HE GONE!!!

UNION!!!!!!

Should we continue with the status quo or make changes after the expiration of the existing contract?

This is an important issue and after the class of 50 pre-sergeants graduates, barring any retirements, we will have 1300 members. We pay $50.00 a month in union dues (totalling nearly $65,000.00) and we need representation.

People have been complaining that when they call the Sergeants Association with questions it takes up to a week to get an answer. The response from some is to volunteer or shut up. Folks that's not the answer. We need people to staff those lines who know what they are talking about and are paid employees of the sergeants.

A website is a valuable tool to get out information and for what its worth we don't have one. The non-updated website is indicative of the state of our union.

Apathy runs rampant in this union as it does at FOP. I would not be able to tell you how many of our members are eligible to run for an elected office but I am aware that a little over 120 are eligible at FOP. Just about 1% of FOP members are eligible to run for an elected office with less than 40% of the members voting in elections. To me this is a great example of apathy and I'm sure the numbers are probably the same with the Sergeants Association.

We may never be able to change the atmosphere of apathy and thus a few members will always control the destinies of many. So you have to ask yourself what direction you would like to see our association go.

So far we have read some interesting comments, and here are some possibilities that we see happening.

1. Apathy prevails and we stay the course.
2. Decertification occurs and we must then pick an organization to represent us.
3. We select FOP and are separate from lodge 7
4. We select FOP and share facilities with lodge 7 (building, staff, etc.)
5. We select an entirely different bargaining organization i.e. Teamsters.
6. We select PB&PA again with the promise of changes.

This post has not been written to blame the current or past presidents of the Sergeants Association for the problems that exist. We created this post with the intention of getting the members to move in the direction of getting involved.
Whether that involvement is as a PB&PA member or a member of a new bargaining unit.

Last updated on 01/06/2005

Just a reminder of the banner at the bottom of the Sergeants Association, PB&PA website.

Don't be surprised if there is a move for decertification of PB&PA after the expiration of the current contract.

Keep in mind that this is the opinion of a few sergeants that I have spoken to about the subject.
We would like to provide a forum for discussion concerning this very issue.
We will print all comments (no personal attacks) pro or con.

Gerald Ford dead at 93

Brawls break out at 3 movie theaters

Spend all day with the family on Christmas. After dinner you relax and then decide to go see a movie to put an end to a great day. My choice of movie theaters is always in the burbs...Why?

Brawls broke out at three Chicago movie theater complexes Christmas night

The fights were reported between about 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. at I.C.E. Chatham 14, 210 W. 87th St.; I.C.E. Lawndale 10, 3330 W. Roosevelt Rd.; and AMC Ford City 14 7601 S. Cicero Ave.

The fights did not appear related to any particular movie, police said

No the movie wouldn't be your common denominator in this one.Tribune

Stroger Betrays Unions

You get what you pay for!!!!!!
In todays Sun-Times the unions (AFSME & SEIU) are beside themselves with the proposal by Baby Doc (Todd) Stroger to lay off thousands of their members in order to balance a $500 million projected budget deficit.

Dennis Gannon of the Chicago Federation of Labor. "I'm very concerned about this budget being balanced on the backs of hard-working men and women."

The union proposed that the county raise taxes --

Thats the answer! Screw the honest hard working taxpayer. The Cook County government is an overbloated bureaucracy filled with patronage workers and political hacks.
The fact Todd wants to trim department budgets by 17% is purely political. The jobs that will eventually be eliminated will surely come from the ranks of those with the least political connections.

Not Much In The Way Of News

In today's Tribune there is an article concerning the expiration of most city employee contracts.
June 30, 2007 is fast approaching!
City has no incentive to renegotiate in a timely manner. Retro is paid with no interest.
The city will be looking for us to take on more of the health insurance cost. During the last set of negotiations FOP was able to show that the cities actual cost for medical claims actually decreased from one year to another.
The city will probably be looking to change our pension with a two tier system. In essence new hires would have drastically different benefits then existing members.
The over/under for contract settlememnt is 24 months.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

SHOCKING!

A 13 year old and a 14 year old were arrested Thursday for a series of armed robberies in the University of Chicago area. The two "misguided youths" would approach their victims and display a replica handgun then demand money and cell phones.
As reported in the Tribune

Officers from the Chicago Police Department and the University of Chicago working a special covert mission Thursday night spotted the 13-year-old in the Midway Plaisance, a stretch of park near the university grounds.

The boy fit the description of a suspect in recent robberies in the park, and officers found he was carrying a knife and a replica handgun, according to a Chicago police news release.

The best way to describe the University of Chicago is one square mile inhabited by the socially naive surrounded by stark reality. These little shits have learned at a young age how to spot a good victim (dumb whites). I am not trying to make this a race issue (stupidity vs opportunity) but I'm sure Mary Mitchell will find just the right angle to make it so.
I wonder how successful these "little angels" would have been had they plied their craft south of 59th St/ north of 51st St.

JUAN JUAREZ

Mark Suppelsa of Fox 32 ran a story about a former Chicago Police Office who has written a book called "Brotherhood Of Corruption". Over at SCC they say "Every story we've ever heard about him wasn't complimentary. Go figure." We did a little digging on the Internet and found reviews of this shit and one in particular that stuck out.

"Juarez's frank firsthand account of the culture of corruption that pervades the Chicago Police Department should send chills up the spine of all readers who care about fairness in law enforcement and justice in society. . . . A compelling read."

So according to the reviewer, Professor Michael L. Seigel, University of Florida Levin College of Law, there is a culture of corruption that "pervades" in the Chicago Police Department. Professor Siegel has decided that we have a pervasive corruption problem in the CPD based on the writings of this "pothead". The writers biography on line states that he was a writer for the "Reader" ...go figure.
The sad thing is it is impossible to prove a negative. Any discredit brought to this guy is dismissed by critics as blackballing those who attack the blue wall of silence. I can only think that anyone interested in buying this book is a person who has a negative view of the police in the first place.

WELCOME

50 NEW SERGEANTS!

045 SULLINS, Edward J.
121/610 NIEVES, Luz A.
193 BOCARDO, Michael R.
193/640 LOPEZ, Jose L.
603 O'DONNELL, Johnny
603 FLANIGAN, Kevin T.
606/610 SVILAR, William
610 LOMBARD, Richard P.
610/006 PARHAM, Andre
610/008 DORRIS, John E.
610/009 McINERNEY, Raymond J.
610/015 AYLWARD, Patrick M.
610/018 BRIDGES, TIM R.
610/025 LAUFER, James R.
610/121 MONTGOMERY, Phyore D.
620 KINNEY, David B.
620 PARKS, Cedrick V.
620/011 PITROWSKI, Dawn M.
620/018 MORRISSEY, Margaret M.
620/022 JASICA, Shannon K.
620/022 SMITH, Dennis L.
620/050 PETTIS, Christopher
620/153 DOWNS, Richard B
620/253 ROWLING, Steven R.
620/701 FLANAGAN, Thomas J.
630 VALDES, Hector A.
630/013 HEIN, Jon P.
630/019 MUSZYNSKY, Michael W.
630/023 BANICH, Thomas J.
630/024 FICHT, Leonard K.
630/050 AXIUM, Jack A.
640 DEVINE, Peter C.
640 BAZAREK, Michael G.
640/006 MULLINS, Stanley M.
640/010 SCHAAF, Jeffrey A.
640/012 BORJA, Jean P.
640/012 ZABER, Nicholas E.
640/013 DELGADO, John M.
640/018 O'DONNELL, Weslene M.
640/121 MILLS, Thomas
650 ERNST, Raymond G.
650/014 BETANCOURT, William
650/015 SOTO, Alexis C.
650/015 WHITE, Glenn
650/017 Mark A.
650/025 FORBES JR. Terence P.
650/057 BIELICKI, Anita M.
650/153 ROWAN, James G.

HEY PB&PA / FOP WHERE ARE OUR CALENDERS?

PB&PA.....No website, Phone calls that are returned weeks later, and calenders that will be issued maybe sometime during the new year. We have to do better guys.

and FOP what is your excuse the news letter said we should have had them last week.

Update.......Received our FOP book in todays mail....19 DEC 06

One of our readers suggested we view this video. We thought you might like it as well.

What's Up With Harwood Heights?

It seems over at Second City Cop they have a post in regards to a beef between Harwood Heights Police And 16th District coppers.

Authorities interview Bears' Johnson after shooting

Tribune

Chicago Police Supt. Philip Cline said a fight broke out before the shooting took place at 1:30 a.m. Saturday and it appears only one shot was fired. The round struck Posey in the left shoulder and traveled into his chest. The victim was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital a short time later.

Johnson, 25, and Posey were charged Thursday after police raided Johnson's Gurnee home and found six guns, some of which were loaded and laying in plain view. The Bears have benched Johnson for Sunday's game

You have got to be kidding me!

