Get Used to Seeing This

National Review made this one of their "Pictures of the Year"

Get used to seeing Rahm piss away more money Chicago doesn't have.

Remember, "For the Children"

Or is it "For Your Safety?"  We can't keep all of Rahm's (and Daley's) bullshit straight.

Once again, here's an interesting side effect that gives lie to the "safety" argument people:

• They were installed at dangerous intersections to reduce the number of crashes, but New Jersey's controversial red-light cameras have actually seen an increase in collisions, according to a new state report.
  
  A New Jersey Department of Transportation analysis of two dozen intersections that have had the automated traffic cops for at least a year found that accidents — particularly rear-end crashes — have increased, and the collisions are more costly.
  
  Rear-end collisions at the intersections were up by 20 percent, from 286 the year before the cameras were installed to 343 the year after, according to the report made public yesterday. Overall, accidents increased from 577 crashes the year before the cameras were installed to 582 the year after. The "crash severity cost" — which takes into account vehicle and property damage, emergency response and medical care — increased by nearly $1.2 million after the cameras were installed.

But of course, we'll hear that things are different in Illinois in general, Chicago specifically.  Just like the anti-gun people claiming 49 other states have to be wrong and only Illinois is getting it correct, while the streets of Chicago run red with blood.

Audio Taping Police Stands

The Supreme Court refused to hear arguments:

• The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez’s plea to allow enforcement of a law aimed at stopping people from recording police officers on the job.
  
  The justices on Monday left in place a lower court ruling that found that the state’s anti-eavesdropping law violates free speech rights when used against people who tape law enforcement officers. The law sets out a maximum prison term of 15 years.
  
  Opponents of the law say the right to record police is vital to guard against abuses.
  
  The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in 2010 against Alvarez to block prosecution of ACLU staff for recording police officers performing their duties in public places. It’s one of the group’s long-standing monitoring missions.

"Public Way" means the Public Way, and even a most basic reading of case law, precedent and the actual text of the Constitution had this one a loser for Anita from the word, "Go."  But then again, after all the years of fighting the plain language of the Second Amendment, why would any Illinois politician feel the need to read the First?

Act like you're being recorded at all times.

Anyone Want to Gamble?

Has anyone seen a list of schools that will be handing out these $25 Walgreens gift cards?  We have a pretty good idea of what the map would show.

And here's a sure money bet:

• Report card pick up is 12/13 November.  Within 24 hours some Tact team somewhere picks up a dope dealer with at least two gift cards in their pocket.

Any takers on that one?  

Walgreens could use the publicity at some point - supporting the drug habits of negligent parents since 2012.

.05 per Bullet Shot Down

Someone must have steered Preckwinkle in the direction of an Econ 101 textbook:

• Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle today dropped plans for a five-cent bullet tax, but still wants to charge a $25 tax on every gun purchase.
  
  The compromise was negotiated over several days with Commissioners John Fritchey and Edwin Reyes, both Chicago Democrats, who had balked at the guns and ammo taxes.
  
  In exchange for their support, Preckwinkle agreed to create a $2 million fund to combat gun violence. Fritchey had proposed dedicating $1.4 million to anti-gun violence efforts. She also agreed to exempt law-enforcement officers from having to pay the tax, which helped convince Reyes to support the plan.

Evidently, she only absorbed half the lesson though. If we can get a gun for $25 cheaper in Kane or Will or DuPage county, we'll be doing that instead and picking up a few hundred bucks worth of ammo while we're there.

And if you thought for an instant that this was anything but a punitive tax on those who dare to own a gun, this ought to make it clear:

• The bullet tax was projected to raise $400,000 in revenue. The gun tax would raise $600,000, Budget Director Andrea Gibson said.
  
  The revenue would help defray the cost of medical care for people who are shot and then treated at county-run, taxpayer subsidized Cook County Hospital. The hospital treats about 670 gunshot victims at year at an average cost of $52,000, Preckwinkle said.

$1 million in new taxes to defray a bill of $34.8 million in gunshot care?  What a fucking joke.

And Another Thing....

....this "shot spotter" crap?

Even if it managed to beat a cell phone caller to the punch (which it hasn't);

AND police actually arrived on the scene within moments of the shots being fired (which has happened without shot spotter)

AND the program was able to determine an actual fixed address where the shots originated from (we have no idea of the software is that integrated);

...without actually seeing the shots coming from a house, does anyone realistically believe that we're just going to start kicking in doors and ransacking homes/apartments looking for the gun and/or shooter?

