Second City Cop

Labels: video, we got nothing

• Chicago street parking rates are going up -- again.
  
  The third of five scheduled annual rate increases is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1. But it probably will take several weeks or so to reprogram all of the 4,100 electronic boxes, and drivers will be able to park at the old rates until they are.
  
  [...] According to published reports, Chicago will continue to have the highest downtown parking rates in the country, topping New York's 3ドル.75 an hour and Los Angeles' 4ドル.

Labels: money questions

• A Cook County judge has set bond at 8ドル million for a 24-year-old Wilmette man accused of beating his aunt to death with an aluminum baseball bat.
  
  Police say the fatal beating of 49-year-old Nancee Rapoport occurred Christmas Day, only hours after her nephew, Anthony Rapoport, was released on bond on an unrelated assault warrant.
  
  Wilmette police say they were called to the residence Friday after the aunt and nephew quarreled about donuts he was supposed to buy. They say they arrested the nephew on the outstanding warrant for a Skokie hospital attack.
  
  Officers say that after Anthony Rapoport was released on bond, he returned home and attacked his aunt. He was arrested without incident a short time later.

• Just like Anthony Rapoport, who was given bail after slashing at one e.r. nurse and kicking another while threatening to kill them. He then was given a warrant after missing court; and when arrested for that . . . you guessed it, given bail, after which he went home and killed his aunt with a baseball bat. Bastards are never held accountable. Where's the media attention?

Labels: we got nothing

• A North Carolina company has stopped selling a controversial decal commemorating Chicago's most-recent fallen firefighters and has lodged a complaint with the city's Inspector General claiming harassment.
  
  Firefighters claim the company was being opportunistic and trying to profit from tragedy, but the company says it's all just a big misunderstanding.

Labels: info for the police

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

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

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

Labels: fire fighters

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

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

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

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

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

• Weis issued a statement disputing Braun’s take on his leadership, department morale and the results of his tenure — "two years of straight month-to-month reductions in nearly every category of crime."

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

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

Labels: city politics

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

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

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

Labels: media, we got nothing

• A University Park grandfather placed on probation for gunning down a dog owner after the man’s puppy urinated on his prized lawn was "absolutely relieved" he won’t go to prison.

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

Labels: good news

• A Chicago teenager was charged tonight in the slaying of Chicago Police Officer David Blake, who was shot and killed last month in his SUV on the Southwest Side, authorities said.
  
  A charge of first-degree murder was approved tonight against Bernard Williams, 18, the Cook County state's attorney's office said.
  
  Blake was off-duty when he was found dead inside the vehicle in the 2900 block of West Seipp Street in the Wrightwood neighborhood on the evening of Nov. 22.

Labels: officer down

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

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

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

• The two law-enforcement agencies with the most deaths were the California Highway Patrol and the Chicago Police Department, each with five.

Labels: officer down

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

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

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

• 6300 block of South Sangamon Street
• 10600 block of South Racine Avenue

• 7131 N. Western
• 5220 N. Harlem Avenue

Labels: crime

• Sun Times
• Tribune

• Maybe those defined-benefit pensions aren't so lavish after all.

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

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

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

Labels: fire fighters, pension

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

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

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

Labels: city politics, corruption

• An oversize American flag hanging from an extended fire ladder could be seen from blocks away from the Blake Lamb Funeral Home in Oak Lawn, where hundreds of Chicago firefighters were lined up Monday to pay their respects to fallen comrade Edward Stringer.
  
  
• As the investigation into the blaze in the 1700 block of East 75th Street continues, firefighters from around the Chicago area dressed in their finest uniforms and winter coats, a tradition painfully familiar to many in attendance. Standing in the frigid cold, many were reminded to count their blessings in their often dangerous job. About four months ago, firefighters gathered at the same funeral home to mourn the death of Christopher Wheatley, who died in August after falling 35 feet while fighting a restaurant fire.

