepare for the holiday season, the temptation is for us to slip into a more festive and relaxed mindset. Ove the past two weeks the number of shootings and homicides in locations that are historically problematic should serve as a stark that we cannot afford to relax or be consumed by the holiday festivities. Now is the time to be more vigilant. Please ensure we focused on the bad guys and that we targeting them with laser precision.. Let's get the bad guys and lock them down!!!!
Remember, J-Fled thinks this guy is the greatest thing since sliced bread:
  • Chief Brown is creative, refuses to accept the status quo, looks to improve efficiencies, pushes his personnel to new heights, demonstrates both courage and conviction, and is loyal to the department. In simple terms, he is a leader. We would be well served with many more like him. JW [on his blog 17 Jun 2010]
"many more like him." God help us all.

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A New ExamScam?

Not in Chicago, right?
  • OT-things are heating up in reference to the 2006 SGT exam. There was unequivocal cheating that occurred. Its also apparent that many of the people who scored well on the exam are relatives of CPD bosses. What a shock! Options are being discussed now as what to do with the exam. One option is to pull down the list in its entirety. If the scandal becomes public expect many lawsuits to be filed. Weis is still not sure if he will expose this test scandal. Also, weis now has people looking at the 2004 Detective exam. I will go out on a limb and say there will probably be problems with that exam. I am truly sickened from what I have learned concerning the SGT test. ----a obscure PO from 35th street.
Every promotional exam for the past 30 or more years has had at least one lawsuit attached to it. Why should this one be any different? Even the tests given recently:
  • saw the announcement on the human resources page [for the Police Technician Test], and signed up. Not knowing what was on a aptitude test I googled it. The exact test we took was available on line from 25-45 dollars. anyone with knowledge of the company being used could have bought this test
Who's got the scoop? We've heard at least one set of answers was floating around.

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Sunday, December 26, 2010

Bears Game


The NFC North Title is theirs. Only a first round bye is in their hands now:
  • Rex Ryan and the New York Jets would like to focus on business matters instead of personal ones. The Chicago Bears have already taken care of their business by winning the NFC North.

    Ryan and the Jets will try to overcome the latest bizarre controversy and clinch a return to the playoffs when they face the Bears on Sunday at Soldier Field for the first time in 13 years.

Chicago is favored by 2.

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Guess Who's Coming to Town?

  • Former President Bill Clinton is coming to Chicago in January to campaign for mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel.

    Before serving in President Barack Obama's White House and representing the North Side of Chicago in Congress, Emanuel worked in Clinton's administration as a senior adviser for policy and strategy.

    Clinton is scheduled to headline a public event that highlights Emanuel's role in passing a crime bill that put 100,000 more cops on the street nationally.

The ex-president is coming to campaign for a mayoral challenger? What's wrong with this picture? There is just such an undercurrent of sleaziness to Rahm's entire effort and this is just another hint that something is up.

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Trash Fire

  • The fire at an abandoned laundry on the South Side that claimed the lives of two Chicago firefighters was started by someone lighting wood or trash on fire.

    That finding, announced by the Chicago Fire Department on Friday, fits investigators’ working theory that a homeless person trying to stay warm accidentally set the fire Wednesday morning at the rear of the building at 1744 E. 75th St.

We don't know if they should move faster on destroying these buildings so the homeless don't gather there or maybe start culling the homeless so there aren't as many starting fires that might cost fire fighters' their lives.

Truly a sad finding that brings no closure to any First Responders.

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Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas


To all our democrat acquaintances:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. We also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2011, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere . Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishes.


To our Republican friends:

Merry Christmas and warmest wishes this holiday season.

note: updates will be slow today due to holiday commitments.

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St. Baldrick's Reminder

Mark your calendars:
  • ‘Twas the night before Christmas and kids in their beds,
    Dreamed only of Santa bringing hair for their heads.
    They lost it to chemo that mixture of meds,
    It’s helpful, but boy side effects how they dread.

    Doctors and nurses provide such great care,
    And research is hoping a cure is more near.
    Research costs money and that is a fact,
    But some try to help so they make a pact.

    They’ll shave their heads, and help raise some money,
    And for a couple of weeks they’ll look kind of funny.
    Each March us coppers all band together,
    For children like Tommy, Sally and Heather.

    These kids and others fight this terrible disease,
    While parents and family pray down on their knees.
    The pain and uncertainty is what is most worse,
    When dealing with cancer that seems like a curse.

    The kids are amazing and take it in stride,
    With such strength and fortitude their own pain they hide
    Bone cancer, leukemia and names that are long,
    Won’t conquer these kids who all seem so strong.

    They need the support from the poor and the wealthy,
    Call family and friends, let’s make them all healthy.
    St. Baldrick’s is conquering cancer each day,
    Sign up and help us, the cure’s on the way!

The 2011 website for the Academy event is now up and ready for you to sign up, go to THIS LINK HERE, click on "get involved" then "be a shavee" and follow the prompts. The Area 2 and Area 5 web sites will be up shortly. The events will all be held on Friday, March 11, 2011 from 0700 - 1700 hours to accommodate all watches. If you have any questions you can e-mail me at chromedome1269@sbcglobal.net or click on the link under event organizer.

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Evacuate!

From the comments:
  • 45+ people attempted to bid OUT of 007!!
Why would this be? We see where a bunch landed:
  • In 025 out of 17 vacancies posted, all 17 were filled. The cut off date was 2006. A lot of people with time on the job bid to 025.
That's a lot of movement ahead of J-Fled's "realignment" plan.

