003 Discipline

First, the impersonator gets released from custody:

• A 14-year-old boy who impersonated a Chicago police officer last month was ordered by a Cook County judge Friday to be released from custody on electronic monitors.

And now the disciplinary axe begins to fall:

• On Jan. 24, the youth, wearing a police uniform, showed up at the Grand Crossing District station, allegedly saying he was a Calumet District officer assigned to traffic patrol in Grand Crossing. He signed out a radio and joined an officer in a patrol car, prosecutors said.

  He then allegedly spent five hours on traffic patrol, investigators said.

  The stunt set off a furor in the city, with Supt. Jody Weis eventually forced to testify before angry aldermen. An internal investigation completed this week found at least five Chicago Police employees violated department rules and regulations, investigators said this week.

We are hearing more than a few stories about who's getting what kind of time off. We're sure it'll be news when it comes to light, but the comedy of errors that led to a 14-year-old being allowed to ride along, actually drive a squad car and whatever else he did is indicative of a whole bunch of institutional shortfalls. And institutional shortfalls are the fault of the brass, not the PO's. We know who will be taking most of the time though.

Shooting Oops

Hopefully, he won't get to make the same mistake again:

• A 20-year-old accused of gunning down three teens on Chicago's Southeast Side last week had been aiming at a rival gang member but missed, according to court documents released today.
  
  Martin Ybarra instead allegedly struck and killed 15-year-old Raheem "Chiko" Washington as he stood nearby in the 8700 block of South Exchange, hitting him five times.
  
  Then Ybarra jumped in a car and, leaning out the window, fired at the rival again -- and missed again, according to documents.

As it happens, Ybarra probably should have been behind bars already for a shooting nearly four years ago, but no one is talking about that much - everyone must hate to hear that the Cook County Court system is broken from the top down. Who has the specifics on that last case?

Pet Peeve

This is annoying:

• A Lake County sheriff's deputy was airlifted to a hospital Friday morning after accidentally shooting herself in the County Building parking garage.

• Waukegan police investigated the scene and determined that the handgun's trigger was pulled by a hanger that was stuck in the trigger guard, said Waukegan police Cmdr. Wayne Walles.

  "It's an accident. It could absolutely happen to anyone," Sheriff Mark Curran said. "We pray for her and we feel terrible for her."

While we agree with feeling terrible for the deputy, we have to disagree that it was an accident and could happen to anyone. A properly stored and secure handgun doesn't just "go off" and stories like these are constantly used by the anti-gun crowd to support their "think of the children" agenda and attempts to disarm everyone.

Proper handling, storage and transport of firearms is essential to firearm ownership and doubly so for law enforcement personnel who ought to inspire confidence in their families, neighbors and fellow citizens.

We wish the Deputy a speedy recovery, but the blame doesn't lie with a hanger in the trunk. We still remember that suburban incident a few years back where person cleaning the "unloaded" gun shot through his own window and struck a passerby. You are responsible for everything that happens when you are handling your gun.

El Che Fútbol

“Como en todas las cosas de la vida, era muy tenaz. En ese tiempo, si vos querías anular a un jugador contrario, lo ponías a él y Ernesto lo perseguía por todos lados. Le decíamos Yácono, por el petiso de River. El Che te marcaba y era una estampilla. Pero no tenía un juego vistoso ni elegante, eh... Era un 5 batallador...

Tenía de ídolo al Chueco García, un wing izquierdo de Central y de la Selección. Y otro al que quería mucho era el Torito Aguirre…

Nunca me lo dijo, pero era de Central…

Vimos en la cancha nada menos que Millonarios (Colombia) contra el Real Madrid, en España... Ernesto era de mirar el partido callado. Y vos sabés que había un gallego al lado nuestro que, bueno, ese día le estaban dando un baile bárbaro al Real Madrid, jugaba Antonio Báez (crack argentino que deslumbró en Platense) y lo tenía loco a Muñoz, que era un half de ellos, y el gallego grita: ¡Rompelo!. Y el Che se da vuelta y le dice: Eh, si tanto te gusta la sangre, ¿por qué no vas a ver a los toros?”

Palabras de Alberto Granado (85), compañero del Che en su periplo latinoamericano.

RELACIONADOS y RECOMENDADOS:
LA HISTORIA DEL TORITO AGUIRRE
EL CHE Y EL DEPORTE (Hugo Gambini)

Pension Money Questions

FoxNews did a piece on how a secretary for the Pension Board is going to law school on our dime. This would appear to be another expose launched at the behest of the newly elected Patrolman's Representative, Mike Shields and it's starting to get noticed:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LvuH0kdil4
  
  Last month, our new pension trustee Mike Shields tried to get rid of an investment manager that has lost nearly half of a $50m investment. He lost that battle. This month, he tried to stop the pension fund from paying for law school for the "Executive Director's" personal secretary. He lost, but at least he's making some waves and shining a light on the BS. There are four trustees that are/were the police. Why don't they all vote for the right thing? And, who exactly is the secretary's clout? Answers, anyone? It must be good.

There's plenty of corruption surrounding anything that has to do with this city. And all it takes is a few people willing to rock the boat.

NLEMOP Honors CPD Officer

For an off-duty shooting in Utah:

• In September 2008, Officer Jamison traveled to Utah to attend a law enforcement training conference. On Saturday, September 13, prior to leaving for the airport to return to Chicago, Officer Jamison stopped for breakfast. What began as a quiet travel day soon took a turn that no one could have predicted.

  As Officer Jamison exited the restaurant to wait for his partner, he observed a couple in the parking lot apparently saying goodbye to each other. Before they separated, a stranger approached the couple, walked up to the man, and simply stated, "I'm sorry." With lightening speed he drew a pair of scissors and proceeded to stab the victim in the face, neck, and arms. Officer Jamison witnessed the attack and rushed to help the victim and subdue the assailant.

Once again, an excellent job Officer. Congratulations and thank you.

This Could Get Interesting

Policies that engender a disrespect for the law just might open up the policy makers to problems:

• Margaret Rains and Haley Tepe were sitting down to enjoy ice cream at a Baskin-Robbins in Aurora, Colo., when a sport utility vehicle driven by an illegal immigrant sent two cars plowing into the shop, leaving three dead and the two women injured.

  Now the women are taking action against the city of Denver, arguing that its sanctuary-city policy contributed to the Sept. 4 crash. The driver, 23-year-old Francis Hernandez, had been arrested numerous times by Denver police, but was never reported to federal immigration authorities.