NEWS

Cable worker charged in bathtub slaying
Sun-Times Tribune
When I saw this headline I thought it was the murdered girl found in Garfield Ridge.

Bears player faces gun charges
Sun-Times

Secretary of State's daughter caught in drug sting
Sun-Times

Lorraine White, 47, of Chicago, was charged with possession of a controlled substance, attempted possession of a controlled substance and criminal trespass, the police said.

Jersey cop sues state troopers over arrest
Sun-Times

WHO YOU CRAPPIN?

SUN-TIMES
DENY! DENY! DENY!.........This is the strategy our beloved mayor loves to employ when faced with questions concerning his knowledge about corruption in his administration.
Fran Spielman describes the mayor as a person who prides himself on being a master of detail and wants to know;

how he could have been oblivious to the fact that city hiring and promotions were being rigged.

And the mayor skillfully dodged the question with this brilliant answer.

"You have asked me that question a thousand times and I've given you the same answer. I'm not going to keep repeating [it]," Daley said. "If I knew everything in the world, I don't think I'd be mayor. I'd be something else."

You would then be what?...GOD!
Fran hardly asked if the mayor knew everything in the world. Fran asked how was he not aware of what was going on in his world and in particular the corruption perpetrated by his closest operatives.

The mayor wants you to believe that there is no possible way for him to know top officials of his staff were corrupt. There is no possible way he would have known about job and promotion rigging. Everyone in the city knew about it in one form or another. It is a way life in Chicago "The city that works". You and I know about rigging (meritorious) promotions. We aren't the only agancy in the city that practices this fine art of politics. Somehow the mayor was able to insulate himself from any knowledge of the crap that has been going on on his behalf.

Well Mr. Mayor you now have created new precedent in defense of a charge of culpabilty. The next time you (P.O/Supervisor) face an accusation of culpability because your partner or one of your cars was involved in some bullshit..just remember, "I can't know everything in the world. I'm not God!"

UPDATE: from AP

Daniel Katalinic is a former deputy commissioner of streets and sanitation. In pleading guilty last year, he admitting knowing that court orders requiring merit hiring of city employees were being violated.

Katalinic was sentenced today by a judge who warned that corruption in Chicago "has to stop."

OFFICE SHOT IN 14

Thoughts and Prayers for a speedy recovery.

NBC 5
WGN TV
TRIBUNE

Shooting Downtown

Channel 32
Tribune

No complaints about SWAT this time.

Why Rookie Cops Need To Listen To Old Timers

Found this little funny post at
Crimefiles and didn't think Pual would mind if we republished it.

When you’re a young cop, you instantly become the smartest, strongest, best looking, bravest son of a bitch on the planet. You look in the mirror a lot to admire yourself in that superman uniform.

Soon you are sent to patrol and get an lazy old goat for a partner instead of another cool dude like yourself. That’s a bummer. Your new partner has bad feet, seems way too cautious and you just know he was hired when cops did not get real training like you’ve just gotten. You find it embarrassing to be in the same vehicle working with a guy older than your own father.

In Chicago I worked on the Near West Side (012). I had Cook County Hospital, Greek Town, Jew Town, Taylor Street, Skid row and a large high crime area with projects filled with poor African-Americans. It was a busy district and a great place to work. My first boss, Commander Ronald Nash took a big fall and went to the joint for corruption.

As you come to the end of your police academy training you are sent out for Field Weeks to district patrol units. The normal plan is to pair you with an experienced officer working as a “Field Training Officer”. Sometimes they just run out of those creatures and you get what you get.

I was sent to the Near North Side (018) for one such Field Week and was assigned to work a wagon with a real dinosaur. His first name was Gene but I can’t remember his last name. Gene was several months away from mandatory retirement because he’d be 63 years old.

It was Easter Sunday morning and I knew it would be a really dull day. Gene was complaining to me about having to baby sit for a recruit. I was to keep my ears and eyes open. Further I was told to keep my mouth shut and perhaps he’d let me live. We were off to a great start.

Our first radio call did not come in for two whole hours! Then the radio cracked, “Eighteen-seventy-two.” I grabbed the microphone and responded, “Eighteen-seventy-two” The reply was,“Eighteen-seventy-two, a complainant says there’s a DOA floating in the Chicago River." I retorted excitedly, “Ten-Four squad we’re in route!”

Gene said two words, “Oh fudge!” Okay, it was a little stronger than fudge. I was going my first probable homicide call! Gene drove the wagon to the river parking next to the bridge. There was nobody around, not even a complainant, or passers by. As we got out of the wagon to look for a body we were suddenly hit with a really foul odor. Instantly we knew the call was legitimate as we gagged.

Walking closer to the river there he was in all his glory. Large and obese, this fellow was floating face up in the water. He was wearing only a white t-shirt and had his left leg severed attached only by a little tissue. He was bloated and looked ready to explode from the expaneded gas inside his abdominal cavity.

Suddenly the glamour of being a cop was on the ropes for me. We would have to somehow put this huge smelly pile of sh*t into our wagon, take him to a hospital, get a physician to pronounce the guy dead (they won’t take a cop’s word on that in Illinois) and then we'd take him to the Cook County Morgue. Once at the Morgue we'd be expected to remove his t-shit and inventory it as evidence once it was dry. This last procedure has since changed and been assigned to Medical Examiner’s personnel.

Our uniforms would be destroyed and we’d be barfing for sure. Suddenly our fortunes were improving! Two little Black boys were crossing the bridge on bicycles carrying fishing poles. Gene quickly flagged them down and asked to borrow one of the poles. Next, I watched an expert fisherman go to work.

Gene cast the hook right to that T-shirt and snagged it. Then I watched Gene pull the floating mess straight West from the bridge. The soon the body was on the West side of the river! Gene yanked the fishing line and broke it. He crossed back over giving the pole to the now complaining Black kids. Gene reached in his pocket and fished out $5 and gave it to them. The boys left happy and Gene said I now owed him $2.50.

Gene grabbed the radio microphone and called, “Eighteen-seventy-two” The dispatcher responded, “Eighteen-seventy-two.” Gene replied, “Eighteen-seventy-two, be advised this call is bonafide but the DOA is on the 13th district side of the river, we’ll stand by for 13. They’re going to need the Marine Unit or Fire Boat for assistance squad.”

We waited and watched the two poor bastards working a 13th District wagon as they handled the job in the finest tradition of the Chicago Police Department. That was the day I learned that the old timers were smarter than I was. There are some things you just can’t learn in the academy.

EALY CASE

In today's Sun-Times an article is written asking "You be the judge: Should James Ealy have been let go?" Well law and order people will say no and those who believe that the rights of an individual far out weigh the greater good of society will say yes. The article in the end shows how the justice systems scales tip far more in favor of the accused than in the favor of the victim and society as a whole.

James Ealy had been out on bond (for sexual assault) when he commited the henious acts of murdering and raping a 3 year old little boy, Jontae Parker, along 3 other members of the Parker family. He was convicted for the CSA charge and sentenced to 23 years but sreved 10. Three years later he cathes a UUW/Agg Unlawful Restraint case and receives a 10 year sentence but serves less than 3 years.

So throw out James Ealy's life sentence and you still have Ealy receiving 33 years for other crimes since 1983. James Ealy has served less than 13 of those 33 years. At the very least James Ealy should of been in prision till 2013 on his other convictions. The scales however seem to tip in his favor and now Mary Hutchison is dead as a result. Mary Mitchell where is your out rage now?

Bonds set for charged Chicago cops

Tribune

In the Tribune bond was set for the newly charged 3 and new bond was set for the other 3 that were charged originally.

We will not make any personal comments on this subject since we known or are aquainted with 1 or more of the indicted.

BAD NEWS

Channel 9
Not much to say.....

INDICTMENTS

We have not reported on this subject yet because we would like to see the press release first.

Police Supt. Phil Cline released a statement today saying the arrests "illustrate the department's ongoing commitment to root out bad cops who violate the public's trust and the professional integrity" of Chicago police.

SORRY WAS AWAY FOR THE WEEKEND

NEWS

Cops Shoot, Injure Man Allegedly Wielding Knife
CHANNEL 2

(STNG) CHICAGO A female officer from the Rogers Park District shot a man twice Thursday night, injuring him, after police said he charged towards her with a knife while she and another officer responded to a North Side apartment for an incident.

Ward bosses angry at mayor
Circulators of petitions told to sign affidavit SUN-TIMES

The Daley campaign is demanding that petition circulators sign a sworn affidavit that Democratic ward bosses call a "slap in the face" from a mayor who has ignored them

2 aldermen cite slavery, try to block garage pact
SUN-TIMES

Aldermen Dorothy Tillman and Ed Smith filed a lawsuit Thursday against the city, which is set to enter a 99-year lease agreement with Morgan Stanley Investment Management to run the parking structures. Morgan Stanley declined to comment

Police Decry Web Site on Informants
MYWAY.COM

WASHINGTON (AP) - Police and prosecutors are worried that a Web site claiming to identify more than 4,000 informants and undercover agents will cripple investigations and hang targets on witnesses

UNHAPPY READER

You're boring and uncreative and not timely with your moderation and comment posts. Sorry, but you got nothing to give to attract us.