Labels: fire fighters

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

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

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

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

Labels: city politics

• As the state's stack of unpaid bills grows, Gov. Pat Quinn is floating the idea of borrowing roughly 15ドル billion to alleviate the pressure, though taxpayers would be saddled with loan payments for years.
  
  The governor has approached several lawmakers with a plan he's dubbed a "debt bond." While the name is somewhat redundant, the thinking is the state can pay back what it owes and plug its big budget hole — if only for a year.
  
  Supporters say the outsize loan would provide instant cash to schools, doctors and social welfare agencies that have laid off workers and cut services as they await long-overdue payments.

Labels: state politics

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

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

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

  And the fourth? The police won’t say.

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

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

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

Labels: city politics, corruption

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

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

Labels: pension

• Off Topic but Important,
  
  This could have been a repeat of an incident some time ago in the 10th District. An MSF cop on his way home from Homan Square after 0300 finds himself followed in his car by some gang bangers out to do some damage.
  
  Only this time the Dispatchers and everyone else were on the ball.
  
  Offenders in custody. In previous incidents shots were exchanged and officer went to station to get help.
  
  These assholes know the districts are low in manpower and the "special units" are all gone at 3AM. So that is when they go hunting, sometimes they get other gangbangers, sometimes they get a couple of Irish students walking home and sometimes they confront a ODPO.
  
  Stay safe, be aware when you go to and from work, carry your gun and a lot of ammo. Have a good cell phone with 9-1-1 on voice dial and the local district desks. Make sure your car is in good shape and always wear your seat belt and think about wearing body armor to and from work.

Labels: from the comments, info for the police

• As we along with our families prepare for the holiday season, the temptation is for us to slip into a more festive and relaxed mindset. Ove the past two weeks the number of shootings and homicides in locations that are historically problematic should serve as a stark that we cannot afford to relax or be consumed by the holiday festivities. Now is the time to be more vigilant. Please ensure we focused on the bad guys and that we targeting them with laser precision.. Let's get the bad guys and lock them down!!!!

• Chief Brown is creative, refuses to accept the status quo, looks to improve efficiencies, pushes his personnel to new heights, demonstrates both courage and conviction, and is loyal to the department. In simple terms, he is a leader. We would be well served with many more like him. JW [on his blog 17 Jun 2010]

Labels: un-fucking-believable

• OT-things are heating up in reference to the 2006 SGT exam. There was unequivocal cheating that occurred. Its also apparent that many of the people who scored well on the exam are relatives of CPD bosses. What a shock! Options are being discussed now as what to do with the exam. One option is to pull down the list in its entirety. If the scandal becomes public expect many lawsuits to be filed. Weis is still not sure if he will expose this test scandal. Also, weis now has people looking at the 2004 Detective exam. I will go out on a limb and say there will probably be problems with that exam. I am truly sickened from what I have learned concerning the SGT test. ----a obscure PO from 35th street.

Labels: promotions

• Rex Ryan and the New York Jets would like to focus on business matters instead of personal ones. The Chicago Bears have already taken care of their business by winning the NFC North.

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

Labels: sports

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

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

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

Labels: city politics

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

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

Labels: fire fighters

Labels: general

• ‘Twas the night before Christmas and kids in their beds,
  Dreamed only of Santa bringing hair for their heads.
  They lost it to chemo that mixture of meds,
  It’s helpful, but boy side effects how they dread.
  
  Doctors and nurses provide such great care,
  And research is hoping a cure is more near.
  Research costs money and that is a fact,
  But some try to help so they make a pact.
  
  They’ll shave their heads, and help raise some money,
  And for a couple of weeks they’ll look kind of funny.
  Each March us coppers all band together,
  For children like Tommy, Sally and Heather.
  
  These kids and others fight this terrible disease,
  While parents and family pray down on their knees.
  The pain and uncertainty is what is most worse,
  When dealing with cancer that seems like a curse.
  
  The kids are amazing and take it in stride,
  With such strength and fortitude their own pain they hide
  Bone cancer, leukemia and names that are long,
  Won’t conquer these kids who all seem so strong.
  