Since illegal immigration was and continues to be such a hot button issue, sanctuary policies ought to come under more fire in the courts and legislatures. And if lawmakers can't be held liable in civil court, they ought to beheld liable at the ballot box.

S&W Recall

Just in case you own one:

• Gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson is recalling two of its popular pistol models due to a worst-case-scenario kind of defect: one that could cause the guns to go off without the trigger being pulled.

  According to a Smith & Wesson Safety Recall Notice, the company has identified a defect in certain Walther PPK and PPK/S pistols that could cause a chambered round to fire when the pistol's hammer is lowered, even without the trigger being pulled. Smith & Wesson is advising owners of affected Walther pistols to stop using the guns at once, and to return them to Smith & Wesson for installation of a new hammer block that will remedy the defect.

Extranjeros en Argentina

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En estos momentos, Néstor Ortigoza (hijo de paraguayo), volante central de Argentinos Júniors, está estudiando la posibilidad de nacionalizarse paraguayo, tras la tentación de Tata Martino para jugar el próximo Mundial 2010.

Olympic Mascot Proposal

The Reader's Ben Joravsky has an interesting article about the Olympics and a close look at some of the outlays the City is proposing to make these the best damn games ever! He points out that the City wants to spend $10.5 million on a mascot. The Tribune's Eric Zorn senses a quick easy blog entry and proposes a reader's contest to save the City $10.5 million.

We'd like to point out such a mascot already exists and he made his premier here on SCC months ago:The logo has proven highly adaptable. He's got his own website:

He sells t-shirts:
He sells hats:
He licenses his image:
What's not to love? Can we get the check made out to "bearer" for the $10.5 million?

Give a Little Whistle

From the "It Could Be Worse" file:

• If you're getting robbed in Oak Park, police want you to put your lips on a whistle and blow.

  Police Chief Rick Tanksley is dusting off the actress Lauren Bacall approach to community policing in response to last year's alarming 46 percent spike in robberies.

  He wants to outfit folks with brass police whistles they can use to attract attention when they spot shadowy characters up to no good.

Wow. Just wow. Call 9-1-1 then blow a whistle. Why didn't Shortshanks think of this? He could have saved millions for his Olympic dreams instead of installing cameras and letting police manpower numbers dip to dangerous levels. The simplicity of it is just amazing!

There's a Keesing Bandit joke somewhere in that opening line.

Corp Counsel Wins One

And to win it, they had to spend money:

• This week city attorneys defending a Chicago Police officer who was sued for the shooting death of a man used a new animation technique that came as close to CSI as it gets.

  A jury found in favor of the city and the officer Tuesday after a six-day trial.

  "The jury thinks we can do everything CSI does,'' city attorney Matt Hurd said. "When we can use this CSI stuff, it's something a jury can relate to.''

• Law department officials said they are not aware of another case where the animation was used. It's costly -- $15,000 in this case. The animation will be considered for use on a case-by-case basis.

Corp Counsel has to present not only the best case possible, but they have to present the flashiest case with all the bells and whistles to overcome the inherent stupidity always present in juries, especially Cook County juries. This "CSI-effect" has been the subject of numerous studies where jurors just assume that everything they see on TV is true and complicated cases can be solved in 60 minutes, including the commercial breaks. If only that were true, the jails would be full to overflowing and personal injury attorneys would be selling pencils on street corners.

We heard that after this "CSI-type" presentation, the plaintiff's attorney actually stood and applauded before his colleagues were able to drag him back into his seat. We may have made that up just now.

Arrest in Triple Killing

Nice job:

• Chicago police on Thursday charged a reputed gang member who they believe used an assault rifle to fatally shoot three teenagers in the South Chicago neighborhood last week.
  
  Martin Ybarra, 20, was charged with three counts of murder after help from the community led to his arrest Tuesday on the Southeast Side and he was identified by witnesses, police said.
  
  
• Police may be looking for more suspects, officials said Thursday. The rifle believed to be tied to the murders was recovered, police said.

Now let's see if the ASA's can make it stick.

Van Lier and Kerr Pass On

Odd as far as coincidences go, but two Bulls legends pass away on the same day:

• He was a high school and college basketball great, an NBA champion and an All-Star, a front-office executive and a respected broadcaster, but Johnny Kerr, who died tonight at 76 after a long battle with prostate cancer, always will be known as a Chicago Bull.
  
  Perhaps the best ambassador the Bulls will ever have, Kerr's nickname, "Red" -- for his hair color -- couldn't have been more appropriate. In many ways, Kerr was Mr. Bull: the first coach in franchise history, NBA Coach of the Year that 1966-67 season, later the club's business manager and finally its television and radio analyst for 33 years.
  
  
• Norm Van Lier, one of the most popular players in Bulls history, was found dead in his Chicago apartment today. He was 61.

  The cause of death was not released, pending a report by the Cook County medical examiner's office.

  Van Lier had been working as a Bulls analyst for ComcastSportsnet Chicago after 10-year playing career.

RIP gentlemen.

Una historia de la pelota de fútbol - Parte 11

El Adidas Azteca (México 86) fue el primer balón cuya composición fue totalmente sintética, con lo que vino a sustituir el tradicional cuero. El diseño exterior mantuvo sus famosos triángulos sobre fondo negro, en los que se añadieron motivos referidos a la cultura precolombina de la cual proviene su nombre.

El balón tenía una capa exterior de poliuretano, más tres capas inferiores que tenían por finalidad darle resistencia, impermeabilidad y mantención formal. Agradable al tacto, con buena recepción del golpeo y efectos sin extraños (arqueros agradecidos) tuvo un rendimiento excepcional en terrenos duros, a gran altitud y en condiciones de humedad.

UNA HISTORIA DE LA PELOTA DE FUTBOL PARTE 10
UNA HISTORIA DE LA PELOTA DE FUTBOL PARTE 9
UNA HISTORIA DE LA PELOTA DE FUTBOL PARTE 8
UNA HISTORIA DE LA PELOTA DE FUTBOL PARTE 7
UNA HISTORIA DE LA PELOTA DE FUTBOL PARTE 6
UNA HISTORIA DE LA PELOTA DE FUTBOL PARTE 5
UNA HISTORIA DE LA PELOTA DE FUTBOL PARTE 4
UNA HISTORIA DE LA PELOTA DE FUTBOL PARTE 3
UNA HISTORIA DE LA PELOTA DE FUTBOL PARTE 2
UNA HISTORIA DE LA PELOTA DE FUTBOL PARTE 1

Another Ridiculous Lawsuit

And the Tribune reports it like it's real news?

• The truck driver who plowed into a Red Line station in Chinatown last April, killing two people and injuring 21 others, suffered a "medical condition" just before the crash, a federal lawsuit filed by the truck driver's family alleged.
  
