Second City Cop

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Labels: blogging

Labels: safety issues

• The Illinois House approved Wednesday night the revenue portion of Speaker Mike Madigan's budget proposal. It includes 300ドル million in new business taxes and no new casinos.

• The plan could run into opposition from the governor, and from Senate President Emil Jones.
  
  They favor a bigger spending increase.

• The House Democrats' plan does not make full pension payments that are due to state pension funds. It raises taxes on businesses by closing some exemptions that are worth several hundred million dollars, and it leaves Mayor Richard M. Daley facing potential cut-backs and lay-offs at the Chicago Transit Authority and Chicago Public Schools.

• Huberman detailed four other plans that CTA staff considered before recommending cutting service on 63 bus routes and the Yellow Line and Purple Line Express routes and introducing a new fare structure that would charge rush-hour commuters up to 3ドル.25.

  One plan involved closing the CTA's 97ドル.5 million budget gap almost solely by raising fares. Under that plan, riders would pay 7ドル to ride buses and trains during peak hours.

  Another option -- if the CTA didn't divert any capital dollars to its operating budget -- would have been to increase fares to as much as 5ドル.50 during peak hours, while eliminating 107 bus routes and all CTA L lines except Red and Blue.

Labels: state politics

• Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Tuesday offered a plan to provide health care to millions of Americans and more affordable medical insurance, financed by tax increases on the wealthy.
• Obama didn't mention how much his plan would cost and the campaign refused to provide a total figure. A memo written by three outside experts and distributed by the campaign after his speech said the plan would cost an estimated 50ドル billion to 65ドル billion a year once fully implemented. That amount, however, is after deducting what the campaign says Obama's plan would generate through improved efficiency and other federal savings.

Labels: elections, national politics

• I'm sitting here looking at the seven test questions that lieutenant candidates for the Chicago Police Department will face next month if they choose to retake the oral portion of their promotional exam.

  The irony of me having these questions in my possession is that the oral exam is designed to test their ability to think on their feet in a spontaneous situation.

  But I already have the test questions because they already have the test questions because they already took the same test once -- which means there won't be anything spontaneous about it.

  If that doesn't make sense to you, then join the club.

Labels: city politics, promotions

• The South Side's Sen. James Meeks fears the Chicago Public Schools that are his top priority will not get the big funding increase he says they need.
  
  "We need to call it what it is: racism. We need to return to the marches and protests of the '50s and '60s. And say to Springfield, enough is enough," Meeks said.

Labels: state politics

• Elias Munoz, the father of a Chicago alderman, has been charged in connection with a Little Village raid last month. Federal authorities claim a photo shop was producing phony identification documents.
• The complaint also alleges that undercover informants posing as fake ID sellers used the Munoz photo shop to make phony Social Security cards, green cards and drivers licenses. The government also claims that on busy days the shop would complete well over 100 orders a day for photos that ultimately would be used for phony identification cards.

Labels: city politics

• Nearly two dozen female and minority investors in the failed Emerald Casino could get bailed out of their multimillion-dollar, bad investment under a massive gambling expansion backed by Gov. Blagojevich and Senate President Emil Jones.
• Tucked within the 218-page gambling bill is a controversial provision that could allow the clout-heavy group to recoup 32ドル.8 million lost on the Emerald deal and have an ownership stake in one of four new casinos proposed for Chicago and the suburbs.
• "When you invest, whether in a casino or stocks, you are taking a risk. . . . When you invest and lose, the state shouldn't be bailing you out," said Cindi Canary, director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.
• Emerald investors include Sandra Degnan, wife of former mayoral aide Tim Degnan; Chaz Ebert, wife of Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert; Connie Payton, widow of Chicago Bear Walter Payton, and former Chicago Bear Shaun Gayle.

Labels: dumb ideas, state politics

• The "victim" has been named as a gang member in a number of comments and it's been reported so by a number of news outlets. BUT, we are noticing more and more of the news reports are deleting that allegation. One outlet has even posted a variation on the "innocent altar boy" theme saying that the "victim" can always be found playing saxophone at his church. This media whitewashing is especially troubling.
  
