CPD is the Silk!

Well, What do you know? There ! Right there in Green Is By God Waldo!

I went to hear the Chicago Jazz Caravan featuring vocalist Miss Terry Sullivan perform at 12 West Elm in heart of the Gold Coast yesterday. Miss Sullivan and a trio of jazz geniuses ( Tommy Muellner- piano, Jim Cox - bassist and Art Davis Trumpet and Flugelhorn) gave a brilliant afternoon of jazz and standards from the American Songbook to a score or more hearty souls from 3PM - 5: 30 PM.

This show went off despite fears that the NATO Summit might sweep the streets with mobs of protesters and Anarchist nut-jobs.. Not so.

I believe that I have mentioned that I live on the south side, Morgan Park. I eschewed the Dan Ryan for the trip north taking Western Ave.to Ogden and then a right turn on Chicago Avenue to State Street.  It was the  Cat's Nuts -  less than 45 minute and I hit every green light like I had been an Obama Bundle-er.

The Chicago Police and the good sense citizens of Chicago made this all possible.  CPD were present and visible.

On the Gold Coast itself the employed youth of America packed cafes, beer gardens and the streets with disposable income earned from their toils this past week.

At Viagra Triangle itself my contemporaries including former Mayor Richard M. Daley sunned themselves outside of Gibson's Steak House, while Nannies and Moms with strollers bought ice cream at the kiosk.

Unseen all day, for me anyway, were the storied throngs Andy Thayer's Street Party.  I parked, enjoyed great jazz, occupied  a bar stool next to Dominic, who was hacked from the Illinois Human Rights Commission by Blago.  We chatted about political bottom-feeders. It was the berries.

Further to the south my neighbors and hundreds of other members of the Chicago Police Department and Chicago Fire Department heroes tended to the protesting throngs.  While Miss Terry Sullivan sang "Day-in; Day Out" to the fiery tempo set by  Jim Cox's Bass and fingers, the time of the Andy Thayer Party Permit expired and Superintendent Garry McCarthy, who stood with his officers all day and all night, ordered the crowds to disperse, thanks for coming, don't forget the handy trash bins for Green America, head home, good night, take it on the heel and toe, it was swell!


Some guests need to be shown the door and instructed in the operation of its best use.

The Black Bloc Anarchist met the Blue Bloc Centurions.

With a minimum of bumps and scrapes the intemperate and the angry were encouraged to leave.

One Chicago Police Officer was stabbed and more than a few injured.

Chicago Police Department showed the world how to handle idiots, with temperance, restraint and the odd nudge.

I listened to full account on WBBM AM. as I drove home from a great afternoon of jazz.  I hit every green light going south, until 59th & Western Ave..  Is this  a great City or what?

God Bless the Officers, Firefighters, Traffic Control Pros, Streets and Sanitation Workers who kept Chicago and its visitors safe and cleaned up the tons of mess that Green Friendly Andy Thayer's Street Party left scattered.

Doing NATO? Avail Yourself of Public Transportation

The wholesome exchange unreported by WGN: 

CPD Public Servant (CPS)- "Quo Vadis, Young Traveller?"

Later Day Childe of God( LDG) -" @#$% You! It's The Peoples Street!"

CPS - "Why no, Son, this is State Street. How Far you goin?"

LDG- "@#$%ing Tool of Pig Establishment! We are Goin to Revolution!"

CPS - "(avuncular chuckle) "My dear lad that is a fur piece as they say! Oh, deer! Deer, deer, deer, well. . .Hop on and God Speed!"

Do avail yourself of public transportation

or the time honored and free-spirted Hitchin'of a Ride!


I hope the ACLU, National Lawyers Guild and Peoples Law Office avail themselves of such conveyances.

Cappy Dick says, " What is the Number of Cop Convictions for Police Torture Proven in Court?"

" Burge tied my shoes too tight! It was Hurtful! It was Wrongful! Where's my Money, Flint?"


Tortured is the logic of the wrongful conviction, Lawsuit Lotto Lawyers, Hep-cat columnists and kittenish editorial boards. If you believe hard enough, really, realy hard enough and can quote from John Conroy it is satisfyingly verifiable and therefore true. Every convicted thug is a victim. Anything used to convict Mr. Kill-all is torture and we all hate torture.

Torture is magical!

After the actual torturers and murderers of two Chicago Police Officers (Fahey & O'Brien), the celebrated thugs the Brothers Wilson, became the Mumia-lite for Chicago's Progressive Machine, Leftists became 1%-ers - Jon Loevy, G. Flint Taylor, Locke Bowman & etc.

Today, Police Torture that now includes, any form of interrogation hit the Illinoi Supreme Court, which vote 6-o in complete agreement with popular opinion.

The court’s 6-0 decision represented another milestone in the long-running saga of Burge and his crew of officers, who repeatedly have been accused of torturing African-American suspects in the 1970s and 1980s at a South Side police station.

Defense attorneys had feared that any break in the court’s tough stance would lead to the kind of abuse seen during Burge*’s tenure. Prosecutors had hoped that the court would issue a ruling allowing them to use tainted confessions when the other evidence against a suspect was overwhelming.

“We believe that this type of coercion by the state ...constitutes an egregious violation of an underlying principle of our criminal justice system...” the court wrote.

