CREDIT UNION THEFTS

SCC warned of this a awhile back.

8 arrested in ring targeting police credit unions
Read in Breaking News at Tribune

OFFICERS INJURED

Breaking news from Tribune:

A Chicago police officer suffered injuries to his face while trying to break up a fight tonight between suspected gang members in an alley near a South Side funeral home.
The police officer responded at 7:28 p.m. to a call of a fight near the funeral home in the 600 block of West 37th Street (map), Officer John Mirabelli said. When the officer approached the people who were fighting, he was hit in the face.

Other officers were called to the scene, Mirabelli said.

When the man who police believe hit the officer was arrested, he kicked out the windows of the squad car, Mirabelli said.

The crowd, who police said were suspected gang members, became furious when the man was arrested and attacked the police with bottles and their fists, Mirabelli said. Police said the people had attended services at a nearby funeral home, he said.

The officer was taken to a local hospital to be treated. The severity of the officer's injuries is not clear, Mirabelli said. Two other officers also were injured, but not seriously, he said.

What a shock that there would be "civil" unrest at a gang banger funeral.

1ST AMENDMENT

An interesting little lawsuit is coming out of Belleville, Illinois.

Man sues after "POLICE" t-shirt arrest
By Nicholas J.C. Pistor
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
12/30/2008

A Belleville Police officer arrested a St. Charles man for wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the word “POLICE.”

Now, Adam C. Weinstein, of St. Charles, has sued the department for what he calls the violation of his constitutional rights.

Weinstein was arrested in 2006 outside a bar in Belleville for “impersonating officers.” He was wearing a t-shirt with the word police striped across the front and back under a sweater. The t-shirt became exposed when he removed the sweater because he was hot. continued....

STREETS AND SANITATION

This evening there was a call, on zone 6, of a rollover accident involving an ODPO at 45th and Cicero. The first car on scene gave a "slow down" and informed the zone that the officer was ok. The unit then informed the zone that the accident was caused by ice that had formed on Cicero from 45th to 46th street. The officer requested the zone to call Streets and San to send a salt truck to eleviate the problem. Reply from Streets and San was that they only had one truck available citywide. So at this time we know that an ice rink exist on Cicero, a major thoroughfare leading to Midway Airport, an accident that could have been fatal, and S&S can't spare a truck to deal with it. The officers then ask if CTA could help, "no, their snow command is not up". In-fucking-credible! The officer, now desperate, requests for a salt truck from Midway Airport to respond. The zone states that a supervisor from OEMC is calling Midway with the request. The coppers on scene realize that the water is coming from a broken water main and inform the zone of this. The zone contacts water department and salt trucks and repair trucks are dispatched.
The City That Works!
By the way my street is finally clear, no thanks to S&S.

SERIOUSLY?

We have all witnessed this department make some ridiculous "knee jerk" reactions in the past. I pray we see nothing as absurd as the new foot pursuit policy instituted in the Austin (TX) Police Department.

There's a new foot pursuit policy in the Austin, Texas Police Department. From now on, officers in that agency will have to ask themselves a long list of questions before chasing criminal suspects by foot. According to a report in the Austin American Statesman by Tony Plohetski, Austin police officers must evaluate the immediate danger, consider whether a suspect is known and can be arrested later, and ask themselves what would be gained from pursuing the suspect before beginning foot chases

More from American Police Beat

SERGEANT SHOT IN 004

Just received word that a 4th district sergeant was shot. By all accounts he is in good condition at Christ Hospital. Vest apparently saved his life.



Update: Offender said to be in critical condition.

POLICE SHOOTING IN 003

Police were involved in a shooting with an armed offender in the 3rd district tonight.

A Chicago police officer shot an armed offender while executing a search warrant tonight on the South Side.

At about 7:04 p.m., officers from the Narcotics Section approached a residence in the 7300 block of South Kingston Avenue (map) when a person confronted the officers with a gun, according to a statement issued by the police department.

An officer fired his weapon and the suspect was struck, the police statement said.
The suspect was taken to an area hospital in "stable" condition, police said.

A weapon was recovered on the scene, police said.

As of 8:30 p.m., investigators from the Independent Police Review Authority were out at the scene investigating the shooting, said Mark Payne, spokesman for the agency.

There were no other injuries, police said.

Thankfully no officers were injured.

CONTRACT UPDATE VIA CPSA

Contract 2007-2011 Update: 15 December 2008

Over the past several weeks we have met with our attorneys and have drafted a counter proposal to address issues the City wants to incorporate into our next contract. Listed below are the major changes the City has proposed.

5 year contract

Inadequate wage & benefit package.

No increase in Watch Bids within District Law Enforcement (currently 5 per watch)

Changes to section 8.4 of the current contract.

Maintain sustained C.R. numbers for the entire career of the officer.