• The Officer was the subject of a hit attempt, the cause of a Zero Tolerance operation against a street gang, and continues to have a price on his being wounded or worse. His kid has been the victim of a number of confrontations, assaults and attacks.

• If you touch them, they go to jail.

Labels: department issues, scandals

• Well, the average Joe knows now that we're not prepared...Thanks to this stupid ass post and blogsite.

Labels: department issues

• Would you approve a wage reduction of 1-5 percent in exchange for living outside of the City of Chicago, but within Cook County?

• Is the Lieutenant's Association seriously looking into making residency and issue?
• Who else is going to?

Labels: contract stuff

Labels: we got nothing

Labels: department issues, open posts, we got nothing

• Gov. Blagojevich and Senate President Emil Jones embraced a new 5ドル billion plan Friday that would bring four casinos to the Chicago area and impose additional business taxes to fund health care, schools and mass transit.
• Under Jones-backed legislation that advanced out of a Senate committee by a vote of 8-5, three riverboat licenses would be authorized for Waukegan, the south suburbs and some point within an eight-mile radius of O'Hare Airport. Additionally, Chicago would get a casino.

• Republicans attacked the proposal, in part, because it would divert 2 percent of revenues from the four casinos to Chicago State University, potentially handing the school a 40ドル million windfall that would double its take from the state.
• In committee, Jones initially said Chicago State wasn't in the legislation. But the GOP pointed out the specific language in the 218-page bill that would assure the university a multimillion-dollar windfall, prompting Jones to quietly tell a dissatisfied and surprised Senate Democratic colleague that the bill could be amended.

Labels: state politics

• Police were investigating Saturday the grisly death of a 44-year-old worker who was cut in half by equipment at a Chicago Tribune printing plant.

• The man apparently was cleaning under an elevator when it descended and he became wedged between the elevator and the conveyor belt that carries newspapers to the building's dock area.

Labels: we got nothing

• The ADS of Research and Development is allegedly taking input from a former range officer. This officer is associated with a business that stands to make a bunch of money as one of the agencies that would be allowed to qualify officers on their new weapon. This is also contributing to a hang up in the final signing of the weapons.
  
• A bunch of gun manufacturers are about to discontinue their lines of all metal guns (S&W, Beretta and Ruger). That would leave SIG Arms as the only producer of approved weapons shortly.

Labels: department issues

• I actually tried to recertify this year with the shotgun certification program but since Im no longer on a gang or tact team I was denied, even though I stated in my TO/FROM that I'd even go on my own time. I work midnights and thought it might be good to have an officer or two that was trained and certified with the shotgun since the gang and tact teams are all done by two, God forbid something serious were to happen where a shotgun would help out. Thats how much the powers that be really want to be prepared.
• I recently left a certain unit(yes voluntarily) in which I was shotgun and heavy weapons certified to go back to a district and work the first watch(family reasons, couldn't do the rotating shifts anymore) and was told by the first watch W/C that I would not be able to re-certify because these things "were not needed on the watch." I guess being prepared and officer well-being is not needed on the watch.

Labels: department issues

• Already overflowing with bars and booze, Wrigleyville has finally had enough of what a community leader once called the "Bourbon Street atmosphere" around Wrigley Field.

  On Thursday, Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) took the first of two major steps designed to turn off the spigot.

Labels: silly people

• A few questions from a concerned citizen to the Real Police who have obviously given a lot of thought to these issues-
  

• -Does Chicago utilize the CERT (Civilian Emergency Response Team)concept? There is federal grant money available for this. Interested community members get trained in first aid, SAR, disaster response, etc. I don't think anything would preclude sworn officers and their families from taking this training, even if it was offered only by suburban or outlying first responder agencies/fire departments, etc.

• - For major emergency use only, could an interested officer purchase and keep in their car trunk their own protective mask and related MOPP gear, and related articles that they know work properly and know how to use?

• - Rechargable batteries for portable, two way radios are not overly expensive. Could one not keep a couple of new "reserve" batteries in one's bag, charged and ready to use?

