Strap In - Here it Comes

Elected on a platform of lies and continuing to feed the media lines of bullshit (which the media savors as if it were the finest steak) regarding manpower that hasn't resulted in anywhere near 750 cops "back" on the street, Rahm has McTool bring out the big knife:

• Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said Tuesday he’s been asked to cut $190 million from the Police Department’s $1.3 billion annual budget and would only get halfway there by eliminating police vacancies.

  “We are looking at absolutely everything. There are ways to save money but the question is, how close to the bone do we have to get?” McCarthy said.

  “We have to eliminate about $190 million. We are at a point right now that, if we eliminated all our vacancies, we would save approximately $93 million. That gets us about halfway.”

  There are about 13,500 budgeted positions for sworn officers and about 1,400 vacancies. About 775 officers are on medical leave, a department spokeswoman said.

We expect we're headed to a 10,000, maybe even a 9,000 man department. With anywhere from 3,500 to 4,500 less cops paying into the pension, that's another whole can of worms.

The article says McTool has eliminated "several layers of the command structure." Most of those spots were unfilled or had their occupants moved to other cushy spots.

The FOP trenches better be deep as once again, Alder-asshole Beale targets duty availability and uniform allowances - you know, that duty availability they're all claiming we're about to earn while they cancel the 5B and Fifth period furloughs next year? And the money we took in lieu of Contract raises for so many years since it relieved the City of having to raise pension contributions.

And you better get used to that 120,000 mile hotbox you're pushing from call to call.

Rahm has all the makings of a complete disaster for Chicago.

Still Shrinking

Mike Dumke over at The Reader - the only paper that ever seems to actually investigate stuff:

• Though Mayor Rahm Emanuel has repeatedly claimed that he’s been making big investments in public safety, the number of Chicago police officers has dropped in the last three months, and the force is now more than 700 officers short of where it was five years ago.

  Most recently, during a widely-covered press conference Monday, Emanuel listed police staffing as one of the major accomplishments of his first 100 days, claiming to have moved “nearly 750 additional officers to Chicago’s neighborhoods.”

  The mayor's announcement made for smart politics, but the police ranks are actually shrinking. Last October, 11,178 police officers were on the city payroll. By June, shortly after Emanuel took office, that number had dropped to 10,923. As of earlier today, it was down a tad more, to 10,918, according to payroll data.

And we're sensing a sudden surge in retirements coming after the first of the year - sometime before May for some reason.

Shooting in 015

We've been unavailable most of the week, blogging from various undisclosed locations. We had heard about this one earlier, but couldn't really get to a computer:

• A 20-year-old man was hospitalized in serious-to-critical condition this afternoon after being shot in a police-involved shooting in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side, officials said.

  Fire paramedics were called to the 5600 block of West Augusta Boulevard at 1:18 p.m., said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Richard Rosado.

  Police officials said narcotics officers were conducting an investiation in the area when they noticed a man with a gun. The officers fired their weapons when the man refused to drop the gun.

  The man sustained non-life threatening injuries and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, officials said. Initial reports indicated that the man may have been shot in the chest and hand, officials said.

No cops hurt, so all is well. We can't wait until they cut the day crew down by a third.

Wow

This took some time and effort:

• A Chicago man set a trailer on fire and decapitated himself after a domestic dispute in York County on Tuesday morning.

  The man's name has not been released to the media, but Sheriff Danny Diggs said the man was 46 years old and "most recently had been living in Chicago."

  Shortly after 10 a.m., deputies went to the 100 block of Nathan Place to respond to reports of a domestic dispute. A man involved in the dispute had left the scene before the deputies arrived.

  The man refused to get out of the vehicle, and firefighters noted that he had a cable wrapped around his neck with the other end attached to a nearby tree. The man then accelerated the vehicle, pulling him from the driver's seat and decapitating him. The vehicle came to a rest about 150 yards away on Holmes Boulevard.

That is some seriously twisted effort. Pretty much a guaranteed result, though. And a helluva war story for the cops out in Virginia.

Good News for Winter

Looks like we might see some people being frozen out of their homes:

• Low-income families reliant on state and federal assistance to pay energy bills were out of luck this summer, and they could be out of luck in the coming winter as well.

  Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity spokeswoman Marcelyn Love says funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, could be slashed by up to 60 percent this season. That news comes after there wasn’t any money for cooling assistance this summer.

Perhaps we'll see some of the subsidized housing with thermostats set at a more reasonable 68 degrees instead of the standard 88 tropical degrees we always seem to walk in on during a February domestic.

Police Horse Down

Mikey C, named after Officer Michael Ceriale, passed suddenly after a seizure:

• The horse reared and struggled as if fighting an invisible assailant. Chicago Police Officer Paul Casasanto, on mounted patrol at North Avenue beach, had slid off the horse as it began to struggle inexplicably.
  
  “Mik just went down,” Casasanto said in to a police radio while holding tightly to the horse’s reins. Casasanto tried to calm his horse while people in bathing suits and jogging clothes began closing in. “Stay back,” he warned, as the animal continued to kick its powerful back legs.
  
  After several weakening attempts to stand, the horse folded to the ground and rolled onto its side. When the horse laid its head on the pavement in defeat, Casasanto placed one hand over its half-open eye as the animal took a last labored breath. “He’s gone,” said Casasanto, as onlookers began herding children back toward the water.

Deepest sympathies to Officer Casasanto on the loss of his partner and to all our fellow officers who lost a living memorial to Officer Michael Ceriale, 13 years gone now.

Not Guilty Coverage

A whopping one article that we've seen. In the Daily Herald. By Chuck Goudie:

• The most dangerous place for a Chicago police officer is:

  a. Face-to-face with a heavily armed drug gang.

  b. Trapped by gangbangers at the end of a dark alley in Englewood.

  c. Cornered by some lifers carrying shivs at Stateville prison.

  d. Sitting in a Cook County courtroom.

  The correct answer is d.

  Or at least it was last Friday.

Goudie outlines the case against the shooter, the blatant disregard for human life exhibited by the shooters, the amazing restraint by the officers. It's a good read and our amazement only grows when we see a paragraph like this:

• There were more gang members in the court gallery than there were police officers. Some cops have complained about that. But the way I see it, gang members have nothing better to do. Their only inconvenience was having to get out of bed before noon. Police officers have jobs and were out there pulling shifts, dealing with the transfers and realignment that have been undertaken by new police Supt. Garry McCarthy.

A subtle poke at G-Mac? And then this closing left us wondering if Goudie had been the subject of a bodysnatcher-type abduction:

• If Mr. Green, now 23, resumes the same line of work that he was in before his arrest, he may well have police visitors in his home sometime in the future.

  Then, if Green starts shooting at police, the 12 people he'll need won't be jurors.

  They'll be pallbearers.

Like we said though, one op-ed in the Daily Herald. Not exactly anything that's going to get anyone to sit up and notice much. This needs to be bigger.

Rahm's Neighborhood

Some comments are alleging that in the interest of continuing the illusion of "this or that neighborhood is safe" and we aren't really suffering a manpower shortage, officers on the Rahm Detail have been instructed to use the address of 1730 W. Berteau for incidents that actually occur in the area of 4228 N. Hermitage and that this directive may have led to a bit of confusion on the part of responding units.

We aren't sure what the big deal is. Rahm fought a protracted legal battle to claim he lived at 4228 N. Hermitage except for a short stint covering government service. The media showed the house and address literally hundreds of times during the different rulings that went for and against the then-candidate. There was even a bunch of "moving back into 4228 N. Hermitage" coverage on the news a short time ago. We even recall some investigative reporting when it was alleged that 4228 N. Hermitage wasn't even on the tax rolls but rather hidden away in some sort of trust that removed it from the property tax rolls for years even though the owner was probably in a position to pay taxes for his entire block after receiving millions of dollars in "consulting fees" from a certain Illinois utility company. This story was later debunked.