The vote in the case was 6-0 because Justice Robert Thomas did not take part in the case.

Here's aquestion for the court - when has any cop ( Burge, Beavers, or Brezyak) been convicted of torture?

Waiting ................................................................!


I find it wonderful, that people of faith continue to firmly believe in that which can not, nor ever will be proven.


*In October 2008, Patrick Fitzgerald had Burge arrested on charges of obstruction of justice and perjury in relation to a civil suit regarding the torture allegations against him. On April 1, 2010, Judge Joan Lefkow postponed the trial, for the fourth time, to May 24, 2010.[1] Burge was convicted on all counts on June 28, 2010 and sentenced to four and one half years in federal prison on January 21, 2011.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Burge

City Council Unanimously Votes Ban On Torture -Another Meaningless Bit of Self-Puffery by 50 Needy People

Sister Benita Coffey and the Coalitions she represents.

This morning, Chicago Tribune's opinion page featured another in the endless shower of Police Torture screeds. This was written by Bendictine Sister Benita Coffey and has all of the value of a Confederate $100 Bill.

Here is a taste:

Last week, the Chicago City Council unanimously passed a resolution against torture, a symbolic act, at best. Torture is inhumane, banned by the United Nations and most civilized nations, and is contrary to the core beliefs of the world's major religions.

So why are the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, the Illinois Coalition Against Torture and religious communities like mine lauding this as a historic event? We shouldn't have had to ask our elected officials to pass legislation proscribing torture. It seems to be basic common sense, instinctive human behavior to abhor torture. To inflict cruel and inhuman treatment is beneath us as human beings.

While applauding our city's leaders for making Chicago the first city in the nation to condemn torture, we are certainly not seeing our goal anywhere near being accomplished. This is one deliberate and necessary step. It will indeed be a long road to raise the consciousness of the general public that torture is a reality; it is happening and likely will continue until we demand that it stop.

If memory serves, Sister, Jesus joined no Coalition. Plenty of torture going around, his cousin got himself beheaded and all, but Jesus never signed up with the Sicarri, or Zealots, in their Coalition Against The Stooge Puppet King Herod and Roman Imperialists Masters and Crucifiers. Like Free Mumia, I recall that the crowd that demanded Jesus get a tune-up by the cohort prior to crucifixion, demanded Free Barabbas! Now, those folks were committed activists, Sister.

Sister decries the fact that the media paid not enough attention to her and the various coalitions. Sister, we have more Coalitions than Mount Carmel has football championship trophies and yet kids are murdered with impunity because lawyers get fat overturning convictions on meme that police torture, lie, intimidate and use saracasm.

Sister Benita Burge's Up -

The day also presented the opportunity for us to address another type of torture — prolonged solitary confinement. In Illinois, the Tamms Correctional Center is a supermax facility that incarcerates inmates in solitary confinement, often for months or years at a time, which mental health professionals define as torture. Here in Chicago, to our shame, former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge and officers under him tortured some 200 suspects to the point of confessing to crimes they did not commit. These victims were imprisoned while most of those who tortured, except Burge, who was convicted of a related crime, remain free.

Mental Health professionals? Incarceration of crazy thugs is torture - health care provided, educational opportunities abound, legal access to Lawsuit Lotto Lawyers, no to mention shelter, meals, and wardrobe; unlike the victims of these thugs, incarcerated under dirt until Judgement Day.

Sister Benita brings it home to Council and the Coalitions -This resolution declaring Chicago a torture-free city is a momentous occasion. We can be proud that our City Council can be called on to stand by its word and demand accountability if such violent treatment should ever again occur.

Sorry Sister, this is but another sanctimoniously meaningless bit of self-puffering from 50 people doing nothing meaningful, Sister.

Jon Burge was convicted of perjury after years of media bear-baiting and legal legerdemain.

G. Flint Taylor and legions of other fatuous opportunists have made fortunes by playing media, do-gooders and generations of young people completely unaquainted with the facts of the murders, arrests, convictions and subsequent judge shopping by Peoples Law Office, MacArthur Center for Justice, Loevy & Loevy.

There has been absolutely no proof of torture - hundreds of allegations and millions of dollars in payouts -but not one win in G.Flint Taylor's column.

Jon Burge was trapped in a legal maze created by time, judge shopping, media complicity and collective memory loss.

When torture appears, deal with it. That has yet to be proven. Truth is not something "We Can All Agree Upon." That is John Dewey.

There is much to pray for, Sister. Good people are up to their elbows helping young people read, write, add and subtract and somehow know that other people want to help them without lining their own pockets.

Praising a hollow and popular gesture like this means nothing and actually keeps the problems on our streets more than healthy. By the way, schools need teachers. I have not seen a nun here at Leo High School, in the heart Chicago's killing fields, in years. Facta Non Verba.


N. B. - do read Gregory Koger one of Sister Benita's Coalition Guys.

Here is Sister Benita's coalition pal's coda-“What the bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers.”—Karl Marx

And his Mission Statement:

The world today cries out for radical, fundamental change. . .
But the cruelest fact of all is this: IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY! For here is the glaring contradiction: in today’s world the production of things, and the distribution of the things produced, is overwhelmingly carried out by large numbers of people who work collectively and are organized in highly coordinated networks. At the foundation of this whole process is the proletariat, an international class which owns nothing, yet has created and works these massive socialized productive forces. These tremendous productive powers could enable humanity to not only meet the basic needs of every person on the planet, but to build a new society, with a whole different set of social relations and values…a society where all people could truly and fully flourish together.