  The lawsuit filed by Donald Wells' wife, Ann Darlene Wells of Metamora, Mich., alleges that Chicago police ignored pleas by family members for medical treatment for Wells, who was "talking incoherently . . . and otherwise behaving abnormally" during the 48 hours he was in police custody.
  
  
• Wells, 64, who was suffering "from a mental condition and...experiencing severe physical and psychiatric ailments" while in police custody, died of pneumonia and multiple organ failure in June, the lawsuit said. The suit alleged that police indifference to Wells' medical condition contributed to his death. The suit names the City of Chicago and numerous police officers as defendants.
  
  The Tribune reported at the time of the crash that Wells was taken to Stroger Hospital immediately, but he refused treatment in part because he had no health insurance.

He was in the wreck in April of 2008, made bail within 48 hours, died in June and the Chicago Police Department is responsible how exactly? And that last quoted paragraph...

• but he refused treatment in part because he had no health insurance

Ex-squeeze us? He had no health insurance? Would the family and scumbag attorney like us to take them on a tour of Cook County Hospital? We're going to bet 75 to 90% of the people who go through those doors have minimal, if any, health insurance. Lack of insurance isn't an impediment to receiving medical care in this country. Hospitals routinely eat hundreds of millions of dollars for the uninsured, the under-insured and the illegal.

How about a directed verdict on this one?

Finally, the Right Moves

We can only hope this is the beginning of the end:

• CPS has voted to go ahead and close a number of schools for under-enrollment or poor performance.
  
  The school system had slated 22 under-enrolled or struggling schools for closing or reorganization, but Chief Executive officer Ron Huberman took six schools off the list Monday after hearing from parents, teachers and others at public hearings
  
  In all, 16 schools will be closed or consolidated

Oh, you mean they are re-opening some of the schools? Crap - we thought they were going out of business and saving money for the Olympic dreams.

"Dat Jody, He's Doin' a Good Job"

This is so ridiculous, it's almost impossible to parody:

• Mayor Daley today stood behind his police superintendent for refusing a judge’s order to release names of officers with five or more citizen complaints filed against them since 2002.

So now J-Fed gets praised for doing exactly what Daley and Daley's lawyers told him to do? Wow. We don't recall this mayoral praise being heaped on former bosses for the exact same thing when the list was initially refused to the trolling lawyers.

Things must be really bad if the mayor is resorting to this sort of theater to gin up support.

Bloopers argentos.

Mirenlo hasta el final: Diego juega al golf.

Someone is Getting Fired

Why do people do stupid shit?

• Over the last 16 months, Mark Geinosky has received 24 parking tickets.
  
  All but one have been dismissed. You can bet that one will be thrown out, too, when he goes to administrative court next week.
  
  For reasons Geinosky can't explain, he believes Chicago police officers have targeted him with the barrage of citations—sometimes issuing four tickets at a time for such things as parking too close to a fire hydrant, obstructing the roadway or leaving his vehicle in a crosswalk.

We can list a number of occasions that we've issued a slew of tickets to one vehicle. Multiple violations aren't hard to locate if someone parks some piece of shit vehicle in a crowded neighborhood. This doesn't appear to be one of those times though:

• Of the 24 tickets he has received, 13 were written by the same officer. The Problem Solver is not naming the officer because he has not been charged with any wrongdoing. The 13 tickets were written at four different South Side locations in May, July, August and October of last year. All 13 of those tickets were written at exactly 10 p.m., no matter which day they were issued. And all 13 were sequential in number, meaning that from May to October that officer wrote no tickets to anyone other than Geinosky from the ticket book in question.

Thirteen sequential tickets issued at 10:00PM over 6 months time by one cop? Uhhhhh....Earth to moron. Hope you kept a good rapport with your old employers.

Why do idiots make it so hard for the regular boys and girls to show up, do their job and try to do it well and with pride with crap like this?

City Overreaches for Tax Money

This is goofy:

• How would you like to rent a car in Waukegan or St. Charles, only to be slapped with the 8 percent "transaction tax" that applies to Chicago car rentals?

  Brace yourself. With a burgeoning $50.5 million budget gap, Chicago is reaching into suburban pockets. And Enterprise Rent-a-Car has filed a lawsuit challenging the Daley administration's effort to collect the tax from drivers who rent cars in the suburbs.

  The suit was filed last week in Kane County after an administrative ruling by the city's Department of Revenue that City Hall will "presume" that all car rentals in the six-county area are subject to Chicago's 8 percent transaction tax.

"Presume?" Who the fuck are these idiots? In a six-county area, they are just going to assess an 8% tax on car rentals?

Hopefully, Enterprise Rent-a-Car wins this and wins big. Then we can find some entity with deep pockets to start attacking the fact that if we shop around for the best car deal in existence and manage to find it over the border in Indiana, the City still demands their cut of a tax on a transaction that takes place entirely outside of their borders.

Will someone please schedule the revolution shortly? We've got weekends coming up.

FOP Launches a Salvo

On the Current Updates section:

• Chicago Cop Watch is a website whose stated goal is to engage in monitoring of the police, videotaping police activity, and educating the public about police misconduct. The Chicago Cop Watch recently posted a video of purported police misconduct aboard a CTA bus.
  
  The Lodge has fielded many questions regarding the CTA Bus Video that was posted on Chicago Cop Watch.org. as well as questions regarding the operation of the Chicago Cop Watch website. Unfortunately, the Lodge does not have the answers to these questions.
  
  The registrar, administrator, or tech for Chicago Cop Watch should be able to answer our members questions.
  Whois.com lists the registration contact information for the chicagocopwatch.org registrar, administrator, and tech as:
  
  Spencer Thayer
  3139 N. Francisco Ave., Apt. 2N
  Chicago, IL 60618-7057
  
  312-576-0270
  
  spencer@uglatto.com
  
  Please contact Mr. Thayer with your questions regarding the video or operation of the website.

Looks like someone found a pair. Now how about someone at 35th finding a set? Or at least asking the mayor if they could borrow a set for a day or two?

Camera Misses Everything

From the Sun Times:

• Police have not been able to retrieve images from a city surveillance camera perched above the Southeast Side corner where three teens were slain Friday.

  The camera's blue light was blinking, but the camera may not have been recording. City technicians and vendors are inspecting it and trying to determine if any images can be downloaded.

Wow. An empty box with a flashing blue light. And this cost taxpayers how much?

• The lack of footage has not hampered the investigation into the shooting at 87th and Exchange, several sources said. Police have said they are looking for three people.