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Wake and Funeral (Updated)

Per the CFD and IAFF Local 2, arrangements for FF Edward J. Stringer are as follows:
  • Monday, December 27, 2010
    Blake Lamb Funeral Home
    4727 W. 103rd St.Oak Lawn, IL
    Visitation: 3:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

    Funeral:Tuesday, December 28, 2010 10:00 a.m. (Tentative)
    St. Rita of Cascia Chapel
    7740 S. Western
    Chicago, IL

    Cemetery: Pending
Arrangements for Corey Ankum still pending as of this posting.

UPDATE: Visitation for Corey Ankum
  • Wednesday, 29 December 2010
    Apostolic Church of God
    6320 S Dorchester.
    2:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

    The wake will be held at the church at 10 a.m. Thursday.
    The funeral will follow at 11 a.m.

    Cemetery: Pending

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RWOC? Really?

Someone posted this rumor in the barricade post from yesterday:
  • RWOC for his efforts: wasting countless department resources, endangering the lives of all involved, threatening officers with an AK-47 and being here illegally-not from Mexico. Glad to see our system really works.
Sooooo, he was RWOC? Was he psyched? Without any type of charge at all? Is there an INS hold or notification pending? Because someone nutty enough to tie up most of a District and SWAT team for ten hours certainly deserves a little bit of scrutiny.

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Friday, December 24, 2010

Injured Firefighters Improving

  • [...], five of the 17 firefighters who were injured in Wednesday’s blaze and building collapse remained hospitalized.

    [...] Larry Langford, the Fire Department spokesman, said it was too early to say whether the five firefighters who remained hospitalized would be back at home for Christmas.

    “The most serious was stable yesterday and is still stable,” Langford said. “The rest are even better.”

    While the injured firefighters were recovering from the physical trauma, the entire department was reeling from the experience, the worst loss of life in more than a decade.

Best wishes to the injured and hopefully, they'll be up and around in short order.

In the meantime, we'll post visitation and funeral information for the fallen when it becomes available. RIP Gentlemen.

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Accounting Problems

Someone was making money somewhere. It's a giant cash business with little oversight (almost like a casino). But Shortshanks has to figure out one last scam for all the connected contractors and hidden relatives:
  • Making a profit on Taste of Chicago and the city's six other annual festivals could prove difficult for a private company willing to take on the challenge, according to city documents provided to firms preparing bids.

    The city lost more than $6.9 million on the events the last three years, records show. So it's probably no surprise that Mayor Richard Daley's administration says companies bidding to run the events can consider charging admission fees and selling naming rights.

    "Ideally, these festivals would remain free, but (bidders) should submit responses that include their recommendations on the economic model which can include an entrance fee," the city bid documents state.
Given the sad state the Taste has turned into, they should have been fencing off the park and charging admission years ago just to keep out the riff-raff. God forbid anyone offend the leeches and attempt to run a professional event that might still be the pride of Chicago. Who wouldn't want the disaster it's become of people shot within sight of the Taste, bullets flying through hotel rooms and roving bands of sexual predators molesting anyone with reach.

However, it is amusing to see Daley uses the same accounting firms that tell us that movies like "Star Wars" and "E.T." never made a dime. Who does he think he's kidding?

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Steve Landesberg RIP


We're a bit behind the curve this week with the holiday upon us and other family things going on. We just heard about the death of Steve Landesberg on Monday:
  • Mr. Landesberg is probably best known for the role of Detective Sgt. Arthur P. Dietrich in the '70s sitcom "Barney Miller." The show, which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1982, featured Mr. Landesberg as an intellectual detective with a quiet manner who seemed to have an unrivaled knowledge of practically any topic that arose.

    The sitcom, set in a New York City police station, portrayed a group of wisecracking detectives who dealt with the oddball characters who would end up there. With most of the action in the squad room rather than on the street, some police officers have said that the show often better represented the real life of rank-and-file officers than many detective dramas on television.
Still probably the best police show in history.

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And Then There Were....

  • State Sen. James Meeks has dropped out of the mayoral race.

    In an e-mail sent to media Thursday afternoon, Meeks — who also heads Salem Baptist Church on the South Side — said he was ending his campaign.

    Meeks met with mayoral challengers U.S. Rep. Danny Davis and former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun Wednesday in a last-ditch effort to unite behind a consensus black candidate, the Sun-Times reported. Davis said after the meeting it was possible one or more candidates would drop out, but a spokesman for Meeks denied he would exit the race.

Good riddance to the so-called "reverend." Now he can go back to extorting money in the name of "education" and "the children" and whatever the grievance of the day happens to be.

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Barricade Ends Peacefully

  • An armed man who reportedly was threatening suicide and who barricaded himself in the bathroom of an apartment in the Rogers Park neighborhood for about nine and a half hours Thursday morning, is now in police custody.

    The incident began about 12:50 a.m. in the 7700 block of North Sheridan Road, according to police News Affairs [...].

    A male armed with a gun was reportedly threatening suicide and barricaded himself inside a bathroom, according to [News Affairs].

No one shot, no one dead, no innocent victims. Stuff the Department often doesn't get (or give) credit for. It isn't part of the picture the media and politicians like to paint about out-of-control cops or blood-thirsty racial profilers killing altar boys and aspiring oncologists.

Good job Officers.

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Thursday, December 23, 2010

Rahm Decision Today

  • Chicago elections commissioners are scheduled to vote Thursday on whether mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel will remain on the ballot.

    The three-member elections board won't have a lot of time to consider a recommendation from Joseph Morris, the hearing officer on the highly publicized case. For the second day in a row, Morris did not release his recommendation, and a man who answered the phone at his law office said not to expect one Wednesday night.

