Showing posts with label CPD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CPD. Show all posts
7 Wounded, 1 Dead in Shootings on Chicago's South Side
July 20, 2010 - Last night, Chicago police were involved in four separate gunfights on the South Side and in the Little Village neighborhood (map). There were at least four shooting incidents (as you'll read below). All together, at least seven people were struck by gunfire (no police officers) with at least one dead.
A CPD officer who I know was involved with two of the incidents. He phoned me on his way home at 10:20 p.m. and said he was involved with the 9:00 p.m. incidents in the 6300 block of South Vernon (map) and the one in the Back of the Yards neighborhood (map). He said the police had to pull out their rifles for these. My friend told me that he personally saw five bad guys get shot, one of whom he saw die at the scene, not later in the hospital as reported by the Chicago Tribune.
Exclusive: My officer friend was involved with incidents One and Two, detailed below. What my officer friend told me, and what the Chicago Tribune story below does not tell you, is that police went to the 6300 block of South Vernon to quell a fight between two gangs, and the gangs then turned their fire on the police. So, with that extra tidbit from us exclusively, here's what the Trib reported late Monday night:
Incident #One, 9:00 PM:
In the most recent shooting, four men were shot in the West Woodlawn neighborhood, officials said. The shootings occurred on the 6300 block of South Vernon Avenue at about 9 p.m., said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Quention Curtis. (Editor's Note: My CPD officer friend said this happened in Englewood.)
Incident #Two, 9:00 PM:
In the Back of the Yards neighborhood, at about the same time, one person was reported shot on the 5100 block of South May Street, said Curtis. A spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office said they were notified of a shooting death at that address. The victim was taken in serious-to-critical condition to Stroger Hospital where he was later pronounced dead. (Editor's Note: My CPD officer friend was involved in this one, too, but he said he saw the victim die on the scene.)
Incident #Three, 10:30 PM:
About 10:30 p.m. in the Englewood neighborhood, a 17-year-old boy was shot in the 6800 block of South Justine Street. He was taken in serious-to-critical condition to Stroger Hospital, said Curtis. (Editor's Note: By this time, my CPD officer friend was pulling into his driveway at home.)
Incident #Four, 7:13 PM:
....two 18-year-old men were shot in the Little Village neighborhood.... [They were shot] on the street on the 2100 block of South Spaulding Avenue at 7:13 p.m. ....
Hey Chicago, how's that new restrictive handgun ordinance working out for ya? It sure has made the streets safer, hasn't it? That Mayor Daley and his City Clowncil are friggin' geniuses, ain't they?
Shooting In Uptown, Chicago Injures Two (Updated)
SHOTS FIRED, WILSON RED LINE CHICAGO...
June 27, 2010 - 11:55 p.m. - At least two people were struck by flying bullets at approximately 9:25 p.m. tonight in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood.
Four shots, perhaps five, were heard at that time as thousands of Gay Pride post-parade partiers were walking through the intersection of W. Wilson and N. Broadway. A suspect was taken into custody at approximately 9:55 p.m. (Photos at "Slideshow - Shooting At Wilson and Broadway, Chicago, June 27")
Police and paramedics arrived rapidly and were tending to one of the victims in the intersection of Wilson and Broadway by 9:32 p.m. Witnesses told Chicago News Bench at the scene that one of the victims was “grazed” by a bullet one block east of the intersection, at the southwest corner of N. Kenmore and W. Wilson.
Update from FoxNews, June 28: "A Police News Affairs release early Monday said two men -- 47 and 25 -- were struck by gunfire and taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.... The younger man was in 'stable' condition with a gunshot wound to his shoulder and the other man was shot in the abdomen and was in serious condition, the release said." The man with the shoulder wound is the one that we reported above last night as having been "grazed." He was hit while he was in front of Beauty House, 1041 West Wilson Avenue (second photo, above). The rest of the Fox report pretty much repeats what Chicago News Bench published late last night.
Witnesses initially told Chicago News Bench that a “dark skinned black guy,” who was “wearing red shorts and no shirt” was shooting people inside of the CTA station. One of the witnesses who spoke to us said that the suspect was “shouting anti-gay stuff.” It was immediately obvious that this was not true, however, as there was no yellow police crime scene tape put up at the station. It was soon confirmed that the suspect taken into custody was, in fact, dressed in the manner described.
We spotted at least three spent shell casings in front of City Sports, on the northeast corner of the intersection. This was eerily reminiscent of the February 25 shooting at the same corner, when two gunmen fired at least five shots across the street. One bullet hit a woman as she waited for a bus under the elevated train tracks. Shell casings were left in the exact same spot as in tonight’s shooting. For more coverage, see Pride
Weekend Ends Violently In Uptown (LakeEffectNews; site now defunct).
Earlier today, more than 10,000 people were partying in Lincoln Park, just north of Montrose Harbor. As many of them headed toward the Wilson CTA Red Line train station, shots rang out. We cannot help but notice that this highlights the futility of “positive loitering” as a way to deter crime.
There were literally, in fact, thousands of people walking along the street as they headed home from the park. The train station was crowded. Despite this extraordinarily heavy presence of law abiding people, a man went berserk and fired into the crowd. The neighborhood’s “positive loiterers,” by the way, were once again AWOL.
In related news, a bar employee was tasered at 10:53 p.m. by Chicago Police at the intersection of W. Roscoe and N. Halsted. The Gay Pride Parade passed through that intersection earlier today. That neighborhood, known as “Boys Town,” is tonight very busy with a lot of very drunk and prideful partiers. (Source: Chicago Police dispatch for districts 19 and 23.)
Four shots, perhaps five, were heard at that time as thousands of Gay Pride post-parade partiers were walking through the intersection of W. Wilson and N. Broadway. A suspect was taken into custody at approximately 9:55 p.m. (Photos at "Slideshow - Shooting At Wilson and Broadway, Chicago, June 27")
Police and paramedics arrived rapidly and were tending to one of the victims in the intersection of Wilson and Broadway by 9:32 p.m. Witnesses told Chicago News Bench at the scene that one of the victims was “grazed” by a bullet one block east of the intersection, at the southwest corner of N. Kenmore and W. Wilson.