• - Could relevant training be taken on one's personal/vacation time? I knew an officer who did this, and went to an excellent WMD response course sponsored by the USG.

• You shouldn't have to use your own time and money to address these issues, but it's better than the alternative of hope for the best.
  
  Comments?

Labels: terrorism

• Dog owners have been thumbing their noses at the city’s mandatory dog license for decades. Chicago has roughly 500,000 dogs. It sells only 20,072 licenses despite years of threatened crackdowns.

  Why, then, did the Daley administration quietly impose a five-fold increase in the annual license fee for dogs not spayed or neutered — from 10ドル to 50ドル?

• 20,072 licenses at 10ドル per = 200,720ドル in fees
• 479928 unlicensed dogs at 10ドル per = 4,799,928ドル in uncollected revenue

Labels: silly people

• Channel 5 - CTA President Ron Huberman said drastic cuts will be necessary to comply with a directive from the RTA as a contingency plan to balance its 2007 budget. He said in a release that he will recommend a plan calling for further administrative cuts, fare hikes, a 13 percent reduction in bus and rail service, and the transfer of nearly 57ドル million in capital funds intended for renovating buses and rail cars.
• Huberman said he is recommending this approach because of all the scenarios evaluated, it lessened the immediate impact on customers. 58 percent of the necessary funds would come from a transfer of capital and only 15 percent from service reductions and 21 percent from fare increases. Every scenario included 6 percent from administrative reductions.

• Channel 2 - "We would have to develop plans to inform customers of the proposed changes. Basically, the timing of this announcement was driven by a number of factors. I point that out because some of you may jump to the conclusion that we are making this announcement in order to put pressure on the state legislature. Let me be very clear that this is not the case," Huberman said.

Labels: city politics

• New details released on Wednesday revealed just how well prepared Chicago might be for an emergency.
• In January, a federal report ranked Chicago ranked Chicago low among cities for disaster preparedness, but the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications said a staged evacuation of more than 3,000 people from four buildings last September went well.
• "The results of the exercise were positive," said Cortez Trotter, the city's chief emergency officer. "It was a good report."

Labels: safety issues, terrorism

• Hey S.C.C, tomorrow on change day all A/2 tac teams start the new hours of 2000-0430. Thanks Dep. appreciate going to court on no sleep.

Labels: department issues

• Chicago aldermen are demanding city council hearings into last year's report on alleged police torture of murder suspects by John Burge and members of his police unit. The aldermen want the authors of the court-ordered report to explain why Burge has never been indicted or stripped of his police pension and why Mayor Daley, who was state's attorney at the time, hasn't been held accountable for not filing charges against the Burge unit.

• Point #1 - Burge was never indicted because the State's Attorney at the time was building up a law-and-order record to run on and didn't want Burge indicted. The State's Attorney then is the current mayor now
• Point #2 - Burge was never stripped of his pension because to do that, you need a criminal conviction. See Point #1 again
• Point #3 - Three words the City Council better learn in a hurry: Statute of Limitations. Its the reason a bunch of current aldercreatures still have jobs (according to Bob Cooley's book anyway)
  
• Point #4 - Since when has Daley been held accountable for anything? Crooked land deals, fraudulent "minority company" contracts, massive cost overruns, questionable hiring practices, "mericloutorious" promotions of all stripes, etc
  

Labels: city politics

• The environmentalists cherry-pick their temperature data. It's easy to declare an increasing temperature trend by starting your measurements in a very cold period, then plotting a subsequent graph that shows temperatures climbing upward out of that trough. Environmentalists choose to start plotting temperatures over the past 150 years, because 150 years ago we were in a cooler period than now. Thus, voila! Graphic "proof" of "global warming."
  
  But what if we start plotting temperatures earlier than that -- much earlier?
  
  It's easy to see their manipulative scaremongering when Earth's temperature changes are viewed over a VERY long-term perspective...like 425,000 years.