Well we have a dissatisfied "customer" out there and it seems he speaks for all sergeants. Certain critics said SCC would fail when it went to moderation and that prediction obviously hasn't come true. Moderation is extremely important for many reasons but the most important one is we did not want this site to negatively reflect on the members of this department and police officers in general. We felt it was important to allow criticism of the department and those who implement its policies but we weren't going to allow ourselves to become another shithouse stall.
We try to review and publish comments as often as possible. Some days I'm able to spend a couple of hours out of my busy day to post and moderate comments and some days I don't have a free moment. Since this is only a hobby and not my livelihood I'm not about to apologize for my untimeliness in post moderation. We created this site because our union that we pay ($50 a month x 1200 members)$60,000 a month can't seem to update the associations site. We felt that information had to be put out there somewhere and when we run across it we publish it. We peruse various media outlets and police forums to find what we think might be interesting to our readers. Many times we publish a story we find and other times we will editorialise on a story. SCC does a great job in our opinion with hot-button topics but in the past (pre-moderation) some of the reader comments were pure garbage. We hoped to avoid the negatives that SCC experienced in the beginning. If our moderation policy and our timeliness in posting the comments aren't agreeable with you then create your own site.
We look at the site traffic and again we receive approximately 250 visits a day and we believe SCC receives approximately 2000 visits a day. In our case we feel that figures to be approximate 20% of our targeted readers. Maybe someone from SCC can comment. We are huge fans of SCC and as we told them when we started SCS they definitely inspired us.
So if you don't like us don't read us! Again if you think you could do better then create your own site.

FYI!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Fellow Sergeants,
We here at SCS have a website/blog that we created to service a need for a forum that at this time PB&PA is not providing. Our new president has asked for patience from the membership to get things up and running. That's fine but until then brothers and sisters we hope you use this site to air out your beefs and throw out suggestions to better our position in the department. Please spread the word to other sergeants that we exist.....we may take another idea from SCC and get business cards printed and distributed with the site info.

By the way we are averaging about 250 visits a day...thats roughly 10% of what SCC gets in a day. Since Sergeants make up approximately 10% of the ranks we'll take it for now.

PROGRESS!!!!!

Click on the Sergeants Association Website..........I guess you can call it progress.

UPDATE: last night the site had a message "coming soon" and that was it. Well we just checked and it's back to last updated "01/06/2005"( so much for progress)

NYPD SHOOTING

The recent police shooting in New York of Sean Bell is very similar to the 1999 shooting of Amadou Diallo. Both Diallo and Bell were "unarmed" and approximately 50 bullets were discharged in both cases. In both cases there was great community outrage and accusations of police overreaction by both the press and politicians.
The officers in the Diallo case were tried criminally and appropriately acquitted.
A video recreation of the Diallo shooting was produced by former NYPD Detective, Beau Dietl. Dietl recreates the shooting from court transcipts. We bacame aware of this video from Dietl's appearance on the O'Reilly Factor where he and Bill O'Reilly were making a case for the involved officers. See the entire video at Beau's website a must see.

POLICE SHOOTING IN 003

Last night at 67th & Prairie in the 003rd district officers were involved in a shooting TRIBUNE officers shot the armed offender in the leg. Great the idiots already think we should unarm offenders in that manner.
The best news is no injuries to the involved officers. John Franklin is sure having a great first couple of weeks.

In the United States approximately %78 of the population considers itself Christian and statistics show that nearly %95 celebrate Christmas. So now the City of Chicago in all its infinate wisdom has decided that a movie (NATIVITY) can not be advertised at a Christmas festival known as Christkindlmarket at the Daley Center. Why?

"Our guidance was that this very prominently placed advertisement would not only be insensitive to the many people of different faiths who come to enjoy the market for its food and unique gifts, but also it would be contrary to acceptable advertising standards suggested to the many festivals holding events on Daley Plaza," Jim Law, Mayor's Office of Special Events.

Brilliant! You go to a Christmas festival and you see an add for a movie about the birth of Christ and you're offended. Are you kidding me? This is a perfect example of the illogical logic of political correctness. In essence that logic would rather offend a majority in order to not be insensitive to a small minority.

RETIREMENT

An article that one of our readers felt was important reading. We couldn't agree more.

FORBES MAGAZINE -
Billion-Dollar Retirement Rip-Off
Neil Weinberg, 11.27.06

In a move that could have far-reaching consequences for a $140 billion industry, the Orange County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office has filed a class action charging units of Nationwide Financial Services with receiving illegal kickbacks from fund companies whose products it included in public employee retirement plans.

The suit, filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, near Nationwide’s (nyse: NFS - news - people ) headquarters, seeks as much as several hundred million dollars and aims to include as plaintiffs some 7,600 other public employee retirement plans that are Nationwide customers.

The suit involves so-called 457 retirement savings plans, which are a public-sector equivalent of the 401(k). The 457 market, with $143 billion in assets, is dominated by variable annuities, which are bundles of mutual funds or separately managed accounts bundled into life insurance policies by Nationwide and other vendors. Variable annuities have been widely criticized as poorly disclosing what are sometimes excessive fees.

The Orange County suit claims that over the past decade and a half, Nationwide received kickbacks from the firms whose funds it included as investment options based on a percentage of plan assets gathered. Insurers refer to the payments as revenue sharing. To critics, they smack of pay-for-play. In the Orange County Sheriffs’ case, Nationwide’s fees were frequently equal to 2% to 3% of assets annually. The plan recently switched to a Vanguard-based plan that cut fees by roughly two-thirds.

ELIMINATE 6 DAY WEEK!

While we here in Chicago are fighting to eliminate the 6th work day LAPD has a system they love and certin politicians want to eliminate it.

LA Daily News
Report shows response times slow, court overtime up
BY RICK ORLOV, Staff Writer
A new report showing that the LAPD's flexible work schedule has slowed response times and boosted court overtime revived debate Monday over the effectiveness and value of the agency's three-day, 12-hour workweek.
City Councilman Bernard Parks - who was police chief when the 3/12 schedule was adopted over his objections in 2001 - said he believes that the report from City Administrative Officer Bill Fujioka demonstrates the program has failed.
"Response times are higher, we have fewer officers on the street and I don't believe it has done anything to either help us keep officers or hire new ones," said Parks, who wants the Los Angeles Police Department to return to a traditional workweek.
Parks' successor, Bill Bratton, said he would not defend the 3/12 program - which is wildly popular among officers - but wouldn't criticize it, either. Roughly 70 percent of the LAPD officers work the 3/12 shift, with most of the others working 10-hour shifts four days a week.
"It is something we have to deal with," Bratton said. "It does make it difficult but you have to look at what's been accomplished since it took effect. Crime is down, way down, over the past four years. Officer morale is up and citizen satisfaction is up.
"It's kind of like that old commercial, `Where's the beef?'
"The long-term answer to our staffing problem is hiring the 1,000 more officers that the mayor wants. As a matter of fact, under 3/12, we are able to have the equivalent or more officers on the street."
Bratton said he could resolve manpower shortages immediately if the City Council budgeted more money for LAPD overtime. This year's budget includes $76.4 million for overtime for roughly 9,000 sworn officers, compared with $107 million for the Fire Department, which has 3,000 firefighters but mandates full staffing.
"The fact is they have more overtime money available for full staffing than I do," Bratton said. "We could dramatically increase the number of officers on the street by paying more overtime."
And Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who opposed the 3/12 plan when he was on the City Council, said he does not want to change it now.
"At this point, it is part of the department's benefit package," spokesman Joe Ramallo said. "The mayor is concerned that dropping it could jeopardize our ability to hire 1,000 new officers, so he wants to keep it in effect."
Fujioka's report did not make any recommendations, but laid out a variety of divergent findings:
Overtime paid to officers who have to testify in court on their off-duty days has jumped 8.5 percent, while those required to stay on duty after their shift ends has dropped by 4.4 percent.
The number of hours officers are off duty because of illness has increased because of the calculation of longer shifts, even as the number of officers calling in sick has dropped.
So-called Part 1 crimes - murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault - have increased 1.7 percent, but violent crimes, which include other offenses, have dropped 5.2 percent.
Response times went from 10.2 to 6.7 minutes for emergency calls; 8.5 minutes to 11.5 minutes for nonemergency calls, and 18 minutes to 26.9 minutes for routine calls.
The LAPD changed its response system in May 2004, expanding the type of crimes that warranted a lights-and-sirens response to a 911 call. Fujioka said he did not determine how much the change in procedure impacted his findings.
Fujioka could not determine whether the 3/12 schedule had impacted recruiting.
But Councilman Dennis Zine, a retired police officer and director of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said he was convinced the flexible work schedule had helped retain officers.
"I think this report shows we have to continue with 3/12," said Zine, who also is a member of the City Council's Public Safety Committee.
"If we stop this, we will lose thousands of officers working for us now and not be able to hire new officers."
Phyllis Lynes, who oversees police hiring for the Personnel Department, said there is no way to determine whether the 3/12 schedule impacts recruiting and retention efforts.
"Every month is a struggle to get applicants," Lynes said. "I would have to believe it is helpful to offer it since other police agencies have it as well. It is just part of what you have to do to attract candidates."
Bratton said he believes that as long as other law enforcement agencies offer a flexible work schedule, the LAPD needs to be competitive.
"My goal is to see us hire all the officers we need and the fact is we are faced with what other cities are offering and that is part of it," Bratton said.
But Parks said the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and other agencies are abandoning their 3/12 programs.
"I recognize that officers like this, because it gives them so much time off," Parks said. "But the question is: Who are they working for? They work for the city and their job is to provide for public safety."
Officials with the Los Angeles Police Protective League have said they are not prepared to give up the flexible schedule and will insist that any changes be negotiated.
"Crime rates are down in Los Angeles, officers are working more hours and have improved morale," PPL President Bob Baker said.
"The report from the city administrative officer does not look at the flexible work schedules in the context of outside influences. We are confident the City Council will agree with us that it has been a positive change for the LAPD."
rick.orlov@dailynews.com