Update from FoxNews, June 28: "A Police News Affairs release early Monday said two men -- 47 and 25 -- were struck by gunfire and taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.... The younger man was in 'stable' condition with a gunshot wound to his shoulder and the other man was shot in the abdomen and was in serious condition, the release said." The man with the shoulder wound is the one that we reported above last night as having been "grazed." He was hit while he was in front of Beauty House, 1041 West Wilson Avenue (second photo, above). The rest of the Fox report pretty much repeats what Chicago News Bench published late last night.
Witnesses initially told Chicago News Bench that a “dark skinned black guy,” who was “wearing red shorts and no shirt” was shooting people inside of the CTA station. One of the witnesses who spoke to us said that the suspect was “shouting anti-gay stuff.” It was immediately obvious that this was not true, however, as there was no yellow police crime scene tape put up at the station. It was soon confirmed that the suspect taken into custody was, in fact, dressed in the manner described.
We spotted at least three spent shell casings in front of City Sports, on the northeast corner of the intersection. This was eerily reminiscent of the February 25 shooting at the same corner, when two gunmen fired at least five shots across the street. One bullet hit a woman as she waited for a bus under the elevated train tracks. Shell casings were left in the exact same spot as in tonight’s shooting. For more coverage, see Pride
Weekend Ends Violently In Uptown (LakeEffectNews; site now defunct).
Earlier today, more than 10,000 people were partying in Lincoln Park, just north of Montrose Harbor. As many of them headed toward the Wilson CTA Red Line train station, shots rang out. We cannot help but notice that this highlights the futility of “positive loitering” as a way to deter crime.
There were literally, in fact, thousands of people walking along the street as they headed home from the park. The train station was crowded. Despite this extraordinarily heavy presence of law abiding people, a man went berserk and fired into the crowd. The neighborhood’s “positive loiterers,” by the way, were once again AWOL.
In related news, a bar employee was tasered at 10:53 p.m. by Chicago Police at the intersection of W. Roscoe and N. Halsted. The Gay Pride Parade passed through that intersection earlier today. That neighborhood, known as “Boys Town,” is tonight very busy with a lot of very drunk and prideful partiers. (Source: Chicago Police dispatch for districts 19 and 23.)
WGN's Unethical Video of Stolen Car Crash
April 3, 2010 - Shame on WGN TV Chicago. Their report of last Wednesday's bizaare incident of a stolen car crashing into police vehicles misrepresents the amateur videos that they made use of. WGN took audio from one of those and laid it over the other, giving a false impression of both camerapersons.
WGN's headline, "Eye-Witness Video: Hit-and-run driver crashes into police crime scene," is followed by a misleading subhead, "Accident took place in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood." The driver of the stolen vehicle rammed it into other vechicles intentionally, so there was literally no "accident" that took place.
Chicago News Bench, as reported here earlier, obtained a copy of an amateur eyewitness video at the same time WGN did. That amateur videographer gave me a CD with his video. We added some of our own material to the front and back, but did not alter the original in any way except to lay titles over it and improve the lighting quality somewhat.
The "Oh My God" Video...
The video that we incorporated into our presentation was clearly shot from an upper story window. In that video (see it here), the cameraman is heard saying "Oh my God" several times. He - and his camera - were looking down at the scene on the street below. At the same time, another person standing at street level shot video of the same scene (see it here). Then watch WGN's video report.
WGN took an "Oh my God" audio snippet from the first video and laid it over the other. That's unethical and gives the false impression that the cameraperson on street level said "Oh my God." The one in which the cameraman actually does say that has gotten over 6,000 views at my YouTube channel. Anybody seeing the actual "Oh my God" video might get the two different videos confused. In short, WGN faked their own report. There is swearing in both videos, both from the cameraman in the actual "Oh my God" video and from some police officers in each. However, in the street-level video the cameraperson does not swear.
WGN only showed a few seconds of each video. We show both in their entirety and, as noted, accurately.
Shame on WGN for this, for unethically mashing together the two videos, for misrepresenting one of the videographers, and for not showing the full video of the crash scene as we do.
RELATED:
FULL VIDEO, Crazy Driver Slams Into Cop Cars at Crime Scene
WGN's headline, "Eye-Witness Video: Hit-and-run driver crashes into police crime scene," is followed by a misleading subhead, "Accident took place in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood." The driver of the stolen vehicle rammed it into other vechicles intentionally, so there was literally no "accident" that took place.
Chicago News Bench, as reported here earlier, obtained a copy of an amateur eyewitness video at the same time WGN did. That amateur videographer gave me a CD with his video. We added some of our own material to the front and back, but did not alter the original in any way except to lay titles over it and improve the lighting quality somewhat.
The "Oh My God" Video...
The video that we incorporated into our presentation was clearly shot from an upper story window. In that video (see it here), the cameraman is heard saying "Oh my God" several times. He - and his camera - were looking down at the scene on the street below. At the same time, another person standing at street level shot video of the same scene (see it here). Then watch WGN's video report.
WGN took an "Oh my God" audio snippet from the first video and laid it over the other. That's unethical and gives the false impression that the cameraperson on street level said "Oh my God." The one in which the cameraman actually does say that has gotten over 6,000 views at my YouTube channel. Anybody seeing the actual "Oh my God" video might get the two different videos confused. In short, WGN faked their own report. There is swearing in both videos, both from the cameraman in the actual "Oh my God" video and from some police officers in each. However, in the street-level video the cameraperson does not swear.
WGN only showed a few seconds of each video. We show both in their entirety and, as noted, accurately.
Shame on WGN for this, for unethically mashing together the two videos, for misrepresenting one of the videographers, and for not showing the full video of the crash scene as we do.
