Hahahahahahaha

This just might work:

Fleet is working all weekend to install the musical sirens.

New Captains Already?

And the slow moving disaster picks up speed:

• Terry McMahan - 004
  Eric Olson - 005
  Don Jerome- 009
  Rod Robinson - Inspections 

That light at the end of the tunnel isn't daylight. It's a freight train.

Lenient Judges

Are judges nationwide all this stupid? Or just the ones in blue cities?

• The Yonkers cop who was shot in the face during an armed ambush Monday left the hospital to the cheers of fellow officers — as it emerged Tuesday that the teen who blasted her was free thanks to a Bronx judge’s leniency.
  
  [...]
  
  ...new disturbing details emerged about a court decision that allowed Valencia to remain free despite being caught with a large cache of weapons earlier this year.
  
  According to the Bronx district attorney, Valencia had been released by a judge a week earlier in a case involving his possession of a semi-automatic handgun, 300 rounds of ammunitions — plus a machete and a set of brass knuckles.
  
  Cops found the weapons on him when they stopped him on May 31 outside a White Castle on Fordham Road in The Bronx.
  
  Because he was 17 at the time, Judge George Villegas of Bronx Supreme Court gave him a sweet deal at his Sept. 20 sentencing, in which he received only probation and youthful-offender status.

Maybe there's a school where morons go to get law degrees and run for States Attorneys and judge-ships?

They're Heeeeere

Those sneaky feds:

• Federal immigration agents are targeting "sanctuary jurisdictions" including Cook County, arresting nearly 500 people this week during a four-day nationwide sweep.
  
  U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) officials say "Operation Safe City" focused on cities and regions where they have been denied access to jails and prisons to interview suspected immigration violators or jurisdictions where ICE detainers are not honored.
  
  There were 30 arrests made by ICE agents in Cook County and Chicago, a city embroiled in a sanctuary fight with the feds.

Channel 7 even lists the crimes for which these repeat offenders were charged with - weapons, DUIs, drugs.... which we suppose are actually "Chicago values" if you follow Rahm's reasoning.

Great Job Officers

Cops in the right place, at the right time, with the right training:

• A police officer’s day can change in an instant. Late last week, some of Chicago’s finest learned it first hand when they came to the aid of a father and baby.
  
  Panicked dad waved down a passing CPD squad car at 29th and South Union last Thurday.
  
  Officer Sean McDermott and his discovered the man was holding an infant.
  
  “The infant was blue and unresponsive,” McDemott said. “Officer Wisnewski and I began compressions while Officer Keegan assumes traffic control to clear a path for the oncoming core engine and ambulance.”
  
  The infant regained consciousness.

Very well done indeed.

Great Idea.....Not

Where do they get these people?

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel has once again invited aldermen to share their ideas for generating new revenue to bridge a budget gap approaching $260 million because of his promise to assume $80 million in security costs for the Chicago Public Schools.
  
  On Wednesday, rookie Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) answered the call, but in a way that will require the city to spend $4.5 million upfront to get millions more in return.
  
  Lopez wants to hire enough new employees to give every one of the city’s 50 wards its own officer to enforce quality-of-life violations that routinely go unpunished.
  
  Chicago has a ton of laws on the books that cover everything from home-sharing, illegal parking and panhandling to noise violations, street peddling, failing to shovel snow from the sidewalk in front of your home and operating a business without the proper license.

Has this guy never heard of "ward superintendents"? They can do that. And this part just made us laugh out loud:

• “One of the things expressed to me by my residents time and again is, `Why don’t we enforce the laws on the books? Why don’t we hold individuals in our neighborhoods who flagrantly disobey the law, refuse to pay stickers that apply to everyone else accountable,’ ” Lopez said Wednesday.

We've been saying the same thing for 30 or 40 years now - about car insurance, about properly registering your automobile, about guns. But somehow, some way, certain "communities" seem to be exempt from the rules that govern a civil society.

Cluster Study?

Perhaps this should be looked at here, too?

• Claims that at least 30 current and former police officers in a Cincinnati suburb have been diagnosed with cancer has prompted the police union president to call for action on a plan to move the station’s headquarters. Sgt. Dan Hils claims 34 employees were scheduled to temporarily move out of the District 5 headquarters Ludlow Avenue location by Aug. 18, but as of this week no move had taken place, Fox 19 reported.
  
  “Cancer again has struck another person in District 5,” Hils told Fox 19. “Officers are so upset about this they are close to walking out.”
  
  While none of the cancer cases have been directly linked to the building, a Fox 19 investigation earlier this year revealed mold, bed bugs, leaks and cramped spaces at the location. City officials maintain that the building has no environmental concerns, and that the move was scheduled due to lack of space.

We've heard of more than a few suspicious "clusters" of illness in a few CPD buildings. Most of the buildings have been torn down in recent years, but 002, 011 and the old 015 stand out in our memories. We're sure the readers have a couple more.

Has this ever been approached by the FOP? An actual environmental study undertaken?

Goose, Gander

The first of many challenges to the Rules?

• A white Chicago police officer was reprimanded by the department Wednesday for posting a photo on social media of himself in apparent protest of the NFL players who knelt during the national anthem during Sunday games.
  
  The photo on the officer’s Facebook page shows him in uniform holding an American flag as he stands in front of a marked Chicago police SUV. A poster on display carries several messages: “I stand for the anthem,” “I love the American flag” and “I support my president and the 2nd Amendment.”
  
  The discipline comes days after two uniformed black officers were reprimanded for posing in a photo shared on social media of them kneeling and raising their fists in a police station with an activist in support of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who refused to stand during the anthem last season as a protest of police treatment of minorities.

On the surface, similar incidents - political statements in uniform. Shame shame, here's your wrist slap.

Underneath though - one incident expresses love of country, one espouses racial superiority (white or black), socialism, resistance - revolutionary concepts at odds with what police work in a democratic republic is supposed to be about.

So what next, seeing as how this is going to be the new normal. If it's only a reprimand, we can think of all sorts of political gestures that need to be expressed:

• Cops for abortion;
• Cops against abortion;
• Cops against Karen Lewis;
• Cops against Prickwrinkle's soda tax;
• this list could be endless

If we give prior written notice that it's a "political protest," and we tell Rahm to go fuck himself, the worst we can get is a Reprimand. Any action taken against us is a slam-dunk EEOC beef for a hostile workplace environment and we retire rich.

Now do you see where this is a problem?

UPDATE: Here's the picture in question:

 

Nice Lakefront Rahm

With the description given by the media, the offenders ought to be in custody very shortly:

• A 23-year-old man who was walking on a path behind the Shedd Aquarium was robbed, beaten and thrown into Lake Michigan just after midnight, police said.
  
  "It's just crazy. People are evil out here," said Tim Johnson, who works in the area. "It's normally crowded people walking up and down here. So I couldn't see nothing like that happening."
  
  The victim said he was attacked by several males and a female in the 1200-block of South Lake Shore Drive on the city's Museum Campus. The group took his backpack, phone and other personal items before pushing him into the water and running away, police said.

So be on the lookout for "several males and a female" if you happen to be near the lakefront.You should be completely safe then.

This is Oppresive?

We'll just leave this right here (click for larger version):

Figure it out.

Big Whoops

This is probably one reason Chicago requires a cop to be on movie/television sets:

• Indiana State Police say they're investigating after a police officer in the western Indiana city of Crawfordsville fired a gunshot at a movie actor portraying a bank robber.
  
  No one was hurt.
  
  State police say Crawfordsville police were responding to a report of a possible robbery at Backstep Brewing Co. on Tuesday evening when they encountered actor Jim Duff.
  
