Arrangements

Visitation 05 Jun 09 at Blake and Lamb Funeral Home
4727 W. 103rd St, Oak Lawn 1500-2100 hours
St. Judes at 1900 hours

Funeral Service at St. Bede's the Venerable
83rd and Kostner 1000 hours

Internment Private at Mt Auburn Cemetery

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Info from our brothers and sisters in blue:

• Please accept our most heartfelt condolences for the loss of Police Officer Valadez from your brothers & sisters of the Oak Lawn Police Department.
  
  Once again we will provide assistance at Blake & Lamb for this sad occasion. We ask that only those Officers on duty park along the curb of east bound & west bound 103rd in the designated areas (the curb lanes will be blocked off from Kilpatrick to Kenton). All other Officers can park in the bowling alley lot or the bank lot at 103rd & Cicero. We expect a large turn out & will be directing traffic. We will do our best to get everyone in & out as easily and quickly as possible.
  
  For those Officer's assigned to the CPD detail & any other Officers that may need it we will have plenty of cold water on hand, feel free to stop by the Incident Command vehicle for the water. Please do not hesitate to ask for assistance from any OLPD Officer.
  
  Thank you for your cooperation, our thoughts & prayers are with our CPD brethren and the friends and family of Officer Valadez.
  
  Respectfully,
  
  The Men & Women of the Oak Lawn Police Department

Thank you OLPD.

Killers Charged

Good job by everyone involved:

• Two men — both with histories of gun-related arrests — were charged today with the murder of a Chicago Police officer who was gunned down in a drive-by shooting as he answered a call about shots being fired in Englewood.

Gee, extensive histories of gun related arrests, yet still running around loose. How can that happen? Oh wait...Cook County - we forgot.

• Gaston was arrested in 2007 for carrying a loaded gun in the 6000 block of South Paulina, about two blocks from Valadez’s slaying.

  Gaston pleaded guilty to a felony and was sentenced on March 20, 2008 to two years’ probation by Judge Bertina Lampkin. He is due in court before Lampkin next month on a violation of probation.

Ah yes, Judge Lampkin. Two years probation for a gun felony? Amazing. And Ike Carothers is facing 98 years for accepting $40,000 in bribes? The disparity is a wonder to behold, isn't it?

• Walker pleaded guilty to a 2008 attempted armed robbery in the 6400 block of South Fairfield after he pulled a man from a truck as an accomplice held a gun to the man’s head, according to court records.

We're sure this one was turning his life around back in 2008, too. In-fucking-credible.

CPD Goes "Global"

Way to report Fran!

• The city of Chicago will flood the streets with police officers this summer to keep crime from surging as it usually does when the weather gets warmer, Mayor Daley said today.

  In part, the police department will do that by moving as many as 500 officers out from behind desks, Daley said.

• The Police Department’s Global Strike Force will be expanded by 50 officers and supervisors, Daley said, and a new strike team will be created, comprised of personnel from gang intelligence and gang enforcement units, as well as neighborhood districts, to conduct surveillance in potentially violent areas.

So another 50 are leaving the Districts? The main thing that keeps quiet neighborhoods quiet is being stripped to "conduct surveillance in potentially violent areas"? And how the hell is this a "flood" of officers? What is happening is that the Department is finally acknowledging what the blog has been saying for two years - that we're shorthanded. Badly. And 45 recruits in a few weeks isn't going to do shit when we're having 50 retirements a month.

Better tell the citizens in the decent neighborhoods to stock up on arms and ammo. And stop voting for an idiot who is leaving you high and dry.

ASA's Overreach

Did anyone catch this at the end of the Abbate article yesterday?

• But prosecutors said police officers are held to a higher standard, so when they commit crimes they are automatically guilty of official misconduct.

  Fleming said that under the prosecutors' reasoning, any off-duty officer on a cell phone in violation of the city's ordinance could be charged with felony official misconduct.

"automatically guilty."

No presumption of innocence. No right to a trial. No matter your intent.

You are "automatically guilty" and therefore eligible for 2 to 5 years in state prison.

Fleming took it to the logical, and ridiculous, extreme to make a point.

Our point is going to be a little blunter than Judge Fleming's - ASA's will fuck a copper in a heartbeat if they think it's going to advance their career or ingratiate them with the current political administration.

Hoffman on the Warpath

But underestimating the loss we think:

• Chicago’s 36,000 parking meters were worth nearly twice as much as the $1.15 billion Mayor Daley got when he rammed through a 75-year lease in a few days without analyzing what the system was worth, the city’s inspector general has concluded.

  A steep schedule of rate hikes and operational problems ranging from over-stuffed and improperly calibrated downtown meters to broken pay-and-display boxes have turned the deal into a nightmare for motorists.
  

  But Inspector General David Hoffman says the lease was a financial disaster as well.

We recall seeing an article by financial guru Terry Savage that said the meter lease deal should have been quite a few billions more. Regardless, Daley's cronies will make out in some form or another unless the contract gets rescinded in court. Just another day in Chicago.

3 Cops Hurt - Assailant Shot

In 013? 012?

• Police were involved in a shooting near the intersection of West Madison Street and Western Avenue tonight, authorities said.

  Citing very preliminary information, Officer John Mirabelli said shots were fired by police in the 2300 block of West Madison Street after a traffic stop.

  A "potential offender" was struck by police gunfire, he said.

We get to shoot "potential offenders" now? Damn, we better get another gun because we're going to wear out the barrel on this one.

Is there a chance someone can get an actual professional speaker to talk to the media once in a while? It'd save us problems in the long run.

Officers are all expected to be OK.

El Gráfico: 90 años.

La edición extraordinaria de El Gráfico (Junio, nº4387) da cuenta de su 90º aniversario en 210 páginas que recorren el mundo (entero) deportivo.
Messi, Maradona, Kempes y Bochini en un imperdible número cuyo sumario completo puede verse en este link, donde también se abre el archivo de todas las tapas desde 1919.
En honor a aquellos martes tempraneros, cuando no lunes céntricos de luna azul, el olor a tinta, el papel brillante y el latir del deporte en El Gráfico.