CAPTAINS

Here is the list:

Nagode 001
Roberts 006
O'Donnell 006
Raymond 006
Parra 007
Denk 013
Forlenza 126
O'Neill 126
Bay 141
Elmer 170
Angarone 189
Graeber 189
Schmitz 214
Pilipuf 253
Thompson 384
Trahanas 543
Gibson 601
Batrich 650

Anyone with info as to where the openings are for the new Captains?

STANDOFF ENDS

Early this morning, according to the CHICAGO TRIBUNE, a hostage standoff on the south side has ended nearly 24 hours after it bagan. At this time not many details of how it ended are being reported but it is known that 2 are dead.

APOLOGIES

We apologise for being away since the morning of the 22nd. Much has happened since then. Thanksgiving Day we spent with our families.

Nice to see the SUN-TIMES do a good story on a true hero. U.S. ARMY Staff Sergeant Bryan Anderson lost both his legs and an arm in Iraq. Let him know how much we appreciate his service and his sacrafice at a site set up for Sgt Anderson by the SUN-TIMES

Same Old Shit!

Well our favorite columnist at the
SUN-TIMES is at it again. Mary Mitchell and her tired rhetoric about race and the injustice heaped upon young black men is at it again.
The arrestee and the subject of one of her past rants was released from custody after a finding of "no probable cause" in a robbery case. As if no PC is a declination of innocence. Just spend a day in a felony branch and watch all the hypes walk out for no PC due to the weight of the dope not in the strength of the case.
Ms. Mitchell couldn't just tell this kid's story and celebrate the perception that the system worked in his case. No she had to go on her usual race baiting sanctimonious tirades where conspiracy theories reign supreme.

Jemelle swore to police, to his mother and to me that he had nothing to do with the assault. He is a "B" student, captain of his school's basketball team, and has no arrests or convictions on his record.

Hello felony review.....we have one for a strong armed robbery....however we have a problem.......he swore he didn't do it.....and he's a "B" student and captain of the basketball team...........felony charges denied!

Had these young men been suburban, white and first-time offenders, they would have probably been given a "station adjustment."
That's when a parent is hauled down to the police station and between the parents and the cops, the teen is made to see the error of his ways without being hit with formal charges

Really! Where the hell does this columnist get her information? Oh that's right she was picking the brain of one of Chicago's foremost legal scholars...R Eugene Pincham.
Ms. Mitchell, according to Illinois Compiled Statues, a juvenile is a person under the age of 17 and "station adjustments" apply only to juveniles. So white or black, suburban or urban, first time or multiple offender, Mr. Lloyd wasn't eligible for a station adjustment since he was 17 at the time of the crime. Do facts matter to you Ms. Mitchell or were you just misinformed by Judge Pincham?
Then we are left with these pearls of wisdom from the Judge "The judicial system and the police department need to be more sensitive. That is why the jail now is full of black folks,"
Personal responsibility and moral fortitude is no longer a requirement to keep a young black man out of jail. The need to be more sensitive by both the police and the judicial system would be the preferred route. Great lesson Judge!

"He Doesnt Own Any Weapons!"

"He Doesn't Own Any Weapons!" according to Michael Smith's fiance. As if that has anything to do with the attempt disarming of a police officer. A news conference was held today by family members of Smith and community leaders of Woodlawn. The Chicago Tribune had a crack staff on hand to ask tough questions concerning the communities allegations. Right! The Tribune uses the term "allegedly" when describing the actions of Smith as described by the police but the word is never used when describing the action of the officers when described by "alleged witnesses".

Rev. Leon Finney Jr., chairman and chief executive of the Woodlawn Community Development Corp. and president of The Woodlawn Organization, said it had been years since a shooting of this type had occurred in the community.

He said his organization has asked Police Supt. Philip Cline to conduct a full investigation, preferably by an independent body, in five days and report to the community.

Why is it Reverend that you prefer to give the benefit of the doubt to a convicted dope sligging felon to that of a young man (police officer) who puts his life on the line every day. An investigation is being done but I'm sure it will conflict with the information that you gathered from the regular mutts that "hang" at 63rd and Evans. Where is your indignation when these shitheads kill each other or shoot an innocent bystander?

CLOUT!

We found an article the other day in the Chicago Tribune about Illinois State House Rep. Edward Acevedo. It appears State Rep Acevedo wears many hats; he is a member of the Illinois Legislature(asst majority leader) ,a leader of the Hispanic Democratic Organization and a Chicago Police Officer. This story reeks of stupidity and the politically connected. Officer Acevedo may have some problems with the medical section but his brother is the real star in this story.

SHOOTING IN 003

A man trying to disarm a Chicago police officer was shot to death Saturday afternoon during a struggle on the South Side, officials said.

Police got a tip about 4 p.m. that a man wanted in a robbery was in the 700 block of East 63rd Street with two other men, police spokesman Pat Camden said.

Two officers responded and asked the men to remove their hands from their pockets, Camden said.

Two of the men complied, but the third instead walked toward the officers. After ignoring two more warnings, Camden said, the man tried to grab one officer's gun.

"The officer was about to lose control of his gun," Camden said. "He fired one shot that struck the man" in the abdomen.

The unidentified man in his early 20s was pronounced dead at the scene.

His companions were being questioned Saturday night, Camden said.

SHOTS FIRED IN 006

From the Chicago Tribune

A gunman who fired at a Cook County sheriff's deputy outside his South Side home this morning was spotted shortly before by Chicago police officers bailing out of a car that crashed into a light pole, authorities said.

The officers were westbound on 83rd Street when they saw a late-model Buick, also heading west on 83rd, driving erratically and weaving before crashing into the pole near 83rd and Michigan Avenue, police said.

The deputy saw one of them hiding behind bushes in his yard around 4:50 a.m. and the other hiding in a neighbor's, Kuemmeth said. When the deputy went to confront them, the man in his yard fired at least one shot at him and missed

The deputy's wife called 911, identified herself as the wife of a Cook County sheriff's deputy and said, "My husband needs help. He's trying to hold two offenders and they have guns," Kuemmeth said.

Her husband and the Chicago officers managed to arrest the accomplice, who tried to run away, in the 200 block of East 83rd a short time later, he said. Police also found a handgun in the Buick.

But the gunman got away on foot.

BUDGET

The city council approved Daley's budget proposal yesterday and yes the vote was unanimous however grumblings where heard from a few aldermen.

But in his comments, Ald. Ed Smith (28th) assailed City Hall corruption, saying there was "no line item" in the budget for wrongdoing in the scandal-plagued Hired Truck Program, timesheet scams or criminal activity.

"We have cheats, connivers and crooks who want to rip off this budget," he said. "There are some people out there who seem to be bent on doing the wrong thing, and it makes us all look bad."

"Thank you," said Daley, clearly peeved. "Make sure you meet the inspector general. I will have him in your office tomorrow morning. Thank you. We'll make sure he'll be in your office. Thank you."

Daley stated that he made that comment as a joke and inferred that the IG took complaints so he would send him to hear any complaints Smith might have.
Sounded like a threat to us. "We'll make sure he'll be in your office. Thank you." to hear your complaints? More like to look into your own dealings Mr. Smith.

Ald. Arenda Troutman (20th) won mock applause from Daley after delivering a speech in which she criticized inequities between African-Americans and whites as well as city jobs given to members of the pro-Daley Hispanic Democratic Organization.