Now it's a big secret where he lives?

Vanecko Murders Pension

Is there anything this family of assholes can't get away with?

• The historic, now boarded-up building that once housed the Chicago Defender newspaper is in foreclosure, and, as a result of that, five of the city’s struggling pension funds could end up losing $1 million.

  A failed plan to rehabilitate the Art Deco/Moderne building was one of the deals put together by former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s nephew, Robert G. Vanecko, and his politically connected partner, Allison S. Davis, in a start-up real estate investment company that five city pension funds hired in 2006 to manage $68 million in retirement money for teachers, police officers, CTA employees and other city workers.

Jail would be too good for these leeches. If we could demolish the Defender building with these jagoffs inside it, well now you've got our attention.

This Won't End Well (G8)

The roll call announcements began that the Department is canceling all elective Time Due during May of 2012, along with no full 5th period furloughs and no 5B segments. The city is claiming an "emergency" exists, although how you define an emergency as "something you've known about for over a year" still escapes our comprehension.

We also can't believe the silence emanating from the union side of things. This is the perfect opportunity for the FOP and PBPA to agitate for more hiring, better training, and rail against the faulty logic of "doing more with less." If this article is anywhere near accurate, we're going to see in the neighborhood of 35,000 protestors in town (the anarchist websites are predicting 150,000 but their grandfathers said the same thing in 1968 and they were overreaching then, too):

• Activists are planning massive demonstrations to coincide with the G8 and NATO summits in Chicago scheduled for spring 2012, with crowds of protesters likely to reach “tens of thousands,” organizers said.

  More than 160 members representing about 50 groups from across the U.S. and Canada gathered Sunday at the Chicago-Kent College of Law to discuss strategy and start planning two large-scale protests and a march that during the week-long joint summit, which is set for mid-May.

  The G8 and similar economic forums have for more than a decade drawn thousands of demonstrators. With the world economy in turmoil and NATO leaders set to discuss Afghanistan war policy, the joint summit should draw protesters on behalf of a wide array of causes, activists said.

We've gotten a number of e-mails with supposed "inside information" regarding planning. We won't go into to detail yet as it's all rumors, but suffice it to say twelve-hour days and the D-unit in uniforms are probably at the top of the list. Some of it is just too stupid to be believed though. We have almost no confidence in HQ to come up with anything workable any time soon.

Attack Near Rahm's House

Off-duty copper, part of the Rahm Detail, steps up:

• Tom Lashinski was walking his mother's small dog in the North Center neighborhood early Sunday when he noticed two people scuffling in an alley.
  
  [...] At first, he thought it was a drunken brawl that spilled from a bar. But as he got closer, he saw that it was a female Chicago police officer who had a man pinned to the ground.
  
  
• Spotting Lashinski, who had a cell phone in his hand, the office yelled for him to call 911. She also asked him to grab her police radio to signal that an officer was in danger.
  
  "I had to reach and get the radio for her, the guy was struggling and kicking, and I had to stand on his legs," said Lashinski, 28.
  
  Within minutes, 10 to 15 police vehicles arrived.

This might have ended very badly but for the timely arrival of this gentleman:

• The suspect -- identified as Anthony Perez, 45 -- began biting, punching and kicking the officer and tried several times to pull the officer's gun from her holster, Sullivan said.
  
  By the time Lashinski came to her aid, the officer had bloody gashes on her arms. The man had lost a tooth, he said.

The officer was treated and released, but will have some mending to do.

• Perez, of the 4200 block of North Kenmore Avenue, is a convicted felon with more than 30 arrests. He was charged with aggravated battery to a police officer, burglary, resisting arrest and attempting to disarm a police officer. He is expected to be in bond court on Monday.

Anita Alvarez has scheduled the I-bond signing for Tuesday, a public apology to the suspect on Wednesday, Rahm will sign a check for the tooth Perez lost on Thursday and by Friday, a Cook County jury will have acquitted the assailant of all charges.

The following Monday, the jagoff be moving into the Officer's house amid front page coverage from both newspapers and a Mope-rah exclusive. And word is J-Fled has already referred to the case to the US Attorney for possible federal charges of "practicing dentistry without a license."

Pension Website

We get e-mail:

• The CPLA and CPSA have joined together to create a web page and Facebook page dedicated to educating everyone, sworn and civilian, as to the truth regarding the pension fund legislation that we are facing in the upcoming months. At this juncture we are trying to organize a trip to Springfield during the Veto session in late October. We need to get the word out to all CPD and Suburban Officers and Civilians that the threat to our retirement earnings is very real. We don't care what bargaining organization you may belong to, we need to come together to protect our futures and our families' futures. Any help in spreading the message would be greatly appreciated. Please check out the websites.

The fall "Veto Session" is upon us and there's a lot of stuff out there that needs to be addressed. All of it will affect the way the legislature and other politicians approach negotiations and reform efforts in the very near future.

Congratulations CPD Soccer

Nine wins in a row over the CFD:

• CFD 1 - CPD 4 in double overtime then penalty kicks to decide a winner. Goals by P.O.Horst Fleps (049) P.O.Bob Kellam (009)P.O. Rodrigo Espinoza (015) & P.O.Esnuff Husic. (005)
  With Superintendent McCarthy in attendance as the CPD continues it's unbeaten streak CPD is 9-0 vs CFD.

Anything that raises money for Police and Fire Charities is a good time in our book.

UPDATE: We're aware ties are reported 1-1 when penalty kicks are the deciding factor. We can only publish the e-mail sent to us (we aren't going to change what someone else wrote) and others not familiar with football scoring might be confused.

Minimal Openings

As predicted here and elsewhere, the Department is very happy having all the disbanded unit personnel in the west and south side districts. In fact, they're so happy, they aren't letting the door open very wide so anyone can even think about leaving. Here's the listed openings - four in each of the following:

• 003
• 004
• 005
• 006
• 007
• 016 (what the...?!)

So after posting 501 openings last month, only 24 this time, and no prospect of any others being put out there for the foreseeable future.

Mining vs. Police Work

Mining is listed as one of the most dangerous professions for 2010 according to stats just released. There were a couple aberrations that skewed the numbers their way:

• Disasters at a coal mine in West Virginia and aboard an oil rig operated by British Petroleum in the Gulf of Mexico again made mining one of the most dangerous American jobs in 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Thursday.

Police work came in second:

• The police profession was not far behind mining as a dangerous occupation, with the number of fatalities increasing by 40 percent to 134 last year from 96 in 2009.

  Of the total police officers who died on the job in 2010, 57 cases involved highway incidents and 48 involved homicides.

So once again, crashes killed more police than attacks. All the more reason to wear your seatbelt and be aware of the publics' distracted states when tooling along the road.

Casper Lauer Ride

Coming up soon (18 September 2011):

• “Casper Lauer” Police Memorial Motorcycle Run
  
  “The Largest Police Motorcycle Run in the Midwest”
  
  500+ Riders showing support for Police Officers
  
  Named in honor of “Casper Lauer” one of the first Chicago Police Officer to be “killed in the line of duty” and dedicated to all Police Officers in the nation killed serving their communities.
  
  All Police and Civilian motorcyclist of any manufacture and all non motorcyclists, are welcome to be our guests, as we remember and celebrate the lives of Police Officers through out the Nation, “killed in the line of duty” and support their survivors.
  