RELATED:
FULL VIDEO, Crazy Driver Slams Into Cop Cars at Crime Scene
FULL VIDEO, Crazy Driver Slamming Into Cop Cars at Crime Scene (Updated 2x)
The big Chicago media showed a few seconds of this on TV last night, but WE HAVE THE ENTIRE SCENE AS CAUGHT ON VIDEO (SEE IT BELOW). Chicago News Bench secured a copy of the entire incident from an amateur videographer last night, but the mainstream media cannot show it in its entirety. We, however, can. Chicago News Bench obtained the amateur video from a witness while we were photographing the scene.
UPDATE, APRIL 3: We found ANOTHER VIDEO of the scene. It's shorter, but offers another angle of the stolen car as it crashes into parked and police vehicles. See it below, under our video. *** Also see WGN's report, but note this: Their video only shows a few seconds of the scene. WGN also faked something: They took audio from one amateur video (our first one below) and inserted it over that of another amateur's video (the second one below). Shame on WGN for their misrepresentation, and for not showing the full video of the crash scene as we do. See "WGN's Unethical Video of Stolen Car Crash" ***
APRIL 1, 2010 - (Updated) - CHICAGO - Background: Around 7:30 on March 31, a fight between two residents of the Carlton Apartments at 4626 N. Magnolia, Chicago resulted in a bloody stabbing in front of the building. The Carlton is in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, near Truman College. Chicago police officers responded and set up their investigation.
Just past 8:00 p.m., a man driving a stolen car accidentally drove into the crime scene, only to find the car suddenly surrounded by a lot of police officers. The police were chasing the stolen car "for at least half an hour" before it turned off of N. Broadway, onto W. Leland, and then onto Magnolia.
In the videos below, police officers yell at the female passenger to get out of the car. She refuses, and the male driver puts the car in reverse and rams into police vehicles and cars parked nearby. Chicago News Bench was told this morning that there were "two kids" in the back seat of the car. Police were told by a sergeant on the scene to hold their fire. The sergeant told the officers, "baby on board."
Officers surround the car again, again yelling at the woman; and the man then drives over the curb, onto the sidewalk and gets away. Chicago News Bench also learned this morning that the car was initially abandoned "somewhere on Montrose," a few blocks south of the crime scene. There, a flatbed truck from Lincoln Towing hauled the car away, but the police still did not know where the car was. Minutes later, the truck was pulled over by police who recognized the car on the flatbed and ordered the driver to deposit the car at the intersection of N. Clark and W. Wilson. The police then spent "at least an hour" combing through the car for evidence.
Read more about this story here, here and here.
VIDEOS BELOW
Below: Another video, this one by Pikadroo. "Stolen Car Slams into Cop and Parked Cars in
Chicago Uptown/Sheridan Park Stabbing Crime Scene."
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UPDATE, APRIL 3: We found ANOTHER VIDEO of the scene. It's shorter, but offers another angle of the stolen car as it crashes into parked and police vehicles. See it below, under our video. *** Also see WGN's report, but note this: Their video only shows a few seconds of the scene. WGN also faked something: They took audio from one amateur video (our first one below) and inserted it over that of another amateur's video (the second one below). Shame on WGN for their misrepresentation, and for not showing the full video of the crash scene as we do. See "WGN's Unethical Video of Stolen Car Crash" ***
APRIL 1, 2010 - (Updated) - CHICAGO - Background: Around 7:30 on March 31, a fight between two residents of the Carlton Apartments at 4626 N. Magnolia, Chicago resulted in a bloody stabbing in front of the building. The Carlton is in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, near Truman College. Chicago police officers responded and set up their investigation.
Just past 8:00 p.m., a man driving a stolen car accidentally drove into the crime scene, only to find the car suddenly surrounded by a lot of police officers. The police were chasing the stolen car "for at least half an hour" before it turned off of N. Broadway, onto W. Leland, and then onto Magnolia.
In the videos below, police officers yell at the female passenger to get out of the car. She refuses, and the male driver puts the car in reverse and rams into police vehicles and cars parked nearby. Chicago News Bench was told this morning that there were "two kids" in the back seat of the car. Police were told by a sergeant on the scene to hold their fire. The sergeant told the officers, "baby on board."
Officers surround the car again, again yelling at the woman; and the man then drives over the curb, onto the sidewalk and gets away. Chicago News Bench also learned this morning that the car was initially abandoned "somewhere on Montrose," a few blocks south of the crime scene. There, a flatbed truck from Lincoln Towing hauled the car away, but the police still did not know where the car was. Minutes later, the truck was pulled over by police who recognized the car on the flatbed and ordered the driver to deposit the car at the intersection of N. Clark and W. Wilson. The police then spent "at least an hour" combing through the car for evidence.
Read more about this story here, here and here.
VIDEOS BELOW
Below: Another video, this one by Pikadroo. "Stolen Car Slams into Cop and Parked Cars in
Chicago Uptown/Sheridan Park Stabbing Crime Scene."
Leave a Comment * Conservative T-Shirts * Follow CNB on Twitter * RSS Feed
Stolen Auto Crashes into Cop Cars at Bloody Stabbing Scene, Then Drives Off
March 31, 2010 - Chicago, Uptown - A stolen car slammed into at least five Chicago police vehicles and more than eight parked cars near the scene of a stabbing on Wednesday night. Police had been chasing the car for at least 30 minutes before it turned off of N. Broadway onto W.Leland, proceeded west a couple of blocks, then turned north onto N. Magnolia. That's where the stolen car literally ran into a police investigation of an argument-turned-knifing. The fight, between two residents of the Carlton Apartments at 4626 N. Magnolia, happened just past 7:00 p.m. Police arrived around 7:30 p.m. At approximately 8:10 p.m., the stolen car entered the scene.
Police officers surrounded the stolen car and yelled at the driver to "put it in park." Instead, the driver sped forward and slammed into a squad car, then backed up, hitting more squad cars as well as cars parked along the curb. (Slideshow below.) Police surrounded the car again, but it then drove onto the sidewalk, down the block to W. Wilson, and escaped. The male driver, a woman passenger and two young children abandoned the car "on Montrose." There, a Lincoln Towing flatbed truck picked it up, apparently unaware that the car was being pursued by police. Within minutes of picking it up, police spotted the car on the truck and ordered the driver to deposit it at the intersection of W. Wilson and N. Clark.