—Constitution of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA

Here are the City Council Coalitions, Speakers and Advocates:

Speakers at the press conference and hearing included: Congressman Danny Davis; Flint Taylor, attorney with the People’s Law Office who has been instrumental in seeking justice for the men tortured by Chicago police commander John Burge; Dr. Frank Summers, psychologist who lead the fight within the APA to bar psychologists from participating in interrogations and torture in Guantanamo; Cherif Bassiouni, United Nations war crimes expert; Melinda Power and Margaret Power, Illinois Coalition Against Torture; Mary Lynn Everson, Marjorie Kovler Center; Sr. Benita Coffey, representing the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT); Laurie Jo Reynolds, activist with Tamms Year Ten; Mario Venegas, Chilean survivor of torture under Pinochet; Mark Clements, Burge torture survivor; Mary L. Johnson, mother of a Burge torture victim and inmate at Tamms Correctional Center, as well as several other mothers of Burge torture survivors; and Wallace “Gator” Bradley, who spoke to the use of torture in the federal ADX supermax prison.

http://gregorykoger.com/ Charming Coalition.

Jon Loevy -"cold-cocked him right in the face," As Opposed to . . .? Ambulance Chaser's Video is Equally as Clear as The Cal-Sag After a Flood.

Jon Loevy has made a fortune using the media to help him rake in tax-payer dollars from Thug Happy lawsuits.

Jon Loevy is as responsible for the North Avenue Beach closings, Boystown beat-downs, Anywhere Chicago thug beat-downs, 'crimes of opportunity,' Roseland 24/7, and the loss of revenue at Taste of Chicago, as all of the other bottom-feeding lawyers/activists who use the Sherwin Williams Race Paint in undermining confidence in Law and Law officials ( all cops, some States Attorneys, and the better judges).

If your kids ask why they can no longer ride the CTA and Metra, go to Grant Park, River North, McDonald's, Walgreens, Louis Vitton, AMC theatres, or perhaps with current City Council legislation,stay out in front of the house past 8:30 PM, tell the wee ones, "Jon Loevy needs to make more money, honeys"

Jon Loevy is no dope;nor, is he in any way interested what you Chicagoans think about our City-wide Thug Comfort Zone. Jon Loevy is all about using the media, gutless elected officials, and group-thought do-gooder loud-mouths who seem to subsist on a steady diet of bullshit, to amass more millions.

Get a load of this video that Jon Loevy trotted out for his latest shakedown:



According to the Tribune's Breaking News (click my post title)Lawyer Loevy added with characteristically faux broad shouldered street cred that a police officer bitch slapped his client -"cold-cocked him right in the face."

Can one be 'cold-cocked' from a blow to another part of the human anatomy? From the video one can clearly ascertain that some mischief is afoot.

Police violence?

-". . . cold-cocked him right in the the tender part of the upper arm he did."

American Hero Tim McCarthy Would Be A Great Chicago Police Leader

The Chicago Tribune thinks that Jody Weis was 'right man at the right time' for Chicago Police Department.

Like its choice of Dewey over Truman, the editorial board at the Trib couldn't find a boxcar at 59th & Kostner, or a trucking outfit between Ashland and Halsted.

I live among many police officer ( CPD, County and Federal) and universally they thought the Weis Years were unqualified disasters.

Interim Superintendent Terry Hillard,CPD (ret.) is as universally admired as Jogy Weis is scorned.

Mayor Emanuel would do well to appoint an unclouted hero - Orland Park Police Chief Tim McCarthy would be ideal.

He comes from a Chicago police family and respects the culture. Tim McCarthy runs to the gunfire and has the wounds to attest that fact.




McCarthy is credited with saving the life of President Ronald Reagan. McCarthy has executive experience and political finesse.

If Rahm Emanuel is anywhere near as smart as the media attest him to be, he will appoint an American hero as his Superintendent of Chicago Police.

Time and Truth Will Out - Burge is Sentenced Harshly, But Flint Taylor Will Take the Fall.

I was thirty years old when the Wilson brothers assassinated Officers Fahey and O'Brien - it was in February, 1982 and took place two blocks from Leo High School. Only days before another Chicago Police Officer was murdered - Fahey and O'Brien were returning from Officer Doyle's funeral, I believe. I know Fahey's brothers. I am now 58 years old and former Commander Jon Burge has been sentenced well-above the Federal Maximum standard for perjury and obstruction of Justice by Judge Joan Lefkow,

Jon Burge was known as a 'stand-up' cop and Commander. I know officers who served with and for Jon Burge - none of them have been in any way implicated in the alleged torture of criminals.

I have followed this Gordian Knot of rhetoric, legal legerdemain, and orchestration of the Media, politicians and the public, as a teacher in Kankakee, Indiana and Chicago. The most vocal and vociferous "Get Burge" voices that I have encountered belong to people unborn at the time that Officers Fahey and O'Brien were assassinated and urinated upon by the brothers Wilson. Those voices ape the script prepared by G. Flint Taylor, legal bottom feeder and arch-manipulator of lazy and self-satisfied media people. G. Flint Taylor, it seems to me, has patiently albeit obnoxiously pulled all of the strings in this Gordian Knot - wrapped in the core is the truth.