    No matter how the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners votes, it's not expected to have the final say. The losing side has a week to appeal the board's decision to the Cook County Circuit Court. The case could take weeks to wind its way through the court system, including the Illinois Court of Appeals and the Illinois Supreme Court.

It isn't the strongest case ever presented and appeals are likely. Of more interest is the deadline for candidates pulling out of the election so as to now split voting blocs. Davis, Meeks and Braun met to discuss one or more withdrawing from the race to anoint a "consensus" candidate. But if Shortshanks hasn't given the OK, then we figure they'll all stay in so as to fracture the black vote and guarantee Rahm is one of the runoff candidates should the election go that direction.

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More Penny Problems

It seems that the most recent "Joe Curtin Award Winner for Leadership Something-or-the-Other" has had the door removed from the 011th District Camera Pod room.

Not that big a deal seeing as how it might be alleged that officers were checking e-mail instead of watching the cameras.

The Big Deal part comes in when it was learned that the computers are set up so officers have to have their backs to the now un-secured doorway.

Anyone who has worked in a Chicago Police Station knows that 99% of them turn into homeless colonies come winter time. We also recall a number of incidents where people with severe mental illnesses or a desire for mayhem have brought guns into police stations and/or attacked desk crews, including one in 011 a year or two ago.

This sounds like a safety issue that needs to be addressed. Maybe we can finally have the disease ridden homeless ejected from our work environs.

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Bad Timing Rahm

  • Rahm Emanuel's campaign moved quickly to correct an e-mail that went out to supporters lamenting today's Chicago firefighter tragedy while also asking for campaign donations.

    "As we celebrate this holiday season, we must remember how fortunate we are that we have brave men and women working out there every day to protect our homes, our communities and our families," the e-mail from Emanuel read. "We are eternally grateful for their courageous work, and we will never forget them."

    Included after those words was an electronic button marked "Donate."

    Emanuel spokesman Ben LaBolt said the gaffe was inadvertent and the result of using the wrong template in sending out the e-mail.

It would also seem to be proof of the Rahm maxim, "Never let a crisis go to waste."

It's going to take a bit more than a canned apology on this one. Something like this needs to be double and triple checked before being sent out to e-mail lists, especially when you're so obviously attempting to capitalize on a tragedy.

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Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Firefighters Injured

  • At least four firefighters were trapped and injured after a wall collapsed in a 3-11 alarm fire at an abandoned South Side commercial building this morning, authorities said.

    Firefighters searched through rubble for more than an hour as the trapped firefighters were pulled out and rushed to hospitals.

    Police squad cars escorted two ambulances north on Lake Shore Drive to Northwestern as ramps were closed to clear it of traffic, according to fire communications. One of the firefighters there was described as "grave." The condition of the other one was not available.

    At least two other firefighters to taken to other hospitals but their conditions also were not known.
Updates as we have them. Prayers for our fire department brothers and sisters.

UPDATE: Two firefighters dead. Condolences to our brothers and sisters of the Chicago Fire Department.

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Get Ready for Another Medal

J-Fled and Masters Masters Masters will have an entire row of ribbons at this rate:
  • Reports of violent and property crimes continued to decline in the first half of 2010, according to preliminary crime report released by the FBI Monday.

    The FBI's semiannual uniform crime report shows that reports of violent crime dropped 6.2 percent from January to June and property crime reports were down 2.8 percent.

    The dip in reported crimes follows a three-year trend of decreasing crime rates despite a sagging economy.

Of course, the FBI doesn't use Chicago's numbers in their figuring because Chicago fudges the definitions of "crime," but J-Fled insisting that there were 23 straight months of reductions must be the truth, right? Why else would he be going forward with a massive redeployment of manpower resources if there wasn't any crime to fight?

Is anyone in the media picking up on this at all? If crime is down, why move police? If the police are bitching about back-up and strength, maybe crime isn't "down" at all? If the city hasn't hired but two classes in over three years, hasn't promoted a single detective in that same time frame while retirements have not only continued, but continued at a higher rate than in years past, maybe all isn't as it seems.

Oh yeah, and the mayor is a liar nine ways to Sunday. Why would anyone believe a single number coming out of City Hall?

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Illinois Declines

The anti-business policies continue to strangle growth, and therefore representation:
  • Illinois will lose a congressional seat, the U.S. Census Bureau announced on Tuesday; following the 2012 elections, Illinois will send 18 members to the House of Representatives, down from the current 19.

    Nationally, the reapportionment favors Republicans: states that vote Republican gained the most seats, which has implications not only for the balance of power in Congress, but in the 2012 presidential campaign, because the the electoral votes are based on the new census counts.

Illinois continues its slow slide into irrelevance. Given a few more years and a looming pension bankruptcy, Illinois will join Michigan in short order as being the only state to lose population in the census. And Michigan, as we all know, is home to what formerly great city? Detroit.

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Good News!

  • The federal judge who sentenced former Gov. George Ryan to 61/2 years in prison in 2006 refused Tuesday to release him early from custody, saying that while she was saddened by his wife's terminal illness, Ryan was to blame for his own plight.

    Ryan's wrongdoing "has exacted a stiff penalty not only for himself but also for his family," U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer concluded near the end of her 58-page ruling.

    Coming a few days before Christmas, the decision is a bitter blow for Ryan's family. The former governor's son and namesake, George Ryan Jr., paused to keep his composure as he started to address more than a dozen reporters and photographers in front of the family's Kankakee home and then in a shaky voice ripped the ruling as "heartless and cruel."

    "Is this what American justice is now?" he said.
Why, yes, yes it is.