The lack of footage hasn't hampered anything because there are finally around a billion witnesses willing to come forward and point out who chased, shot and slaughtered three people in an alley in Chicago. That in itself is a first.

What's truly silly is how the lack of footage hasn't assisted in any investigations aside from verifying that a vehicle was in the Little Village neighborhood at the time of a shooting (the actual car was followed by a civilian witness and stopped a mile or more away from the shooting) and the recent Salvation Army Kettle Caper. Otherwise, we'd be hearing about the cameras assisting the police every single day from the Daley Publicity Machine.

Suburban Paper Scoops Locals

The Daily Herald evidently has someone who owns a calendar on staff. They're the only ones who covered this until late yesterday afternoon when Channel 7 picked it up:

• Police say an internal department investigation on how a 14-year-old boy allegedly was able to impersonate a Chicago officer is complete.

  But police spokeswoman Antoinette Ursitti said Monday the findings won't be made public until Supt. Jody Weis (WEES) can address them.

  Ursitti says an investigation into the Jan. 24 security breach includes surveillance video and witness interviews.

  The incident was embarrassing for Weis and the department

Which is probably why the Department would be happy if this all went away and no reporter anywhere ever asked about it again. Rumor has it some persons involved underwent retraining yesterday at the Academy.

Meanwhile, Department facilities across the city are pulling officers off the already manpower short streets to sit in front of doors that don't lock properly for the low low price of $60,000 per year. Instead of this ($1,000). Or this ($300 and up).

Bilardo, el doctor.

Su biografía mínima lo describe como ex futbolista, entrenador, médico, político y periodista argentino, sin embargo hay quienes le agradecen al fútbol el haberlo sacado de la medicina y quienes le agradecieron a la política por haberlo sacado del fútbol.

Sus medallas más exitosas – en la etapa de entrenador – , al igual que las de tantos otros, quedan pegadas a los días de oro de Maradona como dueño del mundo (las finales de 1986 y 1990). Antes fue un jugador no seleccionable y un entrenador de obsesiones y oficios inconfesables con algún título en Estudiantes de La Plata. Después, su carrera pública, basada en los ecos de aquellos éxitos, no fue menos errática.

El hombre de vocabulario limitado, maneras expresivas muy particulares y un singular sentido del ridículo, no filtra sus estados de ánimo frente a las cámaras (puede enojarse y divertirse sin pedir permiso) y menos aún su absoluta carencia de escrúpulos, haciendo gala, cuando la oportunidad se lo permite, de la idea de que el fin siempre justifica los medios, cualidad que le valió, de alguna manera, un lugar en los cuadros políticos peronistas. En ese marco, su célebre arenga “pisalo pisalo” puede leerse entonces como la traducción deportiva de la frase del benemérito General (Perón): “Al amigo todo, al enemigo ni justicia”.

Si bien su dedicación y profesionalismo no decayeron, sus posteriores y rotundos fracasos en Boca, Sevilla y Estudiantes parecieron correrlo definitivamente de los bancos de suplentes. Desde entonces el periodismo lo mantuvo entretenido hasta que el peronismo de Daniel Scioli lo convocó para hacerse cargo de la Secretaría de Deportes de la Provincia de Buenos Aires.

Ensayando el tenor de sus discursos políticos, el doctor Bilardo seguía errático, inseguro, insatisfecho. Incumpliendo por cargos incompatibles la ley de ministerios de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, seguía viajando, comentando partidos de fútbol, criticando a Julio Grondona (11.01.08), y dando por concluida definitivamente su etapa de entrenador (21.01.08) huyendo hacia delante: “Ahora quiero ser presidente de AFA”.

Sin embargo, al poco tiempo la selección comandada por Alfio Basile tropieza en las eliminatorias y sin sonrojarse el doctor, después de sus críticas públicas al entrenador en funciones, se autopostula (18.10.08) para el cargo.

A finales de 2008, reconciliado con Grondona, acepta el cargo de Director de selecciones de AFA (nota) , como ladero de su mentor, Diego Maradona, el mismo que confesara públicamente su jugada secreta del bidón Branco.

Bilardo, el doctor, un gran contador de anécdotas, un día como hoy, el 24 de febrero de 1983, firmaba el contrato que lo convirtiera en el DT de la selección argentina.

J-Fed Flees to Avoid Jail

(sarcasm, silliness and poetic license in interpreting these events)

Seeks to avoid a "Contempt of Court" charge:

• Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis has refused a federal judge’s order to release the names of officers who have at least five citizen complaints filed against them since 2000.

  U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez had given Weis until 4 p.m. Friday to do so.

  The list was being sought, along with a list of excessive-force complaints, by attorneys suing the city over an allegation that an officer falsely arrested and used excessive force against two children.

First off, all kidding aside, this is a good move. Anything that pisses off Flint Taylor, scumbag attorney extraordinaire, is a good move. Everyone knows this wasn't J-Fed's decision - it was Corp Counsel. The Cline regime refused to release the names also. Taylor, the plaintiff attorney, says the list would be under tight control for this case only and is only to be used for statistical purposes.

Bullshit. That list would be "accidentally" leaked within 10 days as part of some filing or brief or inter-office communication and blamed on some "intern" who didn't know any better and then, oh well, since the cat is out of the bag, we might as well make the whole thing public and some judge would "admonish" the law firm to put in place some safeguards so this never happens again.

Secondly, a large portion of this list is already the subject of an appeal in the Federal Courts, and obeying this Magistrate's order would be counter productive when an appeal is already ongoing for what is essentially the exact same list.

In any case, the claim that...

• ...to hand over the list because it would, "compromise officers’ performance, threaten safety, reduce morale and improperly impugn many officers’ otherwise well-deserved good reputations.”

...is disingenuous at best. Handing over a list of unproven and unsubstantiated allegations that in many cases have no basis in reality would be morally abhorrent and quite possibly a violation of an Officer's Civil Rights. If an accused person is cleared in court or cleared by investigation, there is no way in hell a judge allows a single mention of his previous history under any circumstances in the future. It would be overly prejudicial to the supposition of "innocent until proven guilty." But should this list be released, every single time an Officer is called to testify in a criminal or civil case, attorneys will be throwing this in their face. And it will continue for the entirety of the Officer's career (Officer, isn't it true that in the early 2000's, you were named on a list of officers...)

Don't think it won't happen.

