NYPD VERDICT

To anyone who knew the facts of the case and understood the law, Friday’s acquittal of the three New York Police Department detectives charged in the November 2006 shooting death of Sean Bell was entirely predictable.


Read the rest at Pajama's Media.com

RAMBLINGS

Mr. Weis got a break this weekend from the violence of the week before. Hopefully Mr. Weis acknowledges that a near 40 degree drop in temperature and constant rain was the cause for the drop in violent crimes. Having SWAT go on patrol is not the answer.

Speaking of SWAT. Kudos to the boys in olive drab!

On Saturday Rigoberto Lopez entered an auto shop on the southeast side. Lopez took three hostages at gun point and after police arrived he refused to release them. Lopez fired at SWAT members. SWAT members moved in on Lopez. Lopez is dead and all the hostages were freed and unharmed.

Excellent job to all those involved.

I'll believe it when I see it. During this past week the Mayor announced that Chicago Police officers will carry M4 carbines. Monique Bond, in the Tribune, already pouring some cold water on the Mayor's comments....

"It's very preliminary. It's really under review. It is something being reviewed. As far as all of the logistics, the training component, might be premature to discuss it at this point," Bond said.

I'm not going to hold my breath.

By the way, Fox News32 thought it newsworthy to run an unscientific poll to see how the viewers felt about us being armed with the M4 carbine. On their website they asked if it were right or wrong that we be armed with high power rifles. Well the uniformed opinions flowed in as usual.
This one from Sherrie5870: WRONG!!!
How can having high powered guns for the police stop crime. Its not like the crimes are happening in front of the police because they are not. The people that are committing the crimes are getting away because there is no police presence. If there were police patrolling more often the criminals would be scarce. I moved here to escape the violence from Gary, IN. I feel like right out of the frying pan and into the fire now. I now homeschool my children. I'm now trying to find somewhere safer.
Sherrie

No Shit Sherlock! The purpose for being better armed is not to deter crime but make sure we aren't out gunned you idiot. AK47 Vs. 9mm = dead police

And this pearl of wisdom from Keto: They shot at that cougar 21 times an hit him 3 times,
now they want them to have these weapons ? What A joke.

Get over the cougar asshole!

If you didn't catch the Roe Conn Show with Mr. Weis you can hear it here.
If that were an official police report we could be looking at a couple rule 14 violations. Is it just me or is he slightly delusional?

IS MR. WEIS IN OVER HIS HEAD?

22nd district tact car fired on by offender with AK 47
left click picture to enlarge (Via SCC)
Thank God these officers are still with us. Great job job 22nd district.


What a weekend here in the Windy City. Over at CBS2Chicago.com the headline reads like this;

Bloody Weekend: At Least 21 Shot, 4 Dead
This just after the department made these stats available:

From January through March, murders decreased 1.1 percent and aggravated batteries decreased 0.8 percent, according to a release Friday from police. Criminal sexual assaults were down 13.9 percent, the release said. Robberies were up 16.3 percent in that time period. Overall crime was up 1.9 percent, though. The Harrison District on the West Side had the largest decrease compared to the same period last year, the release said, with an overall reduction in crime of 16.1 percent.

Fast forward to this evening and and look at CBS2Chicago.com

There have been 26 shootings this weekend, four of them fatal – that's seven more than this same weekend last year.

The department will be targeting gang leaders, enhancing bike and foot patrols and saturating violent zones or areas of the city with more resources.

What resources Mr. Weis?
On Friday Mr. Weis thought it prudent to gut TRU of 91 officers and 6 sergeants effective the 6th period. Despite the attitude by many readers over at SCC I take a contrary opinion to the relevance of TRU. Why? I think large departments need a large unit that can be deployed at the drop of a dime to a critical incident. For instance, an airplane rolling off a runway at Midway Airport, a bomb blowing up downtown or a commuter train derailment. Besides,deploying 25 tact teams to handle a protest march is ridiculous. Tact teams and gang teams need to stay in their district where they know the players and the game. When there isn't a critical incident then a unit like TRU can be deployed to hot spots throughout the city to saturate and be a deterrence to increased violence.
Early Friday the department announced the decline in homicides and aggravated batteries between the months of January thru March. This may have been the news that motivated Mr. Weis to decide it was time to eliminate two companies from TRU. Now if you believe that the addition of six sergeants to patrol is going to make a difference then you my friends are drinking the Federal Kool-aid. The addition of 91 officers to patrol sounds like it may make a difference but keep in mind that these officers are detailed and would be sent back to their districts. Depending on which districts they are from, at best, 5-6 patrolmen may be back to your district. Sorry but that isn't the solution to our manpower needs. The problem is the lack of hiring and the attrition rate, plain and simple.