  Duff was wearing a ski mask and carrying a gun while leaving the brewery with his back to the officers. Police told him to drop the gun, but Duff turned toward them. An officer fired a shot that missed Duff.
  
  Police say Duff dropped the gun, pulled off his mask and told officers they were on a movie set.
  
  Police say the production company and the brewery didn't notify them or other businesses before filming.

Poor marksmanship was a good thing this time.

The Moron Brigade

And the usual jackasses chime in on the "take a knee" bullshit:

• South Side priest Michael Pfleger on Tuesday threw his support behind the two uniformed Chicago Police officers shown in a photograph taking a knee in what’s become a nationwide demonstration against police brutality.
  
  “I just wanted to stand in support of you and your willingness to stand with those who feel abandoned and forgotten. I understand the CPD’s rules about activities in uniform, but you [probably] did more for community policing and helping to rebuild the bridge between community and law enforcement than 100 CAPS meetings,” Pfleger wrote in a statement. ” … you are not apart from the community, you are a part of the community.”

Which is bullshit of course. Pfleger exists to create and exploit controversy. He doesn't follow the rules of the church and openly defies archdiocesan authority on all sorts of matters.

Mope-rah gets in on the act - no link for the Mopey. And in case you don't think this staged photo was a direct swipe at "European" types:

• ....in a live video chat, Clark said she tried to get some white officers to appear in a photo, too.
  
  “Y’all will abide by the rules now, but not when yall whupping n******,” she said in the video.

We don't understand why "Europeans" wouldn't be lined up around the block to appear with this shining beacon of womanhood. It's truly a mystery. Mope-rah continues with her effusive praise:

• She is the founder of “#HugsNoSlugs,” an anti-violence campaign that sells T-shirts on the streets to raise funds for the victims of violence, and she has appeared on several local radio and TV programs, including “Windy City Live.”
  
  A Go Fund Me campaign for her organization, which was created a little more than a year ago, has raised $6,410 from 96 people in 12 months.

She's doing a bang-up job with those hugs - nearly 800 homicides last year, another 500 this year. And $6,410 in GoFundMe cash - we've seen homeless guys on the expressway ramp do that in about four months.

And the Rahm-meister himself makes an appearance straddling the fence as only a Sarah Lawrence graduate can:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel acknowledged Tuesday that two uniformed Chicago Police officers photographed “taking a knee” in a police station lobby were caught between principles “in conflict”: the need to build community relations and the ban on making political statements while in uniform.
  
  But Emanuel said he supports the Chicago Police Department’s decision to reprimand the two officers.
  
  “There’s a difference between an athlete wearing their uniform [and kneeling during the national anthem] and a police officer who is paid by the public who’s wearing theirs. And the Police Department has been consistent,” in enforcing the ban on making political statements, he said.

No there isn't. Both are employees of an organization and should be abiding by the Rules of the organization when representing the organization.

You know why cops aren't supposed to be political while on duty? Because at some point, someone has to make sure that all sides get their chance to demonstrate, to be heard (or ignored - no one can be forced to listen.) And the barest hint of favoritism is the first step down the slippery slope to totalitarianism - the police favoring (or restricting) who can speak and what message is allowed to be in the public square.

That is the danger today. Cops being told to stand down means that the mob is in charge, and the mob is a difficult beast to control. In fact, the only means of control is overwhelming force, and when that is applied....well, let's just say the optics are "bad." That's why incidents like the cops kneeling, on duty, in uniform, in a police station need to be dealt with a bit more harshly than a mere reprimand. If we cannot trust those who serve next to us, and if order has to be reestablished, then we have a very large problem.

Chicago is Solvent?

Anyone got a spare $10 million lying around? Because Rahm seems to think Chicago doesn't need the money:

• Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) is demanding that Mayor Rahm Emanuel explain why he wants to sell a fleet maintenance facility site on prime riverfront land in the North Branch Industrial Corridor to a developer who is not the lowest bidder.
  
  Emanuel announced earlier this year that mega-developer Sterling Bay had agreed to pay the city $104.7 million — $133.53 per square foot — for the lucrative site near the Chicago River, where city vehicles now are maintained.
  
  The deal also requires Sterling Bay to build a new city maintenance facility in Englewood.
  
  What Emanuel failed to mention — and Hopkins revealed — is that Sterling Bay was not the highest bidder. ONNI Group offered $115 million for the prime piece of property.

What possible reason could there be to walk away from $10 million? Besides the usual corruption, bribe taking, greased palms, back door deals, connected contracts, political contributions, and did we mention corruption? Oh yeah, right there at the beginning.

This deal is tied into the new Academy, meaning if it gets hung up, so does the groundbreaking for the west side building. Which means cost overruns among other things that cost taxpayers money. The City that Works...or doesn't.

Hey Dart!

All those inmates (or "out-mates" we suppose) that you lost on Electronic Monitoring? Our readers found one:

This is some sort of violation, right?

UPDATE: To the unpublished commenters - You see the tag right below here? The one that says "sarcasm and silliness"? You do know that explaining the joke in a step-by-step manner makes it not a joke any more, right?

Dangerous Hypocrite

Get a load of this ignoramus:

• A gun control activist in Chicago got a gun and justified it by saying her community is too dangerous to live in without one.
  
  The activist–Camiella Williams–got a concealed carry permit too.
  
  According to NPR, Williams grew up living on Chicago’s South Side and was personally impacted by violence at age nine, when she was hit in the head with a brick. She became involved in gang activity, acquired a gun at age 12, and lived violently until she had a son at age 18. At that point she decided to make a change; she moved away from the South Side, got a GED and a college education, and began lobbying the state for Illinois for more gun control.
  
  She also traveled to Washington DC to press members of Congress to pass more gun laws.
  
  And Williams continues to lobby, yet NPR’s Chip Mitchell reports that Williams has two thing most people would not expect a gun control proponent to possess–a gun and a concealed carry permit. Moreover, Williams makes clear she is ready to use her gun if she has too.
  
  She said, “I mean I just know that I would probably retaliate.”

"Retaliate." There's a problem waiting to happen. The purpose of Concealed Carry is self-defense, not "retaliation." In fact, "retaliation" is a huge no-no in Concealed Carry classes - the threat ends, so does the justification for using the gun. In other words:

• Self defense = defense of self

Someone might want to head this one off before it becomes fodder for her fellow travelers.

Leaderless COPA

So the COPAcabana is short a maitre d' all of the sudden:

• The head of Chicago's new police oversight agency has told Mayor Rahm Emanuel she intends to resign to run for Illinois attorney general, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
  
  The departure comes just 10 days after the Civilian Office of Police Accountability opened its doors, replacing the widely distrusted Independent Police Review Authority as the agency primarily responsible for investigating police uses of force and alleged misconduct.
  
  Sharon Fairley has yet to officially resign but has informed Emanuel of her plans to leave, the sources said. Fairley, a former federal prosecutor, could not immediately be reached for comment.
  
  Agency spokeswoman Mia Sissac said Fairley is "seriously considering" leaving the agency to run for attorney general. Sissac said that COPA is "set up to succeed" even if Fairley leaves.

After her "tour de force" as the head of the widely discredited IPRA, how could success be anything but assured? Her half-assed investigations, constant bending to political masters, all but calling officers "pigs" in the press.

Good riddance. Here's to hoping she loses the election.

Reprimand

Stupidity ought to at least be painful, but in a political town, you get a political outcome:

• After a weekend of sideline demonstrations that roiled football fans and a divided nation, the Chicago Police Department is investigating a photo of what appears to be two uniformed officers who were photographed “taking a knee” in the lobby of a South Side precinct.
  
  [...]
  
  CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Monday the department was aware of the photo.
  
