JUST WATCH (this one works)

by Lizzie Palmer, 15 years old

WHERE IS OUR COPY OF THE CONTRACT?

This is a reprint of a letter that our President wrote to the membership as found on the CPSA website

05 Feb 07
After previously returning our contract for corrections and adjustments, I recently received what was termed the FINAL VERSION along with signature pages for me to sign. Unfortunately, this so called “Final Version” still contained numerous pages with typos and some questionable verbiage. I have expressed my displeasure to the parties responsible for preparing this slipshod document, which required me to again proof read the contract rather than focus on the content. I'm prepared to take additional steps if this situation is not rectified satisfactorily.

While I was not part of the previous negotiating team and was not involved in the prior contract negotiations, as President of the CPSA I am now responsible for accepting and signing this document. I want this contract to accurately reflect the current agreement with the City of Chicago, so that our members have an opportunity to review it and make constructive suggestions for consideration when we negotiate our next contract.

John Pallohusky
President

On 15 MAR 07 at the general meeting of the CPSA, President John Pallohusky informed the attending members that within two weeks we would finally see a copy of the contract. Well Mr. President it is well over 6 weeks since you spoke those words and we have yet to see a copy. What is hold up?

HOW ABOUT SOME WELL DESERVED "ATTA BOYS"?

Two sergeants from the 11th district make the news this week.

SGT. Mike Spagnola along with Officers Oscar Serrano, Paul Sandoval, John Dalcason, Rick Caballero, and John McKenna, rescued a man from a burning car. Sun-Times

A Chicago police sergeant who interrupted a robbery at a West Side gas station this morning shot and injured one of the suspects after he tried fleeing the scene, officials said.Tribune

We read on Second City Cop that a third Sergeant was involved in the rescue of people from a burning building on the westside. When we went to the link the Tribune story omits the sergeants involvement. We'll take SCCs word for it and borrow their quotation from the Tribune .

Two people were injured Wednesday afternoon after a fire at an apartment building on Chicago's Lower West Side, authorities said.

The blaze broke out about 12:30 p.m. in a three-story brick building in the 1600 block of West 21st Street in the city's Pilsen neighborhood, Fire Department spokeswoman Eve Rodriguez said. A CPD Sergeant on viewed the fire and rescued two people from the flames

Conrats! on a job well done by all involved.

WELCOME NEW SERGEANTS, SEE YOU IN LATE AUGUST

We'll see them in late August but could use them now.

001 HAUSER, Brian A.

001 PRICE, Matthew D.

001 BLOCK, Andrew M

002 DELAO, Edward A.

005 BURRELL, Robert A.

006 FORD, Christi

006 WILSON, Michelle E.

008 DOWLING, Richard P.

009 POPPISH, Michael J.

011 GARDNER, Roderick L.

012 NOVALEZ, Angel L.

013 DE LA TORRE, Miguel

013 URSITTI, Antoinette M.

013 HARAN, Patrick A.

014 WEIGLEIN, Timothy R.

015 STACK, Thomas R.

017 SEDLACEK, Paul M.

019 DONAHUE, Patrick E.

020 KWONG, Norman P.

024 VERGARA, Francisca I.

025 CALLAGHAN, Brian A.

124 BARTOLI, Daniel A.

124 WOOTEN, Yvette M.

124 SEDEVIC, Mark T.

124 NOWACKI, Michael S.

125 DZIAK, Steven E.

145 HUFFMAN, Sharon M.

153 Mc GUIRE Jr., Danny L.

189 CATO, Eric D.

189 SANCHEZ, Alejandro

189 HORTON, Thomas M.

193 WHITMORE, Gregory A.

196 GENTILE, William F.

196 HASAN, Andre A.

216 SALADINO, Michael V.

253 SCHULER, Joseph A.

253 MANNION, Sheamus

606 DICKERSON Jr., Samuel L.

There are 38 names on this list and it is anticipated that an additional 12 from the "D" will be added for a total of 50.

3 months with detective familiarization, hopefully the new Superintendent will eliminate this portion, and 6 weeks of pre-sergeants training. That is 18 weeks and that takes us to appx. 24 AUG 07. CONGRATS!!!

Enough Already!!!

"Federal raid triggers Chicago protest" reads a headline on Breitbart.com.

CHICAGO, April 25 (UPI) -- Residents of a predominately Hispanic Chicago neighborhood took to the streets in protest after heavily armed U.S. immigration agents raided businesses.