  
• Benefiting Police Charities & Gold Star Families Police Survivors
  
  Motorcycle Motorcade, Leaving @ 11 am
  Leaving from AKMC Clubhouse
  5049 W. Lake St, Chicago, IL
  
  Memorial Service, 12 pm
  Gold Star Memorial Park
  18th & Solidarity
  (Behind Soldier Field)
  
  Party, 1 pm
  AKMC Clubhouse
  5049 W. Lake St, Chicago, IL
  
  Ticket information: Tickets $20

More details at this link here.

MVB Voting Contnues

Still opportunities to vote for SCC as one of the better blogs in Chicago covering the local scene. Vote early, vote often, vote daily. If we could promise and deliver a chicken in every pot, we would. If we could promise a fifth of Thunderbird to everyone, we'd do that, too. But we'd have to come into the voting booth with you to make sure you voted the right way.

CLICK HERE to vote.

More Preseason Action

Last week we speculated that the second exhibition game couldn't be worse than the first.

The Bears proved us wrong.

Now the injury bug seems to have bitten them:

• Linebacker Lance Briggs, nose tackle Anthony Adams, tight end Kellen Davis, receiver Sam Hurd and defensive end Corey Wootton are in street clothes as expected for tonight's Bears-Titans exhibition.
  
  Briggs continues to recover from a bruised knee while Adams has a calf strain. Davis has a stiff back and Hurd is sidelined with a sprain ankle. Wootton remains a few weeks away from recovery off arthroscopic knee surgery.

Looks like it might be another season of betting the spread and hoping for decent squares in the office pool. Oops, did we say "office pool?" Sorry. We meant ...uh... ah screw it. We gamble for matchsticks and lemon drops. Is it wrong?

Shades of Rahm

This opening paragraph is priceless:

• A top administrator at the City Colleges of Chicago recently resigned under pressure, leaving a $120,000-a-year job but taking away a valuable life lesson: Don’t play games with the city’s residency requirement.

Really? If he had just left a box in the crawlspace of a house that isn't even on the tax rolls, he'd be f#$%ing golden, right Mayor Emanuel? Honest to pete, does anyone at the Sun Times actually read the previous articles written by their "reporters?"

Not Guilty

Once again, a Cook County jury stuns and amazes onlookers:

• A not guilty verdict on all counts!
  Every officer in that courtroom was blown away. Every States Attorney was blown away. The pro- defense judge was blown away when she read the verdict.
  The cop shooter admits to buying the gun off the street for 100dollars, shooting the gun numerous times, impeached himself countless times and was found not guilty. He goes free by a cook county jury. In my 19 years on this job I have never seen anything like this. He is a self admitted GD who will be free tonight. This is insanity.

We are flabbergasted.

CPD v CFD Soccer

7th Annual Call Box Cup
Chicago Police vs Chicago Fire Dept
August 27, 2011
Toyota Park Turf Practice Field North of the stadium 5pm

Chicago Police Department v Chicago Fire Department (turf practice field)

Tailgate and enjoy this annual match 7:30pm Chicago Fire v Colorado Rapids $20 Ticket gets you both games and a portion will be going to the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation and other Police Charities. Come tailgate and watch CPD v CFD then enjoy the Fire game afterwards.

CLICK FOR TICKETS: For Tickets Click Access Code: fire

Flashover

Three firefighters injured, two critically:

• "Things went bad" at a blaze in a West Englewood home tonight that injured three firefighters, including two left in critical condition.
  
  The fire broke out shortly before 7 p.m. at a 1 1/2-story frame house located on the 7000 block of South Justine Street, officials said.
  
  Firefighters had ventilated the roof before moving into the house, but were trapped in the attic area when it "lit up," said Fire Commissioner Robert Hoff. "In the attic things went bad. They got trapped."

Prayers and well wishes only for our fellow first responders.

Officers Needed at Court

Closing arguments today at 26 & California Room 203 at 0930 hours:

• Two years ago two of my teammates, Scott McKena and Danny O'Toole were shot while executing a Search Warrant in the 5th District. Kenneth Green, the offender who shot both of my teammates has been in court all week with all of his family and with many of his "friends". Many of these same "friends" also belong to a certain south side "organization" (gang) that Green belongs to. These same "friends" spent one day at the trial "mean muggin" and uttering things under their breath about the lone civilian witness who came forward to help the police in this case. It took a lot for this witness to show up knowing that this particular organization is all around the witness' business and that they now know who he is. Most of us know how being a 'snitch" in the ghetto goes over with these organizations.
  Sadly, the offender has had more outside support than my two teammates. Outside of two of our teammates who were allowed to sit in on the trial and one officer's wife, there have only been maybe one or two P/O's stop in during the trial. Again, I am not, and do not, intend to even hint at blaming ANYONE. For whatever reason P/O's just have not known, or were just not able to stop in for a minute. I am asking if you could please post the information about the closing arguments that are set to begin tomorrow at 0930. We all remain hopeful that a swift verdict will come back from the Jury shortly after the closing arguments. There has been great support from all of the ASA's involved who believe that we have a very good jury and who know we have an excellent case. We just need a little bit more of a show of force from the Thin Blue Line.

Check in at your room with the State and tell them you'll be right back. Stop by Room 203. It takes a minute and could make all the difference.

Sergeant Responds

Thankfully, the recent incident in 020 at the Lakeshore Hospital went down exactly as we hoped it had and the Sergeant on scene made the correct call:

• Sgt. J. Sacks, Unit 020 said...

  I'm the Sergeant that responded. We did not disarm ourselves as requested by the less than helpful Chicago Lakeshore Hospital staff. Officer safety first. Hell, I carry way to many weapons and would have filled several of their lockers. 19-Paul no, but a case report was prepared. I made complaints to the CPD's Legal Affairs, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Joint Commission about the Hospital's failure to secure their staff phone from psychotic patients, lack of staff assistance to the responding officers, and the Hospital's policy of requesting the police to disarm. Note to any officer having business with the Chicago Lakeshore Hospital staff - many staffers appear hostile to the police. Use caution and stay safe. Lakeshore can have my gun when they pry it from my cold dead hands (well actually not the firearms are willed to my kids).

The sergeant also followed up with Legal Affairs, the Illinois Department of Public Health Central Complaint Registry, and filed a complaint with the Joint Commission which accredits and certifies health care organizations.

So why isn't this guy nominated for an exempt spot?

Continue to Vote

It's the Chicago way!

Felony Murder

In a police involved shooting this past May:

• A 30-year-old man was arrested this week and has been charged with murder in connection with a robbery last May that ended with police fatally shooting his alleged accomplice, officials said today.
  
  The robbery and gunfight began about 1:30 a.m. on May 11, 2011, when two officers saw two men wearing hoodies enter a JJ Peppers Food Store at 3101 S. Union Ave. and one of the suspects jumped over the counter, FOP spokesman Pat Camden said at the time.
  
  The two officers quickly entered the store and one of the suspects opened fire, Camden said. One officer returned fire, killing the suspect, he said. The other suspect ran to the back of the store, prompting a nearly five-hour standoff that ended when police found he had escaped out a rear door.
  
  Police today said their investigation later determined the second suspect was Mario Jones, 30, of the 10000 block of South Normal Avenue, and they were able to obtain an arrest warrant.

Mario finally surfaced on the south side where he was arrested and charged. His record is appropriately lengthy and varied where this isn't much of a surprise. A good and thorough job by all involved.

Here's an Idea

We have the brightest readers in the universe. Check out this suggestion (we're summarizing it here). After that $33 million cannabis bust the other day, how about paying the teachers' raises in the equivalent weight of weed? The teachers could sell it for the extra money or smoke it to forget the giant hosing they're getting at the hands of Tiny Dancer 9.5.