Inclusion of on-duty random alcohol testing

Mandatory alcohol and drug testing for any off-duty incident involving the discharge of a firearm.

Audio recording of all statements given by officers to I.P.R.A. and I.A.D.

We have presented our counter proposal to the City’s negotiating team. Our next scheduled contract negotiation session with the City is 18 December 2008.

It had been my hope to be able to present a contract to our membership for their review by the end of 2008; obviously this is not going to be the case in light of the City’s current position. While we have made substantial progress on reaching tentative agreements on several issues, especially maintaining the structure of our current health insurance benefit, we still need to resolve the above captioned issues before we can bring a contract back to our members for their consideration.

Sincerely,

John Pallohusky


President
Chicago Police Sergeants Associations

Food for thought from our friend John Kass.

Will 'feditis' spread to Obama and Daley?
John Kass
December 14, 2008

But just imagine if Dead Meat talks to the feds, or stands up on his hind legs to fight back if fellow Democrats impeach him in the Illinois legislature. The governor might actually mention a few of the legislators' deals. Ouch.

The whole thing....

QUESTIONS

Chicago Police Department to launch second mobile unit


December 12, 2008

BY ANNIE SWEENEY Crime Reporter
With murders up 16 percent, Chicago Police officials today announced they are launching a second Mobile Strike Force unit to work in high-crime neighborhoods.
more....

Mobile Strike Force starts its new company of hard chargers today. This blog takes no interest in belittling the officers of TRU or MSF. However, questions do remain.
I know supervisors in both units and I ask them why are there two units that have virtually the same mission. Nobody really has a definitive answer but one thing seems to be certain, MSF works west (areas 4 & 5) and TRU works south (areas 1 & 2).
Word out there is that TRU will eventually be absorbed into MSF.
The manpower problem isn't due to units, all large departments have them, it is the attrition rate versus hiring rate. The department has only recently admitted to manpower shortages due to attrition and a slowdown in hiring but the problem is older than they care to admit.

OFFICER SHOT

At about 2:00am this Friday morning a police officer was shot while responding to a shots fired call. The attempt murder of this officer occur ed at 18th & Washtenaw. According to early reports, the officers partner drove him to Mt.Sinai Hospital where he was being treated for a gunshot wound to the shoulder.

Best wishes to the officer and his partner.
Early readers of this site have already sent in their well wishes

COMPLAINTS

USDOJ

YOUR 6:00am WAKE UP CALL

The FBI called Blogo this morning to inform him that they had a warrant for his arrest and that agents were placed outside his door to take him into custody.

Blagojevich and Harris were arrested simultaneously at their homes at about 6:15 a.m., according to Frank Bochte of the FBI. Both were transported to FBI headquarters in Chicago.

Good morning Mr. Blogojevich!
Read it all in the Tribune

EXCUSE ME, PLEASE

It appears that someone is unhappy with the product I supply here. I don't post enough for his or her liking. Well to bad asshole! Stop visiting I don't need your support. Create your own site if you think this is so easy.

To those of you who visit on a regular basis, I apologise for the slow postings. Lately I have lacked the enthusiasm it takes to run a good daily blog. I hope that eventaully I will get back into a groove and produce some decent rants and some timely information.

Thanks
SCS

PARDON ME!

Governor Rob Blagovjevich and Senator Dick Durbin think Former Governor George Ryan should have his sentence commuted to time served.

Citing the frail health of Ryan's wife, Lura Lynn, and the 74-year-old former governor's health concerns, Blagojevich said a commutation by Bush would be a "fine decision."

Blagojevich becomes the second high-profile Democrat in the state to support efforts to have the outgoing Republican president free the former GOP governor from prison.

Earlier this week, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the chamber, said he was considering asking Bush to commute Ryan's sentence.
Tribune

These two political hacks have no credibility in my book. I am amazed at the quality of elected officials that the people of the state of Illinois continue to put in office.


An impassioned plea by US Congressmen Ted Poe of Texas for the pardons of or commuted sentences of US Border Patrol Agents Campion and Ramos.

Mr. Speaker, at this time of the year, it is common for whatever President is in power to review requests for pardons and for commutations of sentence. And yesterday, the President exercised his constitutional authority and pardoned numerous individuals, at least 29 of them, and I have all of their names here. I count seven drug dealers that were pardoned, one individual for receiving kickbacks in defense procurements contracts, and he commuted one sentence of an individual that was aiding and abetting the distribution of cocaine.

I want to make it clear; the President has the absolute power under the Constitution to pardon anybody he wishes or commute the sentence. And I want to read part of the Constitution, a pocketbook Constitution that many of us here carry that says, "The President shall have the power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States."