I believe that in years to come, the truth will out, as it always must. Jon Burge stood up in court and took his sentence. Unlike the judge who went over and above the sentencing guidelines in order to placate a public gorged and sated by the endless rhetorical stuffings by G. Flint Taylor, I do not believe that Jon Burge engineered systemic torture of African Americans.

This I do know - two men were assassinated*, Jon Burge caught their killers and G. Flint Taylor made millions of dollars by undermining any and all confidence in Law.

Truth will out. G. Flint Taylor will overplay his hand and the court documents suppressed over the last three decades at Taylor's demand will surface. I also believe that the career criminals that he has enriched and made into media props will want more from Taylor and Taylor does not give. Ask Gator Bradley.

Time and truth.

*

Patrolman William P. Fahey
Chicago Police Department
Illinois
End of Watch: Wednesday, February 10, 1982

Biographical Info
Age: 34
Tour of Duty: 12 years
Badge Number: 4194

Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: Tuesday, February 9, 1982
Weapon Used: Handgun; .357 caliber
Suspect Info: Death Sentence. Commuted

Patrolmen William P. Fahey and Richard J. O'Brien were gunned down during a traffic stop.

Hours after attending the funeral of fellow officer James Doyle, Officers Fahey and O’Brien made a traffic stop. At 2:00 p.m., Fahey and O’Brien observed a late model Chevrolet go through a red light at 81st and Morgan Streets.

Patrolman Richard O’Brien, who was driving the squad car, approached the driver’s side of the car while Officer William Fahey approached the passenger side. Officer Fahey ordered the passenger out and patted him down for a weapon. As he was attempting to handcuff the passenger, the suspect gained control of Fahey’s .357 Magnum revolver, whirled around and fired at close range. The bullet struck William Fahey behind the left ear.

The assailant swung and fired a shot across the trunk of the car, firing two shots point-blank at Officer Richard O’Brien, striking him in the left arm and left hip. One of the men in the vehicle then disarmed O’Brien and the duo fled the scene

Help was first summoned to the scene when a voice was heard over the police radio system: “Emergency! Emergency! Two policemen have been shot at 81st and Morgan”. It was later learned to be the voice of a witness to the shooting who ran to the squad car and grabbed the microphone when he saw the officers fall.

Patrolman O’Brien died a short time after the shooting at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park. Patrolman William Fahey died the following morning at 11:14 a.m. without regaining consciousness.

Both officers were assigned to the Gang Crimes South Unit however, they were not regular partners. O’Brien’s regular partner was off sick, and Fahey’s was filling in on a desk job for a furloughed policeman.

Patrolman William P. Fahey was a 10-year veteran of the department. During his tenure, he received 19 honorable mentions and numerous letters of appreciation. He is survived by his wife and three children.

The funeral mass for Patrolman Fahey was held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 13th in Queen of the Universe Catholic Church at 7130 South Hamlin Avenue.

The killers were apprehended, convicted and sentenced to death. On January 10, 2003, the governor at the time, George Ryan commuted their sentences, along with those of all 164 other inmates on death row, to life in prison.

Patrolman Richard James O'Brien
Chicago Police Department
Illinois
End of Watch: Tuesday, February 9, 1982

Biographical Info
Age: 33
Tour of Duty: 9 years
Badge Number: 5337

Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: Tuesday, February 9, 1982
Weapon Used: Handgun; .357 caliber
Suspect Info: Death sentence. Commuted.

Patrolmen Richard James O'Brien and William Fahey were gunned down during a traffic stop.

Hours after attending the funeral of fellow officer James Doyle, Officers O’Brien and Fahey made a traffic stop. At 2:00 p.m., O’Brien and Fahey observed a late model Chevrolet go through a red light at 81st and Morgan Streets.

Patrolman Richard O’Brien, who was driving the squad car, approached the driver’s side of the car while Officer William Fahey approached the passenger side. Officer Fahey ordered the passenger out and patted him down for a weapon. As he was attempting to handcuff the passenger, the suspect gained control of Fahey’s .357 Magnum revolver, whirled around and fired one at close range. The bullet struck William Fahey behind the left ear.

The assailant swung and fired a shot across the trunk of the car, firing two shots point-blank at Patrolman O’Brien, striking him in the left arm and left hip. One of the men in the vehicle then disarmed O’Brien and the duo fled the scene

Help was first summoned to the scene when a voice was heard over the police radio system: “Emergency! Emergency! Two policemen have been shot at 81st and Morgan”. It was later learned to be the voice of a witness to the shooting who ran to the squad car and grabbed the microphone when he saw the officers fall.

Patrolman O’Brien died a short time after the shooting at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park. Patrolman William Fahey died the following morning at 11:14 a.m. without regaining consciousness.

Both officers were assigned to the Gang Crimes South Unit however, they were not regular partners. O’Brien’s regular partner was off sick, and Fahey’s was filling in on a desk job for a furloughed policeman.

Patrolman Richard J. O’Brien was a 9-year veteran of the department. During his tenure, he received 6 honorable mentions and numerous letters of appreciation. He is the son of a former Chicago Police Sergeant and is survived by his mother.