I can picture his beat red face on the verge of exploding.

MORE INDICTMENTS

Today the SOS four faced a new round of indictments. Sun-Times

OH REALLY!

In todays Chicago Tribune the Mayor tries, with a straight face, explaining how compromise works in the city council.


For most of his tenure, the council has been compliant, but Daley bristled at the suggestion that it has been a rubber stamp.

"I have to work with each of the aldermen," he said. "I keep legislation in committee to work out compromises. I am a great compromiser. I don't have all the answers. They don't have all the answers."

Later Monday, an alderman who had been pushing to hire 100 new police officers over the mayor's opposition said they had reached a compromise.

Ald. Thomas Allen (38th) said after a council Budget Committee meeting that he was satisfied by the Daley administration's plan to aggressively fill vacant police positions with new hires.

Budget Director Paul Volpe told the committee that 179 of 222 positions that were vacant on Jan. 1 have been filled since June, and the remainder will be filled by year's end

Last year when certain aldermen made a push to create Fred Hampton Way we remember one particular alderman oppose it. Alderman Allen actually attended a FOP general meeting and explained to the membership that Fred Hampton Way would never see the light of day. Last month we posted a story in which Alderman Allen voiced his desire to see red light camera revenue be used to bolster our manpower with the addition of 100 new policemen. Alderman Allen's heart has to be in the right place however, it appears Mayor Daley presented him with a "compromise". Now that's a compromise! The city filled 179 of 222 vacant positions and the rest will be filled at the end of the year. It appears that the alderman got zero new hires and the city has filled
roughly 80% of existing vacancies with a promise to fill the remaining 20%. How in the hell is Ald Allen satisfied with this? Alderman Allen got nothing and in the end we get screwed. Thanks for trying Alderman but until the lemmings of this city stop electing the tyrant your opinion means nothing.

VISITS

FYI....Every few days we like to review our visitor stats. We usually average about 225 visits a day. We're sure that represents a fraction of the visits that SCC receives but we have a much smaller target audience. We have received visits from Canada, UK, Australia, China and Germany.

FROM SCC

From our friends over at SECOND CITY COP


OFFICER SAFETY ALERT
In Areas 4 and 5.

Until further notice, ALL JOBS dispatched will be handled by a 10-4 car OR two one-man cars PLUS a Sergeant.

Evidently, FOXNews was more on the ball than our own Department when they broadcast the report that the new breeds were seriously targeting a Chicago Police Officer or Officers.

This represents a complete 180 degree turn from what was read to us at roll calls for the past week.

Maybe someone can address the hideous manpower shortages now? We saw that last week on midnights, a couple of districts in our Area were averaging 4 cars DOWN for the ENTIRE TOUR. That's about a third of the District manpower for any civilians or media types reading the blog. We are stretched so thin, it isn't even funny now.

Be careful out there.

CORRECTION? ADDITION: We're being told by a couple of people that this is for the 1st and 3rd watches only, responding cars are TWO two-man cars PLUS a Sergeant (5 total). The Districts are assumed to be in immediate RAP beginning 3rd Watch. Conflicting reports have TRU and SOS deployed to Areas 4 and 5 and rumors abound of Tact and Gang teams in uniform.

LAPD

You be the judge! Tonight we heard that statement over a dozen times on all the news shows. The sad thing is that the average Joe who watches the selected 19 seconds of this arrest will come away shocked and outraged. We put this video up here because we know you the professional police officer will come away with the same opinion as we did "reasonable force was used to effect the arrest"

TRIBUNE
According to testimony at Cardenas' preliminary hearing, Schlegel (identified officer) said he and his partner were in their patrol car when they spotted Cardenas drinking beer with two friends on the corner of Fountain Avenue and Gordon Street. Schlegel said he recalled that Cardenas had a warrant for failing to appear on a charge of receiving stolen property. In later testimony, a transcript of which was obtained by The Times, a gang expert identified Cardenas as a member of the Gordon Street Locos.

Farrell (identified officer) yelled for the men to put their hands up, but Cardenas took off and they chased him a short distance. Schlegel said he caught up with Cardenas, tripped him, then pushed him in the back, "causing him to fall forward, and his face bounced off the sidewalk."

Schlegel said he got on top of Cardenas, who then tried to hit him with his right fist and left elbow. Schlegel said Farrell caught up to them and joined the struggle.

Schlegel said Cardenas was "grabbing at me, at my clothes. He grabs at my belt, I could feel my belt being tugged on, my holster move." Farrell warned his partner to watch his gun and punched Cardenas twice, according to Schlegel. Cardenas complained two or three times that he couldn't breathe, "but we're not going to let him up. He's gonna get away," Schlegel testified.

The officer said he then used pepper spray on Cardenas and called for backup. The officer testified that he was cut on his right little finger and that Farrell hurt his left thumb and had difficulty closing his right hand, which also had a cut knuckle.

Commissioner Ronald Rose, in ordering Cardenas to trial, found that "the response of the officers was more than reasonable under the circumstances."
Rose acknowledged the video was violent, but said, "The issue here is not whether the officers had to use force. The question is whether or not the defendant used force in resisting the lawful arrest, and I find that he did resist, using force."

Rose went on, "The obligation of citizens is to stop and allow themselves to be arrested and not use force against the officers. And when a citizen chooses to use force against the officers, they are entitled to use force in return."

Rose noted the officers did not draw their weapons in the video, and said there was no testimony they used a baton or weapon "which might have resulted in death or serious injury to this defendant. At worst, they used their fist and they used their spray."

Police action recorded at poor quality from one angle frequently is unclear and misrepresents the story," said Bob Baker of the Los Angeles Police Protective League. "This is why it is important to know all the facts in a case and not rush to judgment."

But the ACLU's Ripston said the LAPD's handling of the incident had eroded public confidence in the department.

AHHHHH yes the ACLU.... You take 19 selected seconds of an arrest of a convicted felon whose goal at this time is to make good his escape by fleeing, battering and possibly attempting to disarm an officer and your confidence is eroded. We can only hope one of these self righteous ACLU types is the victim of an in progress crime and upon arrival of the police the offender flees and the coppers just watch him run. Would that build your confidence?

Our Future Direction

We now have "change" for better or for worse. After last nights elections the votes have been tallied and the results are in. It appears that the Democrats have control of the House and probably (after recounts) control of the Senate. The most likely result of Democratic control of legislature and Republican control of executive will be gridlock, unless the President sells out to Pelosi and crew i.e. Rumsfeld resignation. What was the cause for this change in power? Most pundits believe it to be the war and how it has been executed. The problem in our opinion is most Americans don't take into account how it will be executed in the future with a lame duck president and an opposition congress. This leads us to an article we read in REAL CLEAR POLITICS where the author sees this "change" leading us to abandoning Iraq. The author is Canadian and can not be accused of being a Republican operative.

G.P.S. devices have been installed in over 130 department vehicles according to the SUN-TIMES . The vehicles that the devices were installed in are assigned to SOS. John Risley states that the decision to purchase the devices was made long before the SOS scandal. We always knew this was coming but the scandal probably sped up the process.


"Absolutely, this could be a disciplinary tool," Risley said. "Is that a reason why we're buying them? Absolutely not."
The primary reason for the devices is to ensure officers' safety when they are on patrol, Risley said.


Risley states that if an officer is lost or injured we could find them. Who is he kidding? This is purely for the tracking of cars. If this is really just about safety then how come the first cars to receive the devices were from SOS? Granted there will be an added benefit of safety but we think that aspect of it will occur on the rarest of occasions.
What will our roll be in all this? Will they put a program on our PDT’s so we can monitor their every movement or will that be the responsibility of the watch commander? Regardless, if your logs aren’t on the up and up you now have a motivator to rethink your approach to logging your cars.
According to the article the information from the G.P.S. devices will be a treasure trove for lawyers. No more I’m following a vehicle at 25mph and the monitor indicates 70. Every pursuit now has the additional information of duration and speed ready for review by the department. This along with the future additions of cameras and hard wired mikes in the cars will certinly limit our ability to use discretion when dealing with the average copper

DNA unit to hunt down rapists

SUN-TIMES

Seven of the Chicago Police Department's most experienced sex-crimes detectives are part of a new DNA squad that will specialize in chasing rape suspects.
Such a DNA unit was first suggested several years ago when Chicago Police officials saw how DNA -- which gives the ability to scientifically link a crime scene to a suspect -- was going to affect investigations.

And it has -- in 2003, there were 174 DNA hits for cops to chase; in 2005, that number stood at 897.

The number of hits has soared, in general, because the statewide DNA database is swelling each year as more felons are required to submit DNA samples.

The hits include robberies, burglaries and homicides, and the newly formed unit will not be limited to sexual assault cases. But the majority of them are criminal sexual assaults, in part because of a fund-raising effort that helped get old rape kits tested.