  “We are aware of the photo, and we will address it in the same way we have handled previous incidents in which officers have made political statements while in uniform, with a reprimand and a reminder of department policies,” Guglielimi said in a statement to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Golly, what a quick investigation. It's amazing that all investigations aren't completed so promptly. But don't worry, they will be. Soon. And not to our liking.

Meanwhile, no word on what will now heal the divisions in the 006th District where some officers, well aware of the Rules, refused to participate in the political theater:

• In a video posted on her Instagram account, Clark complains that “European” officers refused to join her in kneeling.
  
  “Not surprisingly, not one would kneel,” she said.

Because either (A) the "Europeans" read and follow the Rules, (B) the "Europeans" recognize when they are being used as props for a discredited cause, or (C) the "Europeans" see that a hateful ideology that has pledged to maim and kill anyone wearing a blue uniform isn't really a cause to kneel for.

Besides, it brings you down to their level where they will happily cut your throat for you.

K-9 Statue Auction

Here's the link.

Bid away.

Quite a few are under a grand, but don't expect that to last long.

Um, What Now?

We got this in our e-mail about 30 times yesterday:

We're pretty sure there's some sort of Rule about political acts while in uniform. While representing the City of Chicago, Department of Police, you have no political affiliation, are not permitted to comment on just about anything unless duly authorized by the Superintendent of Police and certainly cannot protest in a police station of all places.

There has been at least one CR number generated in the past over an officer/supervisor appearing in uniform on political fliers. We may have even done a post on it being a bad idea. While we are unsure of the outcome of that particular instance (Chicago being a very political town), this is also a very bad idea.

(Comments will be strictly regulated here.)

Moron Bosses

Before accepting a "merit" promotion (or being offered a "merit" promotion), there ought to be some sort of competency test. Otherwise you're just endangering coppers jobs, damaging any respect from your underlings, and destroying any semblance of morale among the rank-and-file:

• Last night on the 2300 blk of south Washtenaw the sd's were acting up again. They were doing the typical fuck the police and out in numbers on the blk. The calls for service came out as disturbance with the anonymous caller. Squads drove thru to try to discourage as much of the shenanigans as you could with police presence as there is no complainant and disorderly and reckless charges are invitations for lawsuits as it's not against the law to be an asshole.
  
  Well the bosses show up- 4400 triple merit phil liebas and he gets over the radio and says lock these assholes up, he follows it with stop driving around and get out of your cars and finally follows it up with i'll sign the complaints. This boss is blocks away and can't even see the supposed disturbance but pretends he will sign complaints. He berated officers onscene because they wouldn't lock someone up for yelling profanities at the police.
  
  3rd watch merit Lt. Hernandez Also had a closed door roll call to ask for more ISR's and began to mention that there were beat cars that did fill any out for the year and was unsure of what the hell those cars did all tour.

People are allowed to yell at the police - in fact, they are encouraged to yell at the police. With megaphones. From inches away from sensitive eardrums. By our political masters. Our peace cannot be disturbed, remember? You would think that a multiple "merit" captain of police, himself the subject of numerous civil suits, might remember that.

And did the "merit" Lt ever think of asking the officers what the officers did all tour? Or would that mean actually interacting with his subordinates? Can't have that! Might as well do the passive/aggressive thing rather than put an actual quota on paper and tell the ACLU to fuck off because you know how to be the police.

Maybe they could ask 1699 for advice on how to use PDT messages to supervise?

Must be the Heat

Crime is slowing down again:

• 9:00p Shoot-o-Rahm-a Tally: 3 killed, 35 wounded
  2016 weekend tally: 11 killed, 46 wounded
  2015 weekend tally: 5 killed, 53 wounded
  2014 weekend tally: 8 killed, 44 wounded

So it's lower than years past, but not out of line with 2014 and 2015 totals.

2016 was the aberration.

Last Day for K-9 Statues

From the CPMF:

• The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation invites you to take advantage of the warm summer-like weather this weekend by heading to the Magnificent Mile for one last trip to see the beautiful K9s statues, modeled after those utilized by the Chicago Police Department's Canine Unit. After two months on display, the K9s guarding the streets will be headed to their new homes early next week.
  
  Interested in owning your own K9? Some of the K9s, including all of those designed to honor Chicago's professional sports teams, will be up for auction starting Monday, September 25, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. The auction will run through October 4, at noon. Please visit www.chicagok9s.com for more information.

No idea what these would go for price-wise, but someone wrote to us that one designed for a Chicago Cub fundraiser went for over $20,000 a few weeks ago.

All for a good cause.

12 Month Gains Lost in 30 Days

But hey, everything is fine!

• In one month, Illinois manufacturing sector lost all of the jobs it had gained in the last 12 months, marking one of the worst employment reports for the state's lagging economy since the recession.
  
  A preliminary report released by the Illinois Department of Employment Security shows August saw 3,000 lost manufacturing jobs. This loss of employment is the worst month in Illinois since fall of 2009. The unemployment rate also rose to 5 percent.
  
  Overall, the state lost a net 3,700 jobs in August. Illinois has averaged 100 jobs lost per month since March.
  
  While some sectors gained, Illinois' leisure and hospitality industry lost 9,900 jobs. Some job losses in that industry are common in the fall when tourism wanes. But IDES Spokesman Bob Gough says losing 3,000 manufacturing jobs is troubling.
  
  "The manufacturing sector has been a tough road to hoe for a number of years now," he said. "But any way you slice it, the state's economy is stuck in neutral, and that's a kind way to put it."

Someone doesn't know their idioms (you don't have a "tough road to hoe." That breaks tools. It's a farming term - "tough row to hoe"). Maybe it was the reporter.

In any event, manufacturing firms are still fleeing Illinois faster than jobs can be created, and the business climate (read "tax code") is the main reason. Every single level of government is full of out-of-control spending and their only solution to a decreasing tax base is to soak those remaining until they, too, decide to leave. Death Spiral is the term often used, and it's in full swing.

Hey Northsiders

Here's an interesting website about aldercreature Arena covering his history of lies, habits concerning abusing women and continuous double-talk concerning re-zoning his ward to welcome CHA project buildings.

The more you know.....

Way to Go Kimmy

Law? What law?

• A career criminal, sentenced to a combined 67 years in prison since 1983 and currently on parole, allegedly walked into a Boystown convenience store Monday, entered the walk-in cooler, took a Coors Light, and headed for the door.
  
  When a clerk asked him to pay, 55-year-old Wayne Jones pulled out a collapsible baton and threatened him, police said.
  
  Despite the fact that Jones took the beer while threatening the clerk with bodily harm—the very definition of “robbery,”—a Cook County State’s Attorney refused to charge the fourteen-time convicted felon with the crime, police said.
  
  Instead, Jones is being charged with retail theft, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and two counts of being a felon in possession of a weapon. A judge set his bail at $100,000.

Our math says if he had actually served the 67 years he had been sentenced to starting in 1983, he'd be a guest of the state until 2050. Seeing as how he's out among the public, he's no where near a prison. And Kimmy still won't charge him.

So who are the only ones expected to follow the law any more?

Lincoln Square - No Cops

Those (net) 37 cops Rahm has hired sure are helping out:

• A spike in robberies and burglaries has Lincoln Square neighbors on edge, prompting renewed calls for more police in the area.
  
  With a string of armed robberies and groping incidents fresh on their minds, residents packed a CAPS community policing meeting Tuesday night at Sulzer Library.
  
  The sense that criminals are, in the words of one speaker, "running amok" in the area had many of those in attendance questioning the perceived absence of police presence and complaining about response times.

Guess how many went to this neighborhood?

• But of a recent group of 100 recruits, none were assigned to the Town Hall District, Sims said.
  
  "We have no control over how many police are assigned to the district," added CAPS officer [MH].