SPAR Policy Change

Again, from the comments (we seem to learn everything from the comments lately):

• There was something posted in the comments section awhile back about BOP 009-062. This order from Dugan requires supervisors to make copies of SPARS and send them up the chain to the Deputy Chief for review. The W/C gives me one, I save it electronically, make copies (what happen to being paperless) send it up the chain. I recommend a reprimand and the W/C and DC sign off on it. It is kicked back from the Deputy Chief (more likely his PO secretary) with a note stating the officer should be given a day.
  
  I have two problems with this. First, SPARs are suppose to be district level discipline. The DC approves the thing and its kicked back from his boss. Second, if you don't agree with my recommendation that is fine. Don't send me a note. Either concur or not concur electronically. The pussies up above never have the balls to put their name on these things.
  
  Long story short, a PO know at the district level as being a hard worker gets fucked out of a day because a deputy chief, who does not know him, and is not even in the command channel review for SPARS, want to show off to pussy Dugan how tough he can be on uniform violators.
  
  Way to go Dugan. I know you and your Wies cronies got our backs. This really going to help morale on the watch.

This appears to be another one of those shifts in disciplinary policy that no one bothers to tell the FOP about. There are contractual procedures in place for the disciplinary track and grievances to be filed if it changes substantially without the FOP being involved in the process. Depending on when it occurred, this might appear to be a really crass move on the Department's part seeing as how the chairman of the Grievance Committee just died of a heart attack.

Anyone care to explain this in simple terms? We don't want to wade through the BS, just the facts.

UPDATE: Dugan Replies:

• There is no shift in SPAR policy. I would encourage every Department member to please read GO 93-03-07, (supervisors - specifically VI, A, 1, b, 4) dealing with Summary Punishment.
  
  It is sad one would try to exploit Tim Fallon’s untimely death with this issue, which is inexcusable. .
  
  I will be more than willing to discus this topic in detail in a Departmental forum.
  
  Daniel F. Dugan
  312/745-6210

We'll encourage everyone to read up on the cited order as soon as possible. We'd encourage a more official discussion in some sort of forum rather than the blog of course. We'll publicize it as we did the Superintendent's "town-hall" type meetings.

We'll also point out that no one is attempting to exploit Tim Fallon's death. The comment alleging a change in policy popped up yesterday. Tim died a week ago. Based on this Department's recent history and the history of the Daley Administration, we're sorry to say we wouldn't put a damn thing past them, which is truly sad.

Mayor on YouTube

What's up with this? SCC starts posting a few video submissions and suddenly Richie needs to have his own YouTube video channel to counter the blog?

• Mayor Richard Daley on Monday joined the queen of England and the pope as influential leaders who have their own YouTube channels.

  [...] “This site is an opportunity to talk to residents directly,” he said, noting YouTube’s wide reach.

• Asked whether the site would include videos that were critical of him, he responded, “We’ll see, I don’t know yet.”

We're going to go out on a limb here and say that the answer to that question is a big, fat "Hell, NO!" We'll also predict that there won't be any videos of him butchering the English language, his discovery of heretofore unknown versions of grammatical structure and him showing off his mad spelling skills (S-A-T-E, state)

A few readers have already pointed out that comments aren't allowed on the channel and video comments are posted only after screening. Which kind of makes sense seeing as what we have to go through on this end.

Area Gang Team Movement

Is this true?

• Despite all the promises and assurances that Officers would stay in their original Areas of assignment, the Area 3 Gang Team was moved all the way down to Area 2 after the triple header, shorting the tax paying citizens some 80 gang officers. But not to worry - fully a third of the new Area Gang Teams have put in their papers to return to their Districts of Assignment. Can you say "reverse seniority?"

Anyone care to chime in?

Current February Numbers

From the comment section:

• here is an interesting stat:
  
  01FEB08-14FEB08:
  041A: 20
  0110: 6
  
  01FEB09-14FEB09:
  041A: 41
  0110: 10

Double the number of Aggravated Batteries? That can't bode well for the warm weather. It also kind of blows a hole in the Mayor's thinking that more gun laws equal less gun crimes. But then, if he had actually looked at reputable studies, he'd have found out that one ten years ago.

TAPA Nº 82.

Exactly Whom is Crazy?

More amusing video:



It certainly makes you wonder how he's kept a job all these years.

Police Director Resigns

No, not Chicago. But interesting parallels:

• Schaumburg Police Director Richard Casler has resigned his post, a village trustee said this morning.
  
  
• Casler ran the police department as a civilian, supervising two sworn chiefs -- a chief of operations and a chief of staff. He formerly was the chief of the department and took the director role five days after retiring from the department in October 2001.

• Ninety-six percent of union members in January 2003 voted no-confidence for Casler and "that vote speaks for itself," Atamian said.

  "That was our stand then and since then it's gone downhill," he said. "Schaumburg used to have a reputation as one of the premier police departments. ... Hopefully now we can get back to that status."

From the time of the "no-confidence vote" to the resignation - 6 years.

We guess J-Fed's three-year contract is a good thing?

By the Way...

It's been 13 days without a single expression of support from any member of the Command Staff who promised on video to "have our backs" whenever we acted "reasonably."

That's about 312 hours.

Which is about 305 more hours than it took to clear an Assistant Superintendent of any responsibility she might have had in knowing what was going on in a piece of property she owned.

Maybe someone could call in a little support from south of the border? You know, to alleviate the morale death spiral.

Another Messy Weekend

At least 4 people under 20 killed. And then this:

• A 28-year-old man was fatally shot early Sunday in a Chicago Housing Authority parking lot in the South Side's Pilsen neighborhood, police said.

  Police responded to the shooting at 1252 S. Loomis St. at 4:20 a.m., according to Monroe District police.

• ...a 35-year-old man and a 27-year-old man were both shot in the abdomen about 3:40 a.m. in the 600 block of South Pulaski Road and were in critical condition at Mt. Sinai Hospital, according to a police news release.

So either of those might die over the next few days. It was an overly bloody weekend for a February and the homicide count is just about equal to last year. Are we running in place? Have we reached a balance?

Racing: se fue Llop.

AFICHES INDEPENDIENTE 2 RACING 0

Crime of Opportunity?

Ce résumé n'est pas disponible. Veuillez cliquer ici pour afficher l'article.

Gun Insurance?

Rue St. Michel covers part of the debate:

• Rep. Kenneth Dunkin has legislation in the rules committee requiring that FOID holders go and get $1,000,000 of liability insurance if they own a hand-gun or rifle.
• I'm sure this is just the first volley in the new war against gun ownership in this country. If they cannot do away with guns, they will make owning them prohibitively expensive. Isn't it fun living in a quasi-totalitarian country?
  

