Residency Letter

Caught this one in the comments section. Somebody wrote to the Sun-Times and made a very good case for discontinuing the Residency Requirement. Now we are of the opinion that nothing is going to happen until the mayor moves on, either by retirement, indictment or other, but this is how we start the ball rolling. Get the idea out there. Make some good points. The city IS expensive to live in. The city IS excluding a potentially huge pool of talent in more than a few departments because of the Residency Requirement. Don't citizens DESERVE the best available people and services?

As we recall, Residency is a "Home Rule" issue for the City, so the law MUST be changed in Springfield first. That will be the biggest task. Perhaps the Courts could be of some assistance here as it seems decidedly un-American to tell citizens where they can and cannot live. Any scum sucking bottom feeders ... um ... we mean lawyers out there willing to take on the city and state legislature? Don't we have a few CPD guys serving in Springfield? What about them?

The Dumbest Excuses Ever

Instead of defining acronyms, let's hear some war stories. What are some of the dumbest excuses you've ever heard? And just to make it extra humorous, excuses from anyone. PPOs about why they forgot their gun, arrestees about why they ran, domestics about why they domesticated, you get the idea. Try to keep the stories generic - no names, no ethnic slurring, etc. At least make the effort to be civil.

Comments on the Comments

Couple of responses to things in the comment sections.

One accuses us of being a 35th Street boss. To that we reply, "Hahahahahahahaha." They also accuse us of "breaking through our thin blue line." Could you point that out to us? Because we can't really see it. Anywhere. And we've been looking pretty hard, as we write everything here and review it regularly. We're the ones telling guys and gals to stick together, avoid the name calling, cut out the racial garbage and woman hating. The assorted nastiness going on in the comments isn't us. We don't patrol the comments that diligently. And the way we rip on 35th Street in general, the farther away we are from that hell, the better.

Another commentator tells us the blog is getting stale and we'll never make it to 100,000 visitors unless it gets more exciting. This after we hit 900 daily visits fourteen times this month and topped 1,000 on seven of those days. How many of those hits were this guy telling us we're boring?

We saw someone asking for a best/worst cops thread, best/worst district thread, etc. We really don't want to go there. Does anyone really think it'd be any different from what goes on regularly in the comments? We did a best bosses thread that is still open (look in the right margin under "Most Popular" posts - Congratulations to John Farrell, Best Boss by acclamation.) It still gets about 20 new comments a week and is over 400 now. We even had a thread hijacked for "no so good" bosses - its in the same spot and still gets daily visits. But why would we solicit what would only end up being a thread full of ammunition for a slander lawsuit? It'd be a headache.

Calling All SME's

If any readers happen to be SME's, could you let us know if they've started having meetings yet, for ANY upcoming events? We'd appreciate the heads up. We heard there were preliminary meetings recently, but have they actually held any conferences?

UPDATE 0910 hours: SME's are Subject Matter Experts. We are hearing rumblings of a new Lieutenants Test sometime before next fall. SME's typically meet within a year or so of a new test with the contracted company to compile lists of "duties and abilities" that will be a big part of the test. We're just trolling for information.

Local Darwin Award Finalist

And other quick hits for Tuesday night:

• Man falls to death over a second story balcony railing during a spitting contest in Mount Prospect. What else can you say about this one?
• Kennedy Expressway floods at Grand when a 36 inch main lets go. Channel 2, Channel 5, Channel 7 coverage. This is at least the second big main to let go around there in about 5 years. Shouldn't someone be inspecting these things?
• And once again making up the news when there isn't any real news to cover, Channel 7 does a hack job on the lack of name brand grocery stores in certain Chicago neighborhoods. Three guesses as to what neighborhoods are "underserviced." What are they going to do? Force Jewel and Dominick's to open stores in places the companies will lose money, assets and/or employees lives? Come to think of it, they probably will.
  

Winter Parking Restrictions!

Our favorite time of the year, when the people who don't bother reading the street signs designating Winter Parking Restrictions wake up on Thursday morning and don't know where their cars went. It's always humorous to see the news that morning or evening when everyone complains "It isn't fair! No one told me. There isn't any snow!" as they shell out something like $150 bucks. We've got a garage so we're safe, but are we wrong to be amused? Anyone have stories about getting towed on 01 December?

Still With the Illegal Details

They call us. They write to us. They let us know in a myriad of ways. Seems that certain districts ARE STILL sending at least one rapid response car from third watch to the west side, usually on weekends. This is IN ADDITION to the "Area Gang Teams" and entire Tactical Teams serving outside of their home districts. We aren't sure about midnights, but we're looking into it.

Whatever your feelings about the FOP, the way to make these guys earn their pay is to let them know what's going on AND THEN KEEP BITCHING ABOUT IT. FOP still wants to hear about it. If you get sent (or know someone who gets sent) from the district to a "detail" somewhere else, call the FOP. Write to the FOP. E-mail the FOP. If the district desk is stupid enough to put it on the Daily Watch sheets, fax a copy to the FOP. Call the media. We'll bet the aldercreatures who see their property crime numbers rising would like to know that their constituents are being shorted police coverage, especially in some of the wards that are paying quite a bit in property taxes.

We are drafting a letter to half a dozen aldercreatures AGAIN and forwarding copies to Mark Brown, John Kass and a couple other media people who like this sort of thing so they can poke the political powers that be.

Squeaky wheel. Grease. Some assembly required. Pitch in people. If you've got the time to surf this site, you've got the time to fire off an e-mail.

Invade Canada!

Late last night, the government of Canada fell during a "no confidence" vote. Years of scandals and such finally culminated in the dissolution of the Left Wing led government coalition. We have opined on a number of occasions that we, as a country, cannot stand idly by while the longest undefended border in the history of mankind is left in disarray. We therefore propose that an immediate invasion be undertaken to secure the vast tar and oil sands of northern Alberta for our use AND we finally make Alaska part of the contiguous 48 states.

This will be a "Special Employment" initiative undertaken by CPD Officers working their days off and furloughs so as to not drain the armed forces of manpower needed elsewhere. Anyone interested should contact their Unit Commanders.

Carry Off Duty?

We spent a few hours last night doing prep work on a few threads to have them ready to go in the event that we were short ideas later. Someone sent us the "Carry off duty" article yesterday and we were going to hold it for tonight, but then the Times ran it and everyone is talking about it in the SOS/TRU thread. So here is tonight's post a few hours early.

From a frequent reader/contributor, jurisdictions across the country are beginning to rethink permitting their officers to carry off duty following a few incidents. At least one of these municipalities required officers to take police action off duty, but didn't define "police action." Nationwide, 43 officers have been killed by "friendly fire" in past 18 years.

If we may comment aloud here, if you carry your badge, you ought to carry your gun. It's a package deal - never one without the other. If you want to be a civilian, then leave both at home. And always, ALWAYS be aware of your surroundings and how to recognize (or be recognized) off duty. No sudden moves by either party. Weapon discipline. Be aware that an officer might have their star in a pocket or fanny pack.

Obviously, code words could be compromised (we are reminded of the story of a copper coming upon the scene of a shooting and the gunman running away shouting "Stop Play! Stop Play!" when the officer drew down on him. As we heard it, the offender got away, but it's an old story) but something adequate could be used in place of them. Ideas?

Academy Vandalism?

Haven't seen this in the comments section yet. Someone called with some info about all the marked cars in the Academy parking lot were vandalized over the long weekend. Anyone have specifics? And where were the duty desk people? We've seen the camera monitors behind the desk. No one was watching all weekend? WTF?

Define the Acronym - Part III

Yes, we've seen them pop up everywhere. Well here's a stand alone thread JUST for you guys. Today is your day to tell us what "S.O.S." and "T.R.U." stand for.

We shall dispense with the "Sons of Supervisors" and "Totally Retarded Unit" ones early. Let's see some originality folks.