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Tuesday, December 21, 2010

IPRA Overreaching Again

IPRA is not your friend and is looking for any way it can to hook you up and screw you over. We're going to summarize an e-mail we received to protect the source.
  • On 06 December 2010, a accidental discharge occurred at the Area 3 Range during the 3.5 hour Firearms Training Course. An officer fired a round while bringing his gun up on target that struck the concrete floor, causing fragments to spray himself, the instructor and another officer. Minor lacerations and no small embarrassment resulted, and all the officers were taken to the hospital to make sure no fragments remained embedded. They will be fine.

    Notifications were made to the upper echelons, an ET was ordered and the cumbersome paperwork was begun that always follows such an incident. Somehow, IPRA ended up in the loop and demanded a CR number be generated. The District Commander said "no" as it was a training exercise. IPRA went around his back and contacted the ADS of the Academy, who also said, "no." So IPRA did what they seem to do best and generated their own CR number (and possibly an additional U-number), thereby injecting themselves into a non-criminal incident that they have no authority or directive to investigate.

    IPRA investigates police shootings and allegations of misconduct, not training accidents. IPRA is attempting to interpret their rules as "all shootings resulting in injury" will be investigated by them regardless of the circumstances of the shooting. This is not a good thing.
It certainly isn't, and anyone being approached by IPRA either in person or via To-From Witness statements should immediately contact the FOP and have legal representation available. We've published reports previously that IPRA is attempting to question officers out of the presence of representation by not identifying themselves as IPRA investigators or passing themselves off as detectives. Now it seems we have to watch our backs even for training accidents.

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Wait, the Mayor Lied?

  • More than a year after he took his own life, new details are emerging that show former Chicago School Board President Michael W. Scott had been under growing financial pressure.

    Scott — a developer, close friend of Mayor Daley and onetime Chicago 2016 Olympic organizing committee member — was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Nov. 16, 2009, in the Chicago River west of the Apparel Center. He was 60.

    About two weeks before Scott’s suicide, a development company that had been paying him $10,000 a month “for consultation in regards to future projects involving the possible Olympic Games in Chicago” canceled his contract, according to new details from the Chicago Police Department that officials previously had refused to release. Scott lost that lucrative part-time job because the city failed to land the 2016 Games, according to an unredacted police report on his suicide obtained by the Better Government Association.

  • The new information about Scott’s consulting contract appears to contradict statements that had been made by Scott and Mayor Daley that Scott wasn’t planning to cash in on his dual roles as an Olympic organizer and a real estate developer.
Let's get real here - everyone and their brother was set to cash in on Shortshank's No-lympic dream. There are only two things that are surprising here:
  • that no one has been indicted yet for all the money thrown around in an effort to win the crookedest sporting event known to mankind and
  • that there haven't been a dozen other suicides related to this debacle
Daley's legacy of bankrupting the city will be felt for decades yet to come.

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Probation?

  • Two schoolboys who threw bricks at an elderly South Shore homeowner have pleaded guilty to aggravated assault of a senior citizen and criminal damage.

    But the 12- and 13-year-old boys will be sentenced to probation and won’t be locked up in the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, Judge Andrew Berman said Monday morning.

    The case hit the headlines in September when the boys’ 68-year-old victim, Margaret Matthews, shot the 12-year-old boy in the shoulder as he lobbed bricks at her from the roof of a shed at her home in the 7600 block of South Cole.

Get a load of this part though:
  • Matthews and several neighbors were ready to testify at trial Monday morning that both boys had terrorized the neighborhood for months, before Matthews finally snapped and opened fire as they smashed her windows. But both boys agreed to a last-minute plea deal.

    Prosecutors agreed to drop felony aggravated battery charges against the boys in return for their guilty pleas to misdemeanor aggravated assault and criminal damage,

The victim and her witnesses are ready to go to trial. Slam-dunk verdict, right? Wrong:
  • Speaking outside court, Matthews said “I don’t feel like justice has totally been carried out.”

    Probation and restraining orders preventing the boys from contacting her or any of the witnesses were “not such a big deal,” she said, adding that she thought the boys needed “some stronger order in their lives.”

    Neither the boys nor their families have apologized to her, she said. “They’re in denial,” she added.

    [...] The 12-year-old and his family declined to comment as they left court, but the 13-year-old’s mother said “he never did anything,” before leaving without further comment.

"Never did anything," except learn a lesson in how to manipulate the system and duck all responsibility for his actions, which we are sure will serve him in good stead as he begins his lifetime of passing through the criminal justice system until someone else finally finishes the job Mrs. Matthews wasn't able to do. She's irritated:
  • Matthews said she would “be keeping my eye out” for both boys and wouldn’t hesitate to call police on them again, though she hoped “they do something better and constructive with their lives.”
Don't hold your breath Mrs. Matthews. But do keep your gun handy - you're going to need it again, probably in short order.

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The "Tolerant" Leftists

Remember, the Tea Party is full of terrorists and radicals. Everyone else is just exercising their own Freedom of Speech:
  • A Statement from Chicago Tea Patriots founder Catherina Wojtowicz concerning the events on the night of Friday, December 10, 2010.
    12/16/10

    "We were the target of an arson Friday at our Christmas Party.

    At approximately 8 p.m. smoke began to fill the rooms of Dugan’s Irish Pub where we hosting our Christmas Party. The entire bar soon became engulfed with thick, heavy smoke and the bar was evacuated. Within moments the Chicago Fire and Police arrived and began to clear and secure the premises. We were detained outside while firemen cleared the bar. After waiting an hour outside, with other dozens of other bar patrons, we were allowed back in to gather our belongings. The bar was covered in soot and patrons had great difficulty in breathing. Bar management had to close the bar for the night, thus losing revenue during the busy Christmas season.