In this day and age?

With the amount of punitive damages and such being assessed against officers?

With the number of officers at callback?

With the brass we have in place who wouldn't back their own mother in a parking lot fender-bender?

And even if we did, without the gun being in the hand, let alone the same room as the suspect shooter, does anyone really think Anita is going to charge anyone with the felony?

That sound you hear is millions of dollars being flushed down the toilet - again. Millions that could hire more actual officers.

Home Visits?

Finally, a job that liberal bleeding hearts can go while supporting their dreams of nanny-statism and villages raising children:

• On Friday, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry F. McCarthy called for increased access to voluntary home visiting programs for new, at-risk parents to address the root causes of violent crime
  
  Pointing to a new report by the anti-crime organization Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Illinois, Superintendent McCarthy said research shows home visiting programs, which provide coaching for at-risk new parents, can cut abuse and neglect by as much as half and significantly reduce future violent crime. Home visiting programs provide trained workers, such as nurses or mental health professionals, to support new, at-risk parents starting before birth through the child’s toddler years. The services work on an ongoing, voluntary basis to help parents cope with the stresses of raising an infant or toddler, support the child’s social and emotional development and ensure infant and maternal health.

Reduce the police staffing numbers to dangerous levels, watch the homicide rates rise, blame everything but the number of police officers, and finally, introduce some new "feel-good" crap that we can see is just going to raise our taxes again and produce zero results for us since we already know how to raise functional human beings.

And does anyone else see the irony of McRevamp911 telling everyone how we're going to alter the way police answer calls, disregarding non-emergency and nonsense calls, while simultaneously pushing this non-police initiative?

We've completely lost our direction thanks to McColumbus.

Shot Spotter Part III

Once again, an effort that only points a great big glowing arrow at the manpower shortage:

• Hoping to quell rising violence on the South and West sides, Chicago police are again turning to sensors to more quickly track down gunfire in some of the city's most crime-ridden communities.
  
  The Police Department began using gunshot detection technology early last month in two 1.5-square-mile areas to try to better pinpoint the location of gunshots, Superintendent Garry McCarthy disclosed Thursday. The sensors sometimes give officers information before 911 calls are made, he said.
  
  In the past decade, the city twice installed the devices but ultimately removed them because of their high price tags and ineffectiveness. Since then the technology has improved "dramatically," McCarthy said.

From our 011 District correspondent however, a different tale:

• Don't believe the gun shot sensor hype SCC.  Even the dispatchers, after giving out calls of "shots fired," say over the air, "Now we are getting verifications/sensor readings/additional info" of loud reports.  It's BS.

After reading the rest of the article, we're inclined to agree:

• After a shot is fired, three or more sensors detect the sound and calculate its location. Trained acoustics experts in the company's 24/7 review center in California confirm if the sound came from a weapon and not a car backfire, fireworks or other loud noises. The technicians then pass the information onto Chicago's Crime Prevention and Information Center, which dispatches officers to the scene.

Really?   "Trained acoustic experts" from California are determining if there are shots being fired in Chicago and then telling CPIC about it, who can then send officers?  By the time that happens, the ambulance has already removed the victim, transported him to the hospital, and the doctor is making the first cut.

We give it a year before the California company outsources the entire operation to India.

Now We're Alarm Clocks?

Seriously? On a Saturday morning?

• There was no sleeping in the South Shore neighborhood this morning, as sirens woke up residents.
  
  At 85th Street and Exchange Avenue, the Saturday morning quiet was shattered by sounds of sirens.
  
  Police were summoning residents to a street meeting. 

We usually throw a boot at the cat when he starts wailing in the early AM hours, "Tom & Jerry" style.

We're surprised the aldercreature and police commander weren't walking the block with metal garbage cans and a 2x4 to make sure everyone got the message.

This is an "appropriate" use of police manpower? 

Legitimacy Fail

This is humorous in many ways:

• There is a new strategy to tamp down the mayhem caused by gangs. ABC7 was invited along to watch Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy's gang violence reduction strategy in action. 

McTootHisOwnHorn isn't in the video, but his Kool-aid drinking lackeys are.

But the funny part is right at the end of the video:

So that entire "legitimacy" training the Department is forcing everyone to go to.... the one that says you have to treat the gang bangers with respect? That says you have to be "legitimate" in order to gain the trust of the community? Failing on a number of levels here.  