  They need the support from the poor and the wealthy,
  Call family and friends, let’s make them all healthy.
  St. Baldrick’s is conquering cancer each day,
  Sign up and help us, the cure’s on the way!

Labels: events

• 45+ people attempted to bid OUT of 007!!

• In 025 out of 17 vacancies posted, all 17 were filled. The cut off date was 2006. A lot of people with time on the job bid to 025.

Labels: from the comments

• Monday, December 27, 2010
  Blake Lamb Funeral Home
  4727 W. 103rd St.Oak Lawn, IL
  Visitation: 3:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
  
  Funeral:Tuesday, December 28, 2010 10:00 a.m. (Tentative)
  St. Rita of Cascia Chapel
  7740 S. Western
  Chicago, IL
  
  Cemetery: Pending

Labels: fire fighters

• RWOC for his efforts: wasting countless department resources, endangering the lives of all involved, threatening officers with an AK-47 and being here illegally-not from Mexico. Glad to see our system really works.

Labels: from the comments

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

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

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

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

Labels: fire fighters

• Making a profit on Taste of Chicago and the city's six other annual festivals could prove difficult for a private company willing to take on the challenge, according to city documents provided to firms preparing bids.
  
  The city lost more than 6ドル.9 million on the events the last three years, records show. So it's probably no surprise that Mayor Richard Daley's administration says companies bidding to run the events can consider charging admission fees and selling naming rights.
  
  "Ideally, these festivals would remain free, but (bidders) should submit responses that include their recommendations on the economic model which can include an entrance fee," the city bid documents state.

Labels: we got nothing

• Mr. Landesberg is probably best known for the role of Detective Sgt. Arthur P. Dietrich in the '70s sitcom "Barney Miller." The show, which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1982, featured Mr. Landesberg as an intellectual detective with a quiet manner who seemed to have an unrivaled knowledge of practically any topic that arose.
  
  The sitcom, set in a New York City police station, portrayed a group of wisecracking detectives who dealt with the oddball characters who would end up there. With most of the action in the squad room rather than on the street, some police officers have said that the show often better represented the real life of rank-and-file officers than many detective dramas on television.

Labels: we got nothing

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

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

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

Labels: city politics

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

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

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

Labels: good news

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

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

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

Labels: city politics

Labels: dumb ideas

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

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

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

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

Labels: city politics, fire fighters

• At least four firefighters were trapped and injured after a wall collapsed in a 3-11 alarm fire at an abandoned South Side commercial building this morning, authorities said.
  
  Firefighters searched through rubble for more than an hour as the trapped firefighters were pulled out and rushed to hospitals.
  
  Police squad cars escorted two ambulances north on Lake Shore Drive to Northwestern as ramps were closed to clear it of traffic, according to fire communications. One of the firefighters there was described as "grave." The condition of the other one was not available.
  
  At least two other firefighters to taken to other hospitals but their conditions also were not known.

Labels: fire fighters

• Reports of violent and property crimes continued to decline in the first half of 2010, according to preliminary crime report released by the FBI Monday.

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

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

Labels: crime

• Illinois will lose a congressional seat, the U.S. Census Bureau announced on Tuesday; following the 2012 elections, Illinois will send 18 members to the House of Representatives, down from the current 19.

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

Labels: national politics

• The federal judge who sentenced former Gov. George Ryan to 61/2 years in prison in 2006 refused Tuesday to release him early from custody, saying that while she was saddened by his wife's terminal illness, Ryan was to blame for his own plight.
  
  Ryan's wrongdoing "has exacted a stiff penalty not only for himself but also for his family," U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer concluded near the end of her 58-page ruling.
  
  Coming a few days before Christmas, the decision is a bitter blow for Ryan's family. The former governor's son and namesake, George Ryan Jr., paused to keep his composure as he started to address more than a dozen reporters and photographers in front of the family's Kankakee home and then in a shaky voice ripped the ruling as "heartless and cruel."
  