UPDATE: See our own video at "Crazy Driver Slamming Into Cop Cars at Crime Scene."
The male stabbing victim was taken to Advocate llinois Masonic Hospital
in critical condition with knife wounds to his neck.
For a full report see the report at Lake Effect News. Excerpts:
“Everyone started yelling,” the resident said. “The cops surrounded the car, some with flashlights, some with their guns drawn, and ordered the driver to put the car in park.” More at Lake Effect News...
Police officers surrounded the stolen car and yelled at the driver to "put it in park." Instead, the driver sped forward and slammed into a squad car, then backed up, hitting more squad cars as well as cars parked along the curb. (Slideshow below.) Police surrounded the car again, but it then drove onto the sidewalk, down the block to W. Wilson, and escaped. The male driver, a woman passenger and two young children abandoned the car "on Montrose." There, a Lincoln Towing flatbed truck picked it up, apparently unaware that the car was being pursued by police. Within minutes of picking it up, police spotted the car on the truck and ordered the driver to deposit it at the intersection of W. Wilson and N. Clark.
UPDATE: See our own video at "Crazy Driver Slamming Into Cop Cars at Crime Scene."
The male stabbing victim was taken to Advocate llinois Masonic Hospital
in critical condition with knife wounds to his neck.For a full report see the report at Lake Effect News. Excerpts:
Two separate, unrelated incidents at the same crime scene left one man critically injured after he stabbed by another person following a verbal altercation, and several police and residents’ vehicles in shambles by a fleeing stolen car on the 4600 block of North Magnolia.
About an hour later, a driver of a ... stolen car turned northbound down Magnolia from Lawrence as police were processing the crime scene in front of the Carlton. The car crashed into several police squad and residents’ cars parked on the street as the driver fled from police. [23rd District Commander Kathleen] Boehmer said that driver of the car that is believed to be stolen just happened on to drive up on to the earlier crime scene.
About an hour later, a driver of a ... stolen car turned northbound down Magnolia from Lawrence as police were processing the crime scene in front of the Carlton. The car crashed into several police squad and residents’ cars parked on the street as the driver fled from police. [23rd District Commander Kathleen] Boehmer said that driver of the car that is believed to be stolen just happened on to drive up on to the earlier crime scene.
“Everyone started yelling,” the resident said. “The cops surrounded the car, some with flashlights, some with their guns drawn, and ordered the driver to put the car in park.” More at Lake Effect News...
Uptown's Positive Loiterers: Useless
"Positive loitering," a theoretical way of "fighting crime" and "taking back the streets," failed yet again last week in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood.
For all the overblown attention it has gotten, and all of the hyperventilated praise, "positive loitering" did not prevent a 
near-tragedy last Thursday, nor has it prevented a number of other violent incidents in a neighbor where positive loitering promoters claim to have made a difference.
In short, "positive loitering" - as practiced in Uptown, anyway - is a useless social activity that accomplished nothing more than an occasional social event for a handful of frightened gentry commendably trying to diminish crime, albeit with misguided and futile tactics and strategy.
On Thursday, February 25, at least two reputed gang members, both male, were standing on a very busy street corner in Uptown at 4:15 p.m. In broad daylight, with at about 100 people walking through or near the intersection of N. Broadway and W. Wilson, at least one of the men aimed his gun across the street and fired five or six bullets. One of those bullets hit a woman in her leg as she stood at a bus stop, her baby next to her in a stroller.
The following day, there was no "positive loitering" group hanging out at that dangerous intersection. That's significant, because Friday is the favorite day for Uptown's "positive loiterers" to attend to their self-appointed duty of cleaning up a neighborhood that is dire need of a good sweeping-out. Not only did the positive loiterers not prevent a crime at Wilson and Broadway, they chose to stay away from the intersection the following day. Quick review: There were dozens of people, perhaps 100 or so, standing around, walking around, and some loitering on that intersection during daylight. A number of other people were inside shops. Hundreds more were driving through in all directions. A police squad car was parked across the street from the shooters, sitting in front of the Wilson CTA station entrance. And yet, despite dozens of potential witnesses, despite the cop in plain view, despite the many who were simply loitering, two men felt bold enough to fire bullets while standing on the curb in plain sight.
I've been critical of "positive loitering" (PL) in the past, and I'm going to lambast them again now. There were no self-proclaimed "positive loiterers" at Wilson and Broadway at 4:15 p.m. last Thursday.
The positive loitering group in Uptown is sponsored by the Uptown Chicago Commission. It's the group that has gotten so much press is headed by Richard Thale, who is the CAPS facilitator on police beat 2312. Mr. Thale and fellow loiterers have been busy - when convenient - committing their "positive loitering" in Uptown.
Problem is, Thale's group doesn't loiter positively very often, and when they do it's only for an hour or two. The group's favorite hangout is the relatively safe intersection of W. Leland Avenue and N. Sheridan Road, even though there are a number of corners where their attention would be better spent. Furthermore, the positive loitering group only seems to fight crime on Friday evenings. Apparently, they think that crime on week nights is not serious enough to warrant an hour of standing around counting out of state license plates.
Leland and Sheridan is halfway between two much more troubled intersections, and three short blocks east of another. One block to the south is Wilson and Sheridan. One block to the north is Lawrence and Sheridan. Three blocks west is Leland and N. Broadway. All are the scenes of gang activity far more often than is Leland and Sheridan, which gained notoriety last year because of a minor riot on Sheridan that passed by Leland and was videotaped. That video went viral, and still gives the false impression that the intersection is a vortex of gang activity. Sure, Leland-Sheridan sees the occasional drug deal or trick turned by a prostitute, but intersections such as Lawrence-Sheridan, Wilson-Sheridan, Wilson-Broadway and Wilson-Magnolia are much "hotter" spots for gang activity and crime in general.