One would hope that these citizens will remember exactly who abandoned their neighborhoods to the criminal element when Election Day rolls around, but history tells us that they won't - at least on the local level.

Mo' Money, Mo' Money

We'll assume that the Sun Times went through their overnight faxes and found this one from the FOP that we covered a day ago:

• The Fraternal Order of Police has asked the Illinois Labor Relations Board to stop the city from changing the Chicago Police Department’s use-of-force policy, a key reform as the department tries to improve its reputation and relationship with Chicago residents.
  
  Details about the implementation of the policy were unveiled Thursday and officers have begun training in the new procedures. The FOP, which represents rank-and-file CPD officers, says implementing the new policy violates its contract because the changes were not negotiated with the union.

We won't charge them the full $100 since it was a press release, but $50 to the Chaplains ought to cover it for being behind the curve.

FOP Files Against COPA

And let the fireworks begin (click for a larger READABLE version):

Lest anyone miss the point, the entire new Use of Force policy, from construction to disciplinary enforcement, was put together without any input from the FOP and almost no input from the rank-and-file. Lawyers and bean counters failed to survey other Departments, and dismissed/disregarded the input from those who actually did seek out "best practices" to find what actually worked in real life.

• Your fate is not your own;
• Nothing is ever closed any more - ever - even years later;
• You are tied to the political winds - extra heat = extra pain for you
• Even if you're legally sound, you will be hammered administratively

Don't doubt it.

Laughable List

This reads like a "Who's Who" of politically connected, married to, bedroom antics, drinking buddies, and fuck-ups beyond compare (click for larger versions):

This is filling us with so much confidence. Just the amount of lawsuits already paid out for some of these names might color our thinking of where to bid to next in the hopes of scoring a few tens of thousands of dollars in payouts. There are people on this list who haven't seen the back of a Watch Operations Lt's desk or served a day as a Field Lt. in their careers, yet they're going to be expected to run a watch within Orders, Policy and by Contracts that they have never lived by.

Batten down the hatches and stock up on Grievance Reports.

Back to School!

It certainly is an ambitious schedule of training:

• Beginning next year, every Chicago cop will undergo hours of training each year, the first regular training for many since graduating from the police academy as new recruits.
  
  The ambitious plan laid out by the Police Department on Thursday calls for the training to expand to 40 hours a year for every officer beginning in 2021, up from 16 hours next year. It comes as the department also attempts to add 1,000 officers to its force by the end of next year — recruits who all must undergo months of training before hitting the street.

The Sun Times has a better schedule:

• In 2019, officers will attend 24 hours of training; 32 hours will be required in 2020. In 2021, 40 hours of training will be mandatory for officers.

This is something the FOP asked for years ago - back in the 1990's if we aren't mistaken. The FOP proposed something like six training dates or something similar (we weren't paying as close attention as we should have back then). The City pretty much told the FOP to take a hike. But now, the City is falling all over itself to get us training that should have been given years ago.

Makes Sense, but....

Has he thought this through?

• A Southwest Side alderman has called on the Chicago Police Department to change the way it handles its broader street gang database system.
  
  Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) said the database is too cumbersome, and is deeply flawed, because people might be listed who shouldn’t be.
  
  The alderman said the department should notify the 340,000 people currently on its wider gang database that they’re on the list, and give them a chance to prove they’re not connected in any way to a gang and to have their names removed from the list.

According to whose standards though? Because a gang bangers wouldn't have any incentive to lie, right? Are we talking about full body searches for tattoos? Sworn affidavits from three upstanding citizens, a priest not Phleger and a verifiable revenue stream that is proved to IRS specifications?

Or is Ray just looking to expand his definition of "innocent lives" in case of another shooting to recoup political support?

Another Flushing Sound

When there's no oversight, you gotta spend that money as fast as you can:

Anyone know how much those bus shelter ads go for?

Make Up Your Damn Minds

With much fanfare, a new Police/Fire Academy was introduced on the West Side last month. It promises to improve and update training, giving officers more "hands on" type scenario-based training and addressing a giant shortfall brought to light in the Department of Justice Report. New facility, construction jobs, better trained police - it's a win-win. Great news, right?

Wrong:

• Plans for a state-of-the-art $95 million training facility for Chicago police and fire recruits advanced Wednesday after winning the endorsement of a key city panel.
  
  While the Chicago Plan Commission unanimously approved the plan to buy the 30-acre site at 4301 W. Chicago Ave. in Garfield Park for $9.6 million, a coalition of groups rallied outside Mayor Rahm Emanuel's fifth-floor City Hall office urging that the plan be shelved and the money spent on schools and community redevelopment efforts.
  
  Monica Trinidad, a member of the People’s Response Team, which is part of the "No Cop Academy" effort, said the money would be better spent on restoring cuts made to Chicago Public Schools' budgets or reopening mental health clinics closed by Emanuel.
  
  "We aren't falling for Rahm's charade," Trinidad said. "Don't expand CPD when we are strangled in our own communities."

There is no satisfying the perpetually aggrieved.

You Go Girl

Good news from the gun front:

• Black women in Chicago are coming to the realization that the best defense is a good offense.
  
  Despite Democrat leadership in the crime-ridden city imploring citizens to let law enforcement handle the exploding crime, residents — primarily black women — are thinking for themselves and buying guns for self defense.
  
  The Chicago Tribune reported that nearly 1,400 black women in Illinois have received concealed carry permits in 2017. That number has gone up since last year and is almost twice the 800 who did so in 2014. More than 4,000 black women currently have a concealed carry permit in Cook County alone, where Chicago is located.

The first step to throwing off the government yoke is to realize that you, and you alone, are responsible for your own opinions, actions and safety. The second step is to stop voting for democrats/dependency.

This Explains a Lot

This passes for "intelligent thinking" in County government:

• Long before she was Queen Sugar, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle was an opponent of small business owner/operators responsible for 2/3rds of the jobs in this country.
  
  In a forum Dan Proft moderated in 2013, former Utah State Sen. Dan Liljenquist told the story of when he met with Preckwinkle about the Institute for Justice's Clinic for Entrepreneurship during which she said,
  
  "I'm opposed to self employment. You give these people false hopes that they could ever earn a living on their own."
  
  She'll see Obama's "you didn't build that" and raise you a "you didn't earn that."
  
  One might think to ask the follow-up, if there is no self-employment, who would create the jobs?
  
  The only available answer once you eliminate the entrepreneur is government. And a government-driven, government-dominated society is the foundation of fascism.

Typical Chicago leftist thinking. The same sort of bullshit that spawned Sparklefarts.

Tribune - Explain This Please

So we're paging through the Tribune website yesterday and came across the article about a recent payout to people (or folks) who admitted to shooting a gun off the back porch on New Years Eve. We aren't going to go over the case, but for some reason the comment section was wide open (to paying subscribers) and a dozen or more people had taken advantage of it.

We also read the latest about Freezer-girl. And we noticed that the comment sections were closed.

The Tribune helpfully linked to other articles about Freezer-girl as part of their "gin-up-the-outrage" tour and guess what we found? Not a single article - out of six or seven posted on a near-daily basis for a week now - had the comment section open.

Zero.

Why is that? We're just curious. We know that reporters are, by and large, liberal types. And they slant their coverage the way they wish it to go. And many of our readers have noted over the years that any article that can paint the police in a bad light has open comments while anything that might disrupt the perennial victim narrative never seems to have comments enabled. But this one really takes the cake.

Would they care to admit why?

UPDATE: The Tribune published an article just five hours ago and guess what? The comments are open for the first time! The headline?