  "Is this what American justice is now?" he said.

Labels: corruption, state politics

• On 06 December 2010, a accidental discharge occurred at the Area 3 Range during the 3.5 hour Firearms Training Course. An officer fired a round while bringing his gun up on target that struck the concrete floor, causing fragments to spray himself, the instructor and another officer. Minor lacerations and no small embarrassment resulted, and all the officers were taken to the hospital to make sure no fragments remained embedded. They will be fine.
  
  Notifications were made to the upper echelons, an ET was ordered and the cumbersome paperwork was begun that always follows such an incident. Somehow, IPRA ended up in the loop and demanded a CR number be generated. The District Commander said "no" as it was a training exercise. IPRA went around his back and contacted the ADS of the Academy, who also said, "no." So IPRA did what they seem to do best and generated their own CR number (and possibly an additional U-number), thereby injecting themselves into a non-criminal incident that they have no authority or directive to investigate.
  
  IPRA investigates police shootings and allegations of misconduct, not training accidents. IPRA is attempting to interpret their rules as "all shootings resulting in injury" will be investigated by them regardless of the circumstances of the shooting. This is not a good thing.

Labels: info for the police

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

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

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

• The new information about Scott’s consulting contract appears to contradict statements that had been made by Scott and Mayor Daley that Scott wasn’t planning to cash in on his dual roles as an Olympic organizer and a real estate developer.

• that no one has been indicted yet for all the money thrown around in an effort to win the crookedest sporting event known to mankind and
• that there haven't been a dozen other suicides related to this debacle

Labels: olympics, we got nothing

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

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

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

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

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

• Speaking outside court, Matthews said "I don’t feel like justice has totally been carried out."

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

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

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

• Matthews said she would "be keeping my eye out" for both boys and wouldn’t hesitate to call police on them again, though she hoped "they do something better and constructive with their lives."

Labels: general

• A Statement from Chicago Tea Patriots founder Catherina Wojtowicz concerning the events on the night of Friday, December 10, 2010.
  12/16/10
  
  "We were the target of an arson Friday at our Christmas Party.
  
  At approximately 8 p.m. smoke began to fill the rooms of Dugan’s Irish Pub where we hosting our Christmas Party. The entire bar soon became engulfed with thick, heavy smoke and the bar was evacuated. Within moments the Chicago Fire and Police arrived and began to clear and secure the premises. We were detained outside while firemen cleared the bar. After waiting an hour outside, with other dozens of other bar patrons, we were allowed back in to gather our belongings. The bar was covered in soot and patrons had great difficulty in breathing. Bar management had to close the bar for the night, thus losing revenue during the busy Christmas season.
  
  Tuesday I received a phone call from detectives from the Chicago Bomb and Arson Department who informed me that four devices, which appeared to be roadside flares, were taped together and left lit and smoldering in the trash can of the men’s bathroom. On the lid of the toliet seat, written in red, it read: F#CK THE CHICAGO TEA PARTY
  
  Bomb and arson police have deemed this an arson and are now investigating.
  
  [...] Because the devices were left in the bathroom it will be difficult to deduce who is the offender from videos and because nobody was killed or harmed (thankfully), fingerprints will not be processed for anywhere from six months to a year. However, if an offender is found, they will be charged with a felony.

Labels: terrorism

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

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

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

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

Labels: gun issues

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

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

Labels: sports

• Now comes the interesting part. When the majority of these bids remain vacant, let's see how they fill them. As SCC says, "hang on boys and girls, it's gonna be a wild ride"!
  
  
• I work on the fourth floor at Fled-Quarters, management will attempt to circumvent the contract by detailing one to two P.O.s from each watch from selected districts and units for 90 days and then again reach out for more each 90 day period. Its can do per Management and Labor Affairs


• Exactly what they did over the summer with TRU and MSF. Only then they dumped malcontent unit PO's on us.