Did anyone catch this in the story about the CPS property tax hikes?

• ...CPS Chief Executive Jean-Claude Brizard floated a plan late Tuesday that would return a 2 percent pay raise to elementary school teachers in January if they agreed to work an additional 90 minutes each school day and an extra two weeks.

Divide and conquer - that's been Rahm's trademark since before arriving in Chicago. "Never let a serious crisis go to waste." But remember, he's pro-union. Keep repeating that as he sticks it in and breaks it off.

Does anyone else get the feeling Rahm is trying to force a strike vote by the teachers so he can precipitate a "no confidence" vote and then break them?

Um, What?

Ridiculous:

• 020 strikes again!! Call comes out Man with a gun...from a mental ward. A PO and Sgt respond. They get there and the staff tell them that they can't take their guns into the ward with them. So they check their guns before going in!! Hello? What is wrong with that place?

We get our chain yanked a bit, but is this serious? A gun call and someone gives up the one thing that might protect them against a gun?

"Nineteen Paul" boys and girls.

You've got security? Call them. You've got doctors and nurses with powerful anti-psychotic medications? Administer them. Either the police are allowed to do their jobs with the tools provided them or the hospital handles their own shit and stops calling the police. And any supervisor that requests, tells or orders an Officer to surrender his or her weapon on a "Man with a Gun" call, regardless if the call came from a secure mental ward with bars on the windows and locks on the doors, can go to hell.

Thanks Again Democrats!

Exhibit A:

• Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn today defended a major toll increase on the eve of the tollway board's vote on the issue.

  "The tollway has to do what's necessary to protect safety, lessen congestion, make sure that we have roads that are efficient," Quinn said at an unrelated news conference. "Clearly there is public support for making sure that we do this and do it right."

Yeah, because the public is always looking for ways to give government more money during a double-dip recession.

Exhibit B:

• Chicago School Board members Wednesday unanimously approved a budget packing a $150 million property tax increase as school officials offered elementary teachers raises totaling $15 million to work a longer day.

  Meanwhile, parents, clergy and others turned up the heat on all parties involved to find a way to achieve a longer school day and year.

Rahm is living up to his promise of not raising taxes by having everyone else do it evidently. Which leads us to this little number.

Exhibit C:

• In a trend that continues to worsen, more Illinoisans found themselves unemployed in the month of July.
  
  Illinois lost more jobs during the month of July than any other state in the nation, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report. After losing 7,200 jobs in June, Illinois lost an additional 24,900 non-farm payroll jobs in July. The report also said Illinois’s unemployment rate climbed to 9.5 percent. This marks the third consecutive month of increases in the unemployment rate.
  
  Illinois started to create jobs as the national economy began to recover. But just when Illinois’s economy seemed to be turning around, lawmakers passed record tax increases in January of this year. Since then, Illinois’s employment numbers have done nothing but decline.

Here it is in living color:


Brought to you by the Democratic party.

Bad Penny Turns Up

Back in a district?

• 008 got the bad "PENNY". Hopefully this dream of J-Fled and the nightmare of 011 and now 008 is just passing through on her next gig as "inspector" She has personally red lined a car on her own from the [confines] of her office while setting up pedicures and manicures over the department phone. Yes this over promoted, over inflated egotistical captain is still around! Like they say, a bad "penny" always turns up somewhere! Can I get a Halleluya!!!

Our condolences to 008 if this is true. We can't remember a day that didn't go by without a comment being posted by an 011 District member regarding her latest shenanigan. On the bright side, she'll probably step in the shit soon enough and get hidden away until the heat dies down. Again. Seriously, how many domestics, damage to property allegations, harassment claims, DCFS investigations, contract violations, screaming matches with subordinates and batteries complaints can one boss have without drawing the attention of downtown?

Oh yeah, dozens. Never mind.

So True

This is the funniest back-and-forth we've read here in a long time. It was made regarding the popularity contest currently underway where exempts get to vote on who the next exempts are going to be:

• Anonymous said...
  I wonder if Gen.Patton asked for a vote when he made promotions?

The reply:

• If Patton was on CPD, he would have spent his entire career pushing a beat car.

Hilarious. And true.

Area Strike Team Details

This is stupid.

The Department disbands MSF and TRU, sending a few hundred officers back to the districts. Rahm touts this as "a big deal" putting 1,000 more officers on the streets, even though these officers were already on the streets.

Then the Department holds a round of bidding, opening up 501 spots citywide so people can move places (although something like 400 of the spots were in less than desirable districts). Then they hold a "super-bid" to fill the leftover spots.

Now Downtown Ernie Brown comes out with an order creating Area Strike Teams. Guess who's manning those? Remember all those bodies coming to the districts? Over a hundred of them never made it there. Here's a breakdown:

• Area 1 - 1 Lt, 2 Sgts, 21 PO's
• Area 2 - 1 Lt, 2 Sgts, 19 PO's
• Area 3 - 1 Lt, 2 Sgts, 19 PO's
• Area 4 - 1 Lt, 2 Sgts, 19 PO's
• Area 5 - 2 Sgts, 16 PO's

And the truly laughable part? The Area 3 Strike Team? Not one of the Officers nor the Lieutenant are even from Area 3 Districts. Seriously. In fact, 8 of the Officers are from 007. All together, 24 PO's assigned to 007 went to various Strike Teams across the city.

We don't know how much whack it takes to get detailed from 003, 005, 006 and 007 to the Area 5 Strike Team, but 14 of the 16 PO's managed it.

Look, we understand people got the short end of the stick from the Department, but this was predicted years ago and the City was completely within the contract to do so. Were we happy about it? No.

But now the Department Administration is denying officers who might have had opportunities to work in a "specialized" or small team environment the opportunity to do so by once again playing political football with the clouted few. Rahm, Ernie and McEgo are touting their "back to the beat" philosophy on one hand, while detailing people from one end of the city to the other. We thought they were trying to avoid that BS and maintain the appearance of bringing the Districts up to strength, but it certainly looks like business as usual.

And people are still retiring and we still aren't hiring.

People Choice Exempts

This was pointed out in a comment - we can't believe we skipped over it in the McEgotastic victory tour the other day:

• [McCarthy] said he will have to replace at least seven district commanders over the next few months because of retirements and promotions. For the first time in Chicago, he will ask district commanders and other top supervisors to vote on the lieutenants and captains they believe would make good district commanders. The finalists will go through an extensive vetting process, McCarthy said.

"Vetting process." That's a good one.

But seriously? Asking for a vote? The problem isn't having a vote, it's who's doing the voting. Ninety percent and more of the exempt structure has at least one "merit" promotion in their career - many have two and more. These people have no idea what being a police officer entails, yet McCarthy is going to take them at their word and count their vote for the next batch of gold stars?

He'd be better off asking Police Officers, Detectives and watch supervisors if the nominees are capable of running a district and leading the men and women of the Department. But letting hacks pick hacks? Not good at all.

Let's Cut the Day Crew

Rumors abound about slashing the number of officers assigned to days in order to increase the manpower on midnights and afternoons. If so, get used to this type of incident:

• A 1-year-old girl is fighting for her life after being shot in the head this morning on a street in the South Chicago neighborhood, police said.

  The incident happened about 8:11 a.m. at 84th Street and Muskegon Avenue, where the child and her 15-year-old aunt were walking a dog, police said. The aunt heard shots and fell on the child. Earlier police reports had said the child was with her mother.

  A man was bicycling in the area near the woman and her child when two male teens began shooting at the bicyclist, who managed to get away, police said. No one is in custody in the shootings, police said.