Thale is the public safety chairman of the Uptown Chicago Commission. He has even acknowledged that the positive loitering efforts have not been as effective as desired. “It gets very frustrating, but at least I know we have made some effort,” Thale told Josh Newkirk of ChicagoTalks. “I know when we’re out there, things are calm. I’m not telling anyone that we are stopping crime, but we are having an impact.”
Huh? If they're not stopping crime, then what is the "impact?" Isn't the whole point, the desired impact, to stop crime? Richard Thale means well, and I am acquainted with him. He's one of the good guys, make no mistake. However, he and his well-intended fellow positive loiterers are fooling themselves and only reinforcing their self-deception with statements like the one above. He says he knows "things are calm" when "we're out there," but there is no evidence to show that it's quiet because they are there. It's a tenuous correlation. As I said earlier, the group stands on a corner that is almost always "quiet" to begin with. Thale says he's not telling anyone that they are stopping crime, yet he says in the same breath that they are "having an impact." Again, no evidence, unless you count a few calls to 911 to report suspicious activity. Okay, that's "impact," but it's so minor and has such a minimal effect on the overall criminal subculture of Uptown that it would be laughable if not meant so sincerely.
Garrard McClendon, writing at chicagonow.com in October, 2009 asked, "Can positive loitering stop gang activity?" His answer to his own question was, "If you turn the lights on, the roaches, rodents, and centipedes will scatter. The same goes for drug pushers and ladies of the night who are trying to solicit their wares." What McClendon - and so many others - seem to forget is that the moment you turn the lights off again the vermin come right back.
McClendon went on to say that "It looks like north siders are gearing up to run the nefarious activity out by hanging out on corners to shew away the nonsense. Good idea or window service? Are gangs and prostitutes intimidated by a few residents carrying coffee cups?"
Again, McClendon answered his own question. "I think so. Staking your claim is a matter of pride and determination, and these residents on Leland Avenue and Sheridan Road aren't going to let up."
No? What do you call it when you end your "vigil" after an hour, and only do it on Friday evening? Sounds like letting up to me. Out of 168 hours in every week, staging a vigil for one hour is hardly "making a stand." As for "staking your claim," the other 167 hours in every week is when the criminals do that. And, at the risk of sounding repetitious, the one little hour or so of the "vigil" is in one tiny little pin point of an entire gang-infested area.
If the lights are only on for an hour every week, the vermin will scatter for an hour. But they have not really gone away. They've moved out of sight and continue their foul activities there until the lights go out again. While you've fooled yourself into thinking that the roaches have disappeared, they are in fact laying their eggs, eating their crumbs and plotting the next foray across your kitchen counter.
Let's stick with the insect metaphors for a moment. It's like trying to fight mosquitoes by only putting up a tent for an hour. Not terribly effective, that, and made all the more ludicrous by declaring that the presence of the tent, even after it's been taken down, folded up and put back into its pack, is "having an effect." Technically that true, but it's literally not enough to matter.
Why aren't the positive loiterers at the "hotter" spots, the dicer intersections? The answer is obvious, simple and ironic: They're afraid to hang around over there. The group that has charged itself with a Batman-like mission of cleaning up the neighborhood is ... afraid to go where it is most needed. Instead, they gather for an hour or so at safe corners like Leland and Sheridan, dogs in tow, Starbucks lattes in hand, commending each other for making a dent in local crime.
Irony comes into play. The positive loiterers almost always do their vigilante standabouts after dark. Much of the crime in Uptown occurs in daylight hours or well after the positive loiterers have gone home, had their cups of hot cocoa, and gone to bed.
On the morning of February 1, 2010, a 15-year old boy was shot in the arm as he was walking to school with a fellow. That happened in the quiet 4200 block of N. Clarendon around 8:25 a.m. Where were the positive loiterers? On January 17, 2010, a punk entered a residential building elevator and beat down a senior citizen, then robbed him. That happened during daylight hours. On Sunday, November 8, 2009, there was a shooting half a block north of Leland and Sheridan at approximately 10:00 p.m. Ironically, this is spitting distance from the positive loitering group's favorite perch. They were not standing around, however, when this incident occurred. It was Sunday night, after all.
On October 29, 2009, a "mid-afternoon shooting in Uptown sent pedestrians near the corner of Broadway and Wilson diving for cover," reported Lake Effect News, "and bullets smashing into the windows of the Wilson-Broadway Currency Exchange at 4599 N. Broadway."
There are many more examples, and I'll admit that it's absurd to expect the positive loiterers to be everywhere all of the time. Even if they could be, it doesn't mean they would stop or deter every crime.
But that's the point: Positive loitering, as practiced, can have only minor, hyperlocal and very temporary effects. Unless there is a group of positive loiterers on every intersection, 24 hours of every day, the only effect they can hope have is to cause drug deals and prostitution to move to the next block, out of their sight. After their hour session of lattes and sharing stock tips on the corner expires, the bad guys come right back.
The danger of positive loitering is that is gives the false impression to some people that "something is being done" to combat crime. The Chicago Police Department and various other law enforcement agencies are doing what they can, within the limits of the law. Sadly, the law too often goes easy on criminals and restricts law officers. The Chicago Police Department knows full well, however, that positive loiterers make little or no real difference.
By coddling the positive loiterers and giving them lip service, CPD scores public relations points with the neighborhood. This gives the impression that CPD is going "grass roots." The positive loiterers, however, are merely a useless, unarmed, undeputized adornment that has about as much usefulness as a nose ring. It looks good to some, but is completely devoid of any truly useful functionality.
So what's the answer? There is not enough time or space for a full answer here, even if I had it. We can start, however, by urging 46th Alderman Helen Shiller to stop resisting police cameras and to give the CPD more cooperation. We can start by not voting for liberal judges. We can start by urging legislators to stop passing laws that favor criminals more than they help victims recover or police do there needed duty. We can begin by ending our tolerance of bad parents, and by realizing that more than 50 years of steady moral decay in our society - and the acceptance of it - has helped produce the vermin against which the positive loiterers now find themselves vainly trying to to stomp out by deftly tiptoeing around them.