• The Department has posted the openings. They have no basis in reality - look how long they posted 35 or 40 openings for 003. Didn't mean a thing. And looking at a few of these Districts, they haven't posted an opening in years and now suddenly, they're short 15 or more? It's bullshit.
• That being said, the minute 004 or 008 or 025 don't get their 14 bidders, the Department can declare those spots "unfilled." You see it all the time on the Transfer Orders - "There was no successful bidder for this position." Those spots will be filled one way of the other this time. Now the Department can move people from their Unit of Assignment to those openings. We've been told the only restriction is if you actually bid to a district (not a watch, but to a District).
• Guess who they're going to take? Remember earlier this year, Downtown Ernie Brown asked for and received from all the District Commanders, a list of personnel who were the "lowest performers." Welcome to Englewood, Harrison and points due south.

Labels: contract stuff, info for the police

• Commander in 011 cancels christmas watch party for first watch. Reason being she says that cars from other districts 12, 13. 14, etc cannot cover our district for a watch party. That only happens for the district party that other cars will come in and cover our district... That's total bullshit! Who the fuck is she kidding. also she said that there is no way 011 dist on 1 watch can be down 4 cars... Where have you been lady we were down 4 to 5 sometimes 6 cars all summer. She is just pissed off that no one is going to the 011 dist. She is clueless the worst ever. Why do we on midnights even go out and work for you if that is how you are going to treat the watch.

Labels: dumb ideas, from the comments

• It has been seven months since gunfire took the life of Chicago police Officer Thomas Wortham IV outside his parents' home in the Chatham neighborhood.
  
  Yet a visit to the home Sunday by retired and current police officers — dressed as Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and their elves, or on hand to help out — was a reminder that his sacrifice will never be forgotten.
  
  When the officers arrived with coffee mugs and a poinsettia, Wortham's mother, Carolyn, appeared surprised at the turnout of her son's brothers and sisters in blue.

Labels: officer down

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

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

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

Labels: suburban

• District / No. of Vacancies
  004 - 14
  005 - 6
  007 - 8
  008 - 15
  011 - 15
  025 - 17

Labels: info for the police

• Over the past few months, the department implemented and offered a test for Police Technician. The test was offered to members who fit a certain criteria. I believe 5 years on the job and assigned to OCD. The FOP sued to open it up to 3yrs on the job and I think any unit could take the test. The test was an electrical aptitude test, which may have been offered for sale on line.
  
  I took the test and did not score high enough to make the next level... the practical. Those who did well enough on the practical moved on to the oral interview.
  
  WELL.... a lot of issues with this.
  
  Rumor is that they are going to make MERIT Technician. At least one genius who failed the first part and did not take the second or third part will be made MERIT.
  
  My question is why???? If he/she could not pass Part 1, then clearly they should not be a Technician. I know of about 200 other people that feel the same. Also, the department tried to rush this test quietly. The only reason I was aware of it was knowing where the office is and asking.
  
  Typical city BS and typical way to get wrong guy in right job.

Labels: tests

• Federal law enforcement terror bulletins have become as much a part of the holiday season in the past decade as egg nog and department store Santas.
  
  But this year, which ends amid a heightened concern over terror, is a little different. A Department of Homeland Security bulletin sent to law enforcement nationwide Thursday says that federal authorities worry terrorists will try to rattle Americans by attacking during the holidays, and lists concerns including car bombs, trucks ramming crowds and a Mumbai-style small arms attack.

Labels: terrorism

• The stage is set for a confrontation over Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis’ upcoming plan to reallocate police resources from lower-crime districts to those that need more officers.

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

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

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

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

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

Labels: contract stuff, FOP, info for the police

• I retired in November and have two old ballistic vests. I contacted the Marine Reserve Center at 3034 W. Foster and verified that they are actively collecting used vests. They use these vests to line their vehicles to absorb some of the impact from IEDs. The contact people are: Master Sgt Hernandez and Staff Sgt Pena 773-539-6464 ext330.
  