Labels: silly people

• One in four younger U.S. Muslims say suicide bombings to defend their religion are acceptable at least in some circumstances, though most American Muslims overwhelmingly reject the tactic and are critical of Islamic extremism and al Qaeda, a poll says.
• While nearly 80 percent of U.S. Muslims say suicide bombings of civilians to defend Islam cannot be justified, 13 percent say they can be, at least rarely.
• That sentiment is strongest among those younger than 30. Two percent of them say it can often be justified, 13 percent say sometimes and 11 percent say rarely.

Labels: national politics, terrorism

• Retiring Police Supt. Phil Cline on Monday urged Mayor Daley to choose an insider as Chicago's next top cop.

  Cline said he has nobody specific in mind, at least not a name that he plans to share with the public. But he strongly disagreed with those who believe the bench is thin at the Chicago Police Department after a wave of retirements of top brass.

  Cline announced his retirement April 2, but he has agreed to stay on until his successor is chosen later this summer.

Labels: department issues

• Some Chicago teachers are receiving merit pay for the first time. In all, 10 schools will participate, and even the teachers union and the mayor are supporting the plan.
• Teachers at Lawndale Community Academy on the city's West Side welcome the idea of a bonus in their paycheck, which, along with nine other schools, will be the first to participate in the merit pay concept, the money coming from a 28ドル million federal grant.
• First, a school's entire staff has to agree to the merit pay concept. Test score improvement is a must, but everyone on the staff - from the lunch workers to teachers - will mutually benefit.

Labels: open posts

• OFF TOPIC; put very interesting... saturday night one of the aldermen contacted the 008th District and ordered that all of the drag racers around 43rd and pulaski get the cars towed and posssible arrests.
  When 008th district officers arrived they were told to carrall all the cars into a private parking lot in the area and not allow them to leave.
  Officers were then told not to do tow reports on the cars, but that the private towing company thats used in the parking lot will be making the tows....total cars towed 169.
  Interesting thing is since this is a police matter why was E&R towing not used and a private tow company was...not to mention this private tow company is owned by a captain of police brother.
  Still curious just who it was that got there palm greised for this brash stunt.

Labels: rumors

• Do you believe it necessary to have greater diversity in the makeup of the Department’s
  sworn personnel? If yes, how would you increase the percentage of sworn members from under-represented groups?

Labels: we got nothing

• Daley and the city's 50 aldermen were sworn in Monday afternoon at City Hall.

Labels: city politics

Labels: sports

• Authorities said a 24-year-old man may have been fatally stabbed inside his Marquette Park home with an unlikely weapon -- a house key.

  The victim, Coty Jackson, was pronounced dead at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn early Sunday morning.

  Jackson, of the 6400 block of South Artesian Avenue, suffered an apparently fatal stab wound to the back of the neck.

Labels: silly people

• Chicago has experienced a record decrease in homicides and other serious crimes over the past four years. What steps would you take as superintendent to continue this success? How would you address those areas of the city that have experienced less success than others, and address the persistence of gang-related violence?

Labels: we got nothing

• Approximately a month past the Feds provided a document called a "Santiago Proffer" to the court. This document laid out what the Feds believe they will prove in the Family Secrets trial.
  
  In the middle of this document they indicate that someone paid off two high ranking CPD officials routinely in the past. The names have been blacked out but it appears they will be released at trial.
  
  The "Santiago Proffer" can be reviewed at
  www.chicagosyndicate.blogspot.com

Labels: crime

• Are Your Tax Dollars... Going Down the Drain?

• A 38,000ドル clock. Four-hundred-dollar doorknobs. Redecorated bathrooms for state legislators and staff — more than 444,000ドル.

  Those are among the hidden costs of a multimillion-dollar makeover of the Illinois House and Senate with opulent showpieces re-creating the look of the chambers in the late 1800s.

• "Certainly, the chamber has to be nice and to befit a state of our stature. It’s not like we’re Mississippi. We’re a rich state," said Rep. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock). "But it doesn't mean we should waste taxpayers’ money. You see these types of expenditures, and you have to question whether we could have gotten the same effect for a lot less."