Stupid People

They're getting around to interviewing the injured from the Metra train crash and they're coming up with quotes like these:

• Christine Barnes, 30, of Elmwood Park, said she is upset at the suggestion from transportation safety officials that motorists might be to blame for Wednesday's accident that injured at least 10 people and damaged 16 vehicles. - Via Channel 5
• A woman hospitalized after her car was struck in last week's Metra train accident says she entered the busy intersection before warning signals went off and had no chance of avoiding the collision. - Via Channel 7
• "Fix the problem, that's my message to the NTSB. Fix the problem," he said (husband of victim Christine Barnes). - Via Channel 2

Problems? The only problems here are (A) the village not synching up the traffic lights with the railroad signals and (B) idiots who think trains are going to stop to avoid collisions or swerve around them. NEWSFLASH - no one ever wrote up a train for being where it was supposed to be. There are like three controls on a train and none of them happens to be a steering wheel (forward, backward and brakes we think). Watch these idiots file a lawsuit.

Remember When?

We were just cleaning out some old paperwork and ran across the old city proposal from the year 2000 whereby if you worked for 5 years in a "fast" district (002, 007, 010 and 011 were designated) you would be given $1,000 and first shot at specialized units.

Five years is up this year. Does anyone know if:

• (A) the proposal was ever instituted,
• (B) if so, has anyone heard about getting their $1,000,
• (C) and has anyone gotten their super-special bid forms so they can get right over to School Patrol (defunct), Housing (mostly defunct), Marine (no test given lately), Mounted (no test given lately), Canine (no test given lately), Helicopter Unit (all phone calls), Vice (more phone calls), SOS (even more phone calls), Airport (all phone calls) or TRU (Hey! We'll take anybody)?

Horseshoes again?

Well, that was some game, eh? Anyone know what the odds are on the Bears this year in Vegas? We guess sometimes it's just better to be lucky than good. Playoffs? Sure. Superbowl? That's a stretch.

Time for Some Quick Hits

Saw a bunch of stories tonight that need comments, so we are volunteering our time to provide a bit:

• Hop over to Channel 2 and check out this report (with video). A stick up at the Garfield Park Conservatory ends up with all 5 subjects in custody and two guns recovered. Two coppers got hurt when their car hit a tree chasing the goofs. Anyone with info on their conditions, post it here. Good job all around.
• We promised you a turkey fryer fire - here's your turkey fryer fire. Damage to the suburban St. Charles home is estimated at $230,000. Anyone have reports of cranberry beat downs?
• Money certainly didn't buy these people happiness. Couple wins $65 million, agrees to split the money and go their separate ways in 2000. They're both dead within 5 years, probably from drug overdoses.
• And what jerk complained about the smell coming from Blommer's Chocolate? That was about the only thing that made it worth driving the Kennedy most mornings. It's not like Blommer's hasn't been there for a million years. It's like the fools who buy a house near Midway or O'Hare and then complain about the airplanes making noise.
  

Cop Shooter to be Extradited

From Channel 2 and the Sun-Times.

We were notably ticked off at this paragraph in the Sun-Times:

• Pannell's lawyers, John Norris and Julian Falconer, argued that Pannell acted in self defense and was a victim of racist American policies and "civil liberties atrocities." The Knox shooting took place at the height of the Black Panthers movement, at a time when tensions were high between police and Chicago's black community.

This is why when "The Revolution" comes, we will be at the front of the mob, lining lawyers up against the wall. We just can't seem to find the statute that allows self defense in the SHOOTING OF POLICE OFFICERS! Can anyone?

NOTE TO READERS: If you see a police related article you'd like us to cover, either send it to us via e-mail or post a link in the comments section. If you simply cut and paste the whole thing into our comments section you (A) make it harder for everyone to scroll through what ends up being a HUGE post and (B) you deny the author of the article visitors to their website, which of course is the lifeblood of the internet. Thanks.

Talent Beyond Compare

This man is our current hero - aside from the haircut of course.


That's his designated driver on the left.

Pat Morita RIP

Star of "The Karate Kid" as Mr. Miyagi.

Commence with your "Wax On; Wax Off" jokes - you know you want to.

Now THIS is a Problem

One of our biggest beefs with the current national administration (and we have more than a few) is the complete lack of interest in securing the southern border. Millions of illegals stream across the border yearly and bring with them crime, decreased services, and the seeds of economic ruin. Don't get us wrong - we support immigration. CONTROLLED, LEGAL immigration. Chaos benefits no one.

Now we have this story of an armed incursion by either forces of Mexico or persons posing as a Mexican army regulars to retrieve a truckload of marijuana. In any other nation, this would be an act of war and it should be an act of war here. If Mexico refuses to secure it's border, then we ought to do it for them. Dig a trench, fence it off, whatever it takes, but when United States police officers have to retreat from enforcing American law on American soil, we have a BIG problem. Fix it. Now.

Earthquake!

A 2.5 magnitude trembler shook St. Louis Tuesday night. It was the 28th earthquake of 2.0 or greater to hit the area in 2005. Students of history will recall that the biggest quake ever to hit the lower 48 was on the New Madrid fault running up through the Mississippi River valley.

Does anyone have any word on how that city wide evacuation plan is progressing? Just in case?

Rumors We've Heard

Rumors that seem to have some basis in fact. Anything else, post in the comments section.

• Detective's Class - 50 Detectives (from the new list) in the academy for January. Supposedly they have the class times and instructors booked already. But 50 won't even keep up with promotions and retirements. The Department is very shorthanded.
• Sergeant's Class - We heard (HEARD) that the rumor of them cutting short the Detective portion of training is complete BS. They are spending the whole 90 days in the areas and the final portion of training begins immediately after the January dick's class graduates - around 06 February. The class should be an even 100. Also, the list is up through fall of 2006, maybe spring of 2007.
  
• Lieutenant's Test - The test is in the final planning stages and should (SHOULD) be administered before summer, but that is a very iffy type rumor. Take it with a grain of salt - our sources were very vague on this one. No word if they'll do one more class, but it looks doubtful.
  

Rumor becomes reality - a northside source of ours (thanks S) confirms that an order has been cut requiring a Daily Bulletin to be in squad cars at all times. We stand by our description of this as a "pimpy" mover though. Your working guys always had a copy and your non workers never used it anyway. Auditing & Internal Control must be using this as a "stop-gap" measure for falling infraction numbers since black vest covers are now legal and city stickers aren't due for another 6 months.

80,000 Hits

Some time late last night, we hit 80,000 visitors. We know we say this a bunch, but thanks. If we keep up like this, we'll hit 100,000 well before Christmas. Yeah, it sounds like we pat ourselves on the back every time we hit a milestone like this, but if we didn't have readers, we wouldn't have a website. What'd be the point?

Want to see what we mean? Go up to the very top right corner of the main page and click on the "next blog" button a few times. There are millions (yes millions) of blogs out there that won't get 1,000 hits in a year and we do that kind of traffic daily.

On with the show.

Calling all Turkeys

Happy Thanksgiving

Posting will resume following football and digestive processes. We have a bunch of rumors to post later tonight that should be interesting to anyone on a promotional list.

Don't Hurt Me - I Have Rights!

Remember all the whining and crying on the left about "torture" and how America shouldn't stoop so low and resort to the methods of the enemy. Well, courtesy of ABC News and RightWingNews, here's the "torture" the left doesn't want the military to inflict upon captured terrorists, who (it should be noted) fly airplanes into buildings, strap on explosive vests packed with ball bearings to go to weddings/funerals, take school children hostage to wire them with pounds of Semtex, and cut off heads for shits and giggles:

• The Attention Grab: The interrogator forcefully grabs the shirt front of the prisoner and shakes him.
• Attention Slap: An open-handed slap aimed at causing pain and triggering fear.
• The Belly Slap: A hard open-handed slap to the stomach. The aim is to cause pain, but not internal injury. Doctors consulted advised against using a punch, which could cause lasting internal damage.
• Long Time Standing: This technique is described as among the most effective. Prisoners are forced to stand, handcuffed and with their feet shackled to an eye bolt in the floor for more than 40 hours. Exhaustion and sleep deprivation are effective in yielding confessions.
• The Cold Cell: The prisoner is left to stand naked in a cell kept near 50 degrees. Throughout the time in the cell the prisoner is doused with cold water.
• Water Boarding: The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner's face and water is poured over him. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt.