RELATED:
near-tragedy last Thursday, nor has it prevented a number of other violent incidents in a neighbor where positive loitering promoters claim to have made a difference.In short, "positive loitering" - as practiced in Uptown, anyway - is a useless social activity that accomplished nothing more than an occasional social event for a handful of frightened gentry commendably trying to diminish crime, albeit with misguided and futile tactics and strategy.
On Thursday, February 25, at least two reputed gang members, both male, were standing on a very busy street corner in Uptown at 4:15 p.m. In broad daylight, with at about 100 people walking through or near the intersection of N. Broadway and W. Wilson, at least one of the men aimed his gun across the street and fired five or six bullets. One of those bullets hit a woman in her leg as she stood at a bus stop, her baby next to her in a stroller.
The following day, there was no "positive loitering" group hanging out at that dangerous intersection. That's significant, because Friday is the favorite day for Uptown's "positive loiterers" to attend to their self-appointed duty of cleaning up a neighborhood that is dire need of a good sweeping-out. Not only did the positive loiterers not prevent a crime at Wilson and Broadway, they chose to stay away from the intersection the following day. Quick review: There were dozens of people, perhaps 100 or so, standing around, walking around, and some loitering on that intersection during daylight. A number of other people were inside shops. Hundreds more were driving through in all directions. A police squad car was parked across the street from the shooters, sitting in front of the Wilson CTA station entrance. And yet, despite dozens of potential witnesses, despite the cop in plain view, despite the many who were simply loitering, two men felt bold enough to fire bullets while standing on the curb in plain sight.
I've been critical of "positive loitering" (PL) in the past, and I'm going to lambast them again now. There were no self-proclaimed "positive loiterers" at Wilson and Broadway at 4:15 p.m. last Thursday.
The positive loitering group in Uptown is sponsored by the Uptown Chicago Commission. It's the group that has gotten so much press is headed by Richard Thale, who is the CAPS facilitator on police beat 2312. Mr. Thale and fellow loiterers have been busy - when convenient - committing their "positive loitering" in Uptown.
Problem is, Thale's group doesn't loiter positively very often, and when they do it's only for an hour or two. The group's favorite hangout is the relatively safe intersection of W. Leland Avenue and N. Sheridan Road, even though there are a number of corners where their attention would be better spent. Furthermore, the positive loitering group only seems to fight crime on Friday evenings. Apparently, they think that crime on week nights is not serious enough to warrant an hour of standing around counting out of state license plates.
Leland and Sheridan is halfway between two much more troubled intersections, and three short blocks east of another. One block to the south is Wilson and Sheridan. One block to the north is Lawrence and Sheridan. Three blocks west is Leland and N. Broadway. All are the scenes of gang activity far more often than is Leland and Sheridan, which gained notoriety last year because of a minor riot on Sheridan that passed by Leland and was videotaped. That video went viral, and still gives the false impression that the intersection is a vortex of gang activity. Sure, Leland-Sheridan sees the occasional drug deal or trick turned by a prostitute, but intersections such as Lawrence-Sheridan, Wilson-Sheridan, Wilson-Broadway and Wilson-Magnolia are much "hotter" spots for gang activity and crime in general.
Thale is the public safety chairman of the Uptown Chicago Commission. He has even acknowledged that the positive loitering efforts have not been as effective as desired. “It gets very frustrating, but at least I know we have made some effort,” Thale told Josh Newkirk of ChicagoTalks. “I know when we’re out there, things are calm. I’m not telling anyone that we are stopping crime, but we are having an impact.”
Huh? If they're not stopping crime, then what is the "impact?" Isn't the whole point, the desired impact, to stop crime? Richard Thale means well, and I am acquainted with him. He's one of the good guys, make no mistake. However, he and his well-intended fellow positive loiterers are fooling themselves and only reinforcing their self-deception with statements like the one above. He says he knows "things are calm" when "we're out there," but there is no evidence to show that it's quiet because they are there. It's a tenuous correlation. As I said earlier, the group stands on a corner that is almost always "quiet" to begin with. Thale says he's not telling anyone that they are stopping crime, yet he says in the same breath that they are "having an impact." Again, no evidence, unless you count a few calls to 911 to report suspicious activity. Okay, that's "impact," but it's so minor and has such a minimal effect on the overall criminal subculture of Uptown that it would be laughable if not meant so sincerely.
Garrard McClendon, writing at chicagonow.com in October, 2009 asked, "Can positive loitering stop gang activity?" His answer to his own question was, "If you turn the lights on, the roaches, rodents, and centipedes will scatter. The same goes for drug pushers and ladies of the night who are trying to solicit their wares." What McClendon - and so many others - seem to forget is that the moment you turn the lights off again the vermin come right back.
McClendon went on to say that "It looks like north siders are gearing up to run the nefarious activity out by hanging out on corners to shew away the nonsense. Good idea or window service? Are gangs and prostitutes intimidated by a few residents carrying coffee cups?"
Again, McClendon answered his own question. "I think so. Staking your claim is a matter of pride and determination, and these residents on Leland Avenue and Sheridan Road aren't going to let up."
No? What do you call it when you end your "vigil" after an hour, and only do it on Friday evening? Sounds like letting up to me. Out of 168 hours in every week, staging a vigil for one hour is hardly "making a stand." As for "staking your claim," the other 167 hours in every week is when the criminals do that. And, at the risk of sounding repetitious, the one little hour or so of the "vigil" is in one tiny little pin point of an entire gang-infested area.
If the lights are only on for an hour every week, the vermin will scatter for an hour. But they have not really gone away. They've moved out of sight and continue their foul activities there until the lights go out again. While you've fooled yourself into thinking that the roaches have disappeared, they are in fact laying their eggs, eating their crumbs and plotting the next foray across your kitchen counter.
