More Lightbars Stolen

On an unsecured lot of an outside vendor:

• Comment #1 - Hey SCC,
  
  Two more Chicago police light bars have been stolen from Trans-o-matic repair shop located @ 7200 w Irving park road on todays date. 11Jan10.
  
  
• Comment #2 - Heard another set of mar lights stolen from a squad car in the belmont heights neighborhood in 016. For units that take home there cars just be careful what you keep in your cars at night. There was a DEA agent down the street from me had ammunition and bullet proof vest taken.

Not sure if these are the same incidents. We know the City subcontracts out just about all squad car repairs nowadays. Windows, body damage, engine work, etc. But shouldn't there be standards of some sort? Secure lots and buildings? In today's post-9/11 world, shouldn't someone be thinking outside the box, looking at asymmetrical threats, trying to connect the dots to head off the next attack?

The Department has known about these light bar thefts for a while now. We were tipped off reading Shaved's blog. And now we're being told that 016 sent out a letter to make officers aware that take-home cars appeared to have been targeted.

How about making everyone else aware of this? What point is there to keeping fellow officers in the dark? And what point (if any) is served by keeping citizens in the dark when we're supposed to be relying on them to be our eyes and ears when we can't be everywhere at once? Oh wait...this is Chicago...we must be covering for some incompetent political hacks who spent federal money destined for anti-terror efforts on some crooked contract for printing pamphlets or paneling a den or some other crap.