Fran Writes Fiction and Truth

This is more than a little poetic license. It's almost indecent:

• Police Supt. Jody Weis' decision to defy until the bitter end a federal judge's order to release the names of police officers most often accused of excessive force was a thinly veiled attempt to bolster morale that has hit rock bottom on his watch.

A "thinly veiled attempt" Fran? It was as shameless an effort to win over a few people who haven't been truly paying attention - mostly members of the press and political underbelly. But everyone who mattered knew exactly what it was when it started.

The article continues with a few more of the obvious examples of J-Fed attempting to lead by carefully orchestrated publicity stunts. And then it delves into the ugly truth of the situation. And we'll do Fran the honor of quoting her at length because it deserves to be quoted:

• Weis' decision to wear a uniform even though he has never been a street cop offended the rank and file -- and so did his $310,000-a-year salary at a time when his officers have spent years working under an expired contract.

  The new superintendent yanked gang investigators out of police districts, ordered an unprecedented housecleaning that swept out 21 of 25 district commanders and dipped down into the ranks of district commanders to replace the first deputy and other top brass.

  He talked about getting overweight cops in shape and having them work 12-hour shifts before broaching the subjects at the bargaining table, then rankled the police union by asking officers to give up their DNA at crime scenes and using GPS to track squad cars.

  When a 14-year-old police impersonator managed to scam his way onto the streets, Weis asked the U.S. Secret Service to evaluate station security instead of trusting his own officers to do so.

  But the most damaging move of all was Weis' knee-jerk reaction to Officer William Cozzi, who was captured on a hospital surveillance camera beating a man shackled to a wheelchair.

  After the video was posted on the Chicago Sun-Times Web site, Weis called the officer's actions "deplorable" and vowed to "review the facts of the case before taking further action." He wound up contacting federal authorities, who obtained a civil rights indictment against Cozzi on the day before he was supposed to return to duty.

The article is titled "Nowhere to go here but up, for top cop." We're afraid there's still a bit of digging to do. And then a year or more of muddling around in the sewer while the policy group tries to orchestrate some more BS to show how that isn't really a knife in every one's back.