The federal agents were searching for sellers of fake Social Security and resident alien green cards, authorities said, refusing to say how many people were arrested in the search

Is anyone out there getting tired of protest by people who support or actively participate in the violation of U.S law. I'm talking about the proliferation of illegal immigrants or as they like to say, undocumented workers. Now they have the audacity to protest a legitimate federal operation that indicted 22 people involved in murder for the sole purpose of creating forged documents for "undocumented workers". Read the press release by the Department Of Justice describing the illegal activity that this group was involved in.
However, if you listen to the "activist" this was merely a show of force to intimidate those preparing for an immigration protest scheduled for next month.
I'm going to call bullshit on this one.....people are worried how they will get their next phony social security card not the appearance of federal agents in tactical gear.

ANOTHER CPD VIDEO

Thanks to a reader for bringing this video to us.

Thoughts and Prayers

Corporal Nick S. Polizzotto, a nine-year veteran of the South Bend Police Department, died early this morning.
Our thoughts and Prayers go out to the family of Officer Polizzotto and to the South Bend Police Department

BURGE

Police torture probe was a sham: groups
BURGE CASE | 'Riddled with omissions, half-truths'

That's the conclusion legal and nonprofit groups make -- in a report to be released Tuesday -- about a special prosecutor's probe of alleged police torture under former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge.

The report -- by a coalition that includes Northwestern University's Center On Wrongful Convictions, Amnesty International and lawyers representing the alleged torture victims in civil suits against the city

Without even reading this report you know where it is heading. Considering who is producing it.

"The record strongly suggests that the Special Prosecutors' investigation and resultant report, which cost the taxpayers of Cook County $7 million, were driven, at least in part, by pro-law-enforcement bias and conflict of interest, were riddled with omissions, inconsistencies, half-truths and misrepresentations, and reflect shoddy investigation and questionable prosecutorial tactics and strategies," the report concludes.

It is almost laughable that this group has the audacity to accuse anyone of a bias!

NO MORE INVESTIGATORS!!!!

Daley says no to more 'hiring' investigators Chicago Sun-Times

Two weeks ago, Hoffman brought his New York City counterpart to Chicago to address the mayor’s cabinet in an effort to bolster his case for 10 more investigators.

And today he got an answer. NO!!!!!!

“My reaction is that the city’s ability to terminate federal court supervision of hiring is going to depend on the city persuading the court that it’s put in place procedures, personnel and staffing to adequately police political hiring, firing, promotions and the like,” Shakman said.

Shakman further stated,

“It’s too early to judge how that’s all gonna play out. But, it would certainly be a factor in my reaction to this and certainly something we’d reserve the right to raise with the judge and the monitor if the inspector general felt he was not getting adequate resources to do the job.”

On 31 DEC 08 the city can get out from under the Shakman Decree if it can prove it is in compliance.

OUR 200th POST

Dedicated to fallen Police Officers and Gold Star Families

Hey, Democrats!! Our enemies are STILL listening to you!!!

And this from RED STATE.COM on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's pronouncement that the war is lost.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's pronouncement yesterday that "the war is lost" was made solely to Congress and to the American people, right? I mean, it's not like our enemies actually care or pay attention to what is said by those in leadership positions in our government (such as BushLied, US troops are Nazi storm troopers, etc., etc.) -- right?

Oops. Read on.

Al-Jazeera sure noticed, running a headline on their web page which said,


"Iraq war "lost" says top Democrat: US senate majority leader says war cannot be won by increasing troop deployment."

The article begins with the following paragraph:


The US war in Iraq is lost and a further build-up of US troops in the country will not recover the situation, the senior Democrat in the US senate has said.

It's not just Al-Jazeera. Al-Sharq al-Awsat - the self-proclaimed "Leading Arabic International Daily" - sure noticed, running a headline on their web page - along with this picture - that said, "The Democrats Believe The War Is Lost and Bush Refuses a Deadline For Withdrawal."

How about those innocent folks in Iran, who are paying no attention whatsoever to the strength and unified front (or lack thereof) presented by the US, as they flaunt their refusal to comply with US and UN calls for a halt to their nuclear weapons program? If you guessed "they noticed, too," then you are right. Iranian Press TV has a headline which reads: "US has lost war in Iraq: US Democrat. Leader of the Democratic majority in the US Congress, Harry Reid, has said the US has lost the Iraq war, and Bush's troop surge has failed." The first paragraph of the story?


"I believe ... that this war is lost, and this surge is not accomplishing anything, as is shown by the extreme violence in Iraq this week," Reid stated.

*Golf clap* Very well done, Mr. Senate Majority Leader. Anything else you'd like to say to your people? After all, it's just between you and your anti-war base - and the whole world.

Here's a hint: it may not be your "friends" who are listening the closest, or taking the most heart from what you have to say. Not that that'll make you think before speaking, of course.