Correct us if we're wrong, but at least three of these were used semi-regularly during PT at the Academy in recent memory along with the "Leaning Rest." We wouldn't be surprised to find out that all six were used along with the "Telephone" by Burge and the boys in the back rooms. According to International Law, only the "Telephone" would rise to the definition of torture. These are merely coercive. Should the day come when terrorists smuggle a device into this country, we pray that someone uses these "torture methods" to save innocent lives.

Another Ploy?

Perhaps as an observer of the Chicago political scene for quite some time, we've just become too jaded to see clearly anymore. The Tribune reports a few days ago that the mayor will remain a southsider for the forseeable future. If we recall correctly, this was a "big deal" months ago in both papers, wondering if he'd switch baseball alliances and the like. Today, we have the following questions:

• Was this a ploy to boost sales for the "Heritage" builders?
  
• Who runs the "Heritage at Millenium Park?"
  
• What contributions have they made to various politicians?

Are we just too cynical for our own good?

Pre-Thanksgiving Quick Hits

WE WILL BE POSTING OVER THE HOLIDAY!

Just because no one is going to be working at 35th Street for the next 4 days and administrative offices across the city will be unmanned, is no reason not to visit SecondCityCop blog over the long weekend! We'll try to track down a "turkey leg homicide" or a "cranberry beat down" and we are SURE there will be a deepfryer related fire or two, probably in Bridgeport AND Canaryville.

• Squad car accident injured a Lieutenant, and unrestrained child and kills a woman. Channel 2; Channel 5; Channel 7; Tribune. "And lo, unto the Southside, a lawsuit was born."
• We don't normally wish ill upon people (that karma train can be a bitch when it comes around) but in this case we will make an exception and echo a few of our commentators by wishing nothing but coal in the stocking of whomever bailed out this piece of garbage. We will also wish for a few extra boxes of ammunition and encourage EVERYONE to go practice at the range. Just one more accurate shot and this isn't even a story.

Anyway, have a Happy Thanksgiving. We're especially thankful for our 80,000th visitor that should happen late tonight or early tomorrow. Check in over the long weekend because we'll be here. We're working on a few things and we'll have another "Define the Acronym" post on Monday.

Economic Growth Continues

Despite all reports from the main stream media and the democratic national committee, economic growth continued and economists are predicting a strong 3.6% growth in the American economy for 2005 and a 3.3% increase in 2006. Unemployment, already at 5.5% is predicted to drop to 5.1% for 2005 and to 5% in 2006. Last quarter marked something like a dozen or thirteen straight quaters of growth. That's 3 plus years lefty. During a war. And hurricanes. And high gas prices. Today's economy is trucking along and shows few signs of slowing.

Gun Post

As suggested in a comments section:

What are everyone's opinions on the current authorized firearms? We've heard that CPD ammo is under powered and we've been on scenes and heard of scenes where hollow points FAILED to open up on impact, leaving clean through and through wounds that did little to stop assailants. We've also heard that the Glock Program was a failure, but no details of it.

We'd prefer that the Department go back to double-single, as it allows you to get more lead on target, faster and more accurately, but the fact that you can cock the weapon means that from an (imagined) liability and training standpoint, it's not going to happen.

Isn't it Interesting?

... that whenever there seems to be something resembling bad news on the mayor's doorstep, someone manages to dig up some dirt on the Department and use it to give politicians political cover?

• Bad news for the mayor - A Channel 2/Pam Zekman investigation reveals a massive EPA-type nightmare brewing below the surface of what used to be Meigs Field. Nine feet worth of contaminated soil on what the mayor hopes will be a nature park, wetlands, concert venue, etc, is turning into another albatross.

So what does the sun-times cover?

• Ex Partner of 'most corrupt' cop out of prison - Big story? Not really when you find out that Galligan was released to home confinement on 09 August 2005, over THREE AND A HALF MONTHS AGO! What could possibly be the point of bringing up old news like this? Anyone? Bueller?.
  

Shut Up Already

As unrepentant members of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy (VRWC), we have an obligation to our neocon Haliburton puppetmasters to point out the idiocy of the media every so often because we earn up to 20% off our VRWC dues for every 50 mentions.

Oh, we weren't supposed to mention that? Sorry Mr. Cheney. Sorry Mr. Rumsfeld. Our bad.

Has anyone else noticed that as soon as a "media celebrity" gets beyond the shores of the USA, a country that guarantees freedom of the press, they can't help but reveal their true colors and slam the USA, the troops, or the ideals that actually allow them to their jobs? Case in point - Chris Matthews, MSNBC anchor and host of "Hardball" (via AceofSpades and LGF):

• “"The period between 9/11 and Iraq was not a good time for America. There wasn'’t a robust discussion of what we were doing,"” Matthews said. "“If we stop trying to figure out the other side, we'’ve given up. The person on the other side is not evil -— they just have a different perspective."

Just a reminder - here is a "different perspective"


This isn't evil? THIS. ISN'T. EVIL? Don't we have Sedition Laws in this country?

Define the Acronym

Building on last week's success of "Define the CAPS acronym," we are going to try for another one.

How many ways can you break down "I.A.D." or "O.P.S."? Run with it.

Time for a Reminder

Once again, we need to remind people what an OPEN PUBLIC board is. A number of years back, an Area 4 Sergeant ran a board called SCCN (SecondCityCopNetwork we think). It was a novelty where cops could post about the FOP leadership (Nolan), policy, bosses, etc. He didn't conceal his identity and ran the board openly. His contact e-mail was his own and we assume he paid for the site himself.

It all came to a crashing halt one day when the head of the Disabled Chicago Police Officers Association sued the sergeant for comments made on the site. We alluded to this event in our very first post. Of course, it was an open unregulated board, and the fact that there were no registered users protected him from liability, but the damage was done and the site shut down shortly thereafter. We still have a copy of the lawsuit in our files (as we said, we are pack rats and get a hold of everything!)

Nowadays, anyone can run a free website on any variety of subjects. The Internet has truly become the great equalizer of our times. Unfortunately, the tiny brains don't seem to have evolved in the ensuing time span. We still get the occasional knuckle dragger posting racist, misogynist crap and some borderline slander. Internet Law is very vague at this point in time. We feel comfortable with everything we've posted on the blog. The trouble comes in the comments. Certain case precedent says that if you have open and unregulated commentary, the site moderator isn't liable for what is said. Other precedent says if you regulate comments, you are the de facto editor and therefore responsible for content, though there are contradictions to this too.

Anyway, back to the point of this post. We are garnering a bit of attention lately. Media figures are contacting us; Watch Commanders mention us at roll calls; Instructors reference postings in class; we even heard that IAD was directed to conduct an investigation of IP addresses to ensure that posting was not being done on city time on city computers (but they didn't care about study groups being done on city time though - hmm). Watch the language boys and girls. We can't prove everyone here is CPD. But we can't prove that everyone here isn't either. Last month we got 1,800 visitors on a single day from 3 dozen countries. We directed our publicity material to cops; we sent faxes to police stations; most of our visitors are blue. But if you don't want your comments appearing under Fran Speilman's by-line and the mayor saying how shocked he is while he ducks another "Hired Truck" question, knock off the crap. We don't need the heat. Otherwise, at some point, it becomes too much and another good idea ends up where SCCN is now.

Head-Chopper Chopped?

Reports are surfacing on the right side of the blogosphere that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been killed. If true, this is BIG news. Of course, anything reported by Drudge needs to be double checked, but the initial reports are coming from Arab websites and Israeli newspapers, who both usually have a better handle on events on the ground than regular American mainstream media outlets. It would tie in nicely with the al-Jazeera website reporting today that al-Zarqawi's family has disowned him "until doomsday."