Labels: state politics

Labels: open posts

Labels: we got nothing

• A provision requiring payment of back taxes had been in the initial version of a bill proposed by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat. But the administration called for the provision to be removed due to concern that it would be too difficult to figure out which illegal immigrants owed back taxes...

• The real reason they stripped it is because they know illegals wouldn’t comply with it, just like many of them aren’t going to comply by paying the 5,000ドル penalty. Which is why that’ll end up being stripped too.

Labels: national politics

• In chicago, where prices are among the nation's highest, prices rose a penny, to a record average of 3ドル.55.

  Daley said gasoline taxes pay for needed road repairs. He offered motorists this advice.

  "We want more and more people to use public transportation," said Daley. "And maybe this is the year that people realize that -- I don't care where you go -- you need public transportation. You have people driving in-- one in a car-- that really, basically, clogs the expressways. They can only take so much."

Labels: we got nothing

• There's a new lead in the disappearance of Lisa Stebic; it comes as friends and families mark the missing woman's birthday.
  
  The Naperville Sun is quoting an unnamed police source saying police found a tarp in Craig Stebic's truck which has tested positive for his wife Lisa Stebic's blood.
  
  The Will County State Attorney's Office will neither confirm nor deny that, saying the warrant is under seal.

Labels: crime

• The star witness in the government's case against a dozen alleged Chicago mob figures pleaded guilty Friday to taking part in a conspiracy that included 18 slayings.
• Nicholas W. Calabrese -- under heavy security -- admitted that he took part in planning or carrying out 14 of the slayings, including that of Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, long known as the Chicago mob's man in Las Vegas, and Spilotro's brother.
• Calabrese said little at the hearing. But when U.S. District Judge James Zagel asked what he did for a living, he said: "Aside from illegal activities, I was a rigger at McCormick Place," the large exposition hall on Chicago's lakefront south of downtown.

Labels: crime

• 1965: "The bill will not flood our cities with immigrants. It will not upset the ethnic mix of our society. It will not relax the standards of admission. It will not cause American workers to lose their jobs."
  

  1986: "This amnesty will give citizenship to only 1.1 to 1.3 million illegal aliens. We will secure the borders henceforth. We will never again bring forward another amnesty bill like this."

  2007: "Now it is time for action. 2007 is the year we must fix our broken system."

Labels: national politics

Labels: blogging

• What specific steps would you take to continue to address allegations of police
  misconduct and to build greater public trust of the Police Department?

• Address the misconception, perpetuated by the politicians and aided by a complicit media, that every single misstep by police officers is willful, felonious and grounds for gratuitous payoffs from the city treasury.
• Allow Seiser to show everyone what serious misconduct might really look like - and why he never allows it to occur.
  

Labels: we got nothing

• A Kenosha County, Wisconsin, sheriff's deputy was shot and killed during a traffic stop Wednesday night. Police are questioning a suspect taken into custody after a massive manhunt. The deputy was shot during a traffic stop.

Labels: officer down

• Chicago officials botched the scoring of the police lieutenant exam in January and have devised a retest plan that is unfair to the 660 test-takers, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
• City officials are offering a retest on June 23 to anyone who took the January exam. But the sergeants are uncertain whether to sign up because city officials won't identify whose exam answers were lost, according to the suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.
  
  The sergeants also allege that the retest will feature the same videotaped scenarios and questions as the Jan. 6 exam, giving repeat test-takers an advantage.
  
  "It's almost ludicrous, that you're going to give the same scenarios again," said John Pallohusky, president of the sergeants group. "It's like giving people the answers to the test beforehand. A lot of our people put so much time and effort in, it's just demoralizing."

Labels: promotions

• Mayor Daley has ordered 3,250 city managers to take one unpaid furlough day, cut off non-emergency overtime and suspended hiring unrelated to public safety to plug a 10ドル million hole in his 2007 budget.

  The question is whether those belt-tightening measures will be enough to close the mid-year gap -- or whether Chicagoans must brace for a post-election tax increase.