When was it, three years ago or so? There was a spate of shootings of CPS students and an outcry of putting more cops in and around the schools during the beginning and end of the day. Something like 50 students were shot and over 20 died. So the Department shifted gears and the shootings shifted to the night hours, resulting in the recent changes to curfew ordinances. Now we're about to go back in time and open up the streets to burglars, home invaders, thefts and we're betting more students getting wasted.

For the most part, police are a reactionary force. Even more so today being down 2,300 officers from less than a decade ago. This seems to be another one of those times.

No Snitching Case

It took years, and the victim didn't really give a crap (plus, he was dead), but the detectives finally convinced enough people to testify and might have enough to charge a dope dealer with murdering another dope dealer:

• Robert Tate took the identity of his killer to the grave.

  After he was shot on the West Side in April 2010, officers asked the dying 17-year-old to name the gunman.

  Police said he responded: “I know. But I ain’t telling you s---.” He died as paramedics tried to save him.

• Jones controlled drug sales in the 900 block of North Avers and was allegedly angry at Tate for hurting business there. Tate was selling fake drugs and robbing customers...

An internal conflict within the Fours. Tate was doing wrong and screwing up Jones' business. The outcome was all too predictable. Not to put too fine a spin on it, but we imagine the gang leadership was more than willing to have some witnesses come forward after a year when Jones was getting out of jail and would probably have wanted his corner back. What better way to keep a violent sociopath off the streets than to make sure he goes inside again while the gang continues to run the spot for everyone else's benefit?

Nice work by the detectives involved to wrap up this mess.

Nice Pinch

Big warehouse. By the railroad tracks. Lots of truck traffic. What could possibly arouse suspicion?

• Chicago police arrested seven men and seized more than 12,000 pounds of cannabis worth an estimated $33 million in an anti-drug operation Monday, police said today in a news release.

  A Chicago Police Narcotics Unit, acting on reports that a drug trafficking organization linked to several street gangs had large distribution and storage centers in the city, began looking at a warehouse in the 1000 block of South Kolmar Avenue in the Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side.

  Monday, officers stopped a van leaving the warehouse grounds and found 2,500 pounds of cannabis inside. A subsequent search of the warehouse found 9,800 pounds of cannabis. Seven vehicles, a rifle and handgun were also seized.

We imagine there are a bunch of warehouses and storage centers around the city seeing an inordinate amount of traffic all of the sudden. Especially any connected to the seven arrestees. Nice job by the investigating officers.

Did You Vote Today?

Every day is election day at the CBS Most Valuable Blogger award site.

At least until 09 September.

Hmmmmm

Has anyone been over to that "Chicago Ideas" website? It's for an event happening in October, it seems to be sponsored by the City and has all sorts of speakers and symposiums looking for ideas to make Chicago a more exciting place to work and visit (though we figured the lakefront wildings were already doing that.)

They have a fancy logo that they probably paid a pretty penny for, too:

We were trying to figure out why that logo struck us as unusual. The skyline perspective is off. It appears the John Hancock building is either tiny or absent. Then someone figured it out for us:


Well that explains a lot.

North Side Shooting

It's everywhere, even in Albany Park:

• Chicago police shot a person they said pointed a weapon at officers late Monday in the city's Albany Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

  No officers were injured in the shooting that happened just after 9 p.m. near the intersection of Central Park and Lawrence avenues.
  
  Tactical unit officers with the Albany Park police district were conducting missions in the area when they heard gunshots and saw two people fleeing the area, police said in a brief formal statement.
  
  The officers followed the two people, one of whom pulled a weapon, pointing it in the direction of the officers, police said. One of the officers pulled a handgun and opened fire, striking the person.

"One of the officers pulled a handgun and opened fire"? What kind of writing is this? It sounds like a gang shooting or something. How about "the officer drew his weapon and shot the assailant"?

Camden wasn't available for a statement so the Trib reporter writes this tripe?

So this is what? Forty-five shootings? With forty-four weapons recovered? Good to hear the police are OK. Nice job Officers.

See You Later Jagoff (UPDATED)

Sixty years:

• A Cook County judge today sentenced a South Side man to the maximum of 60 years in prison for shooting a Chicago detective in the back during a chase more than four years ago.

  Judge Timothy Joyce handed down the sentence for Bobby Selvie, 27, who was convicted by a jury in June of aggravated battery with a firearm and acquitted of attempted murder of a police officer.

  Prosecutors said the detective, Patrick Johnson, and his partner were investigating gang activity on the South Side in May 2007 when they tried to stop Selvie and two other men for an interview.

  The men ran and the detectives chased them to Selvie's house in the 800 block of West 50th Place, prosecutors said. As Johnson followed one of the men toward the side of the house, Selvie allegedly fired, striking Johnson in the back.

Hopefully this asshole isn't ever going to be out on parole again like he was last time, though in this haven of bleeding-heart liberals, you never know.

NOTE TO THE MEDIA: Once he's convicted, you can drop the "allegedly" from the narrative and stop your liberal knee-jerk narrative that assumes the police are in the wrong every time they shoot an altar boy/honor student/oncologist. This piece of crap comes from a long line of turds.

Late Night Posting

Don't ask. You wouldn't believe half of it. And the less said about the other half, the better.

Open post for a Tuesday. Keep it reasonably clean.

And since we're talking open posts, now is a chance to hop over and vote for the Most Valuable Blogger in the Local Issues category. Yes, we know it's CBS and the media with whom we often have conflict, but it amuses us to imagine the liberal mainstream stations having to acknowledge the rise of the new era while their star fades.

More Preseason

Hey, it couldn't be any less exciting that last week, right? Right?

In Broad Daylight

Good thing the Department put all those 500 cops on the streets on afternoons and midnights:

• Chicago police were looking for the gunman who fatally shot a teen boy Sunday afternoon in front of witnesses in the Austin neighborhood.

  The victim, Joseph Price, was 14. But the teen’s current guardian says he looked 12, at best. And he can’t understand why anyone would want to shoot him dead.

  “It seemed more like a hit, and I couldn’t understand what the purpose on it, when he never really did anything. He don’t even know the neighborhood that well,”

As stated here and elsewhere, cops aren't going to actually prevent all crime. Our function is to make criminals think twice about the risk/reward ratio of carrying out their intentions for great bodily harm or murder. And then (too often) clean up the resultant mess. This would seem to be another one of those times, not too dissimilar to the pregnant 17-year-old executed recently. If someone wants another person dead, they're going to accomplish it one way or another where they think they perceive the least amount of risk. Broad daylight with a minimal number of units on the street is going to be a no-brainer.

MVB - Most Valuable Blogger

CBS 2 is running a contest for Chicago's Most Valuable Blogger at the moment. Your humble servants here at SCC have been nominated by a few people evidently, and we're competing in a very narrow field of 10 other bloggers.

In true Chicago fashion, you can vote multiple times (once per category per day). There are 6 categories. Second City Cop is in the "Local Affairs" section.

So if you feel like SCC provides a decent service to its readers, stop by this link and toss a vote our way.

Voting runs through 09 September.

McCarthy Reviews 100 Days

We have no idea what the fixation is on "100 days" but G-Mac makes the most of it:

• Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, who will mark his 100th day in the job Tuesday, firmly believes the city is safer since he took office.

  As the native New Yorker sat with his back to the Chicago skyline at his desk in police headquarters last week, he ticked off the latest crime statistics to drive his point home.

  “Shootings: down 75 through today. That’s 1,516 last year and 1,441 this year. Murder: down 30 through today, from 290 to 260.”

  Asked how much he thinks his new strategies have contributed to the decline, he confidently responded: “I’d have to say it’s 90 percent.”