UPDATE: Yahoo/AP is reporting this story now. Keep your fingers crossed (15:24 hours)

UPDATE II: AP is saying the White House doubts Zarqawi is among the dead, but AP has always been cheerleading for the terrorists. They even hire them to stage photo ops, so it's all doubtful at best. We can always hope though.

Make Work (Call FOP)

Remember a day or three ago, we had a letter from Mark Brown of the Sun-Times asking if having the Marine Unit do contact cards on fishermen was "make work?" We explained that as the Marine Unit was responsible for watching the lakefront, checking for violations and conducting "high visibility" type patrols in a heightened Terror Alert status, it didn't really make sense to label what they were doing as "make work."

However, if what we are reading in the comments section of yesterday's Quick Hits is true, we think that Inspector's are DEFINITELY guilty of "making work." In our opinion, if an Inspector wrote up someone for not having a Daily Bulletin with them on the street, that is about the pimpiest write up imaginable. We cannot recall any General, Special, Administrative Order or Department Notice covering such an event. We cannot recall any Admin Fax requiring this.

It sure sounds like some wise ass legal eagle is deciding to liberally interpret a few of the Rules & Regulations and create job requirements out of whole cloth down at Auditing & Internal Control while Harold is out flying helicopters. We're just wondering who's the new CO of the "Destroying Morale" Division down at 35th Street. We're also wondering how low could the Inspectors go to get their movers. Got a story? Post it here.

And DON'T sign off on any SPAR or Write-up for this charge. Make the FOP earn their money. APPEAL IT.

How About a Quick Hits?

Lots of little stories out there, but nothing earth shattering, though if the comments sections are to be believed, something is brewing in Grand/Central that is going to provide plenty of headlines in the coming months. Combined with the LAPA scandal and if they ever get around to revealing what they have on Acosta, it might be a BAD winter.

• A metal rod sticking out of a Metra train tears up a squad car. We have a confession to make - we've done some stupid shit while up on the Metra tracks. It's a GREAT place to surveil dope spots, but looking back, it is one of THE most dangerous thing we've ever done, and that was never more apparent than when that 010 District kid got killed. Be aware people.
• Chicago Police Say They've Crushed Cocaine Cartel. Far be it from us to rain on their parade, but "crushed" seems a tiny little bit gratuitous. Yes, 325 kilos is a good hit. Yes, it was good police work combined with a little bit of luck. But if you ask anyone from OCD, this is a pinprick to the amount of stuff that runs through the city on a daily basis. We know it's the bosses talking it up, but until the price of a rock hits $20 or $30 dollars a pop, there's no shortage of this stuff.
• Gang Crime Summit Held in Chicago. Does anyone have any info on this? Maybe a list of symposiums held? Use your creativity - we've seen it on display before. "How to Separate your Gang Colors so They Don't Run in the Wash." Or maybe "How to Dump that Ho." Run with it people.
  

Winterizing

Man, raking leaves, cleaning gutters, washing and placing storm windows ... we long for the day we can either move somewhere where we NEVER have to do this again or make enough money to hire someone else to do it.

We're going to try to do a little Internet cruising here and post a few threads. Treat this as an open thread in the meantime.

Promotional Exams (again)

Another in a continuing series of posts to provoke debate, inform the readers and maybe point out to the media how screwy this city really is.

A reader dropped us a line recently. He (or she) is currently on the Sergeant's list, under 100 in numerical rank. According to the letter, the reader started out somewhere between 350 and 390, usually NOT a bad place to be, but this list is getting stale and the rumors are flying about a new test (our sources say spring 2007). The question came up that as the city is in possession of a list of qualified candidates, wouldn't it make more sense for them to establish a minimum number of people that they would take from the list rather than spend the $4 million dollars it takes to produce a new list of qualified people?

We've written a few articles on promotional exams and pointed out how other organizations do it (set a threshold number and take that number off the list). We've pointed out that as younger clout babies become eligible to take exams, tests seem to be given in conjunction with their anniversary dates. Does anyone think the taxpayers would appreciate the spending of tax dollars a little more wisely in terms of exhausting a list before tearing it down? Of course, then you have the opposite end of the spectrum with the fire department not holding an exam for a decade AND (could someone explain this one?) carrying over certain well qualified candidates to the next exam.

1,000 a day!

It was a decent week all around, with over 1,000 visits a day for FOUR days running. We also seem to have touched a few nerves with the manpower and redeployment issues. Although there really isn't any way to see if it was us, we'll take credit for it.

Might be light posting this weekend as we have a few things to do (like winterize the house), but we'll try to post an open thread or Quick Hits type one each day at the very least. Keep spreading the word.

French Riots Continue

Yes, we know, who gives a rat's ass about the French. But it's just interesting to us how the media will ignore something for days and days, then talk about it for two days, then pretend it doesn't exist anymore.

After 9,000 cars were torched and 100 buildings burned to the ground in the past 21 days, you'd think that the media would give it a little bit of play. Nope. Only 215 cars were burned two nights ago and around 190 or so last night. The damage occurred in 79 separate cities, border to border. The truly amazing thing is that on a regular basis, muslim youths burned between 20 and 40 cars a night PRIOR to this latest outbreak of violence. We don't think the US averages 20-40 a day from ALL causes.

We're wondering why Iran is bothering to build a nuclear weapon when they can just have France's stockpile inside of 20 years.

Avian Flu Death

The first reported death attributed to Avian Flu has been reported on US shores. Officials in California will only identify the victim as a sailor and sole supporter of identical triplets.


Via numerous internet sources. Click to enlarge.

We Are Shorthanded (Phil Told Us)

Duh. Now read the first line of Fran's article - we'll even quote it here:

• Chicago Police Supt. Phil Cline was accused Wednesday of creating "two Chicagos" -- by failing to match police resources to the migration of poor people that followed the dismantling of CHA high-rises.

If Fran seriously thinks that Phil Cline has power to create "two Chicagos," let alone any power that the political apparatus hasn't allowed him to exercise, she needs to be medically evaluated. Now. This isn't reporting - it's deflecting attention from a HUGE problem - manpower shortages. Read this quote from Fran's article:

• [Cline] Acknowledged only two of the city's 25 police districts, Marquette and Grand Central, are at full strength and that some districts are down as much as 10 percent from their budgeted contingent of officers. (emphasis added - SCC)
  

Isn't that what we (and our readers) have been saying for MONTHS! Ten Percent? Ten percent is probably an average. What about the nights, up until this morning, that a Beat Car was sent out of the districts AND the gang/tact teams that never see the Districts they are assigned to? Here's a HILARIOUS quote from aldercreature Lyle:

• While a drop in Chicago homicides has helped drive down crime nationwide, Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th) said her South Side ward is going in the opposite direction. I had 13 murders this summer. I've got people selling their homes. They can't stay there anymore. . . . They're holding these press conferences saying, 'Crime down. Crime down.' Not at the expense of my community. We're not gonna be the sacrificial lambs to this great [CHA] experiment," Lyle said. (emphasis added - SCC)
  

Ms. Lyle? What about the undermanned north and south side wards that are losing police protection to cover other short Districts? Property crime is skyrocketing there. I guess it's okay if they happen to be "the sacrificial lambs" because ...why exactly? We'd really like to know.

And finally, Aldercreature Beavers:

• [Cline] Got a warning from Budget Committee Chairman William Beavers (7th) about the shortage of African Americans in the Police Department's upper echelon.

A few clues for people reading this:

• As much as it may please the aldercreatures to pretend (and Fran to erroneously report), Cline is not responsible for hiring police officers - he merely works with what the city gives him and how the political masters tell him to do it.
• Aldercreatures get to choose the commander that runs their districts. We fail to see where that's Cline's problem or Cline's fault for not maintaining an "ethnically" balanced command staff. The superintendent might get to pick a few spots for the upper echelons, but the rest go to the mayor and aldercreatures.

A final question: Would anyone have the makeup of Beaver's "ethnically balanced" staff? We're just mildly curious.

Program Canceled (or FEAR US part IV)

Things that make you go "Hmmm."