Here's something a sharp-eyed reader pointed out that isn't mentioned:

• Kenneth Duncan (5th District):
  
  Committee assignments: Appropriations-Higher Education; Financial Institutions; Insurance; International Trade & Commerce; Juvenile Justice Reform (Vice-Chairperson).

Gee, a Illinois Representative in charge of the Insurance Committee recommending a bill that would required thousands of people to purchase...insurance! Things that make you go "Hmm..."

We seem to recall some past US Supreme Court decision or Federal Statute that says you cannot make people pay for what is a Right enshrined in the Constitution. Rights are not things to be made unattainable by Legislatures imposing fees on them. Witness the Poll Taxes that used to be imposed by various Southern jurisdictions to deny certain people the opportunity to vote.

The Truth of "Gun-Free" Zones

Funny:



Criminals have already disregarded laws in most cases to obtain their weapons. What possible reason does the liberal establishment have to believe that more "rules" will be obeyed?

La teta del fútbol

Empresarios, políticos, dueños de revistas, dueños de diarios, cronistas especializados, fotógrafos, camarógrafos, directores artísticos, periodistas, periodistas deportivos, directores de escuelas de periodismo deportivo, relatores, locutores, noteros, redactores, empresarios radiales, empresarios de televisión, productores de programas, conductores televisivos, fabricantes de dvd, agencias de publicidad, diseñadores web, agencias de turismo, transportistas, hoteleros, fabricantes de merchandising, empresarios de medios de transporte, choferes, compañías de seguro, comerciantes de artículos deportivos, empresarios textiles, empresarios y representantes de jugadores, entrenadores, directores generales, comisarios deportivos, directores técnicos, secretarios técnicos, preparadores físicos, secretarios ejecutivos, jefes de prensa y propaganda, jefes de relaciones públicas, contadores, coordinadores, mánagers, asesores espirituales, asesores de imagen, jefes de control antidoping, jefes de disciplina, directores de escuelas de directores técnicos, directores y profesores de escuelas de árbitros, asistentes sociales, asesores en leyes de juego, profesores de idiomas, traductores, delegados gremiales, policías privados, espías del adversario, preparadores físicos, ayudantes de campo, dueños de complejos deportivos, dueños de gimnasios, médicos clínicos, médicos deportólogos, dietólogos, traumatólogos, otorrinolaringólogos, dentistas, kinesiólogos, psicólogos, peluqueros, pedicuros, masajistas, meteorólogos, climatólogos, contact-men entre jugadores y directivos, abogados, profesores de educación física, fabricantes de indumentaria deportiva, costureros, bordadores, cortadores, encimadores, estampadores, fabricantes de pelotas de fútbol, serigrafistas, fabricantes de zapatillas, fabricantes de botines, diseñadores gráficos, tarotistas, cancheros, jardineros, chicos que llevan pelotas, empleados de administración, acomodadores, controles, encargados de boletería, recontadotes, empleados de limpieza, cuidadores de baños, utileros, guardianes, vendedores ambulantes de sándwiches y gaseosas, cafeteros, vendedores de banderines, viseras y gorras, revendedores de entradas, jugadores.

Triple Homicide in 004

Bloodbath:

• Three teenagers were killed in a shooting this afternoon on Chicago's Southeast Side, officials said. At least one assault rifle was used in the shooting, Police Supt. Jody Weis said.
• The Cook County medical examiner's office said the victims were 13, 15 and 17, but it would not release the victims' names.

But don't worry!

• Police said they likely have surveillance video of the shootings because two pod cameras are on the street at the scene. "They're in great positions," Calumet Area Cmdr. Eddie Welch said of the cameras.

Well thank goodness for that. It must be a real comfort to the families. Too bad Chicago couldn't afford an extra 1,200 or so street coppers whose actual physical presence might have deterred the shooting.

Anyone want to point out how we were down ten whole homicides in January now? Seven dead last weekend and this weekend starting out with a triple header. Some detective or boss can tell us the year-to-date totals but one commentator says we are up 43% for February over last year. J-Fed? J-Fed? Hellooooooooo???

Oh No! Snow!

In February! In Chicago!

• Bitter cold temperatures and wind chill values are expected to move out of the Chicago area Friday, but a snow storm that could blanket the city with up to eight inches of snow is expected to hit late Friday.

  The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, including Cook, DuPage, Lake and Will counties, that will begin at 11 p.m. Friday and remain in effect until 6 p.m. Saturday.

We hope everyone has put together stocks of jerky and broth and emptied store shelves of milk, water and dry goods. It's the end of the freaking world don't you know?

Thank god Chicagoans haven't become such weather candyasses as the newscasters have been this year. There will be some snow. The mayor won't move it, plow it or salt it because it's the weekend and he isn't paying any weather related overtime. No big deal.

Stuck with the Check

Nice:

• The cost of President Barack Obama's Election Day celebration in Grant Park totaled more than $1.7 million, and the city has yet to be paid.

  The Office of Budget and Management says the city is reaching out to the Democratic National Committee to get the money. A DNC spokesperson said the party is still looking at various costs and bills.

  In October, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said the cash-flush Obama campaign would reimburse the city for the total cost of the rally.

We think we've spotted the pattern!

• Daley says the Obama campaign will pay for the rally - they don't
• Daley says taxpayers won't be on the hook for $500 million in Olympic costs - they will

Whatever Shortshanks says, believe the opposite.

Bilardo, Fillol, Passarella y Maradona.