And that means the department needed a particular kind of detective for the unit, said Chicago Police Chief of Detectives Maria Maher.

"They're all seasoned sex offender detectives," Maher said. "They know how to handle [the cases]. They're compassionate and have good clearance rates. They know how to talk to offenders, too."

The seven detectives will join three police officers in the new unit, which will be supervised by a sergeant.

The detectives come from all over the city and have years of experience working with victims of sexual assault and using DNA to secure charges against rapists, including some serial attackers.

They say years of experience has taught them how to approach victims, many of whom are shocked when they answer the door and see a cop standing there.

It's often painful to re-live the horror of the attack, and they are often reluctant to talk. Sometimes they're just surprised to find out anyone was still working on the case.


'Different type of crime'
One key piece of the work is figuring out if the named offender is a true suspect in the crime; just because his DNA is at a crime scene doesn't mean he did the crime, the detectives said.
Detectives need to track down the victims, witnesses and the suspected offender to piece the case back together.

"You have to be creative," said Sgt. Tony Kuta, who is on loan to the group and has worked several rape patterns on the South Side. "You have to be tenacious."

"It's back to good old-fashioned police work," added Detective Rita Mischka, formerly of the Harrison Area. "Knocking on doors."

Smaller units in the detective areas do this kind of work. But a typical workload at the area would also include following new cases and processing sexual offenders who have failed to register.

Recently -- after having just met with local advocates for rape victims -- the team said they looked forward to the narrow focus that will allow them to clear more of these cases. It's rewarding -- especially for the victims who were never believed in the first place.

"It's a different type of crime," said Detective Charles Morgan, a 10-year veteran. "It's a personal type of crime . . . a personal violation of a human body."

Man To Be Returned From Canada In 1969 Shooting

(AP) CHICAGO Thirty-seven years after an Army deserter who had joined the Black Panther Party allegedly shot a Chicago police officer on a South Side street, a top Canadian official has ordered him returned to the United States for trial in the 1969 shooting, according to a published report.

The former Black Panther, Joseph Coleman Pannell, now 56, was facing charges of attempted murder and aggravated battery when he fled Chicago while free on bond in 1973, the Chicago Sun-Tiimes reported.

Pannell been jailed since his 2004 arrest in a suburb of Toronto, where he had been living under an assumed name for more than 20 years.

One year ago, a judge in Toronto ordered Pannell returned to Chicago to face trial, but his lawyers appealed to Canadian Justice Minister Vic Toews, saying Pannell feared for his life and would not get a fair trial in the United States.

Toews denied Pannell's request in a written ruling Thursday, but Pannell's attorneys say they will mount one last appeal of Toews' decision, which will take at least six months.

Chicago authorities say Pannell shot former Officer Terrence Knox after Knox stopped him for questioning outside a South Side store.

Knox was partially paralyzed from three bullet wounds, and credits another officer with saving his life by using his finger to plug a torn artery in his left arm.

Under the name of Douglas Gary Freeman, Pannell had been working in recent years as a researcher at the Toronto Reference Library. He had married in Canada and raised four children.

Authorities say Pannell was tracked down and identified by a 23-year-old fingerprint. In 1983, he was working at Concordia University in Montreal when he was stopped at the Canadian border for trying to sneak a camera into the country. He paid a $300 fine. His prints remained on file.

BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION SYSTEM and PERSONAL CONCERNS PROGRAM

According to FOP..........Over the past few weeks some Lodge members have been placed into the Behavioral Intervention System improperly (C.R.'s) per Administrative Special Order 05-02.

The Lodge has initiated a grievance on Nov 3rd for members improperly placed into the Behavioral Intervention System under Administrative Special Order 05-02.

Members who have been notified that they may be placed into the Behavioral Intervention System or Personnel Concerns Program are asked to do the following, call the Lodge (312-733-7776) only after receiving documentation placing you into either program and ask for Sid Davis. It’s very important that hearing request is made within seven (7) working days of being presented with the Individualized Performance Plan (IPP) for the Behavioral Intervention System, or seven (7) working days of having attended a Personnel Concerns Conference.

Fellow sergeants please let your people know about this. From the word go this has been an absolute knee-jerk reaction by the department. Guarantee most coppers never even look at the FOP site to read updates like this one.....so lets give them a heads up.

OUTGUNNED! REORGANIZE SWAT

Over at Second City Cop they are running a piece about being out gunned at every turn. We have a suggestion of our own that could be used in conjunction with SCC’s suggestion. SCC feels that a gun safe should be installed in the sergeants trunk with 2 shot guns and 2 rifles with the sergeants and additional officers trained in these weapons. They feel that part of the problem is that the time needed for SWAT to respond is way too long and officer safety is compromised.
We couldn't agree more. We would love to see that implemented but taken a step further.
We recall an incident that occurred this summer where two members from SWAT had arrived about a half hour after a barricade incident was resolved. Here is where the problem lies. The first members may arrive within a half hour but for the entire team to be assembled and equipment in place may be up to 1 ½ hours after the first call for their assistance. We feel that the police officers of this department deserve a quicker response from those who are trained in SWAT.
We feel that dedicated SWAT teams should be stationed throughout the city. A possibility could be that each Area have its own team. The response times for a HBT situation would be reduced drastically. We think the city could learn from New York and implement teams much like NYPD’s Emergency Services Unit. These teams are used for high risk entries, SWAT and other emergencies that could confront a street copper in unusual situations.
We shouldn’t have to rely on a team who has the training to respond to a special emergency but is instead patrolling in various parts of the city trying to make a gun/dope pinch. The citizens of this city and the officers of this department deserve a team that can respond in a matter of minutes to our request for help when we are up against an ugly situation.

Cops detail shootout with gang 'hit men'

TRIBUNE

Read all about the shootout between Gang Intelligence and New Breed "Hitmen"

SHUT YOUR MOUTH KERRY!

“Yesterday Democrat Senator John Kerry was speaking to a group of young people in California, and gave them this advice, quote: “You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t you get stuck in Iraq.”

“The Senator’s suggestion that the men and women of our military are somehow uneducated is insulting and shameful. Our troops did not enlist because they did not study hard in school or do their homework. The men and women who serve in our all-volunteer Armed Forces are plenty smart and are serving because they are patriots – and Senator Kerry owes them an apology.”
-President George Bush-

GREAT JOB GUYS!

SUN-TIMES
How refreshing it is to see the press find witness' that actually witnessed the shooting.

Ramon Lowe, who saw the shooting from his home on Augusta, said one officer first approached the stolen car with his hand on his hip, tapping on the windows. Then the backseat passenger raised the AK-47 and the officer jumped back, startled.
Lowe said the driver of the car was crouching as he pointed a handgun out the window. "It looked like a movie,'' Lowe said, adding that the shooting lasted for what seemed to be four to five minutes.

Had this shooting occurred at Congress & Central Park the press would be knee deep in "eye witness'" who saw the police just execute those boys. Questions would be asked "how come they just didn't shot the gun out his hands?"
Video from the hospital showed possible family members/friends of the dead offenders "falling out" in hysteria. Will tonight's news have video from grieving relatives of the dead "hit men"? Once the media learns who these guys are it will not take long for their families angry faces to be plastered on the T.V.
Our thoughts and well wishes for a speedy recovery to the officer who suffered the loss of his finger. Also our thoughts and respect go out to the fine officers who had to endure this traumatic experience. Great Job Guys!

2 Dead, Police Officer Wounded In Shootout

CHANNEL 2 CHANNEL 7
AUGUSTA & KEDZIE
One officer is in the hospital with a gun shot wound to his hand and two offenders are dead with an AK47 and a handgun recovered from their vehicle. NFI

READ THE COMPLAINT

U.S. ATTORNEY Complainant against two 22nd Distrct P.O.'s, all 73 pages.

TEST RESULTS IN

The results of the Lts test have been mailed out. Best of luck to those taking part II on saturday 06 JAN 07.

Man charged in connection with fatal shooting of Maywood officer

SUN-TIMES

WHEN WILL IT END?

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Two Chicago police officers were arrested this morning and charged with conspiring to steal cash from a storage locker they thought was being used by a drug dealer, federal authorities said.

The cash actually was placed by FBI agents and investigators with the Chicago Police Department Internal Affairs Division

The above article identifies the officers involved. We hope these two are innocent but at this point they are in deep shit. We hope this is a wake-up call for those who contemplate engaging in criminal acts.

REST IN PEACE GEORGE

Our sincerest thoughts and prayers go out to the family, and in particular the six children, of George Sullivan. At last nights wake plenty of support was shown to the Sullivan family by Illinois State Police, Cook County Sheriffs, Water Reclamation Police, Area 1/Area 2 Detectives, 4th District/11th district Officers/Supervisors and others from various units. George you will be missed dearly. May God bless You!