We get e-mails that certain bosses mention us at roll call occasionally. We heard an exempt mentioned us at the sergeant's school going on at the Academy. It's flattering, but it makes us wonder that with all this talking going on, why aren't our hits 2,000 a day? As noted in the previous post, we even get e-mail from the media (Mark Brown and others) and we are assured that Michael Shakman and Noelle Brennan have read/are reading the site.

We just got an e-mail stating that the practice of sending Beat Cars to DOC "hot spots" on first watch was hereby canceled. A boss (unnamed) even attributed it to that "website that everyone is reading." We could assume that this means the program is being stopped citywide, but we'd like verification.

Do we have aldercreatures reading? Did our readers reach out to enough people to provoke a Department response? Did FOP start making noises? Did some boss read about Mark Brown in the previous thread and realize the Department was about to reap a world of shit? What else has anyone heard?

Apologies to Mark Brown if we inadvertently killed any story you were working on regarding manpower shortages or district redeployments. You could still do quite a number about them hiring back people while denying there's a shortage though. They can't cancel a manpower shortage overnight as they just did with the redeployment program.

An Open Letter to Mark Brown

Mark Brown, Sun-Times columnist, has contacted us via e-mail. He had a question regarding contact cards being filled out on fishermen by the Marine Unit. We thought we'd respond via the blog and open it up to discussion.

Dear Mr. Brown,

Thank you for your letter of 16 November. Sorry about the delay in getting back to you, but family and work obligations limit the time we spend here. As a rule, we don't answer e-mail as there are too many ways to identify it's origins and we're too cynical to believe we'd get a fair shake from the powers that be. We do read EVERYTHING we get though. We'd like to respond to your letter in reverse order.

Firstly, as you pointed out, we are a wee bit rough on Ms. Speilman and Mr. Main, but we feel with good reason. Too often, their articles are blatantly pro-administration and anti-police. Seldom, if ever, do they seek out alternative info from non-administration sources. That's not reporting - that's cheerleading. As Republicans, we are believers in the "liberal bent" of the media and inherently distrustful of them as most police are. We are however, great admirers of Warmbir's and Novak's "Hired Truck" series, and have even linked to your colleagues when they write about the Department screwing up. Believe it or not, we don't consider you overtly liberal; you may have a liberal bent (your words) but we've never thought of it that way, so maybe you're more middle of the road than you believe. Frank and Fran are convenient foils for us.

As to your question regarding contact cards being merely "make work" for the Marine Unit in order to gin up numbers, we doubt it, but we'd need more info to make an educated guess. We mean, how many fishermen are on the lakefront? A few dozen? A hundred? Are they fishing near the Filtration plant? - terror alert patrols are intensified. Are they fishing during the posted hours or not? - revenue from fines cover the $100 million dollar gap in the budget. Are they warming themselves with open fires or perhaps a little "pick-me-up"? - alcohol and fire restrictions on Park District property are among the most ignored of all city laws. It could be that the Marine Unit was a little casual in the past and the new Commanding Officer is doing a little "shake out" cruise. Part of their duties are undoubtedly checking licenses and such, not just for boats, but fishermen. It's not just the Conservation Department nowadays.

If the Department wants generated numbers, it's so much easier to deploy the Targeted Response Unit or a few gang and tactical teams to "hot spots" to get cards. In fact, it has been bandied about on this site for a few months that regular beat cars from "low crime" areas are being deployed to "hot spots" in other districts far away from where they should be. The Department denies there is a manpower shortage, but this past weekend, they began hiring back officers at time and a half to work their days off. We'd appreciate your looking into that - contact the FOP via the link on the right hand toolbar. We'd recommend a phone call to President Donahue himself. If nothing else, citizens should know that they're being deceived as to the police coverage they are paying for. If you do, please mention that you are in contact with us and read our blog occasionally.

Hope to hear from (or read) you soon,
SCC

NOTE TO EVERYONE ELSE (and Mark Brown if he's still reading): We post the standard disclaimer that as an open public board, we can't prove that any poster is from Illinois, let alone a police officer. We've solicited readers to contact the media on behalf of certain issues and (obviously) you've complied. We again ask you to watch your choice of language and words - it reflects on all of us. Keep it clean.

Don't Drink & Drive

Just don't do it.

A father of four dead. A father of ten ruined.

Sun-Times; Channel 2; Channel 5

Who is Lying Here?

From today's sun times article by our two favorite city hall water carriers - Fran "Hi Mayor!" Spielman and Frank "crime reporter" Main:

• "The Chicago Police Department leads the country in technology (sarcastic laughter added - SCC). We're looking for people who are computer literate. It would only make sense that one of the ways to reach them is through the Internet," police Supt. Phil Cline said. ("Ooo, they have the Internet on computers now" - Homer Simpson)
  
• The department is not experiencing a manpower shortage, [Personnel Cmdr. Brad] Woods said (emphasis and laughter added - SCC). Still, after going all of 2005 without entrance exams, the department will hold tests in February, May, August and November (can you say "hiring freeze?" -SCC).
• Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) is demanding on the spot scoring (emphasis added - SCC) of exams. Acting Personnel Commissioner Jacqueline King says city hall is looking at such a system, but it won't be available because of issues regarding "reliability."

We assume this means "reliability" as in "how many votes can this officer deliver?" reliable or "do we know this guy's daddy? is he reliable?" kind of way, because we've been taking scantron tests since the 70's and they just MIGHT have worked out the bugs by now. Does anyone else feel that Fank, Fran and Ms. King might just be colluding in a tiny little bit of prevarication? Reliable? Bwahahahaha.

And why are they letting coppers work for TIME AND A HALF on days off if they aren't short manpower in the precious DOC areas? Has anyone in Personnel tried to get time off in a district lately? We'd guess not, but we can remember a time not to long ago when a district could have every car manned (2 man rapids included), two wagons and two traffic cars up and STILL give 10 guys time for the night. Nowadays, they're lucky if a beat car doesn't have to take out the wagon and you can even field a traffic car. Not short manpower?

IF ANYONE KNOWS THE EXACT DATE AND TIME A BEAT CAR IS SENT OUT OF IT'S DISTRICT, CALL THE F.O.P. Show them how "not short manpower" they are.

Now You've Done It

You've hurt our feelings. Someone called us a "dickhead" in the SCC Thought of the Day thread because we dared to point out the fact that we (the taxpayers) have been providing transportation for the mayor.

Note to the tiny brain - we weren't pointing out that the mayor gets a car and driver because he's the mayor. We were pointing out that the mayor has NEVER in his ENTIRE life been burdened with a car payment. Since he was a lad, he's been driven to school by the police on a daily (or daley) basis. When he was State's Attorney, he had a driver and a county car. WE WILL BET MONEY that when he served in Springfield, he had a car he didn't pay for, if he drove at all.

We, on the other hand, and most of our readers, have probably owned a half a dozen cars, had 4 or 5 year payment plans, bought gas at all sorts of prices, and maintained the cars - no easy task and definitely not cheap. Obviously, Mr. tiny brain is either (A) learning disabled and lacking reading comprehension skills, (B) independently wealthy and throws cars away when the ashtray gets full, or (C) is exempt, or perhaps the mayor himself reading our blog.

Anyway, go away troll. Stop calling us nasty names or we'll tell your mommy to wash out your mouth with soap.

Hey FOP?! Read this Blog!

Just got some info from tonight's meeting. First of all, thanks to who ever put a bunch of our cards in the bathroom. We know some people have referred to us as the 21st century version of the bathroom wall, but you didn't have to take it so literally.

Second, regarding the recent "Hire Back RDO Program." This program is being run SOLELY on the basis of seniority. It is 50 officers and 5 sergeants. If you happen to be one of the lucky old timers at 35th Street with a Fri/Sat day off group, you could work it every single weekend. It is time and a half and seems to be an effort to burn up some Federal funding. It could be canceled tomorrow. It could run all of next year. No one knows. And it is only for money; no time.