Wow. Seriously? No credit for the boys and girls on the front lines? Gee, you're welcome Garry. Could this guy put his foot in his mouth any more often than he already does? What a fucking egomaniac. We guess the other 10% of the credit goes to Rahm Emanuel for hiring G-Braniac.

In the meantime, the "goonings" or "wildings" continue unabated:

• Officials have charged seven teens today for beating and robbing an 18-year-old man Friday outside of the Cermak-Chinatown CTA station, police said.

  The attack happened about 11 p.m. at 138 W. Cermak Rd. outside of the Red Line stop, said Chicago Police News Affairs...

  The victim was robbed and beaten and sustained facial injuries and was taken to John H. Stroger Jr., Hospital of Cook County

This poor guy must not have fallen into the 90% of Garry's awesome crime-reduction success.

Airport Done? Rumors? (UPDATE!)

This is popping up too often to ignore. We got this e-mail earlier Saturday:

• Last night (Saturday) the new ass't commsr came to roll call and told the 1st watch crew that the organization was going to be downgraded to a security department.
  
  This move was backed by the SEIU which would have lost these guys to FOP of ICOPs. So over 200 trained police officers were sold out for Union Dues.
  
  The city has already shorted the CPD by over 100 officers at the airports and with G8 on the horizon, nothing can be done to send any help.
  
  The city has already lost millions of dollars due to stupidity by the aviation bosses, [now] they stand to lose [even] more.
  
  It appears that Rhams people, other than speaking to a few trained talking heads never bothered to ask anyone who knew what was going on. So the tax payers can kiss another boatload of money good by thanks to the continuing Rham/Daley good old boys club.

We're not quite understanding the entire event, but does this mean the Airport people are going to go the way of MSF/TRU and get sent to the south and west sides? These are a lot of heavy phone calls and high-seniority officers. Is there going to be a boatload of federal money coming in to equip/maintain/pay for a "security department?"

Anyone have anything concrete?

UPDATE: In the comment section, the fifth post down seems to answer most of the questions raised. Dept of Aviation is the subject of most of this change, which of course would bring up the question of "Is the airport undermanned again?"

Kilt Run

Time to run, walk or just kind of mosey a 3K event this September 18th:

• A shady course that starts and finishes in the Norwood Park neighborhood. There will be water stations available through out the course.
  
  This is a great Chicago event as there is something for everybody, a team entry to compete within your Company or with another, or simply to have some fun running/walking with your friends; there is opportunity for families to enter and have fun together and there is the chance to prove yourself or just have fun as an individual.

  Once there please invite all your friends and family who may be interested in taking part. In addition by signing up here you will receive the most up to date information on this years Chicago Kilt Run.

  We really hope to make this an amazing event and are looking for several hundred people to run with us this year.

  The Charitable organization for 2011 will be the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation and select local schools.

The organizers are looking for volunteers also. You can get information at by writing to kiltrun@gmail.com.

The New Chaplain

A nice article about our new Department chaplain:

• As a full-time chaplain of the Chicago Police Department, the Rev. Daniel Brandt says a big part of his job is just being there in times of need.

  “It’s not so much what we say. It’s being present, being available,” Brandt said. “A lot of times [the officers] just want to talk. They just went through a grueling experience. They’ve had a taste of their own mortality.”

  Brandt had been pastor of Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church, 653 W. 37th, while serving as a part-time chaplain. A little more than two months ago, he was made a full-time chaplain.

  As chaplain he is always on call to respond to any kind of situation in which a police officer or family member requires spiritual support or comfort. With a police department that is largely Roman Catholic — Brandt estimates at least three out of four police officers identity themselves as Catholic — he has his work cut out for him.

If you'll recall one of Father Nangle's last FOP newsletter posts, the Department brass was prepared to take a huge hit by naming someone other than Father Brandt to the post. Someone so unpopular with the rank-and-file that Nangle seemed worried the entire ministry might not survive the backlash. Fortunately, it didn't come to that.

Welcome aboard.

Whoops!

That was a little more than a pothole:

• A man driving to work this morning on Chicago's Northwest Side got an unpleasant surprise when his SUV tumbled into a sinkhole.
  
  The incident happened at the intersection of Foster and Elston avenues at about 5:30 a.m., said police and a spokesman from the Chicago Department of Water Management.
  
  "I saw him actually climb out of the hole on a ladder," said Joe Springer, whose bar Rabbit's sits at the corner. "The cops told me he was okay."
  
  Tom LaPorte, the water management spokesman, said the 10-to-12-foot hole was believed to have developed after a water main broke under the street and the water washed away the layers of dirt supporting the road.

It ate the entire car:

Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt.

This Place has Everything!

At this New Jersey Dunkin Donuts, you can get a donut and...:

• A 29-year-old woman working the night shift at Dunkin Donuts faces prostitution charges for allegedly taking breaks from selling donuts and coffee to provide sexual services in exchange for money.

  Melissa Redmond, 29, of Mine Hill, was arrested after a six week investigation known as "extra sugar" that began when police got a tip that people could go to the Dunkin Donuts on Route 46 and arrange a liason with Redmond.

  "I had gotten an anonymous tip," Detective Sgt. Kyle Schwarzmann, who led the investigation. "She was a night time employee (working 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.), supposedly a very good one."

Or a very bad one, depending on your point of view.

That Time of Year

Millions of people at the lake enjoying the Air & Water Show:

• As many as 2 million people were expected to take in the Chicago Air & Water Show on Saturday and Sunday and that means a big job for Chicago police.

  As CBS 2 [...] reports, some officers are working 13 hours each day because of the event. Others are beginning as early as 6 a.m. to start patrolling the lakefront.

• Sources said that gang officers would be saturating the lakefront along with officers from different areas and districts.

  Officers and ambulances also were being positioned at various locations at Oak Street Beach, along Inner Lake Shore Drive and under several viaducts.

  Tactical officers were being deployed at Oak Street Beach as well.

  [...] At North Avenue Beach, high-ranking officers were part of the foot patrol on Friday and police and paramedic bike units were patrolling along with the full mounted unit.

  Sources said officers have been told to be diligent – if they see a situation where crowds are gathering and there’s the potential for trouble, the situation needs to be handled immediately.

  Police don’t want a repeat of the mob attacks that plagued North Avenue Beach on Memorial Day.

Whoa whoa whoa! What's that last line?

• Police don’t want a repeat of the mob attacks that plagued North Avenue Beach on Memorial Day.

So now it wasn't "the heat?" Have we stopped using that as a code word? Could someone downtown please come up with a cheat sheet or a list of current code words and lies we're telling the media and the public, because we're having an awfully difficult time keeping it all straight.

Suburban Officer Cleared

We hadn't realized this shooting was even an issue:

• An investigation of an Arlington Heights officer who shot and killed a man during a stand-off last year has found no wrongdoing, according to records released by the Illinois State Police.
  
  Officer Michael Butler fired a shot through a window and hit Daniel Moreno just before midnight last August. Moreno died two days later.
  
  
• According to the 160-page state police report, officers heard shots coming from Moreno’s home and saw muzzle flashes. With a clear view of Moreno through the kitchen window, Butler shot him in the side of his head, the report said.
  
  In a letter to the Illinois State Police, Assistant State’s Attorney LuAnn Snow said the investigation “revealed no conduct by Officer Michael Butler . . .during this shooting that would give rise to criminal charges against that officer.”

We'd certainly hope not. Geez.

Suburban Assailant Killed

Some of our suburban brethren defending their lives kill a guy trying to murder them with a car:

• A Harvey man was shot and killed by police after he tried to run down an officer during a chase that began in Chicago Heights, authorities say.