The funeral mass for Patrolman O’Brien was held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, February 12th in St. Denis Catholic Church, 8301 S. St. Louis Avenue, the same church where services were held on the day of the shooting for Officer James E. Doyle.

The killers were apprehended, convicted and sentenced to death. On January 10, 2003, the governor at the time, George Ryan commuted their sentences, along with those of all 164 other inmates on death row, to life in prison.

Sun Times Editorial Board Hacks Insult All Cops

Today's oily and pusillanimous editorial from the Chicago Sun Times Board, the one that probably invited Jody Weiss to whine the other day, is the hallmark of hypocrisy.

For their part, the police union and rank and file officers need to show they don't want "business as usual" and are determined to gain the respect of citizens still terrified by the years of police torture under recently convicted former Police Cmdr. Jon Burge.

Really. What a Police Leader should do is shout "Follow" instead of "Go!"

A Real Cop at the Top - not a smarmy sneak like our past Superintendent who cashed in his Department for smooches from Lawsuit Lawyers and University Think tanks - would have given the Press, the TV Icons, The Patch Elbowed Tweed Dweeb Academics, the One-Note Samba Hush Tone Hacks, and the Gutless Politicians any opportunity to undermine Police Review, Internal Affairs, Chain of Command or Unit Integrity for the sake of Policy and Politics.

A Real Cop at the Top would have given one and all a hearty 'Krump You!' in honor of the beat cop from West Side Story and backed up the heroic men and women who Follow His Lead.

This same Top Cop would give abusive, incompetent, cowardly and corrupt officers a "Tune-up" and exit from public service that would make Jon Burge seem like a member of the MacArthur Center for Justice.

Common Sense from a Real Centurion - Chicago Police Officer

From Second City Cop comes this disturbing news -

Word coming in from a couple of sources (e-mails and such) that the lieutenant who wrote the essay "A City at War with Itself : Chicago - Fast Tracking to Anarchy" has himself been served with CR charges for bringing "discredit" to the department.

When the city is burning, when chaos reigns, when the whole thing is falling apart, the route of cowards and quislings is to attack the messenger rather than addressing the message.

Not only that, The City demands that cops write more tickets and that Police Commanders craft lists of 'Bad Cops.' Burying three officers in as many months is not enough? The man who wrote the following essay is a genuine Centurion*.

Please read this fine essay in full and vote accordingly.

A City at War with Itself : Chicago - Fast Tracking to Anarchy
Understanding the Organizational Paralysis of the CPD and the Mission to Recovery
(updated)


Everyone in Chicago knows it. Almost everyone in America knows it. In fact, a lot of people throughout the world know. Chicago is a city at war with itself - fast tracking to anarchy.


Leading us there have been two major root causes - public violence and public corruption. While Chicago has been under attack with its people fearful and hiding, its police department was twisted into paralysis by organizational decimation, incompetent leadership, self-serving politics and corruption.


After three dead cops in less than 60 days, the men and women of the Chicago Police Department are saying, "Enough!!!" We are sickened that our world-class police department has deteriorated into ruin in only a few short years. We are tired of a leaderless department. We are angry at an unsupportive mayor.

We must rise up together to take this city back from the thugs, gangs and rogues that infect our city. The good people of Chicago must also take a stand against the corrupt politicians and their cronies that have bled our city and police department dry.


We must not be stopped. We will not be deterred. We will not be corrupted. Our mission is clear. We must return Chicago to its peaceful, law-abiding citizens. We cannot fail!


Public Violence


Homicides, shootings and gang related crimes are sucking the life out of this city. Daily, people are shot and killed on our streets over conflicts with gangs and drugs. Our children are not immune from the victimization as they too are targets or suffer as collateral damage from stray gunfire.


Most horrific for Chicago is that in less than 60 days, Chicago has lost 3 of its police officers, killed by gunfire as victims of robberies. It seems no one is safe in our city anymore.


Chicago's homicide rate this year currently stands toe-to-toe with the total number of military forces killed in both Afghanistan and Iraq.


Thugs, gangs and renegade groups run the streets and neighborhoods, intimidating and victimizing the decent citizens of this city. They go mostly unchallenged and unchecked by a totally demoralized police force that is dangerously understaffed and still out-gunned on the streets.


Public Corruption


The continued participation in public corruption activities appears to be much more important to Chicago's power elite than addressing the public safety dilemmas of its citizens.


While public corruption has always been a problem in Chicago, it seems to have become more overt than ever. It is amazing how politicians and the "connected ones" can act so openly now and with such impunity.


Political Corruption within the Police Department


A recent example of alleged political corruption ties to top tier leadership in the Chicago Police Department.


While Superintendent Jody Weis recently appointed Lieutenant Anthony Carothers to Commander of the Englewood District, his appointment has been received by the rank & file with utter disdain. They and some city residents call the appointment of Carothers a true lack of ethical consideration by the Superintendent.


Interestingly, the newly appointed Commander Anthony Carothers is the brother of Isaac Carothers, the Chicago Alderman recently convicted on charges of public corruption in Federal Court. Ironically, their father, William Carothers, also served as a Chicago Alderman until his conviction on public corruption charges in 1983.