Third, regarding the Beat Cars being sent from 016, 017, 019, 020, 008, etc. This has been going on for months now. The FOP says they heard about it for the first time YESTERDAY. Ladies and gentlemen, we are not shills for the FOP. We have taken them to task for a few of things, pointed out the folly of other things. But they can't do shit for you if nobody calls them! We have been told that the FOP wants to hear from ANY BEAT car that has been reassigned out of district for any amount of time in recent days. FOP will run a query to see if ANY CRIME occurred during your absence. Call them. For pete's sake, call them 10 times a night, e-mail them, use the link on the right hand toolbar. This could be VERY BIG.

All kidding aside, we do not delude ourselves into thinking we have more of an impact than we do (recent posts not withstanding). We are lucky to hit 1,000 visitors twice a week. And if a bunch of guys visit twice, we barely have 500 readers. BUT IT'S 500 READERS WHO COME UP WITH A LOT OF INTERESTING STUFF! You'd think that one person would have called FOP or one person from FOP would have read this blog. Let's make them at least a little aware of us.

Here we go Again

Police officers, not just associating with a known felon, but having him on their board of advisors? In today's sun-times, Steve Warmbir (of "Hired Truck" fame) writes about Thomas Perez, convicted Federal tax cheat, advising, advertising, winning awards from LAPA and (oh boy oh boy) posing for pictures with at least 3 current and former high ranking police officials.

Mr. Perez's business? Distributing video gambling machines. And EVERYONE KNOWS who controls the distribution of video gambling machines around here. Go talk to OCD. You don't get anywhere near this type of business without permission from that other business.

Batten down the hatches boys and girls. Storm on the horizon. Look for a few high profile resignations very shortly.

SCC's Thought for the Day

We were just paying the bills and wondering where all the money goes when we had this flash of insight:

Do you realize the mayor has probably never ever known the burden of a car payment? Ever? Or a monthly gasoline bill? Ever since he was part of the old man's political apparatus, he's been driven everywhere in a company car. Police vehicle, County vehicle, City vehicle. It boggles the mind.

Does anyone know what we could do with all the money we spend yearly on transportation alone? Geez.

FEAR our BLOG (Part 3)

In the first demonstration of the power of our blog, we humiliated the city into sending a detachment of coppers to aid in hurricane relief in New Orleans. It took mere hours.

In the second demonstration of the awesome power that we wield, we enticed Randy Rencher to surrender in Ohio, showing that even over long distances, we are a force to be reckoned with.

Now, in an effort to render all doubters completely flabbergasted, an AdminFax was sent today making the "work your day off in DOC areas" program a Special Employment initiative. We've only just heard about it, so someone who has eyeballs on it can post the info please (this is our silliness quotient for the day - laugh!)

We also noticed a (for lack of a better word) "movement" afoot to write to various aldercreatures in districts that are being shorted midnight cars on weekends of their lack of police coverage. If you pay property taxes in Chicago, which everyone here does, you DESERVE FULL DISTRICT COVERAGE. If the department can't provide it, they better hire more cops or remap districts. NO violating the contract, NO shorting "low crime" areas, NO juggling the numbers. Because pretty soon, they're going to be paying damages for successful grievances, low crime areas won't be low crime much longer (and WE ARE seeing that), and someone is going to get hurt or killed because they're (A) unfamiliar with a district they aren't supposed to be in or (B) there isn't any backup in a District that is supposed to be full strength.

Anyway, we believe that this is one of the MOST IMPORTANT things you can do. Here is a link to all of the aldercreature offices, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Write to them. E-mail is fine, but we also recommend a paper letter. It helps them to see it in their hand, not on a computer screen. Spend the 37 cents, BUT REMEMBER -be polite. Be firm. You are a voter and a taxpayer. Your family also votes and pays taxes. Your relatives like to come into town and see Navy Pier and the Bean thing and spend money at restaurants. MAKE AN IMPACT.

Also, someone ought to call the media. We've sent a letter, but we need backup. If the media gets the idea that a bunch of people are unhappy, we'll get results quicker.

Stealing Another Good Idea

The federal money has long since died out, but the spirit of CAPS lives on. Who can come up with some of the best definitions of the CRAPS - oops, we mean CAPS acronym?

By the way, E-blogger is going down for two hours tonight at 11PM until 1AM; don't lose heart, but don't expect any posts after 1030pm or so.

The Wisdom of France

After a seventeenth night of rioting in which hundreds more cars were burned, France has finally found an enemy it can beat into submission and completely demoralize with it's might.

The French Police.

Way to go brainiacs! Prosecute the very people who are attempting to keep your sorry asses safe. At least this city realized that when a riot is potentially going to break out, you get a blanket CR# for the whole night an brush the investigations under the rug. Sometimes, butts have to be kicked to keep order.

Europe is history folks. If you never got over there to appreciate the historical architecture, the magnificent countryside, the overrated food and the snooty people, it's too late. We wouldn't go to Europe now if you paid us. Anyone want to bet on how soon the islamists and their dhimmi ilk will start digging up American graves to defile the corpses of those who gave their lives for European freedom? We'll bet it starts in the next 10 years. You read it here first.

Summarizing (& Clarifying) a Few Things

Our posting at 4 am this morning was a little disjointed (sleep deprivation). We based the posts on what we were seeing in the comments sections of previous posts. Anyway, here's what we know:

• the department IS shorting certain districts at least one car more than one night a week. It is PROBABLY being done in violation of the contract. It is DEFINITELY one of the root causes for the explosion in the property crime numbers in these districts. Criminals go where the police aren't - it's better for them if we aren't there.
• the department IS sending entire gang/tact teams out of districts more than one night a week. There are Area Gang Teams that are taking manpower directly from districts. It is also DEFINITELY another root cause for the rise in property crimes. A district gang/tact team doesn't do a District any good if it ain't where its supposed to be.
• the department IS paying guys and gals to work a day off if the day off happens to be Friday or Saturday. The info gathered doesn't seem to nail down the straight time/time and a half argument, but this is indicative of a LARGE manpower shortage. We have done a number of posts on the manpower numbers being well below average and we've heard the stories of time due denied, P-days cancelled and furlough extensions shot down.

We're curious. Can anyone identify a spike in property crimes directly related to lower manpower numbers? Sure, homicides might be down, but they're down nationally, so we might just be part of a trend. The trouble is trends take a few years to become obvious. Someone really ought to be contacting their aldercreatures though. Lots of someones.

And to the person claiming to be a "high-ranking member" of the department who was disappointed with the commentary going on, thanks for the info you clarified, which is one of the reasons we have commentary - to get the actual info out there. You're welcome to start an alternative news source if you don't like ours. Whatever.

What the Hell?

From the comments section:

• THIS IS FUCKING BULLSHIT! ! !
  As of right now Beat 1614 is in 011. . THERE IS NO COVERAGE ON 1614s beat!! CALL YOUR ALDERMAN FIRST THING MONDAY!!!!
  (edited for space - knock it off please - SCC)
  BEAT Cars are there from 016 017 019 020 024

So on 13 November 2005, these five districts are down at least a car. And we are SURE it's not the first time. What the hell people? We'll bet dollars to donuts that (A) this isn't done by seniority OR volunteers everywhere and (B) this has been happening quite a bit lately as evidenced by the robbery and burglary numbers. We've said it before - criminals aren't stupid, (aside from being criminals that is); they don't want to go to jail, so they go where the police aren't. You think they don't notice a shortage of police?

Write your aldercreature. Squeaky wheels and all that. Can anyone verify this is going on in other "lower crime" or "police residential" districts? Specifically southside? 008? 021? Others? Have they shorted Central Control Group (001/018) and the Yuppie Bar areas to cover the West Side? Info people - WE NEED INFO.

Maybe someone ought to call Kass and Brown. Frank and Fran don't seem to be reading us lately. If we can get them involved, maybe our hit count will go up some more!

Time and a Half?

We're up late here (or early) and now we are getting word that certain units are being permitted to work on their days off in DOC areas at TIME AND A HALF, with no regard to seniority whatsoever? All that is required is that you be Regular Day Off Friday or Saturday.

Who has details on this?