BE SAFE

Not much information in the media about the murder of Maywood Police Officer Thomas Wood. A press conference is expected later today by the maywood Police Department.
We wonder what similarities exist between this murder and the murder of Metra Police Officer Thomas Cook.

MAYWOOD POLICE OFFICER MURDERED

TRIBUNE

A Maywood police officer was fatally shot while on duty late Monday, authorities said this morning.

The wounded officer was transported to Loyola University Medical Center in the near west suburb following the 11 p.m. shooting at 6th Avenue and Erie Street, Maywood Fire Department Lt. L. Scott said.

The officer, identified as Thomas Wood, 37, was pronounced dead at Loyola at 11:43 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

He was shot multiple times while sitting in his squad car, the medical examiner's office said. Representatives of the Maywood Police Department were unavailable for comment, but were expected to comment later this morning.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Wood family.

20 claims from public trigger official action

"The superintendent will hold commanders accountable for knowing what is happening with their people and trying to get them help,"


When commanders and other supervisors feel the CRs and tactical response reports indicate an officer is engaging in a pattern of unacceptable behavior, the officer will receive training and counseling through the department's Behavioral Intervention System launched in 1998, Woods said.

We wonder how many Commanders will go to bat for their guys? We're betting plenty of Carhartts will be traded in for blue shirts.

The city hopes such intervention will save money: Between 2001 and 2005, Chicago has paid out $97.6 million for police misconduct claims

You want to save money? Fight the frivolous lawsuits. A couple cases where it cost these bloodsucking law firms money may make them reconsider the merits of the cases they take on.The public probably doesnt realize that their tax dollars go to settle these cases for fiscal expedience. In other words, cheaper to pay than fight.

DISPATCHER SOUNDING OFF

Not too much in the way of news today. So we thought we would turn a comment we read into a post up for discussion.

Unknown Dispatcher says:
Use those damn TMAs to fill in for absentee crossing guards. It is unreal on 2nd watch how many patrol cars have to cover these spots daily!

Anyone up to answer this question , truthfully? Why can't desk personnel do the food run for the insiders, so we dispatchers do not have to hear "Oh squad, I've got a station run to xyz , no paper , right out of roll call

Someone down at OEMC is looking for answers. Anyone out there care to take this on?

WE HAVE A MORALE PROBLEM!

Maybe we are stating the obvious but what is the root of this problem? We can point at manpower as one of the principle culprits. Just under 10 years ago when I got on this job I worked in a fast south side district. Every beat and rapid was up along with a traffic car, incident car and a wagon. Plenty of bodies in the roll call room.

Today in that same south side district the picture is completely different. The calls for service are just as frequent but the bodies to answer those calls are fewer. Obviously the beat cars are all manned and yes there is a wagon but on any given evening you would be lucky to find three or four rapids and not all are 10-4.

What happened to the manpower? Attrition? About two years ago a story was going around and it went like this....I know this Lt at personnel and he said that only 10,000 duty availability checks went out this quarter. I don’t know if that story was true or not but every time it was repeated to me the storyteller would know the source personally. We were convinced that attrition was far out pacing new hires. However, when I would attended FOP monthly meetings the announced number of current members didn’t seem to support this great dip in manpower.
The attrition rate probably was out pacing new hires but not at the clip the “duty availability” story led us to believe.

So what happened to the manpower? Take a look at any district’s A&A sheets and see how many people are detailed out. Not only are they detailed to various units at 35th St but the Area’s are draining people with saturation teams, midnight gang teams and gun teams. One of the biggest drains is TRU and the newest target team is the Targeted Traffic Unit. Jobs that were done at the district level are now being done by deployed units. That leaves district copper with only one job and that is to answer calls. Jobs are stacked two and three deep and lunches get denied on a regular basis. However, the Guys want to make street and traffic stops but, some of our colleagues actually discourage it because of the damn backlog. I have actually heard a fellow sergeant tell a couple of hard charging coppers “you want to chase guys then go to the tact team, but your job is to answer calls” Way to build up that morale sarge!

On another point our guys would like to take a night off once in awhile. Use the hours that they earned working overtime or working on a holiday. Time and time again I’m handing back time due slips at roll call with “DENIED” written across. Manpower demands! The shitty part about these denials is they are given back the night before the requested day off. These people can’t make plans to spend some time with family or friends. Do we have a morale problem? Your damn right we do and manpower is one of the main culprits. We're sure many of you have opinions as to the source of low morale on the department.....please share.

Pension Funding Ratios Decline Continues

Many of you have sent comments concerning our pension. We went on a hunt for information at Craine's Chicago business. We found an interesting article about Chicago's under funded pension funds.
The article credits its information from a particular source know asThe Civic Federation Their website states
The Civic Federation is a non-partisan government research organization working to maximize the quality and cost-effectiveness of government services in the Chicago region.
The Federation’s membership includes business and professional leaders from a wide range of Chicago-area companies and institutions.
The Federation maintains a growing archive of publications concerning local tax policies, government services, and public expenditures.

We read a publication prepared by the Civic Federation and their observation of our pensions was as followed...

For the third year, the funded ratios of all four City pension funds continued a steady decline.
The Fire Fund in FY2004 reported a funded ratio of only 42.3%, tumbling from 60.2% in
FY2001. The Police Fund’s funded ratio dropped from 61.4% in FY2003 to 55.9% a year later.
The Police Fund has declined from a 71.1% funded ratio in FY2000. The continued declines in
the funded ratios of the Fire and Police Pension Funds are a cause for concern. They are far
below levels considered financially healthy. The Municipal Fund dropped to a funded ratio of
72.0%, declining sharply from a 94.5% ratio in FY2000.
The ongoing declines in the funded ratios of the Fire and Police Pension Funds continue to be a
serious cause for concern. At this time, the City cannot afford further increases in employee
benefit levels that would continue to increase funding shortfalls. The City should consider
reductions in the benefits of new employees to reduce costs in the long-term

Don't be surprised if the City looks to implement two tiered system for pensions and benefits for future hires with the expiration of our contract Jun 07.ISP pension of 80% after 26 and a day is no where on the horizon for us. According to the Craine's article its not totally gloom and doom...not yet!

SITE COUNTER/POST

Last week we added a site counter to the blog. The counter gives us info about when we are visited and how frequently each hour. We are averaging over 140 visits a day.We will let you know whenever he hit milestones.

On another note.....if anyone has an idea for a post please send it in a comment for consideration.

BlackBerries may join cops on patrol

SUN-TIMES

Now, the Police Department is field-testing 17 BlackBerries with officers assigned to bike and Segway patrols, narcotics and Area One gun teams. At least 100 more are expected to be ordered at the end of this month and distributed to specialized units, including organized-crime squads.
The goal is to get the time-saving devices into the hands of every officer on the street.

Actually sounds like a good idea. Have been using the new PDT’s and like the system but CLEAR rarely seems to be available. When CLEAR is up it is painfully slow. Hopefully by the time the blackberries are used many of the kinks in our current system will be worked out.
I’m running out of room on my belt!
Any interest in police technology read this link on POLICE ONE.COM

2016?

The City unvieled its logo for the 2016 Olympics. Logo contingent upon landing the Olympics.

Changes

Go toSCC to view list of command changes

DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM??? I WANT YOUR BADGE NUMBER!!!!!!!

Poor Alec Baldwin! Inconvenienced by a plane crash Mr. Baldwin gives one of New York’s finest an earful. The arrogance of the Hollywood elite never ceases to amaze.

SPEEDERS!

In the coming months, each district will have a LIDAR gun, which trains a laser beam on a car to determine its exact speed.

The new plan -- which also includes a unit that will deploy officers to traffic trouble spots across the city -- comes just months after a parade of aldermen complained that pedestrian safety and enforcement of the city's traffic laws were not priorities of the department.

On Tuesday, Transportation Committee Chair Tom Allen (38th) said the new plan fell short in one key way: The city doesn't just need new gadgets but more officers to use them.

we're not hiring any new police. I still feel the money should be devoted to police.''

I’m sure we can all agree that traffic enforcement at the district level is minimal at best. Districts citywide are having a hard time manning all their cars. We constantly find ourselves working in a backlog with stacked jobs in the box. When a traffic stop is done its usually because some idiot blatantly commited a violation right in front of the copper. Alderman Allen hit the nail on the head when he said “the city doesn’t just need new gadgets but more officers to use them”
We noticed on the latest transfer order that a handful of officers were going to the traffic unit. Again the department is robbing Peter to pay Paul. Allen has prodded Daley for months to hire 100 more officers exclusively for traffic enforcement with funds from the red light camera tickets.
We have been to plenty of CAPS meetings where the community not only complains about crime but the lack of traffic enforcement. Now the department has created another group of officers that are to be “deployed” from 35th st. to handle a problem that should be handled at the district level. The districts are yet again being siphoned of their manpower to create another “target” unit. That brings us to another subject regarding manpower but we’ll save that for another post.