A simple Google search of Anthony Carothers revealed a Federal Court civil action judgment that was entered against him in 1985. Then a Cook County Deputy Sheriff, Anthony acted in concert with his brother Isaac, in activities of intimidation, physical violence and abuses of authority against Arthur Turner, who was campaigning against their imprisoned father's aide for Alderman.


Clout Rules Supreme


Anthony Carothers has reportedly never been promoted by competitive examination score to the ranks of sergeant or lieutenant in the CPD. Instead, those ranks were given to him as "meritorious appointments." Promotions, along with a career full of prestigious assignments, flowed freely while his brother Isaac served as the powerful chairman of the Chicago City Council Committee on Police and Fire.


Carothers is just one the numerous political aristocracies this city and this police department has been forced to endure. The incompetent political hacks that have been positioned to lead us have only poisoned us as a department. They are an embarrassment to be associated with the many honorable men and women of the Chicago Police Department who serve its citizens daily with dignity and distinction. His story is here only because it is the newest. There are others... many others.


Police Superintendent Within the Circle of Corruption?


Yet, in the first set of command staff changes at CPD after the conviction of Alderman Isaac Carothers, we see the gravy train has not stopped for his brother Anthony.


Superintendent Jody Weis promoted the convicted Alderman's brother to Commander of the Englewood District and then publicly boasted that once again he was promoting the "brightest and best" in the Chicago Police Department?


Does Weis really believe the men and women of the CPD will drink the kool-aid and respect or follow people like Anthony Carothers as their leaders?


What overt message was the Superintendent sending to the members of the Chicago Police Department?


• That public corruption is a good?
• That public corruption is to be accepted?
• That public corruption is to be rewarded?
• That leaders of city government and the police department act corrupt themselves by protecting the interests (taking care of family and friends) of corrupt public officials who have been convicted of VIOLATING THE PUBLIC TRUST ???


"This smells of a thousand hogs", as a Chicago newspaperman once wrote.


Was Jody Weis bought and paid for ($310,000/yr) the Chicago way? One might wonder...


Chicago Police: What Happened to Them?


As the spiral of violence in Chicago has increased, people have been asking when the police will be "turned loose" to do their job and restore the rule of law on the streets in Chicago. Many have been pleading with both the Mayor and Superintendent to open their eyes, wake up and do something... to little avail.


After the homicide of the third Chicago police officer within the past 60 days, a police captain posted on a social media site, " Do you think it's about time we take the kid gloves off?", inferring the lack of administrative leadership and fortitude in addressing Chicago's violent crime problems. Yes, the time to take off the kid gloves is well past "long overdue." Perhaps the police should have never put them on in the first place?


A lot has changed over the past several years. The Chicago Police Department is no longer that world class law enforcement agency it once was. In a few short years it has deteriorated into a totally demoralized, understaffed police department that criminals no longer fear.


Paralysis within the Police Department


Contributing factors that have led to the paralysis of the CPD:


• Decimation of existing top-tier leadership by incoming Superintendent
• Lack of leadership / Administrative incompetence
• Overt political corruption within the ranks
• Reductions in field strength levels that have left personnel in dangerous working conditions
• Reductions in field strength levels that have severely limited police effectiveness at protecting life and property or maintaining order on Chicago streets.


Based on the above and other contributing factors, the rank and file of the Chicago Police Department do not have confidence in their leadership. They perceive a number of current "bosses" as incompetent, politically corrupt, or both - beginning with the mayor and police superintendent.


Let's look at some of the conditions of CPD's organizational paralysis...


Fatal Flaws: Lost From the Beginning


When incoming Superintendent Jody Weis arrived on the scene in Chicago, the CPD was already suffering from very low morale, most notably from the Special Operations Section (SOS) and Abatte scandals that were highlighted repeatedly in the mass media. The hard working and honest police officers of this city were being unfairly painted with the broad brush of these two issues. With public perception of the CPD at a very low point, it made the job of serving as a Chicago police officer even harder.

Weis, a career FBI agent, never had experience as a police officer or in managing a local law enforcement agency - let alone the #2 police department in the United States. His earliest decisions and actions would mark his tenure as an unrecoverable failure.

Weis's first fatal flaw as Superintendent was to flex his muscles in a misguided demonstration of "Federal oversight" of the CPD in what has become "The Cozzi Incident." Without going into the well known details here, Weis facilitated a Federal prosecution of a police officer AFTER the officer already had been prosecuted at the State level and received severe administrative discipline from the CPD. Many believed that Cozzi had already been punished, both legally and administratively for his misconduct. Many also believed that while Cozzi's conduct in the incident was not acceptable, it did not rise to the level that warranted an additional Federal prosecution, as was the case with the Rodney King incident in Los Angeles. This single action by Weis was viewed by the rank & file of the department as excessive and draconian. The result was an instant and unrecoverable alienation of Weis from the members of the Chicago Police Department.

Weis's second fatal flaw was to almost immediately decimate the entire top-tier leadership of the department. Instead of working with the existing and experienced senior police managers to better understand how the CPD operated and ease organizational change over time (as Bratton had done when arriving as the new Chief at LAPD from NYPD), Weis summarily dismissed this trusted knowledge base and replaced it with inexperienced lower level command staff and some trusted FBI people that he brought in with him. This was a shock to the department's culture and operation that not only proved to be ineffective, it set the CPD into an immediate tail spin, from which it has not recovered.