  Mateo Meza-Cortez, 29, was shot around 2:50 a.m. Friday at 159th Street and Loomis Avenue in Harvey, according to Demetrius Cook, the police chief of Glenwood whose officers were involved in the chase.

  Meza-Cortez tried to run down a Glenwood officer with his car and the officer fired, Cook said. "The Glenwood police officer (was) in fear of his life," Cook said.

No cops were injured. Nicely done officers.

Curfew - The New Big Thing

It's spreading:

• The weekend shooting of three teenagers at a large late-night "flash mob" gathering prompted local authorities to pass an ordinance on Thursday that sets curfews as early as 9 p.m. for people under age 18.
  
  At the urging of Mayor Sly James, the Kansas City Council passed the ordinance 13-0, allowing police to issue citations to parents whose children violate the curfew. Parents can be fined up to $500 per violation.
  
  Three youths aged 13 to 16 were injured by apparently random gunshots at about 11:30 p.m. on Saturday night in an upscale shopping and restaurant district called Country Club Plaza.

Catch the fever!

When Does Liability Set In?

You have an incompetent employee. You attempt to correct his/her behavior. The employee refused to alter the behavior. You publicly shame them, once, twice, maybe three times. The employee continues to perform inadequately. At what point does the supervisor become liable, civilly, for the misbehavior?

You see it in the private sector many times. Serial harassers, embezzlers, abusers continue their behavior without repercussions and the employer held responsible for not taking forcible corrective action at some point, usually in the form of fines in the millions.

So if someone publicly berates a commander more than a few times at a CompStat meeting, attempts to make them correct aberrant behavior, tries to make them live up to what is expected by the upper echelon, time and time again. Yet nothing is accomplished and no one is demoted, when does the Superintendent become liable for each and every shooting, rape, robbery and murder in the district because he left a demonstrably incompetent boob in charge who refused to do what was expected and demanded of him?

We're just wondering.

Save Money Purchasing?

Oh Rahm, you are so simple sometimes:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel has hired an outside accounting firm to streamline the City of Chicago’s procurement and contracting process, in what he hopes will save tens of millions of dollars.

  With a Southwest Side city workshop as a backdrop, Mayor Emanuel announced that the firm Accenture will conduct a complete evaluation of the city’s procurement services, and he says the company predicts it will find at least $25 million in savings.

• “While Accenture will go through all the contracts, help us vote on the consolidation, and find efficiencies and savings, they do not get paid because they identify the savings,” he said. “They do not see any value until the taxpayers see value.”

  That means if the city saves $25 million or more, then Accenture will receive up to 10 percent of that savings.

Here's a question - how did Rahm get Accenture to agree to only $2.5 million (10% of the savings)? Because we could go through the budget tomorrow and find easily double that inside of a few hours. City procurement is among the most corrupt and bloated of services. Too much of it is laden with "mark-ups" for connected vendors and specialty suppliers. We've given examples before:

• Let's say you need a length of chain to secure a fence. You can't just go to Home Depot and get three feet of chain for $10. You have to draw up a proposal, submit it (sometimes twice), get an "approved" vendor (many times a storefront operation) to agree to supply the chain, get their fee added in (this layer can be larger than just one company by the way), then they run out to Home Depot and buy the chain for $10 while charging the city $15 or $20 - sometimes a lot more.

It goes this way for all procurement. Chains, light bulbs, paint, even dog food for K9. There are dozens of "approved vendors" who have storefront offices,a telephone answering service and nothing else at all. They have no warehouses, no supply chain, no assets whatsoever except for a connection to City Hall, or in many cases, a church. It's such a fertile ground for an investigative reporter to make a name for themselves that we're surprised it hasn't been explored before. Or it has been and the editors refuse to let the story run lest they offend certain people.

No 5B Furloughs Next Year

Someone in the comment section spotted this at the Sergeants website:

• After meeting with the department, there will be no 5B furlough selections next year. The city is invoking its emergency operations clause for the G-8 summit that is scheduled for next May.

We looked up the word "emergency" in the dictionary:

• A serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action.

We don't think you can define this as an "emergency" seeing as how it's about nine months away, so there's nothing "unexpected" about it. "Dangerous" might be a stretch, too, given the lack of evidence on the ground at this point (yes, we know how these things go and agree it will probably be a disaster...we're talking about the legal threshold though.) Aren't there some sort of contractual repercussions for declaring an emergency though? Especially this far in advance?

Short Notice on Recommendatons

The extremely short turn-around (three days total) on the exempt "nominations" tell us two things:

• People in the know already got tipped off to have their packages ready to go;
  
  
• City Hall and 35th Street already know exactly who they're going to pick - everything else is a sham.

And to those few defenders of the exempt member who doesn't meet the current standards that the next set of gold stars have to measure up to, are you even listening to yourselves? "He's a nice guy," or "He's qualified"? The fact remains that he isn't qualified based on the current requirements presented by G-Mac and your excuses continue to undermine the system by creating "exceptions" instead of making everyone play by the rules.

We might as well have a popularity contest for a "People's Choice" exempt.

Rahm Finds Another $20 Million

Amazing how this guy finds all this money....from private sources:

• Nine Chicago neighborhoods riddled with foreclosures will get a blitzkrieg of cash and attention to turn those properties around, thanks to a $20 million loan pool unveiled Wednesday.

  With foreclosures rising by 20 percent in 2010, and resources steadily declining, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is trying a new approach to combat the epidemic that threatens to tear down entire inner-city neighborhoods.

• The goal of the so-called “Micro-Market Recovery Program” is to bring new ownership to 2,500 foreclosed homes over the next few years using up to $20 million in loans provided by the John T. and Catherine D. MacArthur Foundation.

  That seed money is expected to leverage private capital — primarily from area banks holding foreclosed properties — to grow the loan pool to $50 million.

  The city hopes to use the money to “foster the reoccupation” — either by assisting homeowners under water, rehabilitating foreclosed homes and providing “multiple incentive programs” to potential buyers or by providing financing to “approved developers” who will market the units themselves.

Sounds like a whole bunch of people, not the least of whom are the MacArthur Foundation folks, are buying themselves access to Rahm's political future.

"Approved developers?" Area banks? That's going to make interesting reading, indeed. And all these private funds aren't required to jump through the same hoops that people receiving government money have to, right?

Commander Rumors

So McJersey wants applications for commander from interested captains and lieutenants who have a year in grade.

Does that mean anyone not having a year in grade will be declared ineligible and demoted? Because there's at least one commander right now who didn't even have 90 days as a lieutenant before being promoted and if you looked at his actual promotion date, is still almost two months short of having a single year in grade as lieutenant. But he's connected, so does that count?

And as he's restricting it to lieutenant and captain, does that mean no more Keatings, no more Cronins, no more civilians as exempts?

We noticed that they already had to amend the order once seeing as how they "forgot" to include certain commanders from even having a recommendation. Is it true that anyone having been recommended by Carothers or listing him as a reference is having their application placed in the "round file?" That's the joke making the rounds at HQ.

On the Mend

Not as bad as it could have been:

• Former Chicago Police Supt. Phil Cline is battling lymphoma, according to his family.

  Doctors found a tumor on his pancreas and a biopsy determined this week that he has lymphoma.

  Although lymphoma is a life-threatening cancer, his family was relieved he was not diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which has a lower survival rate.

Still a way to go, but a slightly easier road than it could have been.

One Death Affects Thousands

Sad in a way. Infuriating in others:

• Charinez Jefferson will never know she had a baby boy Tuesday.

  Her son will never know her.

  The 17-year-old mom — six months pregnant and looking forward to learning her unborn child’s sex during an ultrasound exam Thursday — didn’t live long enough.