We remember there used to be a "PRIDE" car up in 011 on certain days, but it was straight time and this seems new. And why only certain units? Why not make it like Special Employment if you're paying time and a half? Christmas is coming and we'd like to get a piece of this action. We need info people!

Stop the Illegal Details

We're reading in the comments section that the city is taking at least a single midnight car out of many districts and sending them to 011. Unless they are asking for volunteers OR going by reverse seniority, THIS WOULD APPEAR TO BE A VIOLATION THE CURRENT LABOR AGREEMENT. The department can't just up and grab you out of your bid spot for a detail. That's why you bid there in the first place - you wanted to be there. And they can't take that away from you for a FULL YEAR.

What we need here is someone to come forward and file a grievance if, in fact, they are sending people where they don't belong against their will and their contractual obligations. At the very least, we can make FOP get a ruling on it from an arbitrator.

Quick Hits - Police Edition

For a Saturday in the fall:

• Murder probe Thwarted Again. So says the Tribune (registration may be required). The same investigation that just cost the state taxpayers $360,000 because of meddling in a politically connected homicide is going under AGAIN because of politics. The number of days until this is referred to a Federal Prosecutor is getting smaller. You might see Federal oversight of the State Police before you do CPD.
• Family Sues in TASER death. The Times has this article. If it was anywhere but Cook County, it'd be dismissed tomorrow, even if tomorrow is Sunday. First off, the medical examiner's report says the dead guy had "a lethal level" of meth in his system. The fact that he could still walk is a miracle. Secondly, the family claims that "lethal force" was not necessary because he "was not armed and did not posed a threat of serious injury." Um, excuse us, but he attacked the police and threatened to infect them with AIDS. Last time we checked, AIDS would seem to be a "threat of serious injury." Or has the alternative lifestyle crowd been lying to us for the past 25 years?
• And a 16th straight night of rioting in Paris. Funny how this popped up in the media for about 2 days then disappeared again. "Only" 502 cars torched last night, so we guess it isn't as big a deal anymore.
  

Police Everywhere

We've noticed an ongoing argument in one of the comment threads regarding CPD vs. Illinois State Police vs. Suburban Departments. A trooper (it appears to be ONE) seems to think CPD is a little rough around the edges. A bunch of CPD thinks that troopers are glorified traffic guys. And a suburban guy says they don't stop to help CPD because they have cameras that might get people into trouble. Bullshit people. A few points:

• CPD is rough around the edges, but it's a rough job. ISP and suburban cops have almost no idea of what it takes to police a giant city like Chicago with a population that is inherently hostile to you, a political apparatus that despises you AND you're forced to live here. We have yet to see a trooper who wasn't happy to have a one man CPD, let alone a two man beat car back him up when he/she is stopping a carload of people on the Ryan.
• ISP's primary job in the Chicago area is traffic. Chicago gave up the highways to get lottery machines at O'Hare 20 years ago. When you're patrolling highways and byways 10-99, sometimes the only advantage you have is intimidation and intimidation starts with a professional appearance. ISP aren't dummies - if you want to know anything at all about traffic, ask a trooper. Believe us, we have. You want probable cause on ANY traffic stop in the state, troopers will give it to you. They're better trained at it. But they're still the police.
  
• Suburban guys, cameras can be the enemy, but they're only cameras. Out think them. If it's dashboard mounted, pull your car PAST the scene. Point your car the OTHER direction. WARN CPD when you come on a scene that you're wired or the car is wired. There's no excuse we can think of that you can't back up another copper. Of course, if you've been ordered to stay out of CPD's business, well, you've got your own political masters to answer to - and from what we've heard, some of them are worse than here.

It is our opinion that NO ONE ought to be throwing stones here. Police are Police where ever you go and there are always ways around the various shortcomings. Work it out.

Too Bad and Too Good

Seems the "Pinky-bandit" turned himself in to Channel 5 news crews today. Guess he was smarter than he looked. Personally, we are extremely disappointed. Sun-Times link here.

Also in the news, one of the suspects in the carjacking/kidnapping was recognized by his own grandmother, who confronted him and made him turn himself in. He has since flipped on his accomplice, who is also in custody. It's always a relief to see the older generation turning on the youngsters when they do wrong instead of covering up or excusing the behavior.

A belated Happy Birthday to the United States Marine Corps. Two hundred thirty years young. And a Happy Veteran's Day to everyone. One of the reasons we're allowed to run a blog like this is because of Veterans. So if you like freedom of speech, assembly, the option of worshipping your god, not worshipping at all, and living in the most prosperous country on earth that is the envy of all, thank a Veteran.

Pat Robertson Does it Again

Just for Lefty

We've always disavowed Robertson and his ilk. In fact, most republicans do. Republicans in general have no tolerance for the BS that Robertson spouts day in and day out. If you check the records, republicans are much quicker to take Robertson, Buchanan and other goofs like that to task than democrats are to take their own people to task. Remember all the times Howard Dean has called republicans evil? Or the lies Nagin and his cronies told about New Orleans and how the media ran with it? Or Mary Mapes blathering about her and Dan Rather being caught in a web of lies and forged documents? Last time we checked, the democrats are still embracing these lies and attempting to run a national campaign on them.

That's the biggest difference between democrats and republicans - republicans denounce their extremists; democrats embrace them and let them write policy.

Republican Party Doomed

DOOMED we tell you! Head for the hills!

Has everyone seen the Main Stream Media over the past day or so? They are all sporting huge shit eating grins since the elections on Tuesday because the Republicans failed to capture two governorships that were up for grabs. This, the pundits tell us, is a SIGN! A sign that Americans are fed up with the entire Bush/Cheney/Halliburton/War for Oil conspiracies.

As SteveH at HogOnIce.com points out though, what's the big deal if two states that HAD democratic governors replaced them with - surprise! - democratic governors?

• Two states that had Democrat governors replaced their Democrat governors with Democrat governors. How is that a Republican failure? Apparently now, when Republicans fail to dislodge Democrats in Democrat strongholds, it's a huge Democrat victory.

  I guess if the Iranians have an election and elect one more in a long succession of Muslim nutbars--instead of a Republican--that will be a setback for Republicans, too.

More here. And still more here where Michael Barone points out that the democratic victors were elected by almost the exact same margin their predecessors had won by. Imagine that!

The Lame-Stream-Media - bringing about a dissolution of the left one day at a time.

Another Shot at Positive-type Stuff

How about another shot at positive stuff?

When you retire, what are you going to do and where are you going to go? This could actually be a decent thread if people explain the reasoning behind it all.

• Are you going to rattle doorknobs or are you walking away from the whole police thing?
• Are you staying in town or bailing the entire corrupt Illinois structure?
  
• Are you moving because you're pension goes farther or are you going somewhere where the golf is good and the weather spectacular?
  
• Did the city pay for your degree and you're going to do twenty-and-gone and start anew somewhere else or are you just going to go fishing?

Run with it people. And stay on topic!

UPDATE: STAY ON TOPIC! We just went through and deleted all the stuff that wasn't on topic. If you need to spout off, find the open threads OR go get your own blog. It's cheap (free) and easy.

Is that a Parrot in Your Bra?

...and other Quick Hits for Wednesday. Stories you may have seen, but haven't heard us talk about yet:

• Woman steals a rare parrot and attempts to trade it for a vintage car. The parrot was smuggled out of the pet store in her bra. Has anyone ever seen a parrot smile?
• Another reason to stay the hell out of Europe - drunk moose (meese?) in Sweden. Those fermented apples are dangerous!
• The 010th District continues it's fine tradition of killing dogs - the four legged kind (click both links). We recall a summer years ago when Sergeant Killapup (now Lt) shot and killed two dogs in the course of 72 hours. Marquette (Ogden? hahahaha!) has often led the city in this category.
  
• A poor choice of words, maybe. But Congressman Kirk's idea that certain citizens from certain countries of a certain religious persuation need a little closer look? Right on the money. Barack Obama is playing this up for all he can.

UPDATE: Evidently, curfews are working in France. Only 617 vehicles were torched last night, down from the 1,200 the night before.