• Kenneka Jenkins case highlights mistrust of police

Seriously. As if the police had anything to do with a drunken teenager renting a room with a stolen credit card, plying her with liquor, X and who knows what else, made her stagger off away from her "friends," who then obstruct the police who were looking for her. What a bunch of assholes.

UPDATE: And the comments are down! The morons at the Tribune are desperate to steer this coverage for some reason. The coments must not have been part of the greater "narrative" being spun, so down the memory-hole they go.

Is Crime Up or Down?

We get so confused sometimes:

• The city of Chicago is on pace to surpass 800 carjacking incidents this year — more than double the number in 2014 and 2015 combined.
  
  “It’s brutal out here,” one Chicago police official tells CBS 2.
  
  2 Investigator [...] interviewed recent carjacking victims. One of them, Ian Collins, recalls being pistol-whipped after leaving a River North bar.
  
  He eventually recovered his car but, without health insurance, he is struggling to pay his more than $12,000 in medical bills.
  
  He’s not the only victim dealing with the aftermath.
  
  Citywide, the number of carjacking incidents has soared. There were around 300 in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2016, the number jumped to 663.
  
  Now, in 2017, there has been another big increase. There were 550 through the first eight months of the year, putting the city on pace to exceed 800, according to Chicago police data.

It's almost like there's something.....some policy or whatnot, that has emboldened the thieves that prey upon the car driving public. 

• Cops chase? No worries - just keep driving. They'll stop.
• Still chasing? No worries - just sideswipe some innocent party. They're required to stop.
• You actually get caught? No worries - Kim Foxxx will only approve the misdemeanor.
• You caught an actual felony? Naughty car thief! But still, no worries - Tim Evans has gotten rid of all bonds.
• You get transferred to Cook County Jail? Still no worries - Dart doesn't want you there. I-Bond and Electronic Monitoring.

If you want to see an increase in bad behavior, reward it. And remember, as soon as they fix the Chicago Police, everything will be grand!

Retiree Update

From an e-mail for some readers who were asking about it via the Krislov lawsuit:

• Judge Cohen was furious with the City’s claim that it will take about 19 weeks for each year 2014, 2015 and 2016 to complete each audit, and that one cannot be started until the preceding year is completed. He chewed the city out for its slow reconciliation;
  
  rejected the city’s submission that it will take 19 weeks for each year , one after the other, (i.e., more than a year to complete 2014-2016) to get the audit and reconciliation done for each year;
  
  and was bothered as well by the Funds’ lack of concrete responses about the plans for 2018.
  
  He ordered everyone back on 9/26 at 10:00AM, to report on both, or he will order a full hearing on the city’s actions. We’ll see. He also ordered the Funds (although not the City) to copy us with all communications sent to participants regarding retiree healthcare. You can let us know if you receive anything from any of them, including the City.
  
  The main focus is still on our pending petition with the Illinois Supreme Court, which we filed on September 7. So the City and Funds’ responses should be due September 28. We’ll likely want to reply; we’ll keep you posted.
  
  We continue to believe that the most compelling group of you are the class 3a people whose City work did not qualify them for medicare coverage, and we are considering taking another shot at asking for an injunction against the City or Funds adversely changing the existing plan during the litigation. This popped up because the Municipal and Laborers Funds’ attorneys said that their funds were not required to provide coverage, municipal was especially noncommittal. I reminded Judge Cohen about his declaring that it is the funds’ who have primary obligation to provide healthcare coverage to annuitants, and they appear to be disavowing any such obligation. We may file something on this before the 26th. Those of you who are in the class 3a and don’t qualify for medicare might want to show up for the September 26 hearing.

Hope this answers some of the questions. We don't have the answers and the only real answers are going to come from the lawyers, so drop them a line at KrislovLaw.com

Welcome Home Eddie!

Asshole:

• Former Chicago police Sgt. Eddie Hicks was arrested in Detroit Tuesday morning, nearly 15 years after he fled on the eve of trial on federal drug conspiracy charges.
  
  Hicks, 68, has been the subject of an international manhunt since 2003, according to the FBI. He appeared in federal court in Detroit on Tuesday and was ordered held until he can be brought to Chicago to face the charges.
  
  A 29-year veteran of the police force, Hicks was charged in Chicago in 2001 with running a crew of rogue officers who robbed drug dealers, pocketed the illicit cash and sold the stolen drugs to other pushers. Hicks fled the country on the eve of his trial in 2003. At the time, authorities said he was presumed to have traveled to Brazil.

Better start naming names there Eddie. Who you were kicking up to, who was covering for you and who got word to you to leave town. Either way, you're probably going to prison for the rest of your life.

This Moron Again?

This appeared on 016 District PDT's not too long ago (click for larger versions):

ISR's again? Fine, whoop-de-doo. But a month later, this crossed a line (we've blacked out the names):

That's fifteen names broadcast to co-workers (and archived to FOIA-able databases) to what end? Oh yeah, to attempt to embarrass and humiliate - the mark of a true tool of a supervisor. And it appears to skirt the boundaries of State law, specifically 65 ILCS 5/11-1-12:

• A municipality may not, for purposes of evaluating a police officer's job performance, compare the number of citations issued by the police officer to the number of citations issued by any other police officer who has similar job duties. [emphasis added]

So if someone would like to bring this to the attention of Lt. Kohnen, 016th District so as not to jeopardize his career options, he'd might appreciate the heads up. The Acting Superintendent might want to re-send that "No Quotas" AdMin Fax message again.

New Blog - Bucktown Crime Data

There's a new blog on the horizon, Bucktown Crime Data.

The author has been a correspondent of ours for a while now, and is the person behind a lot of the graphs and spreadsheets we post occasionally. He's branching out. And while his blog may concentrate on the Bucktown area (014), we're hoping that he'll continue with the number crunching and statistical analysis that allows everyone to spot the trends Rahm pretends aren't existing.

The link is on the right hand side, right under HeyJackass.com. Good luck to you.

Nepotism Alive and Well

Wonder of wonders:

• Could the daughter of one Democratic political powerhouse replace another as Illinois attorney general?
  
  It’ll happen if the City Council’s elder statesman has his way.
  
  Cook County Democratic Chairman Joe Berrios said he got a courtesy call over the weekend from Ald. Edward Burke (14th) to let him know that Burke’s daughter would be circulating nominating petitions to run for attorney general.
  
  Berrios initially identified the daughter as Jennifer Burke. Neither Jennifer Burke nor her father could be reached for comment. They work together at the law firm of Klafter and Burke.

Burle must have seen what a great job Lisa did covering up and failing to investigate all of her dad's crimes, so Burke decided he's gotta get a piece of that covering up his assorted legal missteps as outlined in Cooley's book "When Corruption Was King."

That Didn't Take Long

Rosemont is keeping their investigation in-house, as expected:

• Police in Rosemont on Monday said the investigation into the death of Kenneka Jenkins, the teenager who was found dead in a hotel walk-in freezer Sept. 10, would remain in their hands despite requests from activists that an outside agency become involved.
  
  A statement from Police Chief Donald E. Stephens III released Monday night said, “this investigation has been and remains the utmost priority for us.”

Given that the former mayor, current police chief and convention center all share the same name, not to mention all of the Outfit characters running around, having the feds come in was certainly not in the cards. But it's still the right call.

Bad Idea Moves Forward

No stopping this train wreck:

• Chief Cook County Judge Timothy Evans on Friday announced he is replacing the half-dozen judges who preside over bond hearings at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse–a sweeping change and the latest move to reform the cash bond system that critics say leaves poor and minority defendants locked up on low-level charges.
  
  The move by Evans comes two months after he issued an order, which takes effect Monday, that bond court judges are required to set bail in amounts defendants can afford to pay.
  
  “As we continue our efforts to enhance the pretrial process in Cook County, this new division will play an important role in upholding the court’s focus on justice and fairness,” Evans said in a statement emailed to reporters Friday.