    Tuesday I received a phone call from detectives from the Chicago Bomb and Arson Department who informed me that four devices, which appeared to be roadside flares, were taped together and left lit and smoldering in the trash can of the men’s bathroom. On the lid of the toliet seat, written in red, it read: F#CK THE CHICAGO TEA PARTY

    Bomb and arson police have deemed this an arson and are now investigating.

    [...] Because the devices were left in the bathroom it will be difficult to deduce who is the offender from videos and because nobody was killed or harmed (thankfully), fingerprints will not be processed for anywhere from six months to a year. However, if an offender is found, they will be charged with a felony.
Dugan's is also a popular hangout for coppers. We don't recall seeing a word about this in any of the media, but seeing as how 90+% of the bar occupants would have been people the media routinely portrays as less than human, we aren't surprised.

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Nice Shooting Tex

  • In the back room of a humble jewelry store and pawn shop in Houston's East End Thursday afternoon, a gunman tied Eva Castillo's wrists tightly — too tightly. She complained of the pain, so he loosened the bindings. Then Castillo's husband was ordered at gunpoint to put his hands behind his back.

    But Ramon Castillo had a surprise for the gunman and two cohorts, who had announced they were robbing the business.

    Castillo pulled a pistol from his waistband and shot the gunman dead. Then he grabbed a shotgun from his office and engaged in a shootout with the other two armed robbers.

    When it was over, all three robbers were dead — and Castillo, though shot at least three times, was still standing, having successfully defended what was rightfully his.

Daley's head would explode seeing as how at least two of the dead were illegal Honduran immigrants and therefore, potential Rahm Emanuel voters. Of course, death has never been an obstacle to democrat voters in Cook County.

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Monday, December 20, 2010

Favre to Start


  • The Vikings and Bears are playing at the University of Minnesota's outdoor stadium because the Metrodome's roof collapsed last weekend after a heavy snowstorm. The roof's failure caused the Vikings-Giants game to be moved to Detroit, but the university was able to get its two-year-old stadium ready to host the Bears.

    Snow started steadily falling in the Twin Cities on Monday afternoon and forecasts called for wind-chill temperatures well below zero by game time, conditions that Favre got to know well during 16 years with the Green Bay Packers.

With Green Bay losing, the Bears can clinch a playoff spot that we were sure was out of reach this year.

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Here It Comes - How They'll Do It?

A number of comments popping up in the previous "Here it Comes" thread:
  • Now comes the interesting part. When the majority of these bids remain vacant, let's see how they fill them. As SCC says, "hang on boys and girls, it's gonna be a wild ride"!

  • I work on the fourth floor at Fled-Quarters, management will attempt to circumvent the contract by detailing one to two P.O.s from each watch from selected districts and units for 90 days and then again reach out for more each 90 day period. Its can do per Management and Labor Affairs

  • Exactly what they did over the summer with TRU and MSF. Only then they dumped malcontent unit PO's on us.
We're hearing a number of rumblings about how J-Fled is going to pull this off and all of the above comments get very close to the meat of the issue. Here's what we've heard:
  • The Department has posted the openings. They have no basis in reality - look how long they posted 35 or 40 openings for 003. Didn't mean a thing. And looking at a few of these Districts, they haven't posted an opening in years and now suddenly, they're short 15 or more? It's bullshit.
  • That being said, the minute 004 or 008 or 025 don't get their 14 bidders, the Department can declare those spots "unfilled." You see it all the time on the Transfer Orders - "There was no successful bidder for this position." Those spots will be filled one way of the other this time. Now the Department can move people from their Unit of Assignment to those openings. We've been told the only restriction is if you actually bid to a district (not a watch, but to a District).
  • Guess who they're going to take? Remember earlier this year, Downtown Ernie Brown asked for and received from all the District Commanders, a list of personnel who were the "lowest performers." Welcome to Englewood, Harrison and points due south.
The Department is putting its faith in the gray area and ambiguous language of the contact. No doubt about it. And they're daring the FOP to grieve each and every situation to tie them in red tape for months and years.

Just a quick question though - with crime being "down" for almost 24 months, how can J-Fled justify moving people around?

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Earned, Not Given

Stay classy Henny Penny!
  • Commander in 011 cancels christmas watch party for first watch. Reason being she says that cars from other districts 12, 13. 14, etc cannot cover our district for a watch party. That only happens for the district party that other cars will come in and cover our district... That's total bullshit! Who the fuck is she kidding. also she said that there is no way 011 dist on 1 watch can be down 4 cars... Where have you been lady we were down 4 to 5 sometimes 6 cars all summer. She is just pissed off that no one is going to the 011 dist. She is clueless the worst ever. Why do we on midnights even go out and work for you if that is how you are going to treat the watch.
Some enterprising soul sent us an entire month worth of 011 District worksheets over last summer. The average number of cars down was four a night with two 10-99 units up and running. To mess with a watch like this is just low class. But then, look what the Department has been promoting for years now - sexual harassers, thieves, grifters, knob-jobbers, drunks, suck-asses, psychopaths, stalkers and all manner of deviant.

And now, this little tidbit:
  • Hey scc.
    just finished attending the 011th district christmas party. And Penny is about to out do herself next year. She is so pissed at the turn out of the party, that she takes it as a slap in the face to her. So starting next year everyone on management on the watches will be moved around every couple of weeks. So without warning anyone on 2nd or 3rd watch could be working 1st watch. although im sure the people on 1st watch wont mind, its still a pain in ass to no know what watch youll be working next week. She said this will continue until she has the respect of the officers working under her.
This is what passes for leadership nowadays - fuck up everything you've ever touched in your career, operate outside the rules and regulations and pay no penalty, then when you reap what you've sown over the course of a "meri-clout-orious" career of phone calls and favors, destroy what used to be a desirable place to work.