This is just my opinion but I think the Former SAC is in way over his head and if he thinks gutting TRU is a great idea then beware.
By the way Mr. Weis, January thru March was cold and miserable and there is a call for a long hot summer.

Would love to hear from sergeants in patrol and from TRU.

Comments about hair gel and 2 year wonders may not be published. Lets take a few things a little more serious.

UPDATE: The final weekend count From CBS2Chicago.com

In all, at least 37 people were shot, two were stabbed and at least seven people are dead.

A couple of comments from readers of the L.A. TIMES concerning the

"I am totally disgusted by Chicago Police and will report them to PETA for their horrible attack on an innocent animal. Do they not know what a tranquilizer gun is????? I cried at the injustice for this poor animal lost in a concrete jungle. I hope those officers can sleep safe in knowing that they were only protecting themselves and their pride while they could have waited for animal services to take the animal back to its natural habitat. Foul and cowardices. And may I say stupidity." -- Animal Rights

On the other hand....

"I'm cracking up reading all the comments about the 'beautiful innocent animal' ...what a bunch of whiney hippies. It's a dangerous predator. It could have killed any of those officers easily, not to mention any children who it might have happened upon. Beautiful innocent children. What is this country coming to when the life of an animal is given higher value that the life of a human??" -- Wyzbok

Read more at L.A. Unleashed.



You're God Damn right they killed that animal to protect themselves! Nothing to do with pride and everything to do with survival and the survival of others. I'd give my life for my child but not a fucking animal. People like "Animal Rights" are fools.

This animal..........

was in this neighborhood,

and some residents are questioning the use of force used by the police.

Well at least we have the support of the superintendent.

"There's no doubt that lives were saved as a result of his actions and his fellow officers' attempts to contain the animal away from innocent bystanders," Police Supt. Jody Weis said in a statement.

However, the ramblings of the Mayor were classic....

Mayor Richard Daley also added his support for the police response. .

"First of all, it happened at 5:30 in the afternoon [in] the Roscoe Village community. It was seen running between buildings. The cougar charged a police officer," he said in remarks at an unrelated event.

Daley noted that a principal at an elementary school where a day-care program was still active alerted the police of the animal's presence in a school parking lot.

"Now, I just want to tell you, if the cougar attacked a child, they'd sue the city because the police officer didn't do their job. So everybody second guesses, you know. So let the cougar run around and attack children. Everybody would be filing lawsuits, and yelling at the police and all the local officials. … Too bad that we didn't have an animal care and control personnel. [They] were en route to the scene. But again you have to make individual decisions. I didn't see a neighbor run out and grab it and say, 'Oh I love you' and bring it in the house. This is unbelievable. I mean, I just, I just. … 'Don't worry about it.' "

He added, "A cougar is a beautiful animal. I mean, it really is."

I'll give him an "A" for effort.
Read the whole story in the Tribune.

HELICOPTERS

I am a big advocate of the use of helicopters for law enforcement. I have written about this before and the Chicago Police Department lags way behind departments a quarter of our size. With that being said, I would like to applaud the work that is done by the crews of the aviation unit despite their limited resources. A couple of evenings ago helicopter 1 monitored a pursuit in the suburb of Burnham and proceeded to assist. The vehicle being pursued was involved in a robbery in Hammond, Indiana. The driver crashed his vehicle and fled on foot. The helicopter was able to locate the offender and radio his location to officers on the street. (Story on Fox) Well done guys.
Sergeants don't be reluctant to request the assistance of the helicopter and don't be discouraged if you are denied. Remember these crews are working with limited resources and at this time of year weather plays a big role.

In todays Tribune, John Kass writes an article on the ludicrous sentences of Pichino Hill versus Mike Mette. On 22 March I wrote a post on the same issue. Did I inspire John Kass? Probably not, John has been a great advocate in the press for Mike Mette's cause.
Keep up the good work.