What about the fairness to crime victims?

Bond is supposed to be an inconvenience - you show up at each and every court date OR you lose the money, securities, property used to secure your appearance. It isn't what you can afford - it's what the Court feels is necessary (via pain of forfeiture) to force compliance.

Any "reporters" asking how many people are currently on Electronic Monitoring that Dart can't find? Here's a hint - well over 500 and closing on 1,000.

Any "reporters" asking how many people are currently let to bond for what used to be known as "forcible felonies"? The number is "many thousands."

And are there any "reporters" asking how many warrants are currently in the Cook County system for persons who decided to sleep in and miss court? We'll give you another hint - begin at 10,000 serviceable warrants and start guessing north of that number.

But hey, let's just start asking criminals, who are as honest as any Cook County politician, how much they can "afford" and let's see how high those numbers can go.....along with the crime rate.

Amazon

Rahm has all his media pets pushing for Amazon to locate their new "HQ2" here in the Windy City. The Sun Times actually ran an editorial that we laughed at.

• Chicago is Jeff Bezos’ kind of town, though he may not yet know it.
  
  Our city was founded on a swamp by entrepreneurs every bit as audacious as Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com. It was built by people of every color and background who worked hard, smart and long. It looks back for inspiration, in the same way Bezos looks back to Thomas Edison and Walt Disney, but leans into the future.

Really? Because the "other" narrative is that Chicago is a racist town, built on the back of exploited minorities, who still can't get a fair shake. At least, if you read Mope-rah, Dope-rah and all the assorted grievance-mongers on a daily basis.

• If Bezos chooses Chicago for Amazon’s second headquarters, known as “HQ2,” the company will need to do no more than live by its own corporate values — and both it and the city will thrive. Amazon represents the next chapter in the kind of quintessentially American disruptive innovation that has been Chicago’s whole story. Amazon, a company taking on the world, would find an ideal home in Chicago, a commercial hub for the world.

Someone is about to say "Chicago values" and we're going to have to slap them in the head.

• Amazon requires a quick commute to an international airport. Obviously, Chicago’s got that.
  
  Amazon requires close proximity to major highways, and Chicago’s got that.
  
  Amazon requires 8 million square feet of space, [...]
  
  Amazon requires a “highly educated labor pool” and a “strong university system,” and Chicago is powerfully strong on both counts.

Um, yeah. The airport leads the nation in delays most years. The major highways are potholed disasters that exist only to be repaired on a rotating basis. 8 million feet of office space is available because companies are leaving. CPS graduation rates keep rising only because of CompStat type accounting numbers and something like 75% of "graduates" can't read at their grade level. The numbers point to a massive failure of leadership, infrastructure and corruption.

• Amazon also is looking for a “stable and business-friendly climate.”
  
  Yeah, that one gave us pause.

It should give everyone pause - especially a company looking to make money.

• Then, of course, there is the crucial question of the quality of life, which frankly is Chicago’s ace card. If it is Amazon’s aim, as the company’s request for proposals says, to set up shop in “a community where our employees will enjoy living,” Chicago is hard to beat. We are a proudly multicultural city of great diversity and tolerance, and rich in culture both high and low, from festivals to theater to professional sports to museums to the symphony to art galleries to bike rides along the city’s stunning lakefront.
  
  Quality of life? We hardly know where to start. We’ll have to write more on that later.

Meaning, "Pay no attention to those pesky 500-to-700 murders every year for the past three or four decades (minus one year). Those wilding teens knocking over little old ladies on the north side? Not an issue! The others riding the Red Line up from the south side to beat up the alternative lifestyle folks in and around Wrigleyville? We call those folks the "Rahmish" after our lovely mayor. And four people slaughtered by rifle fire? It's "cultural!"

Would it be nice to have a big company like Amazon here with the potential tens of thousands of jobs? Sure. But let's not pretend that their corporate and legal teams are looking at exactly these types of issues. Amazon might be better off west of O'Hare where land is cheaper, taxes are lower and Chicago is an exciting place held at arm's length.

St Louis Riots

Encouraged by elected officials:

• Following the acquittal of former police officer Jason Stockley for the shooting for Anthony Smith, St. Louis officials spoke out about the verdict, and appear to be promoting civil unrest or worse.
  
  “I want you to prepare and brace yourself for what’s about to come,” an activist said at a press conference after the verdict. “We’ve said it before. When we don’t get justice, we will get peace. Prepare yourselves.”
  
  St. Louis Alderman John Collins-Muhammad then got up to speak.
  
  “Until Black people in this city get justice. Until we get a seat at the table. There will be no peace in this city,” he said. “Everywhere you look, black people are being shot down by police, cops get off, get a pay raise, and nothing happens.”
  
  “We want justice today. We want justice for every black man, every black woman that has died at the hands of police, that has died at the hands of a racist white privilege system and institution set up for the black man and black woman to fail. No more of that! That will change, right here today!”
  
  “JUSTICE OR ELSE,” Alderman Collins-Muhammad screamed as he finished.

Really? Because everywhere we look, black people are being killed by.....other black people. And not by a little ratio either - something on the order of 50-to-1 in most places. And of that minuscule percentage, something like 99% of the deceased were shooting, stabbing or otherwise attacking police.

It isn't just judges finding Officers have acted within the scope of their authority, granted by law. It's juries, too. Also, outside agencies including the actual Department of Justice.

Here's a strange thought - even though we and officers across the nation complain about the quality and quantity of training received by those in our profession (the result of ruthless budget cuts by know-nothing politicians), maybe, just maybe, Officers as a whole, know far more about what the law says and what the law allows than some two-bit pandering, asshole politicians and uneducated activist might think they know? Maybe Officers are ::OMG:: getting it correct 999 times out of 1,000?

And while Officers strive (and continue to strive) to get to that impossible perfect score of 1,000 out of 1,000, the "community" throws its support and faux "outrage" behind:

• a heroin dealer in St. Louis, 
• a strong armed robber in Ferguson,
• a over-weight cardiac-challenged "loosie" salesman in New York, 
• a multiple convicted felon with a knife in Baltimore,
• a knife-wielding property-damaging, high-as-a-kite lunatic in Chicago,
• a suicidal woman in Texas with a Court ordered warrant whose own family couldn't be bothered to come up with a measly $500

Is anyone else as tired of this as so many regular people are?

500....and Counting

The four-bagger this Friday evening pushed Chicago over the 500 mark for the ....well, probably like 80th year in a row or something. HeyJackass has the totals at 506 although the Department is hiding a few, insisting it's "only" 496.

Has Rahm even had a year with less than 500 homicides?

Investigate What?

The "cult of victimhood" and "blame anyone but me!" circus is in full swing, and we can only thank the media for shining a spotlight on it so everyone can see it in all its twisted glory:

• A memorial to honor the life of a West Side teenager found dead in the walk-in freezer at a suburban hotel turned into a protest march and a plea for federal authorities to take over the investigation.
  
  About 100 people, led by the mother of Kenneka Jenkins, 19, who was found dead last Sunday inside the freezer at the Crowne Plaza O'Hare & Conference Center in Rosemont, gathered Saturday in Douglas Park.
  
  From the park, about 30 people snarled eastbound traffic on Roosevelt Road as they marched east to the FBI's Chicago field office on a sunny afternoon. Through chants, group members said they were dissatisfied with hotel videos released by Rosemont police on Friday.
  
  Activists threatened 30 days of protests outside the Crowne Plaza hotel if they weren't given the "full" version of the tape, saying they had only seen small, possibly doctored versions.
  
  "We're here at the FBI building asking for a second look," activist Mark Carter told reporters among a crowd of supporters at the front gate of the FBI office on the Near West Side.