And this responce from Mark Levin:

"Far more relevant, consequential and disturbing is the behavior of the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, who by word and action is actively undermining our fighting men and women in Iraq. His legislative efforts to starve our armed forces in the middle of a war are as contemptible as anything I’ve witnessed in my 25 years in Washington. And yesterday he made a statement that was so disgraceful and brazen that it could have been uttered by Tokyo Rose during World War II or Jane Fonda during the Vietnam War. The difference, of course, is that Reid is the highest ranking Democrat in the United States Senate.

Catch The Mark Levin Radio Show on WLS AM 890 M-F 10:00pm-12:00am and visit his site at Mark Levin Show.com

NEW SERGEANTS

We know of a few people that had received a call telling them that they were to report for sergeants class on 23 Apr 07. Since then we heard that a second call was made telling them not to report on the 23rd that the class would start the following monday. We haven't heard how large the class would be but no one we heard from was higher than 30 on the list. With that information we are going to assume that the class will be around 50. With 35 sergeants in TRU 50 new sergeants will barely make a dent in the supervisory needs of the districts.

SPIRE ONE STEP CLOSER TO REALITY

TRIBUNE

The Chicago Spire took another step toward becoming a 2,000-foot-high reality Thursday when the Chicago Plan Commission recommended that its current design by famed architect Santiago Calatrava be approved by the city zoning committee.

HUBERMAN IS OUT!

And the list shrinks by one
Sun-Times, Tribune.

TIME DUE

We have been hearing grumblings about how different units have accommodated or denied your "time due" request.
Share your units policy with the rest of us.

SCHOOL SAFETY

Our thoughts and prayers to those at Virginia Tech.

Back on 20 Mar 07 we ran a story on terrorism and schools as their target. Well consider the possibility that a nut shows up kids school, are you prepared?
The preparations offered in the terrorism story apply here.

And the emphasis is to "always carry off-duty. Always." the article has suggestions for individual officer preparedness and suggestions for depatment training. There may come a time that you may be the only line of defence until the cavalry arrives.

The bottom line is to stay alert and be prepared to protect our children.

Posted by SECOND CITY SARGE at 3/20/2007 01:16:00 AM

Stay safe, and keep our kids safe.

ENFORCERS

Thanks to a reader for sending us this story. We'll give you the link to the Daily Southtown so you can read it on your own.

OLYMPICS..........NOW WHAT?

There are plenty of people in this city who are just excited to be in the international running for the 2016 games, and then there are those of us who know how the city operates and are just plain leery. Some would say we are cynical by nature but for the most part I would call it realistic.

Well now that the city got the nod I suppose its time for the SOS scandal to really start rolling and any other dirty laundry waiting to be aired.

AND THIS FROM THE LIEUTENANTS

Over at the Lieutentants Association site President Ken Sullivan gives his two cents on the recent "retirement" of Phil Cline and the Shackman settlement.

As for Superintendent Cline, I feel he was poorly served by many around him. Our dealings with him were always cordial and professional. He was always pleasant and focused on reducing the murders and protecting the police officers. In those areas he was very successful and will always have the Police Memorial to remind all of his good works. My personal opinion is he did not deserve to have to resign / retire. A GOOD leader would call a subordinate in, chew his ass for the recent failures and give them a period of time to correct it. If corrections were not made they would be fired. As we all know we don’t have a good leader on the 5th floor of City hall. 100s of jobs and promotions are given away, truck contracts are given away, and of course he knows nothing about it.

They have established a Shakman web site, shakmanmonitor.com that outlines the claims procedures and the forms for the $12 million settlement. I would urge anyone passed over in the Captains beauty contest, especially the first round, to file.

Well said Ken.

GLOBAL WARMING?

Read the Newsweek opinion piece by Richard S. Lindzen, the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research has always been funded exclusively by the U.S. government. He receives no funding from any energy companies.

The current alarm rests on the false assumption not only that we live in a perfect world, temperaturewise, but also that our warming forecasts for the year 2040 are somehow more reliable than the weatherman's forecast for next week.

Dennis Miller had Christopher C. Horner ,the author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming, on his show and he took Al Gore to task.

In Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, the only facts and studies considered are those convenient to Gore's scare-them-green agenda—and in many instances, Gore distorts the evidence he presents. Nearly every significant statement Gore makes regarding climate science and climate policy is either one sided, misleading, exaggerated, speculative, or just plain wrong.

The global warming crowd picked a real winner to be the champion of their cause.