Another shining example of J-Fled's leadership.

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Operation Santa Coverage

  • It has been seven months since gunfire took the life of Chicago police Officer Thomas Wortham IV outside his parents' home in the Chatham neighborhood.

    Yet a visit to the home Sunday by retired and current police officers — dressed as Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and their elves, or on hand to help out — was a reminder that his sacrifice will never be forgotten.

    When the officers arrived with coffee mugs and a poinsettia, Wortham's mother, Carolyn, appeared surprised at the turnout of her son's brothers and sisters in blue.
A great big Thank You to everyone who volunteered, contributed or supported the Police Memorial Foundation efforts this year. The families of The Fallen deserve to know that their loved ones' sacrifice is not forgotten.

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One Way to Solve Gang Problems

  • The 23-year-old man was hanging out on a dark street in tiny south suburban Sauk Village. The temperature was 14 degrees — and Cook County Sheriff gang officers suspected he was a dope dealer.

    When Sgt. Terry Tabb rolled down his window and asked for identification, the man said, “Why do you care, officer?” Tabb leapt from his car, ran up to the man and asked again. The man refused to produce an ID, and Tabb pushed him onto the hood of the squad car and checked his pockets. Other sheriff’s officers arrived as backup.

    The man, who has an aggravated assault arrest on his record, told the officers he was with the “BDs” — the Black Disciples street gang. Asked where he lived, he said he was from Chicago. Officers didn’t find any drugs or weapons and told the man to go.

Did they do a contact card? Did they generate an event number?

We kid of course, but too many smaller suburban departments are ill prepared to deal with a large influx of gangsters looking to set up safe houses, dope spots or criminal enterprises. The main stumbling block is manpower, where a Chicago District can outnumber an entire suburban department by two or three or ten times as many cops.

We aren't much better off actually, and the bureaucratic roadblocks thrown in our way along with the discontent rife throughout the Department aren't doing anyone any favors.

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Sunday, December 19, 2010

Here it Comes - The Preview

Bid openings posted:
  • District / No. of Vacancies
    004 - 14
    005 - 6
    007 - 8
    008 - 15
    011 - 15
    025 - 17
It seems like the bid openings are more than a little weighted toward those Districts that J-Fled and the brain trust are going to be attempting to move people to. We aren't sure if this is to minimize disruption by needing less people in some of the busier Areas or what, but we can't recall 011 or 025 ever having more than ten openings at a time in the last decade or so.

note: due to a blogger glitch, this didn't go up until late.

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Test Shenanigans?

One of the least well advertised tests in recent memory. As we heard one story, created by the CO's of the Unit specifically for members of the unit. Nothing suspicious about that, right?
  • Over the past few months, the department implemented and offered a test for Police Technician. The test was offered to members who fit a certain criteria. I believe 5 years on the job and assigned to OCD. The FOP sued to open it up to 3yrs on the job and I think any unit could take the test. The test was an electrical aptitude test, which may have been offered for sale on line.

    I took the test and did not score high enough to make the next level... the practical. Those who did well enough on the practical moved on to the oral interview.

    WELL.... a lot of issues with this.

    Rumor is that they are going to make MERIT Technician. At least one genius who failed the first part and did not take the second or third part will be made MERIT.

    My question is why???? If he/she could not pass Part 1, then clearly they should not be a Technician. I know of about 200 other people that feel the same. Also, the department tried to rush this test quietly. The only reason I was aware of it was knowing where the office is and asking.

    Typical city BS and typical way to get wrong guy in right job.
The easiest way to promote the people you want is to specifically tailor the job requirements so the only one applying is the only one qualified. We know plenty of old timers who have stories about this holdover from the bad old days. We've seen it happen in a number of the smaller units.

Someone has already pointed out in another comment section that there supposedly won't be any "merit" on this list. We have a hard time believing that one, but stranger things have happened. Who has the real scoop?

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Be Aware

  • Federal law enforcement terror bulletins have become as much a part of the holiday season in the past decade as egg nog and department store Santas.

    But this year, which ends amid a heightened concern over terror, is a little different. A Department of Homeland Security bulletin sent to law enforcement nationwide Thursday says that federal authorities worry terrorists will try to rattle Americans by attacking during the holidays, and lists concerns including car bombs, trucks ramming crowds and a Mumbai-style small arms attack.
This is the new reality. It's amusing how the media buys into these warnings now that a democrat is in charge unlike when they were ripping Bush and accusing him of using the terror alerts as some sort of election ploy or a sop for boosting sagging poll numbers.

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Saturday, December 18, 2010

Here It Comes

Did everyone notice how they released this, not on a Friday afternoon, but on a Friday night at 10:53 PM?

All your quiet neighborhoods, be prepared to be not-so-quiet as your police service is stripped away under the guise of protecting neighborhoods that have no interest in taking any responsibility for their own behavior:
  • The stage is set for a confrontation over Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis’ upcoming plan to reallocate police resources from lower-crime districts to those that need more officers.

    Days before the plan is expected to be unveiled, the Fraternal Order of Police is serving notice that it intends to strictly enforce a union contract that could severely limit Weis’ options.

    “His hands will not be tied. But his ambitions could be curtailed by some of the contractual agreements,” FOP President Mark Donahue said Friday.

    “It would be a mistake to believe you can just move personnel at a whim without regard to the agreements the union has with the city. We will enforce the contract to the best of our ability.”

