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

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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.