You notice, Mr. Speaker, it doesn't give any conditions, except he can't pardon someone who has been impeached. It doesn't require that a committee decide who is to be pardoned. It doesn't require that the Justice Department do anything or be even involved in the process. It gives the power of pardon and commutation to the President; and he has that right to pardon anyone he wishes, and I uphold his right to do so.

But in jail today in the Federal penitentiary somewhere across our United States are two individuals who I think should be pardoned, or at least their sentences should be commuted. And numerous people on the House, on both sides, have asked the President to look at these cases and pardon these two individuals, especially in light of their appellate court hearing that took place just a few weeks ago in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana. Of course, those two people are Border Agents Ramos and Campion, who I feel like were unjustly convicted by an overzealous prosecution, a comment that was made by one of the Federal judges on appeal, "overzealous prosecution."

But be that as it may, and it seems to me that they have been imprisoned a year now, most of that time they have been serving solitary confinement. For what crime? Well, because they supposedly violated the civil rights of a drug smuggler bringing drugs in from Mexico worth about $1 million. And the United States Government, rather than prosecute the drug dealer, prosecuted the Border Agents because they didn't follow policy, protocol, filling out appropriate forms after this shooting took place. But they go make a deal with the drug dealer. They make a deal with the devil, and they get testimony from the drug dealer in their trial. Talking about the Federal prosecution made a deal with him.

But, you see, that whole case kind of has some bad things that happened. We had learned, several of us, that while the drug dealer, granted immunity, that means they are not going to prosecute him, to testify, and before the trial took place, he brought in another load of drugs from Mexico to the United States worth about $700,000.

The U.S. Attorney's Office, in a carefully worded propaganda piece, denied that that ever occurred. But since we saw, and I have seen the DEA report, we knew a second drug deal took place. And now, finally, after this took place and many of us knew about it, the Federal Government has decided to prosecute the drug dealer on that second case; conspiracy to import drugs into the United States, and charging a new indictment with three offenses, conspiracy to commit crimes against the United States.

So the Federal Government makes a deal with the drug dealer. He brings in drugs after the deal is made. Now he is in jail. And it seems to me, justice would demand that these two Border Agents be released at least until this appeal is over with. But I think they should have their sentences commuted or even they should be pardoned by the President.

But I say all that to say the bureaucrats say, Oh, these two Border Agents haven't followed protocol. They haven't applied the right way, they haven't filled out the right forms for a pardon and a commutation of sentence. Well, the Constitution that I just read doesn't require forms to be filled out for people in prison to get a pardon. I don't remember Mr. Scooter Libby filling out some kind of form to get a pardon. He didn't even ever go to jail. He just got a Get Out of Jail Free card. He was pardoned. The President had the absolute right to do that. I don't quarrel with that. President Nixon got an absolute pardon by President Ford. He didn't fill out any forms to get that pardon.

So, Mr. Speaker, I recommend and urge the President to commute the sentences of these two Border Agents. And he can do it on his own. He doesn't need permission from some bureaucracy, and I hope he does so and does so quickly.

And that's just the way it is.

Thanks Congressmen

CHANGES

The department saw many command changes today. The biggest change would have to be Deputy Superintendent Mike Sheilds being demoted to Lt. Following list via comment section on SCC

Assistant Superintendent –
Law Enforcement Operations: James Jackson

Assistant Superintendent – Administration: Beatrice Cuello



Bureau of Patrol

Deputy Superintendent: Daniel Dugan, Jr.

Chief, Areas 1, 2, and 4:
Eugene Williams

Chief, Areas 3, 5, Central Control Group and Special Functions Group:
Michael McCotter

Deputy Chief, Area 2 Dana Alexander

Deputy Chief, Special Functions Group: Patrick McNulty

Commander, Targeted Response Unit: Kevin Ryan

Commander, 001st District: Chris Kennedy

Commander, 004th District: Eric Carter

Commander, 024th District: Dave Sobczyk

Commander, 025th District: Robert Lopez



Bureau of Investigative Services

Chief, Organized Crime Division: Ernest Brown

Deputy Chief, Organized Crime Division: Nicholas Roti

Deputy Chief, Field Group B: Constantine Andrews

Commander, Gang Enforcement Unit: Leo Schmitz

Commander, Gang Investigations Section: Joseph Gorman

Commander, Deployment Operations Center : Steve Caluris

OVER-RIDE

From the Chicago Police Lieutenants Association website

A GOOD CASE TO KNOW ABOUT
By Lt. John Garrido

On 2 Nov 08, 25th District officers arrested 2 offenders for drinking on the public way. A custodial search incident to the arrest revealed the offenders to be in possession of fictitious SS cards and fictitious green cards. When Detective Sofrenovic sought the appropriate felony charge, ASA Essig rejected charges, citing "Prosecutorial Discretion"
and "4th Amendment issues" in regard to the arrest.