First of all, death investigations aren't wrapped up in 48 minutes (with 12 minutes of commercials.) Toxicology reports take weeks at times, video has to be located, viewed, archived, witnesses have to be interviewed (many of whom are NOT cooperating with Rosemont police for some odd reason). Then there's the mystery of who rented the hotel room, who bought the liquor (and maybe drugs) that may have been ingested by underage individuals.

So what is the FBI going to investigate? Everything known at the moment points to an accidental death driven by all sorts of bad life choices. There are no Civil Rights issues, nothing like a Mann Act violation, no kidnapping. There isn't even a hint that Rosemont is doing anything except conducting a death investigation under their rules, policies and the law. Hell, Andrew Holmes went on TV and told everyone exactly what he viewed on the video to the dismay of the family attorney.

Occam's razor is a philosophic principle that states in part that if there are two explanations, the simpler one is usually the correct one. But not in the "blame anyone but me!" school of thought, fed by media attention, YouTube and FacebookLive bullshit.

Aren't there a crapload of political corruption cases that ought to be investigated locally?

Interesting Idea

Not much good coming out of Baltimore lately - except this maybe:

• Baltimore will consider offering a property tax break to local police and firefighters.
  
  The Baltimore Sun reported Monday that officials believe the relief would entice more emergency responders to live in the city. It would also help the city financially while fostering more trust between safety officials and the public.
  
  The tax break would be $2,500 for a public safety employee who owns a home in the city. It would include sheriff's deputies as well as police and firefighters.

It might - MIGHT - expand the pool of applicants up from the miserable showings of the past ten or fifteen years. It would have to be doubled though.

Anyone See Divvy's Books?

We're just wondering after reading this:

• In 2016, the city of Baltimore partnered with Bewegen Technologies to launch North America’s largest electrical-assisted cycling (or pedelec) bike sharing program. The system is located in Baltimore’s metropolitan area with over 25 stations available. Fast forward one-year later, this grand "sharing economy" experiment in America’s most dangerous city has imploded due to what the company's CEO says is a level of theft he has never experienced before.
  
  As of today, Baltimore officials have suspended all operations of the bike fleet until October 15, 2017. According to the Baltimore Sun, the temporary shutdown is due to “thieves ripping the bicycles out at an unprecedented pace”, said Alain Ayotte, CEO of Bewegen Technologies, the Canadian manufacturer. The manufacturer of the $2.36 million Baltimore Bike Share system said his company has "never experienced the level of theft" that caused officials to announce a temporary shutdown of the program to allow additional locking devices to be installed to the bike docks.

We're seeing less bikes in docks and more Divvy vans picking up damaged bikes at locking stations. We're also seeing Rahm continue with the Bike Lane spending spree (over $100,000 per mile?) Is Chicago making any sort of money on this? Is any reporter looking into this or are they just waiting by the phone for the next hit piece authored by City Hall?

Quadruple Homicide

Countdown to see if Ray Lopez says something monumentally stupid again:

• Four people, including a woman police believe was pregnant, were killed on Friday night in a rifle attack in the Brighton Park neighborhood.
  
  The shooting happened about 8:40 p.m. in the 4700 block of South Fairfield Avenue, police said. Three males, ages currently unknown, and a woman were inside a vehicle when someone inside a white SUV opened fire on them with a rifle, police said.
  
  Responding police officers found their bodies inside the vehicle and they were pronounced dead on the scene. Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the woman was believed to be pregnant, but police won't know for sure until the autopsy.

And how prevalent are the rifles in the hood?

• The Brighton Park neighborhood and the nearby Back of the Yards neighborhood have been the scene of dozens of rifle shootings that have occurred since early 2016.
  
  In February, the Chicago Tribune reported that gangs in the two neighborhoods were increasingly using rifles styled after AR-15s and AK-47s. At the time, there had been more than 30 shootings believed to have been tied to semi-automatic rifles in the two neighborhoods over the last year.
  
  At least 46 people were shot in those attacks, 13 fatally.
  
  The shooting happened near the office of Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th, who sparked a firestorm this past spring when he said "no innocent lives were lost" after two people were killed and eight others wounded when two masked gunmen with rifles opened fire on a group congregating at a makeshift memorial for a man who had been slain in an earlier shooting.

People (or folks) don't want to hear that truth Ray. You should know that. You get elected on lies constantly, blaming the police, society, racism, guns. Never ever tell anyone that they're responsible for their lot in life. Look at that fake priest at St Sabina - never anyone's fault except white people, police, racism, police, Trump, white police, economy, police - he's like a two trick pony.

Where Will Lisa Go?

After not bringing a single case of political corruption to justice, Lisa Madigan is moving on:

• Attorney General Lisa Madigan will not seek re-election in 2018, she announced on Friday morning.
  
  “After serving as Attorney General for over 14 years, today I am announcing that I will not seek reelection,” Madigan said in a statement. "I still have much work to do on many important issues, and I will continue to give my best to the people of Illinois and the Office of Attorney General every day through the end of my term in 2019."

So after covering for her father for the past 14 years and continuing on for another 2 years yet, what awaits the "qualified only by last name" Attorney General whose biggest accomplishments remain a "dangerous toys lies" released every Christmas shopping season?

We're betting it's another statewide office or possible judgeship.

Governor? Mike leaves office and boosts Lisa into a position to cover up the rest of his crimes as he fades slowly into the background?

Where the Money Goes

Believe us, this is just a tiny glimpse into how the County, City and CPS waste money:

• A Chicago Public Schools principal has been barred from an alternative high school operating in the Cook County Jail following allegations that she falsified student data.
  
  Sheriff Tom Dart issued the ban Wednesday, saying he agrees with a report by the CPS inspector general that recommended Sharnette Sims be fired. He said starting Thursday, Sims won't be allowed to enter the jail.
  
  In the report, Nicholas Schuler called York Alternative High School "a credit mill."
  
  Schuler says York routinely granted attendance and course credit to students who had left the jail or been moved to solitary confinement where they couldn't attend classes. One student who was released from jail and killed a week later was still listed as attending classes.

Not only do the dead vote in Cook County, they attend CPS classes, costing the taxpayers even more money.

Don't Mess with Grandpa

Priceless:

• An elderly grandfather threw a man off his roof, ending an hours-long standoff in which the agitated suspect jumped from home to home in a southern California neighborhood on Tuesday.
  
  The suspect was on top of homes in a La Puente neighborhood for hours, refusing commands from deputies and crisis negotiators asking him to come down.
  
  Capt. Tim Murakami, of the Industry sheriff's station, said the standoff ended when 83-year-old homeowner Wilford Burgess "got tired of his games and pushed him off."

There's video at the link, which is funny as hell.

10% Sustained

COPA is rolling out and the word on the street is that they are under the gun for a 8-to-10% sustained rate of complaints. This is before they have even been activated as the lead agency. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a quota. And cops are going to pay in suspension time, employment and even jail time.

The article is a marvel of leftist bullshit:

• As Chicago's new police oversight agency prepared to begin operations, its chief administrator led a graduation ceremony for some 40 staffers newly trained in investigating alleged misconduct by officers.
  
  The event last week took on the feel of a pep rally as Sharon Fairley summoned each trainee and gave brief, encouraging descriptions of those who will staff the Civilian Office of Police Accountability when it opens Friday.
  
  She described one as a "female Sgt. Friday" who seeks "just the facts" while praising employees for their tenacity, inquisitiveness and unwillingness to settle for anything but the truth.
  
  Those are qualities rarely ascribed to the new agency's predecessor, the Independent Police Review Authority, which was led by Fairley and where some of those same trainees worked. That agency's tenure will end after a decade marked by questionable investigations, long delays and rare attempts at disciplining cops.

