My Blog

Category: Crime

  • Compstat

    I can’t believe that I have not already written a post on Compstat but I can’t find anything.  Grrrrrr!!

    Ok so, for those that don’t know Compstat is a system of policing accountability which originated in New York with the NYPD.  And in case you don’t know Garry McCarthy, the current Chicago Police Superintendent, is from the NYPD and eats, sleeps, sh__s, and wipes Compstat.  If Compstat was a person (woman or man) Garry McCarthy would marry it.  When McCarthy came to Chicago he brought Compstat with him.  You can find many articles about this at the Tribune, SunTimes, etc.

    So what?  Well here’s the rub:  It’s a fraud.

    No Superintendent of any police department wants to oversee an increase in crime.  No politician wants to be in office when there is an increase in crime.  So what happens is that the politicians beat down on the Superintendent who beats down on the Deputy Chiefs who beat down the Commanders who beat down on the Captains who beat down on the Lieutenants who beat down on the Sargents who beat down on the beat cops.  And just like magic, the beat cops make sure that there is less crime.  How?

    I’ve already written about how CPD brass is telling us crime is down crime is down but 911 calls to the OEMC is off the charts.  In Chicago no report = no crime.  So when police are busy and can’t get to you, your crime goes unreported, therefore there was no crime.  In Chicago we have a severe shortage of police officers.  Fewer officers means longer response times means fewer crimes are reported.  Consider this, the way that Chicago tracks crime if there were no police there would be no crime.

    Back to Compstat.  Compstat’s fraud is in addition to the crimes that actually unreported.  Compstat coerces police of all ranks to reclassify crimes in order to create the appearance of less crime.  e.g.  Instead of arresting someone for burglary (a felony) they get written-up for trespass (a misdemeanor.)  Fewer felonies means less crime.

    You don’t think it happens?  Think again.

    February 2010

    There’s something very big here. If you look at the repercussions, this stats program does for police what the Leave No Child Behind program for schools does to teachers– encourages them to shape the data. In this case, it may be putting us all at risk by fudging crime stats.

    A new survey of over 100 retired NYPD captains and senior officers found that they believed that statistics were manipulated to portray lower crime rates for the compsat program that calculates crime rates..

    The survey suggests that police have distorted crime reporting, dropping value of stolen goods so the theft is categorized as misdemeanor instead of felony. They drop categorization of crimes from felony to misdemeanor if suspects can’t be found.

    via HuffPo.

    This story forced the NYPD to clamp-down on officers who were talking about the fraud.  It took some time but two years later the NYPD forced a lawsuit by an officer who was pressured to downgrade crimes.  It was written about here, and here, and here.  A quick search will reveal other stories as well.

    So… what’s important to understand here is that you cannot trust the crime numbers put out by the police department.  It’s 100% pure manipulated hogwash.  You know that CPD is losing control of the city.  You know that your friends don’t feel as safe after Cubs games as they used to.  You see there are more street fights outside of bars.  You read in the paper that more people are getting shot than ever before.

    The difference between the truth and what the CPD reports is Compstat.

     

    UPDATE 06/30/2012:  Silly me had “comstat” instead of “compstat”.  I need an editor.

  • Robber Armed with 2-by-4 on West Side (Rahm demands lumber registry)

    A police alert warns Lawndale residents about a robber who threatens and beats his victims with a 2-by-4.  …

    The robber was described as a black man with a dark complexion, between 5-foot-9 and 5-foot-11, weighing 150 to 160 pounds. He was last seen wearing a dark-colored baseball hat and a dark top, police said.via chicagotribune.com.

    Rahm immediately called for a lumber registry.  “What we need are common sense lumber laws to make sure these sorts of crimes don’t happen again.” the Mayor said at an unrelated press conference.  He followed-up saying, “No one is trying to ban lumber. That’s extremist language by the extremist National Lumber Association.”

  • Emanuel Plans Changes to City’s Gun Law

    A few days ago…

    Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to rewrite Chicago’s firearm ordinance in response to a ruling by a federal judge who struck down a section of the city’s law he called vague and unconstitutional.  …

    Last week, U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan called that regulation “indiscriminate and arbitrary.””There is something incongruent about a nonviolent person, who is not a felon but who is convicted of a misdemeanor offense of simple possession of a firearm, being forever barred from exercising his constitutional right to defend himself in his own home in Chicago against felons or violent criminals,” Der-Yeghiayan wrote.  …

    Having strong gun laws is part of the city’s overall approach to stemming violent crime, Emanuel said at an unrelated news conference.”Sensible, smart, targeted gun laws keep guns out of the hands of gangbangers and drug dealers,” Emanuel said, calling such laws “key to a strategy of reducing violence.”

    via chicagotribune.com.