  Gunned down by a shooter who jumped from a passing car as she walked home from a convenience store in the Marquette Park neighborhood Tuesday night, Charinez was declared dead within 45 minutes.

  Doctors at Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn couldn’t save her, but performed an emergency C-section to safely deliver her tiny son.

  The as-yet unnamed, prematurely-born boy is “fighting for his life right now,” Charinez’s mother Debbie Jefferson said Wednesday as family members mourned, searched for answers and prayed for the child and his 1-year-old big brother. The baby was in stable condition, authorities said.

Seventeen and on her second pregnancy. From all the descriptions, targeted for killing seeing as how she was shot three times in heart and once in the head. [UPDATE: And thirteen arrests!]

And now, she will affect the lives of hundreds of people. Cops mostly. Because the exempt structure will feel some need to redeploy tens of dozens of officers to saturate the area she was shot. Teams of cops will be forced to deploy in a "box" or violence zone for weeks, maybe months. Detectives will be working untold hours, missing family events and such because of an attitude that having two kids before 17 is normal and that solving a dispute with gunfire is acceptable.

Then there will be the community activists, printing up t-shirts, and the "reverends" shouting about "gun control" and Cease Fire blaming everyone except the shooter and the community, all demanding more programs and of course, more money, meaning tens of thousands of taxpayers will be affected in some manner.

Do we sound bitter? We're just sick of the nonsense and the oh-so-predicable way it's going to play out.

Charges Dropped?

What the hell is this?

• Attempted murder charges were dropped Tuesday by Cook County prosecutors against a 27-year-old man charged last month with wounding two Chicago police officers in a shootout in a West Side alley.
  
  The charges fell through even through the two officers, [...], had identified Daniel Jones as the gunman in police lineups.

  A gun that matched the description and caliber of the weapon used in the shooting was found in an abandoned home a few doors away from Jones’ home, authorities had said after his arrest.
  
  Prosecutors were vague in explaining why the charges against Jones were dropped, but a law-enforcement source said a new witness and physical evidence excluded Jones as the gunman.

They ID'ed the offender and located the weapon, right?

Rahm to Screw Everyone - Again

And Quinn of all people is calling him on part of it:

• Gov. Pat Quinn said today Mayor Rahm Emanuel is "putting the cart before the horse" with plans for spending money from a Chicago casino that has yet to be legalized.
  
  Quinn made it clear he doesn't appreciate Emanuel's repeated suggestions that he sign legislation to legalize a massive expansion of gambling statewide in addition to allowing Chicago to own a casino.
  
  
• But in a Tribune interview Monday, Emanuel offered some specifics for fixing schools, roads and public transit with money from a proposed Chicago casino, stepping up his pressure on Quinn. Emanuel laid out his plans for the casino money just days before Senate Democrats are poised to discuss how to deal with Quinn's concerns about the gambling legislation.
  
  
• Emanuel said he would invest revenue from a city-owned casino to build or renovate up to 25 schools; double arterial street repaving to 80 miles a year over three years; replace 20 miles of "L" track each year to eliminate slow zones, rebuild 10 miles of elevated track structure each year and renovate 45 rail stations over five years; replace 40 miles of leaky city water mains; and overhaul five viaducts that are rusting away.
  
  The city's take of casino revenue, which the state estimated at up to $140 million a year, would cover the cost of borrowing for a plan that would create 15,000 to 20,000 jobs during construction, Emanuel said.

So instead of paying down Chicago's debt and catching up on outstanding pension obligations, which were supposed to be the main reasons for actually getting a Chicago casino, Rahm has decided he doesn't need casino revenues for their intended purposes, but rather for more bells and whistles - new spending programs, more opportunities for ribbon-cutting ceremonies, additional government contracts - probably so he can run on his "public works" programs record as he aspires to higher office.

If Quinn had any balls whatsoever, he'd cut Rahm off at the knees and veto the entire bill tomorrow....let Rahm explain why he's spending $140 million he doesn't even have yet while the city has a $600 million deficit and billions in unfunded liabilities that's going to destroy Chicago just as sure as the sun will rise in the east tomorrow.

Shortshanks Reads SCC!

That's the only explanation that makes sense:

• Emanuel talked about the possibility of compensating Michael Tillman and other victims of police torture, even as he defended his decision to provide a legal defense for former Mayor Richard M. Daley for his role in the case.

  Daley has received notice to appear for a Sept. 8 deposition, now that U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer has ruled that the former mayor can be sued as a defendant.

• Sources close to Daley have argued that the former mayor’s deposition is “not a done deal” because attorneys representing the former mayor have filed a motion to reconsider.

  They’re trying to block the deposition on grounds that Daley’s involvement in the case stems from his tenure as state’s attorneys and that prosecutors have “absolute immunity.”

So Daley and his lawyers are saying he has "absolute immunity" because he was state's attorney for the time frame in question. We and others have argued that since he was state's attorney, why is Chicago footing the bill instead of Cook County. We seem to be in agreement, don't we?

"Merit" Nominations Out

Someone is whispering that there might actually be a promotional class coming out. Supposedly there is a letter circulating looking for names. And they're looking for.....Commanders?

Anyone know what they're looking for and how many?

Who would want that job anyway?

Central Control Group Disbanded

This is exactly the type of reform we could get behind. Disband a useless "Area" consisting of two districts and without a single detective assigned to it. It also eliminates a few gold star spots and associated office staff.

We're told 001 and 018 will now report to Area 3.

Here's $5 Million

Spend it wisely. In fact, spend it on people who already make over $100,000 a year!

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Monday will establish a $5 million fund to provide merit pay to Chicago Public School principals.

  Emanuel said he has “put together” a $5 million fund to reward the best-performing principals, with details to follow at an afternoon news conference.

  But the mayor campaigned on a promise to deliver merit pay for principals and he’s about to check it off his list of accomplishments during his first 100 days in office.

Nothing for the actual people who make the principals look good - those people aren't even able to collect a negotiated raise. And since it's money that was donated by private citizens, Rahm is claiming another "check mark" on his campaign promises.

• The $5 million over five years is coming from four wealthy Chicago families. Venture capitalist Bruce Rauner and his wife, Diana, are contributing $2 million. Three other families are each giving $1 million: Groupon co-founder and executive chairman Eric Lefkofsky and his wife, Liz; Penny Pritzker and her husband, Chicago Park Board president Bryan Traubert and Paul and Mary Finnegan.

Our first thought is that these folks are buying access to Rahm's political future by enabling him to fulfill a campaign promise without raiding the empty city coffers.

Bonuses for government work is a bad idea, no matter where the money comes from.

How a Flash Mob Works

Words fail us:



How proud the entire community must be. This is from Pennsylvania Maryland, but we can't imagine there aren't dozens of similar videos hidden somewhere away of Michigan Avenue incidents.

Suburban Tickets Down

Even the suburbs are feeling the pinch:

• Drivers in Oak Park are getting fewer tickets than they used to.
  
  While that is good news for many, it can be a problem for the village, which is expected to go through another extremely tight budget next year.
  
  The village collected about $434,000 less than expected in parking fines through the first six months of the year.
  
  There are a few theories on why this is the case. At a finance committee meeting last month, Village President David Pope said tough economic times may be causing people to be more cautious when parking to avoid tickets.
  
  The village's chief finance officer, Craig Lesner, suspects it has more to do with a decrease in enforcement.

We haven't heard any numbers coming out of City Hall lately about their parking enforcement numbers. We can't imagine Rahm wouldn't be using those as a club to beat the Department with if they were low. Hell, we can't imagine McJerseyShore/McStatmaster wouldn't be saving those numbers for another "Gotcha!" moment at the next CompStat meeting if he can.