"...the feel of a pep rally..." You mean like before the big game? Because that is exactly what this is to them - a game. And as we stated before, the prize is how many heads they can nail to the wall. And if you read the entire article, you'll see that we were 100% correct - the effort to discredit IPRA is full speed ahead in order to establish instant "credibility." IPRA is castigated time and time again in the article. And as predicted....:

• The agency has also reopened controversial cases closed before the McDonald scandal, though COPA spokeswoman Mia Sissac could not say how many.

We'll tell you right now, the SOS scandal is back in play, probably Broken Star in 015, almost anything attached to 025, and a few Englewood scandals, though curiously, nothing in Housing.

And what's with this leftist crack from the head of a city agency?

• In an interview with the Tribune at COPA's newly expanded headquarters in West Town, Fairley grew most animated when asked if the disciplinary system victimizes police.
  
  "Oh, give me a break!" she said.
  
  "We are at a real crossroads in our city, and they are a member of this community," she said. "Just because we're holding them accountable in a way they haven't experienced before, they're squealing. I can't be sorry for that."

In this hyper-sensitive political age, any copper making a snarky generalization that has even a hint of a disparaging undertone would be crucified on the 24-7 news cycle. But Fairley is permitted to equate coppers legitimate objections with "squealing?" What else squeals?

FOP, you're going to let this stand?

If that doesn't tell you exactly where Fairley and her merry band of hangmen are coming from, we don't know what will.

Garry in the News

Making another appearance in the Jackson Divorce trial:

• Before Sandi and Jesse Jackson Jr. drag former Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy and a seeming cast of thousands into their divorce case, let's find out what the Jacksons think it will add — in private.
  
  That's the order of the Washington, D.C., judge tasked with handling the disgraced former power couple's increasingly bitter split.
  
  Judge Craig Iscoe says Jackson must make a sealed filing explaining what he thinks McCarthy and two other men he wants to depose can reveal about the breakdown of his marriage. And the judge says Sandi needs to explain what 12 would-be witnesses she'd like to put under oath — including Jackson's blonde onetime travel companion — would add.
  
  Sandi is fighting the attempts to subpoena McCarthy, who has repeatedly said he has no idea why he is being tied to the case. Lawyers for Sandi last week characterized her estranged husband's attempts to subpoena the former superintendent and two other men as being done for the "purposes of harassment or to bring the parties negative publicity."

Well, we can think of at least one reason that a husband, serving time in Federal prison, would want to subpoena multiple male subjects in a divorce proceeding.

In other news, is Garry going to run for mayor?

• First there were buttons. Now there's a campaign committee.
  
  Paperwork was filed with state elections officials Wednesday to create "GMFM — Garry McCarthy for Mayor Exploratory Committee."
  
  The purpose of the committee? "To explore the prospect of the candidacy of Garry McCarthy for Mayor of Chicago," according to the form filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Without even digging for skeletons, McCompStat is a DOA mayoral candidate. The only role he could possibly play is "spoiler" to draw votes from somewhere else. Hell, we covered his liberal (and documented) use of the "n" word during his time in New York. That would be plenty to drive the "community" vote Rahm's way in a 2-or-3-way race with no dominant black candidate.

Still Killing Crime

Downgrading PSMV to Trespassing:

• A Jeep Grand Cherokee stolen at gunpoint from a 33-year-old woman in Avondale on Friday was recovered on Monday after three people riding in the car crashed it on the Near West Side.
  
  Officer Christine Calace, a Chicago Police spokeswoman, said that around 8:45 p.m. on Monday, Near West Police found the woman's car after three men riding in it crashed it in the 400 block of South Damen Avenue, near the CTA's Illinois Medical District Blue Line station.
  
  Calace said that the three men fled after the crash, running to the CTA Blue Line. They were arrested by other officers at the next L stop.
  
  Three "people of interest" were taken in for questioning and two of the three people were charged in the incident — receiving misdemeanors for trespassing, Calace said.

Here's a funny little statistic compiled by some of our fans (click for the larger version):

The Wards that went biggest for Foxxx are among the biggest in terms of increased car-jackings. Not all, but enough to make you wonder at the odd coincidences one finds by looking a little deeper than the numbers Rahm's tools feed the media, who lap it up.

Sun Times Butthurt

The FOP 2nd VP got tired of OFficers being confronted at home by reporters, so her fired off a letter to the Slum Times:

• It has come to the attention of the FOP that you have gone to the homes of department members in the course of pursuing stories for your publication.
  
  This letter is to notify you to cease and desist this practice. The proper and traditional means of contacting department members is through the Chicago Police Department. Police officers have always had an expectation of privacy in their homes. Their private residence should remain free from media access. Your use of this tactic is unprofessional and unethical, and is further illuminative of your publications’ general bias against the police.
  
  I am informing my members not to speak to either of you, or any Sun-Times reporter, if they come onto their private residence. I am further advising them to call the police and sign complaints for trespassing if you refuse to leave.
  
  Sincerely,
  Martin Preib
  Second Vice President, FOP

The Slum Times responded thus:

• The tenets of journalism, especially investigative journalism, call for reporters to interview the people they’re writing about to get their sides of the story.
  
  Sometimes, it’s an email. Sometimes, it’s a phone call. Sometimes, it’s a trip to their home or office. Many times, it’s all of the above.
  
  Make no mistake, Mr. Preib, this publication calls it like it sees it when it comes to the Chicago Police Department.

Which is telling. They certainly don't call it as everyone else sees it in terms of crime, regularly omitting descriptions of offenders. They accept Rahm's bullshit numbers as real despite mountains of evidence (much of it published here) that refutes what they are spoon-fed. We've outlined dozens, if not hundreds, of instances of corruption that their so-called "investigative journalists" ought to be investigating while two of their reporters (Main and Spielmann) "borrow" without attribution dozens of other stories. And far too often, the Slum Times tells one portion of a story (the titillating portion) to paint a certain slant while ignoring the other portion (the clout that allowed the misconduct to occur/continue).

Common politeness would dictate that an Officer's home is out of bounds - and that includes posting pictures of the house and address. Spouses and children don't need to get dragged into nonsense. If an officer isn't commenting, it's most likely because of Department policy or advice of Counsel. If an officer wants to comment, we're sure they'll find a way to contact a reporter.

Unions Prepare to Sell Out

Not ours. Not yet:

• Union leaders are closing in on an agreement with Mayor Rahm Emanuel that could pave the way for increased health care premiums for more than 10,000 city tradespeople, a powerful labor leader disclosed Tuesday.
  
  Chicago Federation of Labor President Jorge Ramirez refused to say how much more employees would pay, or if labor would demand a no-layoff/no privatization guarantee in return along with a continuation of the prevailing wage paid in private industry.
  
  He would say only that negotiations “concentrating on health care” are “getting productive” and he hopes to finalize an agreement “sooner rather than later.”

The paper quotes Rahm's "won't someone think of the taxpayer mantra again:

• “As we negotiate new contracts, I expect … to see savings in wages and benefits, health care and other places,” Emanuel said then. “And I expect them to be a partner in trying to find the savings.”

- forgetting that city workers are taxpayers, too.

And we don't know what Ferguson was promised to be Rahm's hatchet man, but it must have been extensive:

• Ferguson has been highly critical of Daley’s decade-long commitment to pay a prevailing wage to members of the building trades — a wage no other major city pays.
  
  The inspector general has urged Emanuel to shorten future contracts and include a “mandatory mid-term re-opener” triggered by a “fiscal emergency” or whenever the city’s operating revenues drop below a “certain negotiated percentage.”

Which we will guarantee, here and now, will occur every single year from here onward.