Being the W/C that day, I contacted her supervisor, ASA Grawth. Aside from the b.s. discretion nonsense, I was more concerned about the 4th Amendment argument. He alleged that when officers make a physical arrest for a charge that is less than a misdemeanor (like drinking on the public way or a traffic citation) and it leads to another charge due to the search, they are actually violating the offender's constitutional rights under the 4th amendment. Believing he was wrong, I went for the over-ride; thank you Commander Welch.

I did a little research and confirmed that not only is he wrong, but there is a recent United States Supreme Court case to support the argument that there is no 4th Amendment Violation; the case couldn't be more on point and it was decided on April 23, 2008. FINDLAW.Com

Thanks Lt.

GARRITY

Via FOP Lodge 7

BREATHALYZER AND GARRITY UPDATE 11/18/08

On Monday, November 11, 2008, the appellate court ruled that prosecutors can use, in criminal proceedings, the results of a police officer’s breathalyzer test that were obtained administratively (by IAD). The court reasoned that such results are non-testimonial; therefore breathalyzer results are not covered under the Fifth Amendment and are not protected under Garrity. This ruling in no way impacts statements made pursuant to an administrative investigation. Since Garrity was decided, the law prohibiting the use of administrative evidence has been watered down very much, especially in Illinois. Garrity only applies to testimonial evidence. Therefore, only statements made by an officer in an administrative investigation will be suppressed at any subsequent criminal proceedings (with rare exception); however all non-testimonial evidence is clearly admissible at criminal proceedings. (i.e. breath/blood test; identifications at line-ups, contraband found in PO’s locker, etc.).

The case at issue involved an off-duty police officer who was involved in a traffic altercation which included a high speed chase and allegations that the officer threatened the individual with his weapon. The officer was placed under arrest on the scene for aggravated assault and driving under the influence. The officer was brought to the 14th District and the arresting officers asked him if he was willing to submit to a breathalyzer test. The off-duty officer refused and accordingly was processed as a “refusal” per the statute. At that point a sergeant from IAD arrived, identified himself and presented the off-duty officer with the standard administrative proceedings rights and notification of charges. As you are aware, included in those rights is the language, “any admission or statement made by you…and the fruits thereof cannot be used against you in a subsequent proceeding.” We are familiar with this as the Garrity rule.

Pursuant to Illinois law, an individual charged with DUI clearly has the right to refuse to submit to a breathalyzer exam, although that right appears to be in jeopardy as other states have legislated away the right to refuse. Regardless of an Illinois driver’s right to refuse, since the Jones case was decided in 2005, the law is clear that when a driver’s blood or breath is taken, despite their refusal, it is admissible in a criminal proceeding. The courts do not allow the police the authority to use physical force to obtain a result, however results obtained any other way are fair game at criminal cases. (i.e. coercion, blood draws at hospitals and administrative searches).

The Lodge is contemplating whether to petition the Illinois Supreme Court to rule on this issue. The decision will be made in the coming weeks.

Military Deployment Award

86 members of the Chicago Police Department were honored today for their military service during a time of war. Most are Guardsmen/Reservist who have served in either Iraq or Afghanistan and others were active duty troops. Some have served in the Gulf War and Kosovo and a few served in Viet Nam.

It's no surprise to Kurth that so many Chicago police are also military men and women. Soldiers and officers have common goals: to serve and protect.

"It's what's inside of you," he said Monday. "You're willing to help. You're willing to join in. You're looking for the bigger, common goal."

more....Tribune
Thank You from a prior service Vet

SHE HAS EVERY RIGHT

Today the Tribune ran a story on Maria Ramirez. Maria Ramirez is the mother of Mathew Ramirez who was gunned down in February 2006 by Christopher Sodaro.

For more than two years, Maria Ramirez had attended every hearing of the suspect, Christopher Sodaro. Matthew Ramirez died at age 16, walking home from a friend's house on a cold February night in 2006, shot because Sodaro mistakenly thought he was in a gang, authorities said.

Police never found a weapon, Sodaro never admitted guilt and the state's best witness was another gang member. And so in July a judge released Sodaro, now 17, saying there wasn't enough evidence to convict him.

The justice system was unable to provide any closure for Mrs. Ramirez but the thug life that Sodaro led certainly did.

Then on an October night, she got the news. The teen accused of killing her son was dead. Sodaro had gotten into a fight with rival gang members, and he was dragged by a car to his death. Nobody has been charged.

Mrs. Ramirez summed up her feelings on Sodaro's death.

"I'm extremely happy. This kid, this guy was a hard-core gang banger," she said recently. "At least now he's not out on the street, able to do what was done to me to another mother. At least he can't kill another now."

She knows some might disapprove of her honesty. She doesn't care.

Unfortunately the trade off was hardly fair. A good kid's life traded for a thug's life. No Mrs. Ramirez, I don't disapprove of your honesty, you have every right to feel that way.