  "I can't tell you that at this time. What we're doing now, rather than look at tax increases, is controlling expenses through the end of the year," city Budget Director Paul Volpe said today.

Labels: city politics, corruption

• Michelle Malkin - Amnesty could cast the US 2ドル.5 trillion - trillion with a "T"
• Hugh Hewitt - "comprise" means no meaningful fence will ever be built to protect the borders
• Red State reveals that there ISN'T even a bill in existence! The Senate will be voting on a bill that doesn't exist and won't even be reviewable until some time AFTER the vote on Monday
• Ace of Spades on denying contributions to the Republican party, Ace of Spades on the 2ドル.5 Trillion, Ace of Spades on switching parties, Ace of Spades on Fred Thompson; Ace is all over this.
• National Review sees this as a disaster
  

Labels: national politics

• Describe and discuss the three most significant accomplishments in your professional
  career that you believe make you well-qualified to serve as superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.

• We run a reasonably well known blog that provides officers with timely gossip and information necessary to fill the 8 hours spent in a squad car with a partner who might not be in a position to fulfill the otherwise painful gaps in conversation;
• We put up with the garbage dished out by this City and political administration on a daily/Daley basis, served countless tours in surroundings that would make the EPA blush, in buildings that would overly excite an OSHA inspector, in vehicles often touted as having failed just about every Federal safety standard in existence, often with co-workers who would give the Psychiatric Association an attack of the vapors. Running the asylum would be a welcome break.
  
• We haven't pissed off Seiser that we know of - and he truly runs it anyway.

Labels: we got nothing

• Fifty million federal dollars for after-school tutoring to produce only negligible gains was money "well spent" by the Chicago Public Schools, Mayor Daley said today, arguing that, "You can't do miracles in one year."

  "Anybody can do a lot of gain. We've seen people in the past [tell students], 'You didn't take the exam this week. That's alright. We'll wait for another couple of weeks. We'll see how well you do. We'll put you on a list of working with you,'" Daley said, apparently referring to gains he viewed as inflated under the regime of former Schools CEO Paul Vallas.

• Some public employees make more in retirement than they did on the job. Hundreds of them in Illinois are now being paid six-figure pensions.
• The top pension paid to a public employee in the state of Illinois last year was nearly 1,000ドル per day, more than 350,000ドル a year in retirement pay to a single public employee.
• "Ninety-four are educators," said Bill Zettler, state pension critic.

Labels: state politics

• A proposed casino for downtown Chicago is back on the table in the State Capitol Wednesday night.
  
  Mayor Richard M. Daley hosted a mini Taste of Chicago in Springfield. Earlier the mayor met the capital's top leaders.
  
  Sources told CBS 2 Daley signed off on a tentative deal that could, after years of discussion, finally bring a casino to downtown Chicago, as well as to south suburban Cook County, north suburban Lake County and a site still to be determined within 8 miles of O'Hare Airport.

• 50% of the projected 200ドル million annually that is to be the City's share is directed into underfunded municipal pensions until the pension is funded at a level considered acceptable by a reputable accounting firm.

Labels: city politics

Labels: department issues

• I learned from a friend that a co-worker of his got locked up in 023. So I checked out the arrest, only to find that it was a GANG team who locked him up for .4grams of weed. That is about a 2ドル.00 street value. Since when do gang teams start locking up professionals for bullshit. We wonder why we can't find a jury to side with us when we are victims. We give more breaks to shitheads every single day. Are these two P.O's afraid to lock up a gang banger??? I don't know a thing about these two coppers but unless there was something more involved these two should have a stern talkingto by their SGT and LT.

Labels: silly people

• Police executed a search warrant at the Plainfield home of Lisa Stebic, who has been missing since April 30.
• Officials said some items were removed from the home, which Lisa shares with her estranged husband, Craig.
• Police are also searching two vehicles owned by the couple.
• Stebic's family has offered a 20,000ドル-reward for information leading to her return...

Labels: crime

• An armed suspect who a detective shot in the legs following a reported gang-related shooting late Monday in the West Side's Humbolt Park neighborhood was in custody early Tuesday.
• "He [the detective] got out of the car and identified himself as a police officer and tells the offender to drop the gun," Camden said. "The offender turns and points his gun at the detective and the detective opens fire."