"Carlos Salvador Bilardo asumió la conducción de la Selección Argentina con la clara intención de imponer su sello táctico en el equipo. Al tomar nota del cambio de rumbo y del intento de diferenciacicón de su sucesor, César Menotti, aun dolido por la frustrada posibilidad de alargar por otro período sus ocho años al frente del fútbol albiceleste, empezó a atacar la nueva gestión. En ese marco, el hombre de la escuela de Zubeldía en Estudiantes de La Plata consideró que la pelea por imponer sus ideas necesitaba de jugadores que se transformaran en soldados militantes de su causa.
Su primera jugada táctica fue anunciar como nuevo capitán del equipo a Diego Armando Maradona, que en España no había conseguido una actuación a la altura de las expectativas que se habían creado alrededor de su debut en un Mundial de mayores. Ese gesto, con vistas a un futuro que no parecía para nada sencillo, le permitió ganarse la confianza del Diez y ponerlo de su lado. Y, también, les avisaba a los “históricos” del ciclo anterior que se había producido un quiebre y que comenzaba otro proceso.
Bilardo relegó a los jugadores identificados con Menotti, Américo Rubén Gallego entre los primeros. Con algunos nombres la tarea no era fácil, dado el peso propio de varios de esos apellidos, forjados en jornadas de gloria. Este era el caso, sobretodo, de Daniel Alberto Passarella, uno de los pocos jugadores campeones del mundo en el 78 que dejó una buena imagen en el 82, pese al fracaso general de la selección, que terminó su actuación con tres derrotas y dos triunfos.
Passarella y otros pesos pesados como Ubaldo Matildo Fillol acusaron el golpe y, aun cuando fueron convocados para integrar la Selección, nunca dejaron de mirar a Bilardo de reojo. Mantenían una pulseada con el técnico, en la que ganaban posiciones cuando el equipo no conseguía buenos resultados, con lo que impedían que la nueva identidad futbolística se concretara en un buen funcionamiento colectivo. Además, lo provocaban en público con elogios al César en las que reafirmaban su condición de “menottistas”.
Grondona apoyaba con firmeza a Bilardo, el primer técnico que Don Julio designó investido ya como presidente de la AFA. A la vez, consideraba que el enfrentamiento con Menotti no justificaba la exclusión de jugadores con cualidades probadas en momentos decisivos. Antes del comienzo de las eliminatorias para el Mundial de México 86, se sentó a conversar con Fillol y Passarella, preocupado por el desafío próximo: “Tenemos que clasificar para el Mundial, necesito que le pongan el hombro a este equipo”, les pidió el presidente de la AFA. El arquero y el defensor se comprometieron a tirar para adelante, y aprovecharon para hacerle saber al jefe el malestar que les producía no sentirse respetados.
Bilardo, por su parte, no cesaba en su intento de crear las condiciones para dejarlos a un lado de una vez. Creyó encontrar su oportunidad en el hecho de que Passarella no pudiera llegar de Italia el día que empezara la concentración. El jugador, indignado, llamó a Grondona, quien le aseguró que no habría problemas cuando llegara, porque él en persona iba a arreglar las cosas con Bilardo. Passarella le hizo caso, armó sus valijas y disputó las eliminatorias como titular. En el partido clave, contra Perú, se dio el gusto de escuchar a todo el estadio cantar que “de la mano de Passarella todos la vuelta vamos a dar”, luego del empate en dos tantos que le otorgó a Argentina la clasificación. El partido había empezado con la lesión de Franco Navarro, el delantero más peligroso de los visitantes, tras una patada del marcador lateral de Estudiantes Julián Camino.
El rol decisivo de Passarella en las eliminatorias y el reconocimiento explícito de la gente no le torcieron el brazo a Bilardo, que mantenía abierto ese frente de debate con el ex capitán pese a que en la balanza pesaban más las críticas que los elogios a su gestión. Más aún, redobló la apuesta al reiterar que “el único titular” para su equipo era Maradona.
Una baja en el nivel futbolístico de Fillol fue la excusa para dejar a este fuera del equipo y apoyar con todo a Nery Pumpido. Pero Bilardo no tenía excusas para marginar a Passarella, quien viajó a México convencido de que iba a ser el líbero titular de Argentina. Y el técnico no tenía margen para impedirlo: en la temporada 85-86, el ex gran capitán había marcado once goles con la camiseta de la Florentina y se había convertido en el defensor que más goles hizo en un torneo en la historia del fútbol italiano.
Llegado al Distrito Federal, Passarella empezó a sentir molestias estomacales (similares a las de Branco?): se pasaba mas tiempo en el baño que en los campos de entrenamiento. La recuperación, que en principio parecía ser cuestión de días, no se producía, por lo que tuvo que ser reemplazado por José Luis Brown, un ex Estudiantes que para muchos había viajado solamente para cebarles mate a sus compañeros.
La extraña enfermedad de Passarella le permitió a Bilardo disputar el Mundial sin la tensión y la inseguridad que le generaba tener un enemigo en el equipo. Las cosas no podían ser mejores para el entrenador: Diego Maradona, a quien le había confiado la capitanía, fue la gran figura del Mundial...”

Ariel Borenstein, DON JULIO, págs 139 – 143, Editorial Planeta, 2001.

Breaking Down the Video

From the video vault:



Slowing down and counting the instances of asking, reasoning and ordering the offender from the bus is enlightening. So is watching the offender's hand movement and actions that can only be construed as aggressive in nature. Looking at this video again only reinforces the fact that the cop showed admirable restraint and "reasonableness" in confronting a lawbreaking individual.

So where is J-Fed's "having our backs"? Hasn't Shortshanks told him what to do yet? Daley's been back in town for a whole day. Maybe he's not taking J-Fed's calls?

Illinois Carry?

It passed out of a panel 11-1:

• A state House panel is recommending that the General Assembly give Illinois residents the right to carry concealed weapons.

  The two proposals are expected to garner opposition from Chicago-area lawmakers, who have expressed concern about increased gun violence.

  The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling last summer overturning a handgun ban in Washington D.C., and an endorsement of concealed carry by the Illinois Sheriffs' Association has given a boost to supporters of a concealed weapon law.

  House Bill 245, sponsored by Marion Democratic Rep. John Bradley, would allow the Illinois State Police to issue the permits. It was endorsed Wednesday on an 11-1 vote, with Democratic state Rep. Julie Hamos of Evanston the lone opponent.

It's a shift no matter how you slice it. Hopefully, the down-staters lead the charge and force the issue this session.

Cameras Beat Police to Scene

But what happens next?

• Mayor Daley has argued that security and terrorism won’t be an issue if his Olympic dreams come true because, by 2016, there will be a surveillance camera on every street corner in Chicago.

  But even before that blanket coverage begins, the “Big Brother’’ network is being put to better use.

  Call takers and dispatchers now see real-time video if there is a surveillance cameras within 150 feet of a 911 call, thanks to a $6 million upgrade to the city’s “computer-aided dispatch” system.

We'll tell you what happens next:

• a rather high percentage of the cameras aren't working;
• cops running from paper job to paper job can't get there in a timely fashion;

cops in 200K mile pool cars can't get to the jobs;

• victims are going to get dragged into gangways, alleys, garages and are going to get a lot more damaged added to their plate since cops can't find them.

We will repeat what we've said before - a camera has never prevented a crime. And a camera has never climbed down off the pole and actually arrested anyone.

Crime may have moved around the corner, but criminals don't fear cameras. The amount of data generated by these machines is impossible to catalog and store and the criminals know that no one is going to be running through a few thousand hours of film to find a cigarette seller or three-bag dope pinch. Cameras provide an illusion of police presence, but only the sheep are impressed. The wolves haven't cared for a while.