CONGRATULATION SERGEANT PLOTKE!

Sergeant Richard Plotke Jr. was presented the Lambert Tree Award in a ceremony at City Hall

On 29 JAN 05 Sergeant Plotke was assisting 2 Morton Grove detectives serve an arrest warrant at 2900 W. Summerdale. Sergeant Plotke was confronted by an armed offender, a struggle ensued for the offenders weapon. The offender pointed the weapon at the sergeant and the sergeant fired his weapon killing the offender. A second armed offender began firing from the kitchen striking one of the detectives. The detective was shot in the chest but was saved by his vest. Sergeant Plotke and the other detective returned fire killing the second offender.

Congratulations on a job well done.

6 students hospitalized after police spray mace

SUN-TIMES

Chicago beat officers responded to reports of a gang disturbance at Marshall High School at the 3200 block of West Adams Street, according to police News Affairs Officer Kelly Liakopoulos. The officers discharged mace while in the school, she said.

Mace? I thought we used O.C. Spray, (pepper spray)

Six students were transported to area hospitals. Three went to Mount Sinai Hospital, one in “red” or “serious to critical” condition, and two in “green” or “good” condition. Three other students were transported in "green" condition to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County and Rush Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Rodriguez said.

This shit is getting ridiculous! Every afternoon one shithole public school after another. An absolute drain on manpower. Start expelling any asshole who looks hard at a teacher, administrator or security guard. Take the shit out of the system and maybe the handful that really want to learn might The sad part is that all the finger pointing and bitching by parents will concern the response by the police. Not one of the parents will take any kind of personal responsibility in the fucked up way their offspring chose to socialize.

Police Shooting In 004

Policemen involved are ok. Bad guy shot no word on condition.Read it in the Tribune

Director of Chicago police standards office resigns

Sun-Times
While Daley praised Morris and the work by OPS, he said community perception is often as important as reality.

The article implies that this stems from the Meeks incident.

Daley also announced the city will spend an extra $1 million to develop a program that will allow residents to file complaints against officers online and allow supervisors to track complaints, arrests and police activities.

Its not easy enough to just pick up a phone, walk into a station or even call for a supervisor another avenue has to be added so that more ridiculous complaints can be filed.

A NEW WEEK

Pretty much took the weekend off due to family commitments. SCC mentions homicides up. We seemed to notice alot of activity this past week from what we heard on the zone, read in the papers and from conversations with detectives. Get ready for more seatbelt missions!
Stay Safe

Gunman opens fire on police

A gunman opened fire on two Chicago police detectives this morning from inside a Southeast Side residence, but the detectives were not wounded and the suspect was taken into custody, police said.

Read the entire article

All are ok......Be safe everyone!

PB & PA Election

PB & PA election time is nearly upon us. According to an undated summer mailing signed by the Sergeants Election Committee Co-Chairmen (both retirees), ballots for the office of President will be sent to all active members via police mail between 18 and 24 OCT 06. Completed ballots must be received, via USPS, by the close of business (1600 hours) on 14 NOV 06. Ballots will be counted at 1100 hours on 15 NOV 06 at the union office (1616 W. Pershing Rd.).

First of all, why are retirees running the election? Where are the active members? Many sergeants never received the undated mailing which also listed the dates for nominating petitions to be picked up (21 SEP to 28 SEP). Why weren’t we addressed in person by the Executive Board or the Board of Directors? The election was not even mentioned in the August newsletter.

Candidates must be an active sergeant for the previous twelve months and in good standing. You also must have attended fifty percent of the regular meetings in the twelve months prior to the filing of nomination petitions(that should really limit the pool).

Finally, who are the candidates running for President? Are we supposed to open our ballots and take part in a popularity contest without knowing a candidate’s platform? We aren’t voting for Cook County judges here, blindly picking candidates because the name sounds familiar or because someone told you he was a “good guy.” It would be nice to hear from the candidates, whether by mail, e-mail, or personal visit at check-off. That’s the least they can do considering they are asking to take control of a rudderless ship that is close to sinking. This new president will either make or break the PB & PA. With the current contract set to expire in June of 2007, do any of these candidates have what it takes to lead us at this crucial time or will this election be the final straw that leads to de-certification?

Okay candidates, show us what you’re made of. Feel free to use this blog to get your message out and announce any upcoming appearances you’ll be making. Remember, a lot is riding on this election

Plans for 30 cams prompted by Meeks' allegations

From the Sun-Times

Allegations that a Chicago Police sergeant mistreated state Sen. James Meeks have prompted the department to buy 30 video cameras it plans to install in squad cars by mid-October to record traffic stops, officials said Wednesday

The city specified the cameras would be mounted on the windshield, record images at least 16 feet away in low-light situations and allow officers to leave their cars and roam at least 500 feet with a wireless microphone. A hardwired mike will record audio in the vehicles.

According to the article the department intends to install the cameras in an additional 1670 marked vehicle with state funding. The mounting of these cameras was inevitable regardless of the Meeks mistreatment of a brother sgt. Imagine how the reverend would have reacted if he had later learned the sgt’s vehicle had a camera. We believe almost all officers act appropriately on traffic stops and that these cameras will be more of an aid rather than a hindrance. Our main concern will be the hardwired mike in the vehicle. When will conversations of officers be recorded? The video begins 1 minute before the lights are activated so this means it runs continuously. So does this mean the mike runs continuously?

HMMMMMMM

SCC had a post concerning any PO with 20 CR#’s in the last 5 years will no longer work Tact or Gang. We received a comment from a south side sgt that in his district 3 tact guys were dumped to his watch and along with two other POs from the watch all 5 find themselves in the behavioral program. Can anyone else elaborate or provide similar occurrences.

Department accepting applications for Captain....any front runners out there?

Have heard rumors that pre-sgts will only spend a month in the detective division. We aren’t buying it but we’ll play

Council bans replica guns

Chicago Tribune


The Chicago City Council on Wednesday banned the sale and possession of air guns that resemble real firearms, taking action after the recent police shooting of a teenager who was carrying a "replica" BB gun.

"We don't want our officers to hesitate," said Ald. Burton Natarus (42d), who sponsored the measure. "If an officer has to hesitate to see if the gun is real, the officer is going to die…I think this will save the lives of many people."

Ellis Woodland, 14, was shot and seriously wounded in August near the Cabrini-Green public housing complex after police officials said he refused to drop what resembled a 9-mm handgun but, in fact, was a BB pistol.

Neighborhood residents, who disputed the police version of what happened, staged angry protests after the shooting.

Mayor Richard Daley supported the new measure.

"If you're a police officer and somebody pulls a look-alike gun out at you, what are you going to do?" he asked. "Are (police) going to verify it when they shoot it?"

Violators will face fines of $500 to $1,000, a six-month jail term and community service. If the replica is possessed by someone under 18, the parent or guardian could be ordered to pay the fine and perform community service.

The unofficial contract negotiations wish list.

The current contract between the Employer and PBPA will expire in June 2007. Contract negotiations will soon be upon us. What is it that we the members are looking for in our future contract? Monthly bid openings citywide, more V-days, P-days? Maybe you are looking for something else. Use this post to enlighten your fellow sergeants.
Let the comments begin.

Minor Ground Rule

We are not going to post comments that are off color personal attacks. If you feel slighted then write a comment in a way that wouldn’t embarrass you if you weren’t anonymous.

Group Wants Boycott Of Dunkin' Donuts, Applebee's

Chicago, IL) -- An immigrant rights group is calling for a boycott of two national companies. Martino Unzuerta of the Chicago Workers Collaborative says Dunkin' Donuts and Applebee's are discriminating against illegal immigrants whose names don't match their social security numbers. The two companies are accused of firing illegals who use such phony numbers to obtain work. Federal law requires employers to match their employees with social security numbers

.

Is this guy kidding? He wants to boycott companies that comply with the law. The sad thing is he could only find two. Three cheers for Dunkin' Donuts and Applebee's.

Overtime Initiative-Fair or Not?

A teletype recently placed in the CO Book got us thinking about this whole overtime initiative. The teletype informed Sgt.'s working the Dan Ryan Construction Project they would now be limited to eight days maximum a month, down from the previous maximum of twelve. An informal poll of Sgt.'s we know revealed very few are getting days in this program. A check of the assignment roster revealed that a small group of Sgt.'s have this program monopolized. Not bad work if you can get it (Do the math at time and a half). Why is this program bid differently than Tara, Midway, and CHA? Why can a Sgt. work the Dan Ryan and then go to work in his unit/district the same day? While we're at it, how is it that some guys in S/S DOG (hello HQ) are maxing out in the other programs while some Sgt.'s are unsuccessful bidders? Perhaps someone can help shed some light on this situation.

Starting to hear complaints about the overtime inititives. We have gotten a few dates so far on TARA but have been shut out by both Midway/OHare and Dan Ryan.
Hard to complain when making roughly $60 an hour.