The third fatal flaw of the Weis superintendency was really no fault of his own. Weis installed a trusted confidant he brought with him from the FBI as his chief of staff. In such a sensitive position, any smart police executive would have done the same. A chief of staff serves as the eyes and ears of the Superintendent, offering him additional insight and assumedly trusted guidance. Mayor Daley was to have none of that and instead forced Weis to remove his guy and install the Mayor's guy (Mike Masters) instead. It became instantly clear to Weis that he was not running the CPD - City Hall was. While there have been previous chiefs of staff at CPD (who were wired directly to City Hall), Masters has been perceived by the department as the "chief political officer" who has created extreme controversy and dissention within the department - most notably by back-dooring his way into obtaining the "sworn" status of a peace officer. While Weis has been forced to accept Masters and publicly states he has a great working relationship with him, the truth is that Masters keeps Weis on a tight leash, as you rarely see one without the other.


Police Officers Fear Reprisals From Performing Their Duties


With the apparent lack of support from the city or their own leadership, many police officers have reduced their proactive performance and now only contribute at minimum levels. When asked, most will freely tell you that they do not want to place themselves, their families and livelihoods at risk from a perceived Machiavellian police superintendent or other incompetent "bosses" that could lead them into legal trouble that would risk their liberty and freedom (jail).


Command Staff - Lost Leadership, Lost Passion, Lost Compensation, Lost Value


Even competent command staff members who have been looking for guidance and overall department direction when running their commands have frequently asked each other, "Who is steering the ship?"


Now, as "insanity relief" more and more command staff members are openly ridiculing what they call the "Weis-Masters Show" (superintendent and his chief of staff).


Command staff members are quickly losing their passion to lead. Being non-unionized management, the mayor has required they take 24 unpaid furlough days in 2010 (up from 12 unpaid days in 2009 and 6 unpaid days in 2008). Rumor is strong that Daley wants them to submit to 52 unpaid furlough days in 2011. They are questioning their de-valued status and consequently, their loyalty to the goals and objectives of the department.


It is an unrealistic expectation for a District Commander (knowing every Captain and Lieutenant working under them is making more money than they are) to remain loyal to the mission or continue to be positive contributors under these conditions. If 2011 brings 52 unpaid furlough days, most Sergeants will be making more than "the boss."


Who would want to assume or maintain a command leadership position under these circumstances?


It breeds more of "who is going to steer the ships?"


The Reduction of Police Staffing and the Corresponding Reduction of Police Effectiveness


Police field strength levels (especially during overnight hours) have long ago sunk to levels of ineffectiveness at maintaining public order in some Chicago neighborhoods. You can forget about proactive police patrols serving as a visible deterrence to crime. There are just not enough police officers on the street anymore.


Police officers, responding to calls, sometimes turn the corner into a hurricane of crap. Some incidents have required assistance from police officers FIVE DISTRICTS away before public order could be restored.


Law Breakers Have No Fear of the Police


As one sergeant working the midnight watch stated, "There are not enough of us out there. We respond to these out-of-control street parties and order the people to disperse. Now they just stare at us, daring us to do something about it. It's just insane out here. I can't wait to retire."


Extreme staffing reductions are not only dangerous for police officers, they further increase tensions on the street when police are required to take law enforcement actions.


Adversely, the thugs and gang bangers know this too and are now more aggressively and violently challenging police authority. This has resulted in an increase of injury-on-duty claims by police officers, which further contributes to the problems of inadequate field strength levels.


Lost Public Confidence in Public Safety = National Guard


Citizens have seen and felt the reduced police presence in their neighborhoods, along with the resulting epidemic rises of violent crime.


Frustrated and scared, they and some Illinois lawmakers have been calling for deployment of the army national guard on the streets of Chicago to help restore order, as the public is losing confidence in the capability of the Chicago Police Department to do so.


While the mayor has so far rejected such a need, weary and understaffed police officers and supervisors, working the midnight watch in many police districts are seeing things differently.


First Watch (Midnights): The Most Understaffed and Dangerous Watch of All


Complaints of inadequate staffing levels of police on the street continue to come from all watches, but most notably the first watch (midnights). They continue to report that there are not enough police officers assigned to effectively address the demands for police service (911 calls), let alone chronic neighborhood disorder incidents like illegal street and house parties.


It is common knowledge throughout the Chicago Police Department that multiple beat cars are routinely "downed" each day throughout the city, as there are no officers to staff the car for the shift . Many other beat cars are rolling in Chicago on the 3rd & 1st watches (afternoons and midnights) with only one officer instead of two, as is the standard staffing policy at night.


Exhausted and understaffed, officers and supervisors on these watches are now saying that if Chicago is not going to hire more police officers, they would welcome the national guard's assistance, especially on midnights.


Where We Stand Now: The Realities of Organizational Leadership at CPD


• We can no longer afford organizational or personal inaction as a consequence of the incompetent and/or politically corrupt "leaders" of our police department or our city.
• We cannot wait for competent, effective leadership to be delivered to us.


We must develop, identify and implement "bottom-up" leadership at every level of the Department. If you can and your superior can't or won't - then just do it. Don't wait any longer for someone else to do it. There just might not be anyone else.