Let's stick with the insect metaphors for a moment. It's like trying to fight mosquitoes by only putting up a tent for an hour. Not terribly effective, that, and made all the more ludicrous by declaring that the presence of the tent, even after it's been taken down, folded up and put back into its pack, is "having an effect." Technically that true, but it's literally not enough to matter.
Why aren't the positive loiterers at the "hotter" spots, the dicer intersections? The answer is obvious, simple and ironic: They're afraid to hang around over there. The group that has charged itself with a Batman-like mission of cleaning up the neighborhood is ... afraid to go where it is most needed. Instead, they gather for an hour or so at safe corners like Leland and Sheridan, dogs in tow, Starbucks lattes in hand, commending each other for making a dent in local crime.
Irony comes into play. The positive loiterers almost always do their vigilante standabouts after dark. Much of the crime in Uptown occurs in daylight hours or well after the positive loiterers have gone home, had their cups of hot cocoa, and gone to bed.
On the morning of February 1, 2010, a 15-year old boy was shot in the arm as he was walking to school with a fellow. That happened in the quiet 4200 block of N. Clarendon around 8:25 a.m. Where were the positive loiterers? On January 17, 2010, a punk entered a residential building elevator and beat down a senior citizen, then robbed him. That happened during daylight hours. On Sunday, November 8, 2009, there was a shooting half a block north of Leland and Sheridan at approximately 10:00 p.m. Ironically, this is spitting distance from the positive loitering group's favorite perch. They were not standing around, however, when this incident occurred. It was Sunday night, after all.
On October 29, 2009, a "mid-afternoon shooting in Uptown sent pedestrians near the corner of Broadway and Wilson diving for cover," reported Lake Effect News, "and bullets smashing into the windows of the Wilson-Broadway Currency Exchange at 4599 N. Broadway."
There are many more examples, and I'll admit that it's absurd to expect the positive loiterers to be everywhere all of the time. Even if they could be, it doesn't mean they would stop or deter every crime.
But that's the point: Positive loitering, as practiced, can have only minor, hyperlocal and very temporary effects. Unless there is a group of positive loiterers on every intersection, 24 hours of every day, the only effect they can hope have is to cause drug deals and prostitution to move to the next block, out of their sight. After their hour session of lattes and sharing stock tips on the corner expires, the bad guys come right back.
The danger of positive loitering is that is gives the false impression to some people that "something is being done" to combat crime. The Chicago Police Department and various other law enforcement agencies are doing what they can, within the limits of the law. Sadly, the law too often goes easy on criminals and restricts law officers. The Chicago Police Department knows full well, however, that positive loiterers make little or no real difference.
By coddling the positive loiterers and giving them lip service, CPD scores public relations points with the neighborhood. This gives the impression that CPD is going "grass roots." The positive loiterers, however, are merely a useless, unarmed, undeputized adornment that has about as much usefulness as a nose ring. It looks good to some, but is completely devoid of any truly useful functionality.
So what's the answer? There is not enough time or space for a full answer here, even if I had it. We can start, however, by urging 46th Alderman Helen Shiller to stop resisting police cameras and to give the CPD more cooperation. We can start by not voting for liberal judges. We can start by urging legislators to stop passing laws that favor criminals more than they help victims recover or police do there needed duty. We can begin by ending our tolerance of bad parents, and by realizing that more than 50 years of steady moral decay in our society - and the acceptance of it - has helped produce the vermin against which the positive loiterers now find themselves vainly trying to to stomp out by deftly tiptoeing around them.
RELATED:
- Uptown’s Bullet-Ridden Bouquet
- Ald. Helen Shiller Wallows in Lies, Self-Pity
- Another Useless Public Safety Meeting
- Uptown Residents Demand Action After Gang Violence Erupts In Streets
- Gun Shots Dampen Spirits of Anti-Crime Neighborhood Group in Uptown
- North Side shooting critically wounds man - Chicago Breaking News
- Chicago Gaylords, Sunnyside and Magnolia, Lords of Uptown ...
- Asian Street Gangs and Organized Crime in Focus
- Fear and loathing in the 46th Ward Chicago Gangs - interactive maps
UPTOWN - SHOTS FIRED, ONE WOMAN SHOT IN LEG
UPDATE, FEB. 26: Two Suspects Held in Uptown Shooting of Feb. 25
FEB. 25, 2010, 4:17 PM - WOMAN SHOT IN LEG, AMBULANCE ROLLING
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Is Supt. Weis Betraying Cops for Political Reasons?
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| Stuporindendent Jody Weis |
Incredible. Reports of icy conditions on Lake Shore Drive at the time of Sgt. Alan Haymaker's death early Monday morning are now being denied by Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis. This stinks of political coverup.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports Weis's remarks today: Speaking after Sgt. Alan Haymaker was honored with a moment's silence at police headquarters, Weis said officers who were on the scene of Haymaker's death within minutes Monday morning found only "slush and standing water" on the road.
Okay, Then What About This...? Weis' comments appear to contradict those of Assistant Supt. James Jackson, who said Monday that "icy road conditions were a factor" in Haymaker's death.
Why Does This Stink? The stink is money and politics. There are many reports that a Streets and Sanitation dispatcher ordered plow crews to NOT lay road salt on Lake Shore Drive around 4:00 a.m. on Monday morning. That's about an hour prior to Sgt. Haymaker's fatal accident near the southbound Irving Park exit. Additionally, it is well known that Mayor Daley hates road salt because it contributes to pot holes and harms roadside vegetation, and Daley has been criticized in the past for not salting streets when needed.
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| CPD Sgt. Alan Haymaker |
Supt. Weis is often and widely criticized by his own troops as not caring about their safety and welfare. He is accused of being nothing more than an easily controlled political puppet of Mayor Daley. Weis' statement about a "lack of ice," even though "officers who were on the scene" said there was no ice, lacks credibility. Too many other people on the road at that time have reported that it was icy.