The Game is Afoot

And Patti Mell-Blago is now in play:

• CHICAGO - Patti Blagojevich has been served with a federal subpoena seeking documents, notes or e-mails related to people or entities ranging from former gubernatorial fund raisers to her real estate dealings.
  
  Attorney Raymond Pijon told the Chicago Sun-Times the wife of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich is cooperating with federal investigators. However, Pijon said that does not mean she will flip on her husband.

She's "cooperating"? As in telling the feds stories about Rod? As in outlining her role in putting Rezko in touch with a certain Oval Office occupant over real estate deals? Over how she learned how to wheel and deal at Daddy Mell's knee and how she helped Daddy push a pizza delivery guy into a US Congressman and Illinois governor?

Hopefully, they have her on tape doing some equally asinine BS like her husband and Dick Mell will have to step in and offer up something nice to keep Patti out of prison.

Nuevas reglas FIFA.

LA LUCHA DE LA FIFA CONTRA EL TIEMPO

Más allá de Sudáfrica y las obras (estadios) que no marchan según los plazos pautados, más allá de los interminables días entre mundiales y de los bienales mundiales de clubes que no terminan de cuajar, la carrera de la FIFA contra el tiempo tampoco no se detiene (¿o el capitalismo financiero no es acaso una cuestión de tiempo?).

El 28 de febrero próximo tiene lugar la Reunión General Anual de la IFAB y la copia de las propuestas de cambio que debe adelantar la FIFA circula por la prensa: expulsiones temporales (tarjeta naranja, 5 a 10 minutos), determinación de gol (en honor a Geoff Hurst, se estudia la implementación de un chip dentro de la pelota de modo de asegurar el traspaso de la línea de gol), cuatro sustituciones (para partidos que vayan a alargue), zona técnica liberada (el DT podrá estarse tiempo ilimitado) y entre tanto ajuste detallado intercalamos un inexorable y fundamental... entretiempo de 20 minutos...

Desde la regla del fuera de juego (en el compendio original de 1863) hasta estos días, los cambios de reglamentación acompañaron, mejoraron y propendieron a la evolución y agilización del juego. Muy paulatinamente el fútbol fue tomando la forma que hoy vemos: saques de arco (1869), córners (1872), silbato (1878), árbitros y penales (1891), áreas (1902), mano de arquero fuera del área (1912), lateral sin off side (1920)... ...ventaja en línea de off side para el atacante (1990), falta del profesional (1990), arquero sin recibir con las manos pases de defensores (1992), expulsión por entradas de atrás (1998)...

Seguimiento deportivo bajo el conservadurismo de la IFAB que, mejor o peor, fue conservando la esencia del fútbol de acuerdo a los tiempos. Las cámaras, el periodismo y los empresarios fueron ganando espacio hasta que llegó el tiempo en que las reglas sobre el fútbol se implementan en base a condicionantes comerciales. No hay dudas de que la regla príncipe (no para nosotros) de este combo 2009 trata sobre la duración del entretiempo. Ya desde hace años los testeos públicos abrieron discusiones sobre tres tiempos de 30 minutos, cuatro de 25 y ahora, en febrero, la más sencilla de las ideas sobre el caso: entretiempo de 20 minutos sin otra razón que el aumento de caudal publicitario (calculado en un 33%).

Hasta donde sabía, el fútbol era generoso dando cabida al empresariado publicitario, hasta que un día el fútbol se reglamentó según sus condiciones...

REGLAS DE JUEGO (PDF)

Violation of Eavesdropping Law?

Hey J-Fed, get your crack legal team working on this one. See if you can win back the hearts and minds of some of the people you purportedly have the backs of:

• (720 ILCS 5/14‑2) (from Ch. 38, par. 14‑2)
  Sec. 14‑2. Elements of the offense; affirmative defense.
  (a) A person commits eavesdropping when he:
  (1) Knowingly and intentionally uses an
  eavesdropping device for the purpose of hearing or recording all or any part of any conversation or intercepts, retains, or transcribes electronic communication unless he does so with the consent of all of the parties to such conversation or electronic communication

Now, we noticed someone in another comment section say, "On the public way. Fair game."

But it's not.

It's on CTA property. A bus is not the public way because to have access to it, you have to pay a fare. And the CTA already monitors it's property via closed circuit cameras. So it would appear that what we have here is evidence of an Officer doing his job by removing a non-compliant subject from a public conveyance AND a violation of Illinois Eavesdropping Law.

Anyone want to bet which way J-Fed, the Department legal team and the Cook County State's Attorney go?

Guess What?

The police sometimes put hands on people! It's the best known way of getting people to do what they are supposed to be doing!

• You get on a bus;
• You accost the driver and at least one passenger;
• You refuse to pay the fare;
• You are getting off the bus, one way or the other.

And that just may necessitate putting hands on a piss bum.

Fortunately, the vast majority of the comments over at the Slum-Times and Breaking News websites are supportive of the police. There are the typical liberal jackasses who think any time a cop puts hands on people, it's some sort of violation of their rights (it isn't). But by far, the comments are running in favor of the police.

Here's a bit of knowledge from an old downtown footman:

• After dark, every bum down here has a knife

Even letting this asshole get his hands near his pockets is a bad idea and the copper did nothing wrong restraining him, getting his attention, forcing him to behave in a manner that protected the officer and citizens alike.

What would the media and the second-guessers be saying if the officer went to a baton? A taser? They'd be howling. But how else are you going to get the jackass off the bus without putting hands on? You aren't. And this second guessing by a bunch of softballs isn't doing the citizens of Chicago any favors by making them live in fear of a bum who throws a tantrum when he won't live by the rules. Good job officer.

Political Correctness Again

Whatever happened to the word "gypsy?"

• Police continue to warn North Side residents of burglaries that have occurred recently at the hands of people pretending to be utility employees or new neighbors. Once inside victims' homes, they distract the resident while accomplices steal items.

• The offenders begin by ringing the bell or knocking on the door, then giving various false reasons for entry, including that they are new neighbors, utility employees, tree cutters or construction contractors.

  Once inside, they keep the victim distracted while accomplices search for property to take. On one occasion, the victim was physically accosted by the offenders.

  The offenders have been described as male, whites or Hispanics in their late 20s to 30s. The property taken has included cash and/or small items such as jewelry. The offenders have been seen driving various vehicles

We remember an entire course taught at the Academy that dealt solely with gypsies. There was an entire Special Bulletin that ran on to eight or ten pages with the known "Millers" and "Mitchells" and all manner of grifter, thieves, and burglars. There seems to be a violent streak appearing here and there among some of the younger generation attacking the elderly and defenseless. Keep an eye on the neighbors.