From Paralysis to Productivity - Our Duty to Get There - No Matter What


What is needed at CPD today:


• Competent leaders empowered to lead the willing
• Sufficient field strength to effectively overcome resistance
• Restored trust and confidence in both the Department and city government


Our duty and responsibility today, as police managers and supervisors... and even as police officers... is to work at getting us there.


While dealing with resource scarcity and navigating the political land mines, we must...


• Ensure the display of positive and competent leadership daily, as an example to all, despite the limitations of some of our superiors.
• Continually identify, develop and empower truly competent leaders within the Department, recognizing the value of "informal leaders" of any rank - in every unit. When competent leaders are utilized, the willing shall follow.


These are critical and key first steps to turnaround and success. I cannot over state this enough. The sparks must be ignited NOW in every unit, on every watch, on every team. These new sparks must carefully be nurtured into a flame, grown into a fire, then fanned into a blaze.


Taking the High Road


We must remain focused on the mission and our purpose. We have taken a solumn oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Illinois. As law enforcers, we operate within the law.


Always the Hard Way - Perseverance


Understanding the reality that no organization is perfect (or ever will be), we still must rise to meet the challenges before us, despite the adversities and risks involved.


Sometimes we will have to work around obstacles (physical, political and organizational) to get the job done. I know this will not be easy. Some days may be better than others. From time to time, expect to encounter resistance, obstruction, or attempts at derailment from the personal or political agendas of others. Don't become discouraged - never give up.


Be vigilant. Stay committed.


The decent, law-abiding people of Chicago are depending on us.


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During the Imperial era centurions gradually rose in seniority in their cohort, commanding centuries with higher precedence, until commanding the senior century and therefore the whole cohort. The very best centurions were then promoted to become centurions in the First Cohort, called Primi Ordines, commanding one of the ten centuries and also taking on a staff role. The most senior centurion of the legion was the Primus Pilus who commanded the first century. All centurions, however senior, had their own allocated century.

The Primus Pilus was so called because his own century was the first file (primus pilus) of the first (rightmost) cohort. Only eight officers in a fully officered legion outranked the Primus Pilus: The legate (legatus legionis), commanding the legion; the senior tribune (tribunus laticlavus), second-in-command of the legion; the Camp Prefect (praefectus castrorum); and the five other tribunes (tribuni angusticlavii) who apparently served as senior staff officers to the legate with a rank roughly equivalent to a modern colonel.

Many[who?] write comparisons between the centurion grades and modern officer ranks. This can lead to many incorrect assumptions. Centurions could be elected, appointed by the Senate, or promoted "from the ranks" for a variety of reasons.[4] Julius Caesar is said to have promoted his centurions for displays of valor. Other historians cite examples of them being the first over the enemies' wall or through the breach. If this case were strictly so, then there would be a lack of centurions in peacetime garrisons, which is where the Roman Army mostly spent its time.[3] Nonetheless, although not directly comparable to modern ranks, the various centurion grades may be loosely compared to modern junior and middle officer grades.[5][6]

Centurions often suffered heavy casualties in battle, generally fighting alongside the legionaries they commanded. They usually led from the front, occupying a position at the front right of the century formation. They led and inspired their men by example. They also sought to display the skill and courage that may have gotten them to their rank in the first place. It is for these reasons that they often suffered a disproportionate number of casualties.

To Chicago's Heroic but Out-numbered Chicago Police Officers! - Count Basie's M-Squad

May this great theme do a little to boost the spirit and may St. Michael Archangel be with you all. Go home at the end of your shift!

The Men of Leo High School Pray for All Chicago Police Officers and Thank Them for Their Service!

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Fighting Violence - Cops Get Killed and Sued and Abused

A Young Chicago Police Officer was murdered by a savage with his own service weapon. Yesterday we learned that the 'wrongfully accused' youth in the Ryan Harris murder is going away for attempted murder. Tionda and Diamond Bradley, for whom prayers have been offered at Sacred Heart Catholic Church every Sunday since the little girls went missing, are yet unaccounted for - two very good former Homicide Detectives still believe that the little girls were murdered. Officially they jsut went missing. Now a young CPD hero is the victim of the violence in Chicago's Thug Comfort Zone. Outlaw some savages, City Council. You can bet that this murdering louse, recuperating in Advocate Christ Hospital, will in a very few years remeber that he was tortured and disrespected yesterday and G. Flint Taylor an League of Cadillac Commie Lawyers will take up his wrong-imprisonment.

This is heart-breaking and all too common.

A Chicago police officer working a detail dedicated to addressing youth violence was shot and killed when a man grabbed the officer's gun and shot him outside a police building in the Englewood neighborhood.

Thor Soderberg, 43, was leaving the facility at 61st Street and Racine Avenue after work about 3:45 p.m. and was walking to a parking lot when he got into a struggle with a 24-year-old man who disarmed the officer and shot him, Assistant Supt. James Jackson said.

The man then tried to rob someone at gunpoint a short distance away, Jackson said. Officers from the facility heard shots and exchanged gunfire with the suspect and shot him, Jackson saidPreliminary reports say Soderberg, who was in uniform, was shot in the head..

Officer, Christ Welcomes You!