Nice try though lieutenant.  Welcome back to reality.

CA 49 Article

Only the suburban papers are writing anything about this Constitutional Amendment:

• There’s nothing I enjoy more than seeing elected officials admit they can’t be trusted.
  
  
  And that’s pretty much what Illinois legislators have done by placing a constitutional amendment on the November election ballot.
  
  
  The amendment, if passed, would require a three-fifths vote of each chamber of the Legislature (House and Senate) to pass an increase in pension benefits for public employees.
  
  
  The measure not only would effect the Legislature but all other government bodies in Illinois (counties, townships, municipalities, school districts, etc.).
  
  
  If a municipality wants to increase employee pension benefits as part of a labor agreement, 60 percent of its city council or village board would have to agree.

So this is pretty much an act of cowardice on the part of the legislature to further insulate them from having to make any sort of difficult decisions.  They can always claim "we needed 60% of the chamber to pass anything," and then hide behind everyone else's inaction.  What a group of assholes.

Integrity Check?

From a reader:

• Today at Midway Airport CPD was called to a unattended suitcase on the baggage claim belt. The person who got the call opened the bag and along with a few articles of clothing was a couple thousand dollars in plain view. All the cash was in bundles of 50's and 100's. No ID of any kind inside or outside the luggage. Every penny was inventoried. SCC, this has happened a few times in pasts years Where something very similar was found in homes and other areas where police received some kind of call. I have no doubt this was all a setup to nail a copper. Please post a warning. Don't want anybody getting caught up in a sting. Things like this would convince even the most honest cop stash some in their pocket.

One would hope we didn't have to warn people about the reasons for doing the right thing in all circumstances at all times.  And at some place like Midway Airport where the entire building is under all sorts of camera surveillance and there are literally a million-and-one places to hide a camera and a team of IAD/FBI agents, you should know you are never truly alone anywhere.  But there are still those who might figure, "Who's going to miss $20 for lunch?" or similar such BS.

Please spare yourself the problems and spare everyone else the disgust.  Stings still happen.

We're #1 Again!

But not in a good way:

• Chicago, the city that brought us deep-dish pizza, Oprah and "da Bears," is also home to the nation's highest tax burden for travelers.

  The lowest taxes imposed on travelers can be found in the Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and West Palm Beach.

  Those are among the findings of new research by the GBTA Foundation, the education and research arm of the Global Business Travel Assn., a trade group for travel managers.

  The foundation created a ranking of the destinations with the nation's highest and lowest tax burden on travelers by combining general sales taxes and taxes charged to travelers each day for car rentals, hotel stays and meals.

Killing the tourism industry, one dollar at a time.

The Beatings Will Continue...

How can we get more work out of uninspired officers? Here's a bright idea from the southwest side:

• The commander of 10 had a meeting the other day with all the supervisors of that building. From what we were told by sgts at roll call and how we interpreted it, the fixed posts aka "the box" that the district mans are basically punishment and/or extortion. We were told that more boxes may be on the way, but the way to avoid that is to produce more numbers. WTF? Way to motivate your troops commander. Mostly everybody hates sitting on these things because they're boring, you can't leave without proper relief and you're a sitting target. The more boxes we have to man will also mean more work for the rest of the watch since those cars will be down and unavailable for assignment. Oh, and that will probably mean less people will be able to take time due.

Have none of these asshats ever laid eyes on a motivational book? Or taken a speech writing course? Taken a course in Logic? Or studied the basics of debate where you try to convince the audience of the correctness of your side of the argument? Here's a bright idea - read Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People. The big words will probably frighten most of the command staff in general and Pena in particular, but....

Ah crap, who are we kidding? The command staff pick up a book? We might as well braid the whips they beat us with already. We have got to stop drinking grandpa's homemade liquor.

Bike Lane Problems

First it was the "Maggie boxes" restricting traffic movement and hindering emergency responses.

And as a commentator pointed out, Rahm's push for more bike lanes is having the same effect. As former four-lane streets suddenly become one lane of traffic headed in each direction, response times are going to rise, fender benders are going to increase and first responders are going to be blamed once again for the complete lack of planning on the part of idiot politicians.

And that doesn't even take into consideration the winter months when the plows can't effectively clear the streets, piling snow in the bike lanes and tearing out the PVC pipes in the pavement. And the freeze/thaw cycle really ought to have a field day with all the new holes made in the road - Chicago asphalt has a notoriously short half life as it is. We can only imagine it's getting even shorter with these miles of bike lanes.