    How’s that again Rahm?  You have the nation’s most restrictive gun law.  It’s failing miserably by any standard.  You have failed to ‘keep guns out of the hands of gangbangers and drug dealers.’  You have also failed to create any ‘strategy of reducing violence.’

    Rahm:  You should start by enforcing the existing state and federal laws already on the books.  First show that they are somehow inadequate before creating a whole new system of bureaucracy to harass law abiding citizens.

    Get a real Cook County State’s Attorney.  Get a real Illinois Attorney General.  If these prosecutors would charge crimes already on the books (e.g. felons with guns do federal time) you would not need any new laws to lock-up gangbangers and drug dealers.

  • Fighting Crime The Chicago Way!

    CeaseFire Illinois, a group that works against violence, is being recruited by the city of Chicago as part of a pilot program to help reduce crime in two police districts, one on the West Side and the other on the South Side.  …

    The city will give the group a one-year grant for $1 million to hire 40 “interrupters” who will mediate conflicts in the Ogden and Grand Crossing districts, where gun violence has spiked.  …

    This is the first time CeaseFire has received funding from the City of Chicago. Previously, it was largely funded through state and county sources.

    via Chicago Tribune.

    So says the Tribune.  The SunTimes story is similar.  Both FAIL to mention what CeaseFire really is… the public relations arm of coordinated Chicago street gangs.

    In this city known for rampant corruption and cronyism the politicians know what to do with the money they extort from taxpayers! Whenever possible taxes here are only used to support thieves, thugs and liars.  …

    Chicago’s politicians have agreed to hand over $1,000,000.00 to a group calling themselves, “Cease Fire”. They were founded simply to take city tax money and pretend they’re working on violence reduction. Of course Cease Fire will be working in “secret negations” to make Chicago safer. I’m sure the time and money will be easy to audit that way.

    Cease Fire is a group of, not so retired ghetto gangsters with significant rap sheets that are supposed to convince their pals not to kill each other, or innocent civilians.

    via CRIME, GUNS, AND VIDEOTAPE.

    This is insanity.  The gang bangers are going to completely fabricate the number of “interruptions” in violence.  McCarthy will permit it because it creates the appearance that the money was well spent.

    Shouldn’t the city counsel have to weigh-in on this sort of spending?  Where’s the Alderman (and Aldermen) stand on this?

  • Chicago’s Suburbs Corrupt Too

    A former Chicago alderman is pushing for the creation of a suburban inspector general’s office to thwart corruption in the 1,200-plus government agencies spread throughout the suburban landscape.

    In a report released Monday, Dick Simpson, a former alderman and current head of the University of Illinois at Chicago’s political science department, cited more than 100 cases over the past three decades involving suburban officials convicted of corruption.

    via DailyHerald.com.

    The article provides a couple of examples of corrupt behavior by suburban pols.  Nothing surprising; and missing some of the bigger players (Mayors Blaze & Stephens.)

    What’s missing from the article, and from the report apparently, is any mention of the dynamic duo of legal prosecution Ms. Anita Alvarez and Ms. Lisa Madigan.  Both of these positions have investigation divisions.  Each is certainly capable of putting corrupt politicians in jail.

    That Anita and Lisa simply refuse to protect the citizens from corrupt politicians means they both need to be replaced.

  • Chicago’s Unreported Race War

    We’ve gone national!

    According to a statement in the Chicago Tribune, reporting on the race of individuals involved in news events, such as mobs attacking, robbing and vandalizing, is irrelevant.

    A news anchor at the ABC affiliate in Chicago goes even further: Anyone who reads or writes about the epidemic of racial violence in Chicago is an “idiot” who engages in “meaningless … race baiting,” says Ravi Baichwal.

    City officials and the media might be the only two places left where people still deny Chicago is under assault from more than 50 episodes of black mobs attacking, beating, robbing and vandalizing over the last three years in and around downtown. Many of them are on display at YouTube.

    via NWD.

    We as a society have to figure out how to handle this.  It’s not a political issue — it’s a fabric of society and a media issue.

    The facts are pretty clear:

    • There have been a great number of crimes committed by mobs of black youths in the greater downtown area.
    • These sorts of crimes have been going on for years in other parts of the city and the media turned a blind eye to it.

    As to the first part, we know damn well that if a band of pick-up truck driving white dudes wearing confederate flag bandanas sent a group of old black businessmen to the hospital with broken bones the media would be all over it.  There would be marches, and rallies, and protests in every part of the city.  The double standard when blacks commit crime on whites is obvious.

    The media has a responsibility to its consumers/customers to disclose the race of the perpetrators of these crimes so that others can protect themselves.  Especially ludicrous are the stories devoid of any details on race yet end with, “police are seeking anyone with information to come forward.”  No one is well served by removing race from articles about crime.