Someone Find This Jagoff - Please

This sorry excuse for a human being needs some candy. By the way, nice teeth asswipe. Channel 7; Channel 5; Channel 2.

Robbing people to feed your habit? Ok, we can accept that you're an asshole. You're our job security. So be it. Causing traffic accidents to stop your victims and set them up? Now your getting stupid. Beyond stupid maybe. Who knows where that car is going to end up once you tap it? But ripping off the finger of a 74 year old woman? Sure, old people are made of paper mache, but removing a finger? Somebody somewhere knows this jagoff.

Please resist. Please.

An Attempt at Positive News

OK, not really positive news, but an attempt to show that we can be positive.

Regardless of cost, political considerations or the like, how would/could you improve the department? Please note - this is an open board and a large number of bosses congregate here (yes, they write to us, they talk about us and they even mention us at roll calls). If they see your idea and steal it, we can't be held responsible if they make exempt rank off of your suggestions. Post at your own risk.

Lets try to stay on topic, please. And no BS like "eliminate the current command staff" or "replace everyone with whiney robots" or stuff like that. Let's at least pretend to be positive for once.

12 Nights and Counting

Last night, French authorities made a bit of progress in quelling the 12th straight night of riots. ONLY 1,200 cars were burned, a 20% decrease from the previous night. And they rolled out the BIG GUNS - curfews! Go France!

And in a continuing effort to appease and understand the motives of the rioters, the French government has decided to embrace the only weapon that has proven time and time again to shut people up for a short period of time - throw money at them. 100 million euros ($120 million US) for "neighborhood work associations," 20,000 government jobs "created," the creation of economic zones with special tax incentives and tax breaks.

The over/under on France surviving is now the year 2050. Place your bets.

UPDATE: From National Review: Rioters are now refered to as "Undocumented Dismantlers."

Latest Rumor out of 35th St.

This was just too funny to leave at the bottom of a long string of comments, so we're giving it it's own place of honor. Whichever anonymous poster put this up, you ought to contact us for a writing job. -SCC

CPD will be making a list of P.O.'s interested in helping our French Gendarme brothers. Your expenses (housing, meals, etc.) will be paid by the French Govt. Expect to be deployed for 2 months.

There are some uniform requirements being investigated, so far you have to leave your sidearm back here and carry only your baton, flashlight and tourist map of Paris. You'll have the option of wearing your uniform hat or a black beret. You could opt for either smoking two packs of cigarettes per day or not bathing for the entire 2 months. Those who do both will be awarded the Legion of Merit medal from the French Govt.

No News ISN'T Good News

Who has the latest homicide numbers? Because we noticed at least 3 homicides listed in the metro section of the times and all that talk about how good we were doing keeping the rate of killings down seems to have disappeared.

And everyone knows that when the bosses stop talking about what a great job we are doing, there's a problem.

Further Peace Overtures

Upwards of 400 Australian police officers conducted simultaneous raids across the country yesterday, arresting 16 people and discovering caches of chemicals/bomb making material after a long investigation. The planned attacks are rumored to be along the lines of the London and Madrid train bombings. By some odd chance, all of the arrestees were - can you guess? - muslim! And followers of an imam who claims osama is a good guy!

Read the Yahoo story here. News.com in Australia has a coverage and a number of links at the bottom of the page for more.

A Good Idea But ...

Someone suggested that we need a little more positive spin on things here. Too much bitching and moaning about certain districts and the abilities of certain officers.

What a GREAT idea! However...

We couldn't keep people on subject when we tried to share a little joy during the White Sox run to the Series. Or when we posted about the ACLU and it deteriorated into a spelling bee. Or half a dozen other instances that occur on a daily basis. If we tried to do a "Best FTO" thread or a "Best All Around Copper" thread, it'd fall apart within 5 hours. Even the "Best Bosses" thread had it's share of rip jobs on the first day.

Trolling for positive compliments by naming districts and units would, in our mind, be tempting some of our readers to be less than charitable. Anyone have an idea on how to pull it off?

Eurabian War Builds Momentum

Rioting in France claims 1,400 cars last night, bringing the 12 day total to over 4,700 cars AND its first fatality. A man trying to extinguish a trash can fire was beaten to death. A woman in a wheelchair who had been doused with gasoline and set ablaze is still fighting for survival. Thirty police officers were wounded by shotgun fire a day ago, two remain in serious condition.

The car burning phenomena seems to be spreading across the continent also. 5 cars were burned in the German capital of Berlin last night and another 5 in the capital of Belgium, Brussels. All are believed to be inspired by events in France.

Hat tip to LittleGreenFootballs for the stories and links.

Funny Sight

Getting off the expressway today, saw a citizen with a cardboard sign "Out of Work. Need Food. Spare Change." The usual.

And directly across the ramp from this upstanding human being? Another sign taped to a lamp post "Earn $20 per hour painting." We just had to roll down the window and ask the gentleman if he wanted $20. When he said yeah, we pointed at the sign. The look on his face was hilarious. If we had a camera, we'd have taken a picture of him, his sign, the other sign and his look at actually having to work for his $20.

Time for a Change?

We noticed a comment in the thread titled "The List" questioning the wisdom of having two sergeants on the Board of Directors. One comment said "Welcome to FOP bargaining. Here we go again." As anyone who reads the contract knows, sergeants CANNOT negotiate for an active collective bargaining agreement because sergeants AREN'T covered by it. They can't even vote on it or serve on committees that deal with contract issues. We don't expect the new sergeants will resign as there is no by-law that requires it. Kubik never resigned when he made sergeant, so there is precedent for keeping their spot. In fact, in the National FOP, bosses or retirees take up at least two of the elected positions.

This also led us to do a little research and make a few phone calls. Counting the retirees and (when they are actually promoted sometime in February) the sergeants, fully ONE THIRD of the current board of directors is ineligible to negotiate any agreement for the membership. This would seem, to say the least, counterproductive. How can an operation run even minimally effectively if only 66% of the Board can meet to discuss issues relevant to the active members?

Perhaps it is time for a change. Maybe a couple of changes. Somewhere along the lines of retiree restrictions. Hear us out. How can the retirees justify having 6 (to be 7 shortly) spots on the Board of an ACTIVE labor organization that can't even negotiate anything for them? Short answer - they can't. There ought to be a restriction on the number of retirees spots on the Board, 3 or 4 tops. Otherwise, you detract from the ability of the Board to address issues important to the active membership.

Sergeants are another matter entirely. We know quite a few sergeants who are unhappy with the PBPA efforts during the recent (and still ongoing) contract negotiations. We know coppers who are unhappy with Baord members being made sergeant and reducing the flexibility of the Board. Maybe it's time to restrict the number or ability of sergeants to serve? Or perhaps it's time to get the sergeants their own lodge? At the very least, the Board ought to address these issues somehow, and soon.

A Stupid Post

To the commentator who hops into a bunch of threads and claims "...this post is stupid" or "...this site is getting boring very fast," this thread is just for you.

Please enlighten us - What do you want to see? What would you like us to talk about? What pearls of wisdom are you bringing to the blog? Because so far, it doesn't seem to be much. We steal ideas out of the comments sections regularly when our well runs dry. And if the mayor and his cronies aren't getting caught doing stupid things and cops and firefighters aren't making the news for stepping in crap, we're always on the lookout for stuff to write about. GIVE US IDEAS.

Eurabian War

1,295 cars torched in Paris last night, bringing the total over three days to around 2,600 and for the 10 days somewhere over 3,000. At some point, the French army is going to be mobilized, and if they don't surrender immediately, they're are going to kill dozens or hundreds of rioters. This would not be a bad thing.

We only hope that the UN and the rest of Europe condemns French "over-reaction" as they much as they seem to when the United States is presumed to be in the wrong. Then maybe the rest of the world will realize that civil society is engaged in a global war for it's very survival, but we doubt they will. The world in general (and democrats in particular) would rather commit a slow suicide than admit that Bush saw this coming long before they did.