Simple Solution

Some of our readers caught it:

• this has been happening in 010 since our new commander showed up and more recently that she appointed her super hack Cynthia white to do her dirty work. XO white has called officers at home at 2 pm telling them their time for 1st watch that night is denied (less than 8 hours notice). After you say I can't make it in, I'm in another state or no babysitter she says I'll get a cr if you don't show up tonight and hangs up. Even better the commander had Cynthia come into roll call and have the audacity to ask for curfews because we're down more than 50% from last year. Well last year we had a capt in EV who we respected and treated us well for the activity we gave him. Does she really think that officers are gonna produce numbers and generate activity for them when they are constantly screwing with people? It's sad that she wonders why the activity has dropped so low from last year.

Um, don't answer the phone? Hello?

She's wrong, she's violating the Contract, and she's on a power trip to make up for the fact she ought to be in prison. Get the CR# Cynthia - it'll be hilarious answering your "allegations" since there aren't any you can hang your hat on. And the hostile workplace environment lawsuit to go with the counter CR allegations of abusing your position? Priceless. You're handing the officers every bit of evidence they'll need to cash in.

General Order Folly Continues

This disaster of an order keeps getting worse the more we read it:

• Section VIII-J-2-EXCEPTION:
  
  Bureau of Patrol members will not complete the automated Arrestee Debriefing Module when the arrestee is charged with any of the following: [...], Justifiable Homicide, [...]

Would someone like to point out that there is no such charge as "Justifiable Homicide," and the fact that a situation is "justifiable" means there is no basis for charging or holding a subject in any case? Oh wait, we just did.

Could anyone with a legal background school these New York morons in the Illinois Compiled Statutes before they put out some more drivel that is going to get coppers sued and the city paying out millions to assholes set on a lottery payday?

Maybe an actual fucking lawyer could read these things before McDumbass signs his name to it. Or has Legal Affairs been gutted like everything else in this Department?

Look What Made the News

Sixteen hours after being a top story on the blog:

• A Far South Side man appeared in court Saturday on charges of possessing 10 grams of crack cocaine and $12 worth of marijuana after he rolled through a stop sign in the Roseland neighborhood.

  Theotis Holcomb, 22, was pulled over on Friday afternoon after he failed to stop at a stop sign in the 100 block of W. 109th St., according to a police report.

  Holcomb didn't have a driver's license, and when police searched his pockets they found the marijuana and the crack cocaine, worth about $1,250 on the street, according to the report.

Tio is in full damage control mode (not that the media will follow up on it):

• Tio Hardiman, the executive director of CeaseFire, said Holcomb has never had any connection to the organization, which recently received a $1 million grant from the city for violence prevention.

  Bob Jackson, the director of a CeaseFire-affiliated organization in Roseland, said Holcomb was enrolled two or three years ago in a summer jobs program for at-risk youth in Roseland. But Jackson said Holcomb never did any work for Roseland CeaseFire.

Of course he didn't. He just goes around dropping the CeaseFire affiliation for shits and giggles.

This Just In! Bridge for Sale in New York. Cheap!

Herbie's Dad

Question:

• Did Herbie Pulgar Senior ever return to the United States to face the charges on file? Or is he still on the FBI's fugitive list?

We only ask because you have the spawn and ex-wife of a known dope and weapon violator being invited to Washington DC, where they'll be touring the White House, the Capitol and other significant DC landmarks. It just seems to send the wrong message.

Maybe the National FOP ought to be contacted?

Less Cops at Fest

This should be interesting:

• As the debate continues over police staffing in the midst of fears over flash mobs and muggings along the Magnificent Mile, Chicago’s neighborhood festivals began Thursday evening with one of the biggest seeing its traditional allotment of police officers slashed.
  
  The annual Puerto Rican fest in Humboldt Park has traditionally been flooded with hundreds of police, a precaution made in previous years because of the volatile combination of rival street gangs and hot summer nights.
  
  The surrounding neighborhood has been marred by gang fights and shootings in past years, and police have responded with scores of tactical officers and gang units.
  
  This year, police manpower is down citywide, and with demands for officers elsewhere, Puerto Rican fest will receive fewer officers. The news was not well received in a neighborhood where security fears were already high.'

The word is that gang bangers are thrilled however. With the hot weekend on tap and everyone looking at the lakefront and Gold Coast problems, your usual suspects are seeing this one as a giant freebie. We shall see.