Technology

I was watching Fox News this morning and saw a story about a handheld fugitive scanner that the Clermont County, Ohio Sheriffs Department is using. The scanner, created by Mobilisa Inc., reads the bar code on the back of a D/L or state ID and within seconds the info is processed against a collection of data bases. I went on a search and found an article at Officer.com that describes how the system works and the concerns of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Clarmont County is the first local law enforcement agency to use the scanner. The scanners are being provided as a pilot program. According to the article future use would require purchasing the units and paying a monthly service fee for the data access.

Many times I have wondered why we do not have the ability to scan DL or ID cards. There is a bar code on the back. Having the CLEAR system (when its up) on the PDT (when its in range)is a great tool for confirming identity. Combine the CLEAR technology with a bar code scanner on the PDT and you may have something special.

YOUR MONEY AND HIGHER EDUCATION

In the Tribune there is a story about students protesting the arrest of two battery offenders who themselves were protesting the CIA's recruitment on campus. The two thugs happen to be members of the universities Socialist club.

"Anytime students try to stand up against something wrong and unjust you're always going to face some repression,"

Wouldn't the CIA be the last people they would want to piss off? That is if you believe the bullshit that left wing academia pushes on young impressionable minds.
You bust your ass to save money in order to put your child through college. You do this because a degree is a minimum requirement in any career field that your child embarks on. We do it because we want whats best for our children.
What are our children learning in those hallowed halls? Most people would be shocked by the anti-American, anti-Western and anti-Christian attitudes that are pervasive on American college campuses. Your hard earned money is spent teaching our children how to hate everything we value as a culture.

"For me, it's been really disappointing," said Molly McClure, a member of the university's Students Against War organization. "We were doing free expression. These are the things we learned about in our classes."

A college campus is suppose to be a place where the student learns about all types of cultures and ideas but not to have a leftist viewpoint constantly forced upon them. As a result of this one sided teaching, organizations like Students for Academic Freedom have sprung up challenging the left. Take a look at their site and maybe have your future scholar take a peek as well.
Good luck with your son or daughters future education and keep an eye on what they are learning because its your money and our future.

CPSA RUNOFF ENDORSEMENTS

This is taken directly from the CPSA website.

On 15 March 2007, the Executive Officers and Board of Directors on behalf of the Chicago Police Sergeants’ Association voted to endorse the below listed aldermanic candidates in the 17 April 2007 run-off election.
Endorsements were based on several considerations. Some candidates were endorsed based upon their past affiliation and support of the Associations’ interests. Others were considered after reviewing their responses to issues that affect our members. Questions that were asked of the candidates pertained to issues concerning their overall priorities, pension issues, health care for retirees, contract and promotional concerns.
A “No Endorsement” was recommended based upon lack of a response or responses that were evaluated as not being in the best interest of the Chicago Police Sergeants’ Association and its members.
John PallohuskyPresident – C.P.S.A.
Endorsed Candidates – 17 April 2007 Aldermanic Run-Off Elections
1. Bob Fioretti
2. No Endorsement
15. No Endorsement
16. No Endorsement
18. Lona Lane*
21. Leroy Jones Jr.
24. No Endorsement
32. Ted Matlak*
35. Rey Colon*
43. No Endorsement
49. Joe Moore1
50. Naisy Dolar
* Incumbent

INFO FOR THE POLICE

BENEFIT TICKETS FOR PO SAUL CONTRERAS, JR. STILL AVAILABLE.

BENEFIT INFO: 16APR07 18-2300

FOOD, BEER, POP, RAFFLE PRIZES, LIVE DJ.

CONTACTS IN FOLLOWING DISTRICTS/UNITS

003, 004, 005, 008, 009,
012, 014, 024, 025, 253

SEE BENEFIT FLYERS POSTED FOR INFO.

NYPD

We received a comment from a reader who seemed to have a strong/insiders opinion about the process of selecting the new superintendent.

Anonymous said...

As a very high-ranking officer in a major out-of-state police agency, I find the CPD dilemma particularly disturbing. Well-informed police executives throughout the nation are aware of the fully politicized administration of the Chicago P.D.

It is common knowledge among IACP and PERF membership that any "nationwide search" for a successor to Philip Cline is at best, disingenuous, certainly under your current mayor.

Chief Cline's successor will be chosen from within the ranks of the Chicago P.D.

The selection board will be clandestinely directed to include your mayor's predetermined favorite among the finalists.

Your mayor will retain absolute control over the CPD through his selection.

Tragically, the essential prerequisite is that Mayor Daley's choice must be willing to blindly compromise any ethical principles and defer to Daley's every whim as his loyal puppet.

Heavy-handed, politically corrupt interference anathematizes the credibility, integrity and morale of a professional law enforcement agency.

Do not expect any eminently qualified out-of-town applicants.

