Still Insignificant

Northside pointed out that we passed 6,000,000 visits this past week.

That's "million" with an "M."

Six million times, people thought that this site was worth at least a few moments of their time. Cops mostly, retirees from out of state, bosses downtown (yes, we still see your IP addresses popping up), civilians and reporters. Fans in Europe, Australia, Asia. The vacationing coppers in Belize, Mexico, South America, wherever there is an internet connection. Even the odd visit from Iraq and Afghanistan where our brothers in blue find time to stop by.

And along with the 6,000,000 milestone, we passed 13,000,000 page views.

We are truly thankful for all your visits. And we truly hope to continue serving up helpings of sarcasm, silliness, seriousness and the pointed commentary you expect. Again, thanks.

Time for Another March?

Well, if arbitration hasn't been set and we're still at an impasse, perhaps it's time for another march? Someone has been posting in the comments that 30 June might be an opportune time for a second round? Is FOP taking the lead this time?

It's a Tuesday so we get the maximum impact of downtown exposure.

It's two years without a contract.

If we march a few blocks east after City Hall, we get to see the Taste. Not that we'd offer to spend a dime there, but it'd piss off Shortshanks.

TAPA Nº 95

RELACIONADO:
VELEZ NO SE RINDE (VC)
LOS TITULOS DE LA FECHA (TM)

Rosario Central 1 Huracán 2

Pastore sigue inflando el globo: dos goles (´8 y ´19), un travesaño y la expulsión de Burdisso (´9). Cappa salió a disculparse con "sin manos" Vega, denunció canallada de Fútbol de Primera y disfrutó del triunfo en Rosario. Lanús tiene la nuca cubierta. Vale la pena ver a Huracán.

Nothing New, As Usual

WBBM 780's At Issue program is discussing youth gun violence today. Same tired conversation and issues, especially from ceasefire -- sociological blah blah blah and let's throw money at it so the families can keep their kids off the streets.

It's usually available on the station's website for listening, if you're interested.

The Age-Old Argument

Do fewer cops mean less crime?

The cynical and sarcastic among you will say, "Yeah, less cops stealing." We respond, "Haha, you're an ass."

But if there are fewer officers on the street making fewer arrests and generating less paper, then what?

A lot of police work is perception. If you see more police, you might think, "Hey, this place is pretty well protected" or you may think, "This place is out of control." If you see the beat car once every other week or so, are you actually less secure? What if the beat car is in on a burglary every day? They are fighting actual crime, but the high number of arrests would lead one to believe the neighborhood is actually less safe. And while they are processing, do other criminal have free rein?

Now look at backlogs. If it takes the police 3 and 4 hours to show up at a disturbance call or a damage to property call or a dope job, does the citizen who called actually wait around for the whole 4 hours to make a report that isn't going anywhere but the "suspended" file? No. But does that mean the crime didn't occur? Not at all - it just means it wasn't reported. And from there, does the perception of neighborhood crime take a hit? Neighbors talk, they'll let each other know about something that happened, but it never made the statistics. Every one of us has a story about showing up at a job and filling out a report after the fact and then the victim relates that their buddy up the street had the same thing happen three days ago, but they never made a report.

So are backlogs (or Radio Assignments Pending - RAPs) actually a good thing for crime reporting? A frustrated citizen not reporting crime might be a better thing for Shortshanks and his statisticians. It almost means the only true measure of crime is the number of bodies showing up at hospitals with holes in them.

Recruits Ticketing?

What's the deal with this?

Supposedly, the Academy took a bunch of recruits out and had them writing meter tickets this past week.

First up, it took a separate City Ordinance to authorize CTA Supervisors, Streets and Sanitation Supervisors, TMA's and PEAs to be able to write tickets. Did we miss something that permitted unsworn unarmed recruits to be able to write parking tickets?

Second, if this is supposed to be some sort of new mandated training, welcome to the future of the Chicago Police Department. You aren't the Police anymore - you are revenue agents, ticketing to feed the Machine. We imagine that the new kids will come out with a quota attached to their daily grading system and FTO's city wide (oops, we mean in 6 training districts) will be required to fail the recruits if they don't write at least their salary plus in parkers per day.

Maybe the City hopes to develop it into a habit - a mindless horde of revenue generators:

• Old Vet: See that guy in the long jacket? Hanging around outside the Dollar Store? He keeps looking in the window and around the corner and it's 85 degrees out. That strike you as suspicious kid?
• Newbie: Holy crap! Look at that car parked 12 inches from the curb with the cracked windshield! And that other car is protruding 6 inches into the "No Parking" zone delineated by signs! And oh my lord! Two fire hydrant violations, one with a hanging front plate! I think I'm in heaven - I need some oxygen!

Welcome to the future.