    Police Committee Chairman Anthony Beale (9th), whose Far South Side ward stands to benefit from the reallocation, countered, “It would be a disservice to the residents of this city if a grievance was filed when you’re trying to save lives.”

    Beale said he plans to hold City Council hearings on the reallocation in mid-January.

Fireworks coming. Rough weather ahead. Get used to documenting everything boys and girls, because there is going to be a lot of hanky-panky attempting to get around certain contract provisions to "save" certain people and screw others.

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Getting Rid of Vests

We were just thinking about this as we got a new vest last year. We had been thinking of taking the old bullet-resistant vest out to a range and seeing what damage it could stand up to. But this makes better sense:
  • I retired in November and have two old ballistic vests. I contacted the Marine Reserve Center at 3034 W. Foster and verified that they are actively collecting used vests. They use these vests to line their vehicles to absorb some of the impact from IEDs. The contact people are: Master Sgt Hernandez and Staff Sgt Pena 773-539-6464 ext330.

    Lets clean out our closets and put all those old vests to good use. Hundreds of retirees can help out a lot of Marines.There are plenty of former Marines in each police district. How about if you guys collect in your District and make one big delivery to the Reserve Center.
This is something we've never seen the Department get behind, but it's something that many Departments across the county or state should think about doing. Just about every cop we know has an old vest lying around somewhere taking up space.

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Rumors of Swiping - And More

Like clockwork, this damn rumor keeps popping up over and over:
  • But has anyone heard about an order set to be released soon stating that ALL sworn personnel will swipe in and out beginning at 0000 hrs. on 01 Jan. 2011 ????
This has been rumored to have been started in October, November, December, 1st Police Period next year, etc. And no one can ever seem to nail it down.

Anyone have any info at all?

And here's the other one:
  • This just out all gun teams are being disbanded and sent back to their units of assignment 06 Jan 10. OCD is then making new teams with the chosen ones that put in applications to work in OCD in Oct.
Again, anyone with the scoop?

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Natural Selection Thwarted

Once again, tens of man hours along with thousands of real dollars are wasted while putting real human lives at risk:
  • It was a lonely scene — a freezing coyote, stranded on a tiny slab of ice, adrift in Lake Michigan.

    Lonely — except for the news helicopters circling overhead, the Fire Department boat dispatched to rescue the wayward animal and the crowds gathered on the shore.

    The 3-year-old female got into the fix Friday morning on the ice off Fullerton Avenue. At one point, the coyote jumped into the water, only to retreat to the chunk of ice keeping her afloat.

A dumb coyote isn't worth a single fire fighter's life or a single hour of operation of a fire boat. We're surprised they didn't launch Air-One for this debacle but we'd still say it wasn't worth the operation or risk to police officer's lives either.

There's a reason that you don't see certain behaviors in the animal kingdom - stupidity is rarely rewarded. Mother Nature is a cruel teacher. And risking real human lives to interfere is a trade-off we've never understood.

UPDATE: To all the posters calling us "animal hater" and other crap, how would you feel if some firefighter, coast guard member or helicopter operator ended up in the water and unrecoverable? Stuff like this comes down to evaluating the value of a human life versus an animal that routinely hunts on or near the water in all sorts of weather. Sorry, but we pick the human, each and every time.

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Christmas Card

If you have a second, and it only take a few, Bill Cozzi deserves a moment of your attention. His address is listed in the right hand column and a card this holiday season would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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Friday, December 17, 2010

Boy, Are We Embarrassed

Color our faces red. We had no idea! We thought we were just helping a "friend!" We had no idea anyone of import resided there.

And for the humorless types....
  • Dude, think twice before using what reputation you currently enjoy to pimp for your buddy selling off a condo. You just knocked your credibility down a few notches.

  • BAD DECISION SCC... I don't read your blog for Advertisments. Let his Realtor do his job. You stick to what you do Best!

  • SCC, I'm going to argue that this is below the belt. One can argue back that Cozzi was too. Still, two wrongs don't make a right.
....you must be the life of the party when the liquor starts flowing. We'll try to be a little less subtle next time.

And to the other folks who actually go it, trying to publish tax ID numbers and correcting the advertisement to the proper address, thank you for your diligence, but that might have been construed as a little too much information.

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Meeks said What?

Once again, the veil falls from the true face of a ignorant, racist, piece-of-shit "man of god" who's contending in an election to run Chicago:
  • Mayoral challenger James Meeks scrambled Thursday to put out a political fire touched off by his suggestion that only African-Americans should be eligible for city contracts set aside for minorities and women.

    Meeks made the statement on Wednesday during an interview on WVON-AM (1690). It happened during a discussion of why African-American businesses got a 7 percent sliver of Chicago’s $1 billion spending pie through Aug. 31, down from 8 percent a year ago.

    “The word ‘minority’ from our standpoint should mean African-American. I don’t think women, Asians and Hispanics should be able to use that title,” he said.

Of course, he's backtracking so fast, his skid marks are leaving skid marks. But this is par for the course for Meeks, the so-called "reverend."

Of course, the question has to be asked, "Who, and how much, did someone pay Meeks to say this," seeing as how the leading black contender pretty much just lost the Hispanic, Asian and White votes.

And who knew that Meeks would be able to make Danny Davis look like a moderate? Oh yeah, our readers, for at least the past 4 years. Sorry we asked.

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What Are They Learning?

Someone really ought to do a study on what a drain the school are on police resources:
  • Thirteen students were arrested at Foreman High Thursday after a tussle over a football outside the school cafeteria escalated into a major fight.

    Foreman was placed on lockdown for the last two periods of the day after the melee erupted shortly after 1 p.m. Teachers were ordered to lock their classroom doors and not let any students out until about 15 minutes after normal dismissal time, teachers said.