  Lets clean out our closets and put all those old vests to good use. Hundreds of retirees can help out a lot of Marines.There are plenty of former Marines in each police district. How about if you guys collect in your District and make one big delivery to the Reserve Center.

Labels: events

• But has anyone heard about an order set to be released soon stating that ALL sworn personnel will swipe in and out beginning at 0000 hrs. on 01 Jan. 2011 ????

Labels: rumors

• It was a lonely scene — a freezing coyote, stranded on a tiny slab of ice, adrift in Lake Michigan.

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

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

Labels: silly people

Labels: open posts

• Dude, think twice before using what reputation you currently enjoy to pimp for your buddy selling off a condo. You just knocked your credibility down a few notches.
  
  
• BAD DECISION SCC... I don't read your blog for Advertisments. Let his Realtor do his job. You stick to what you do Best!
  
  
• SCC, I'm going to argue that this is below the belt. One can argue back that Cozzi was too. Still, two wrongs don't make a right.

Labels: scc responds

• Mayoral challenger James Meeks scrambled Thursday to put out a political fire touched off by his suggestion that only African-Americans should be eligible for city contracts set aside for minorities and women.

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

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

Labels: city politics, elections

• Thirteen students were arrested at Foreman High Thursday after a tussle over a football outside the school cafeteria escalated into a major fight.

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

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

Labels: officer injured

• Seven people have been arrested after nearly 11 tons of marijuana was found packed into six railroad cars from Mexico in what could be the largest pot seizure in the Chicago area.
  
  The marijuana was found at a south suburban warehouse this month, according to the U.S. attorney's office, which valued the pot at 22ドル million.

• A family is accused of running a 1ドル million "designer marijuana" operation from their home in an unincorporated area near Tinley Park.
  
  John Gecan, 52, his wife Darlene, 52, their son Christopher, 27, and another relative, James Osmolski, 22, were charged after police busted the pot growing operation in the 7,000-square-foot home in the 5300 block of West 175th Street, according to Cook County Sheriff's officials.

Labels: sarcasm AND silliness

• One person was hospitalized in fair-to-serious condition and "multiple arrests" are being made after a disturbance at a high school on the Northwest Side, officials said.
  
  The incident was reported at about 1:03 p.m. today at Foreman High School, 3235 N. Leclaire Avenue, officials said.
  
  Officials said the an altercation broke out between students at the school and lead to 10 people being arrested, said Chicago Public Schools Spokeswoman Monique Bond.
  
  A Chicago police officer received minor injuries during the disturbance, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala.
  
  Chicago fire department officials said at least one person was taken to Lutheran General Hospital at about 1:16 p.m.

Labels: officer injured

• Stunning se corner 3 bed/2 ba condo at 14th & michigan ave. Feats floor-to-ceiling windows, hrdwd flrs, custom lighting, highly upgraded kit w/ss ge monogram appls, 42"custom cabinets w/glass fronts, custom hardware, pantry, granite countertops w/breakfast bar, master suite w/walk-in closet & ceramic slate & oversized shower, marble guest bath w/shower, in-unit laundry & priv terrace. 1 parking space 35,000ドル.

• Master Bedroom 12X14; Bedroom 2 12X13
  Bedroom 3 12X11; Master Bathroom Double Sink
  Dining Room COMBO; Kitchen 11X13, Breakfast Bar/Area/Nook
  Dining Area Yes; Living Room 23X16
  Laundry Room Dryer, Washer
  Appliances Dishwasher, Disposal, Microwave, Range, Refrigerator

• Tax Amount 8,932ドル.10
  Tax Year 2009

Labels: sarcasm AND silliness

Labels: sarcasm AND silliness

• Lura Lynn Ryan, wife of jailed former Gov. George Ryan, has been diagnosed with a very aggressive lung cancer and given a prognosis of three to six months to live, according to former Gov. Jim Thompson, Ryan’s attorney.

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

• Mrs. Ryan has an aggressive form of lung cancer, that if untreated, would be fatal in 3 months.

Labels: corruption