    This is the Tribune, SunTimes, and local ABC (and all the others) just pandering to the liberal overlords that run this place.  They don’t want this information getting out.  And the media needs access to local politicians in order to make its job easier.  So media doesn’t want to make politicians angry; lest they be cut off and have to actually work for a living.  Most media in this town is not journalism, it’s public relations.

    That mob thuggery has been going on for years doesn’t help the media’s case to withhold race from news stories.  The black community should rightfully be upset with local media outlets about covering these events when they occur on tony Michigan Ave but ignoring similar crimes in Englewood & West Garfield Park.

    The vast majority of crime in the City is black-on-black crime.  That’s where we need to focus more police attention.  We need black children to grow up and know that they can live in a crime free neighborhood.  That dealing drugs is not normal.  That knowing ten people who’ve been shot is not normal.  That burying a brother or sister is not normal.

    You cannot reclaim Michigan Ave and make it “safe” when bullets are flying 5 miles to the west and no one says a thing.

    Of course, the stunning lack of leadership from Jesse Jackson, Fr. Pfleger, Mary Mitchel, and the liberal choir of media voices is disappointing as well.

  • Gun Ownership Up, Crime Down

    Gun-control advocates are noticeably silent when crime rates decline. Their multimillion-dollar lobbying efforts are designed to manufacture mass anxiety that every gun owner is a potential killer. The statistics show otherwise.

    Last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that violent crime decreased 4 percent in 2011. The number of murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults all went down, continuing a pattern.

    “This is not a one-year anomaly, but a steady decline in the FBI’s violent-crime rates,” said Andrew Arulanandam, spokesman for the National Rifle Association. “It would be disingenuous for anyone to not credit increased self-defense laws to account for this decline.”

    via Washington Times.

    Well right thinking people have known this for years.  However looks like many in the media still have their head in the sand.

    What’s also interesting is that:

    Mr. Arulanandam pointed out that only a handful of states had concealed-carry programs 25 years ago, when the violent-crime rate peaked. Today, 41 states either allow carrying without a permit or have “shall issue” laws that make it easy for just about any noncriminal to get a permit. Illinois and Washington, D.C., are the only places that refuse to recognize the right to bear arms. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence did not respond to requests for comment.

    I guess when the facts don’t fit the Brady Campaign’s preconceived notion of crime they have nothing to say.

  • Gun Turn-In Weekend in Chicago

    Using the lure of $100 gift cards, the Chicago Police Department is encouraging people to get guns out of their homes and turn them in this Saturday, during the annual gun turn-in program.  …

    First Deputy Supt. Alfonza Wysinger says anyone who turns in a real gun will get a $100 gift card. Replicas and BB guns are worth $10.

    “No questions asked,” Wysinger said. “Just show up at the church, and hand over the weapons to the CPD officer that will be there, and get your $100 gift card. So we strongly suggest that people come out that have weapons lying around the house, or weapons, maybe, that they don’t necessarily want in their house. This is a chance to get some money for their weapon, and get another dangerous weapon on the street.”

    via CBS Chicago.

    I wish I heard about this a few weeks ago.  I could have pick-up a few cheap old worthless guns at an auction in Indiana or Wisconsin and made a few bucks.  Maybe I’ll get myself ready for next year.

    Kudos to the CPD for completely wasting taxpayer money on a program that does absolutely nothing to reduce crime.  Functioning illegal guns are worth more on the  street than $100.  Simple economics dictate that this program is nothing more than a PR event.

  • Obama’s Policy Strategy: Ignore Laws I Don’t Like

    “In many ways, President Obama has fulfilled the dream of an imperial presidency that Richard Nixon strived for. On everything from [DOMA] to the gaming laws, this is a president who is now functioning as a super legislator. He is effectively negating parts of the criminal code because he disagrees with them. That does go beyond the pale.”

    — Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law scholar at George Washington University Law School

    via POLITICO.com.

    This Jonathan Turley guy is no right-wing nut-job either.  This is a guy who wanted Obama to prosecute folks in GWB’s White House for the alleged use of torture.

    We don’t have kings in this country.  If a president is not willing to recognize the separation of powers enumerated in the constitution then they should not serve.

     

  • Spanish Miners Fire Rockets at Police

    Spanish Miners Fire Rockets at Police in Austerity Protest, Strike | 7 Injured | Video | TheBlaze.com

    In a scene that looks more like Gaza than Spain, striking coal miners armed with homemade rockets and slingshots clashed with police Friday, leaving seven people injured– two of them seriously– the Interior Ministry said.

    The strike is the latest and the most violent of many in Spain in reaction to harsh austerity measures aimed at digging the debt-burdened country out of its financial crisis.

    via TheBlaze.com.

    Where’s the MSM on this?

    And what do you think it will be like when it’s our turn?  When we have to make the tough decisions and begin cutting programs?  Will there be violence?