    During the fracas at 3235 N. Leclaire, a teacher was “battered” but declined treatment, police said. In addition, a police officer was knocked to the ground trying to break up the fight. He was taken to a local hospital for minor injuries.

Thirteen arrests, countless cars, injured staff and police.

Over a football.

And here's the truly sad part - there aren't even any factory jobs for these dead-enders to look forward to in the future. If you read the post directly below this one, they don't even have a weekend of weed to look forward to. All that's left is for them to breed more misery and drain more from society. Forever.

Oh, and to vote for democrats to take more of our money.

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Massive Dope Seizure

  • Seven people have been arrested after nearly 11 tons of marijuana was found packed into six railroad cars from Mexico in what could be the largest pot seizure in the Chicago area.

    The marijuana was found at a south suburban warehouse this month, according to the U.S. attorney's office, which valued the pot at $22 million.
  • A family is accused of running a $1 million "designer marijuana" operation from their home in an unincorporated area near Tinley Park.

    John Gecan, 52, his wife Darlene, 52, their son Christopher, 27, and another relative, James Osmolski, 22, were charged after police busted the pot growing operation in the 7,000-square-foot home in the 5300 block of West 175th Street, according to Cook County Sheriff's officials.
This is going to put a damper on a number of parties this weekend. Watch for Cannabis Futures at the Merc to head upwards in opening trades tomorrow. It should stabilize over the course of the day though as Mexican suppliers up shipments though their own underground railways on the border.

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Thursday, December 16, 2010

Officer Injured

Officer injured in Northwest Side high school fight. All angels, no doubt. Wonder how those West Side and South Side schools are doing today?
  • One person was hospitalized in fair-to-serious condition and "multiple arrests" are being made after a disturbance at a high school on the Northwest Side, officials said.

    The incident was reported at about 1:03 p.m. today at Foreman High School, 3235 N. Leclaire Avenue, officials said.

    Officials said the an altercation broke out between students at the school and lead to 10 people being arrested, said Chicago Public Schools Spokeswoman Monique Bond.

    A Chicago police officer received minor injuries during the disturbance, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala.

    Chicago fire department officials said at least one person was taken to Lutheran General Hospital at about 1:16 p.m.
Get well, Officer.

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Condo for Sale

We're trying to help an acquaintance sell their condo. He's what you call a "motivated seller" so he might be willing to accept a slightly lower price to get out from under this one. Here's the ad:
  • Stunning se corner 3 bed/2 ba condo at 14th & michigan ave. Feats floor-to-ceiling windows, hrdwd flrs, custom lighting, highly upgraded kit w/ss ge monogram appls, 42"custom cabinets w/glass fronts, custom hardware, pantry, granite countertops w/breakfast bar, master suite w/walk-in closet & ceramic slate & oversized shower, marble guest bath w/shower, in-unit laundry & priv terrace. 1 parking space $35,000.
Here are some specifics:
  • Master Bedroom 12X14; Bedroom 2 12X13
    Bedroom 3 12X11; Master Bathroom Double Sink
    Dining Room COMBO; Kitchen 11X13, Breakfast Bar/Area/Nook
    Dining Area Yes; Living Room 23X16
    Laundry Room Dryer, Washer
    Appliances Dishwasher, Disposal, Microwave, Range, Refrigerator
Some of the financial info:
  • Tax Amount $8,932.10
    Tax Year 2009
Asking Price - $689,000.

And here's a link to the online ad - get a look at all the attached pictures. Rumor has it the owner is supposed to be leaving town on or around 01 March 2011, so time is of the essence. Contact numbers are at the link.

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For Real?

Sent to us by some of our west side correspondents. We certainly hope this is some wise ass poking fun at the MSF boys and girls:


The truly sad part is, someone else is reporting J-Fled and Masters Masters Masters were seen at the Jade Dragon this afternoon.

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Revised Estimate Downward

Just last month, we were hearing how Lura Lynn Ryan had up to 3 years to live.

Evidently, that didn't pluck at the heartstrings enough, so Big Jim Thompson has revised his estimate downward in an effort to spring George Ryan from his 8 year sentence:
  • Lura Lynn Ryan, wife of jailed former Gov. George Ryan, has been diagnosed with a very aggressive lung cancer and given a prognosis of three to six months to live, according to former Gov. Jim Thompson, Ryan’s attorney.

    As a result of the prognosis, Thompson has filed a motion seeking bail for Ryan, who is serving an eight year federal prison sentence in Terre Haute, Ind. “We are asking (U.S. District Court) Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer for a prompt answer on our earlier request for George’s bail,” said Thompson.

WBBM-AM 780 had the best report this afternoon though. We can't seem to locate the audio link, but their report around 5:00 PM related the following (we're paraphrasing here):
  • Mrs. Ryan has an aggressive form of lung cancer, that if untreated, would be fatal in 3 months.
We imagine that report is being sanitized as we speak, but maybe Mrs. Ryan ought to see a doctor, don't you think?

Here's the thing, even before that Libyan terror bomber got released for a supposedly "terminal" case of cancer that would kill him inside of 12 months (it's been two years now and he's expecting to live another decade or two), we've been dead set against releasing people on humanitarian grounds. You knew the risks when you committed the crime, and one of those risks is missing birthdays, holidays and funerals of loved ones. If you want to be a part of every one's life, don't do shit that gets you sent to prison for years and years.

Sorry Mrs. Ryan is ill. Life sucks sometimes and it all seems to end the same way eventually. Maybe modern medicine can grant her more time, but in the meantime, George owes the government a few more years of his own time.

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