Wed Apr 04, 04:28:00 PM

And then we read in today's Sun-Times the feelings of Garry McCarthy, formerly of the NYPD, who was a finalist in the 1993 superintendent search.

"Having had a taste of Chicago politics, I'm not sure I would want to subject myself to that again," said McCarthy, 47.
"I was called after it was announced at a press conference. I thought it was kind of dirty pool after spending hours with Mayor Daley.

Go figure! Welcome to our world/blog Mr. McCarthy.

John Tucker

08 October 1968 Officer John Tucker was preparing to leave his house, to run errands. As he walked toward the door, his young daughter asked him “daddy can I go with you” and he told her, “I wish I could take you, but not today honey”. Officer Tucker’s daughter was ten years old, but still remembers that conversation; because those were the last words her father ever spoke to her.Later that day, Officer Tucker walked into the Standard Bank, and into an armed robbery in progress. Officer Tucker intervened in the robbery, and was shot six times and killed by Clemmie Johnson. Officer's responded to the scene, and were forced to shoot Johnson, he survived. Johnson was convicted of armed robbery, and murder, and sentenced to two 199 year terms. Clemmie Johnson was paroled in December of 2006, as a “mercy release”. Officer Tuckers Family was devastated by the news of this release. How could this happen? They were told that the murderer would never breathe free air again, but this was a lie. Johnson served only 37 years of his 398 years, and now is a free man. Superintendent Cline was made aware of this travesty, and informed the family that a task force would be assembled to make sure this would not be repeated. So far, the family has not heard back from Phil Cline. In the aftermath of her husband’s murder, Mrs. Tucker, fell in love with another Chicago Police Officer, and they married. They had a son, who is now a Chicago Police Officer. Growing up in a south side neighborhood, their son had many friends. His best friend still to this day, is also a Chicago Police Officer. His friend’s father was one of the Officers who responded to the murder scene of Officer John Tucker, and shot the offender. Officer Tucker’s picture hangs on the wall in the 004th District, and the caption reads GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN. The parole board did forget, they forget about the vicious crime, and the suffering it caused the family of the hero John Tucker. They forgot about the men and women of the Chicago Police Department who lost a brother that day. They forgot about the citizens of Chicago who lost a Champion for good that day. They did forget, but we will never forget. John Tucker your legacy lives and breathes in the hearts and minds of those who loved you, and by all member’s of the Chicago Police Department. Watch over us Brother, and we will pray for you.

This was sent to us by one of our readers

CLINE ANNOUNCES "RETIREMENT"

OPEN POST!!!!!

NEW SERGEANTS?

Prior to the last class of sergeants we accurately guessed to the week the promotion of new sergeants based on the date that merit candidates were required.
We can only guess that the merit process will be complete soon if it is not already. Shortly there after a list of personnel to attend detective familiarization will be created. Does it really take 3 months to complete this process? The newly trained "detectives" will be joined by existing detectives that are to be promoted for pre-sergeants training. Our best guess has the "D" training beginning in 2-4 weeks and lasting 3 months and the pre-sergeants training lasting 6 weeks. Bottom line has the new sergeants on the street 20-22 weeks from now.
Reduce the "D" training to 2 weeks and the new sergeants are out on or before 1 July when we could really use them.

Retirement and taxes

We were asked which states are the best to retire in as far as taxes and we discovered the following 7 states have no income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Two others, New Hampshire and Tennessee, tax only dividend and interest income.
Here is the complete list of all 50 states income tax rates.

OPEN POST

Have at it ladies and gentlemen...........please be respectful

Things for us to consider

Our readership is way down. At our high point we received over 500 hits in one day and just this Saturday we barely broke 200. We are not going to credit the department with its filtering of blogspot.com sites for this decrease but due our own lack of direction.
We had intended this site to be information based and a platform for sergeants to sound off on issues that concern us. We began by questioning the effectiveness of the PB&PA and if our membership would be better served as part of a larger bargaining unit with P.O.'s.
As of late we have taken to highlighting everyday news stories that effect living in Chicago with a short quip from us. According to some we were just a poor attempt at copying Second City Cop. When we first started out we informed the guys over a SCC that they were our inspiration. We are, in fact, big fans of theirs but we don't feel that we are accomplishing our goal by mirroring subjects that they have posted. There have been a few occasions that we got a post out first but SCC's resources are deep and their sarcasm biting and we just can't compete with that. We aren't ready to pull the plug yet (Second City Dick) but it becomes very taxing to come up with original material day in and day out.
We have decided to refocus our energies and will do our best to be an information resource for sergeants of the Chicago Police Department.
Thanks for your readership.
SCS