• In one incident that began late Monday night, South Chicago District undercover police officers saw three people standing on a corner near 78th Street and Burnham Avenue, said police spokesman Pat Camden. As the officers approached, the three began running. Police officers chased them and caught a teenage girl by the arm, Camden said.
  
  "She puts a gun to his chest and pulls the trigger," he said. "The weapon didn't fire."
  
  Camden said the officer knocked her to the ground and drew his gun. As she got up, she again pointed the weapon at him, he said.

• Everyone on scene needs to be safely detained. The runners (or rabbits) are often just speedsters meant to draw off coppers from the people holding the actual work or, in this case, weapons
• We always hear about females being used to hold weapons or contraband. Welcome to reality
• We also hear from more and more coppers that females are much more likely to fight than not and we've observed the same thing. They are also more likely to be carrying an edged weapon of some sort and very much more likely to use it. Introduce some guns? In this case, the subjects unfamiliarity with the weapon probably saved a copper a world a hurt.

Labels: shooting

• Perhaps it is this backbone that City of Chicago mayor Richard Daley recognized in Lightfoot earlier this year when he appointed her to work in the Office of Procurement soon after it came to light that certain companies that had been certified as Minority Business Enterprises or Women Business Enterprises were fronts, created in order to benefit from the city's "set aside" program.
• Lightfoot's reputation for fairness and integrity began to be widely known during her tenure as Chief Administrator of the Office of Professional Standards for the Chicago Police Department. Lightfoot said the biggest challenge in this position was "walking a difficult line between maintaining the integrity of the department and handling complaints against it." One memorable incident occurred in April of 2003, when a van was stopped by police because of an outstanding warrant. The occupants initially refused to get out of the vehicle and the situation rapidly escalated as several squad cars and a large crowd gathered. The police eventually broke the windows of the van and sprayed pepper spray inside. When the driver exited the van the police pushed him to the ground to handcuff him, and even though he was not resisting, excessive force was used. [...] Ultimately, OPS recommended the lead officer be fired, and he ended up facing criminal charges.
  

Labels: we got nothing

• Hundreds of students walked out of a South Side high school this morning to honor a classmate who was shot and killed on a CTA bus last week, and to protest gun violence in their community.
  
  Three female students at Julian High School planned the demonstration, one organizer said. And others students e-mailed or text-messaged each other this morning to spread word of the walkout. At 10 a.m., they began streaming out of the school, blocking traffic as they walked in 103rd Street toward Lowe Avenue.
  
  "We will not lose another one of our friends to gun violence," said senior Brittney Reynolds, an organizer of the walkout.

• Describing their neighborhoods as "under siege," they called on lawmakers to enact tougher controls on the availability of handguns.
  

Labels: crime

Labels: city politics

• A Chicago police officer was found guilty today of running down a 15-year-old boy with his Cadillac and later claiming the car was stolen.
  
  Cook County Criminal Court Judge Michael Toomin found Charlton McKay, 34, guilty of reckless homicide, leaving the scene of an accident and falsely filing a police report in the death of Edward Lucas.

• Six Chicago police officers are accused of beating a group of businessmen at a bar in the Loop. On Tuesday, some of those officers will turn themselves in to face criminal charges.

Labels: scandals

Labels: open posts

• A Wentworth Area detective is hospitalized in serious condition after being shot in the back during a South Side pursuit early Monday.

  Meanwhile, a suspect was in custody for a separate police-involved shooting early Monday on the Near West Side.

  A Wentworth Area detective was shot in the lower back about 12:50 a.m. near West 50th Street and South Peoria Avenue, according to police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro.

  "The detective saw an individual and approached to conduct a field interview," Alfaro said. "The individual ran and the detective gave chase."

  During the pursuit, the detective was shot in the lower back, Alfaro said. It was unclear who shot him and nobody was in custody at 3 a.m., Alfaro said.

Labels: officer down