Why, for several days, did CPD keep attributing icy conditions as a factor in the crash? Why the sudden about-face by Weis?
Furthermore, any of the first responders at the Haymaker crash arrived after the car slid off the road and went over the curb. If there had been ice on the road, even just a patch of ice, at the moment Sgt. Haymaker lost control of his car, it could have melted before anybody got to the crash site.
Weis is guessing about ice or lack thereof, and we're guessing that he's doing so to help cover some high ranking asses. That pun, by the way, is fully intended.
Man Charged in Burglary That "Killed" Sgt. Alan Haymaker
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| Suspect Larry Brown, 28 |
When Chicago Police Sergeant Alan Haymaker lost control of his squad car just past 5:00 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 22, he was en route to the scene of a burglary at Verizon Wireless, 3176 N. Clark Street, Chicago.
Larry Brown, 28, of Markham, IL (photo) has been charged with burglary and with obstructing identification.
The CPD media statement (see below), and most of the media, are reporting that the burglary occurred "in the 3100 block of N. Clark St." Some media and blogs are incorrectly saying that the address was "3167 N. Clark St."
However, I phoned Verizon Wireless at 12:03 p.m. today and asked the woman who answered if the manager was in. Yes, she said, then asked who was calling. I said "a reporter." She then said that the manager was not taking calls. "Okay," I said, "so you've pretty much confirmed for me that yours is the cell phone store that was burglarized on Monday morning, right?" Silence from her, then, "I can't say anything about that." And that, ladies and gentlemen, is an unintentional confirmation. Why is this important? Because a man who protected others for years was killed on his way to defend that address and the property inside of it, that's why.
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| Sgt. Alan Haymaker |
CPD Supt. Jody Weis said he wants to charge those responsible for this burglary with murder in the death of Sgt. Haymaker. Initial reports were that two people were sought in connection with the burglary. It's interesting that murder is not one of the charges brought against Brown - not yet, anyway.
From: nwsaffr@chicagopolice.org
Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2010 10:29 Subject: Offender charged today in connection with burglary of cellular phone store on Feb. 22nd in the 3100 block of N. Clark St. Chicago Police have charged an offender today in connection with the burglary of a cellular phone store in the 3100 block of N. Clark St. The burglary occurred on Monday, February 22, 2010 shortly after 5:30 a.m. Larry Brown, 28, of the 16500 block of Park Av. in Markham, Il. was charged with: • Obstructing Identification • Burglary Brown is expected to appear in Felony Bond Court today. **Mug shot attached** Chicago Police Department Office of News Affairs (312) 745-6110 Fax (312) 745-6999
Who Really Killed Sgt. Alan Haymaker?
Update, 2/24/2010: Funeral Details for Sgt. Alan Haymaker
Update, 2/25/2010: Man Charged in Burglary That "Killed" Sgt. Alan Haymaker
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| Sgt Alan J. Haymaker | Star 2532 |
Before we ask who should be arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter, let me clear up something that the rest of the media has repeatedly gotten wrong about this story.
Sgt. Haymaker’s car did NOT "spin out" on an "apparently icy exit ramp on Lake Shore Drive” as incorrectly reported by The Chicago Tribune and other news media that have been too lazy to get off their overpaid asses to go look at the scene of death. Chicago News Bench did go, and we took photos that prove beyond doubt that Sgt. Haymaker never entered the exit ramp.
In fact, from all visible indications, Sgt. Haymaker did not even attempt to drive onto the exit ramp. Indeed, it would have made no sense for him to have taken that exit ramp, as we pointed out yesterday, because he was reportedly responding to a burglary scene in the 3100 block of N. Clark Street, whereas the Irving Park exit ramp is at 4100 north. Sgt. Haymaker would more likely have been intending to exit Lake Shore Drive at either Addison or Belmont.
So, Sgt. Haymaker did not “spin out” on the Irving Park exit ramp, because his car simply did not enter that exit ramp. Furthermore, from our first-hand observations and photographs, his car probably did not even spin out on Lake Shore Drive. Rather, the tire tracks of his car indicate that he drove in a straight line from LSD, over the curb, and straight onto the grassy area between the exit ramp and LSD. It seems that his car spun (fish tailed) about 90 degrees in the split second between jumping the curb and hitting the light pole a few feet before the tree that destroyed both him and his squad car.
Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis has his own idea of who killed Sgt. Haymaker, and it’s a weird idea at that. He blames the burglars that Sgt. Haymaker was en route to on N. Clark Street.
WGNTV.com reports that Weis "said officials are in discussion with the Cook County state's attorney's office to see if felony murder charges could be lodged against the burglars responsible for the early morning break in at a cell-phone store in the 3100 block of North Clark Street, where Haymaker was headed.... Under Illinois statutes it appears they could be charged with murder... 'that is something I think that we'll be looking at with the States Attorney's office,' Weis said. 'But I think it's something that we certainly will consider'."
Weis said he believes that under state law the person behind a crime can be charged with murder if responding officers are killed. The burglary is also under investigation because no one has been apprehended. If that’s what state law allows, fine. However, it does not address what actually, physically caused Sgt. Haymaker’s car to jump the curb and hit that tree. There’s the road salt question, of course, but there’s also questions about the condition of the squad car that Sgt. Haymaker was driving.
SALT IN THE WOUND
It’s been said that LSD, a major road, was icy at the time of the accident. But, why? The storm that hit on the evening of Sunday, Feb. 21 started dumping snow on Lake Shore Drive at approximately 9:00 p.m. by my own recollection. Sgt. Haymaker hit the tree just past 5:00 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 22, some eight hours later. LSD is no small side street, and should have been cleared of snow and well salted by then. Monday morning rush hour was about to begin, after all. It should be remembered that a decision to not salt LSD put thousands of commuters at risk of a fate similar to that met by Sgt. Haymaker.
Item: The Department of Streets and Sanitation operates the big blue snow plows that also spread road salt. We hear from reliable sources that more than one Streets and San employee stopped to tell investigators at the scene of Sgt. Haymaker’s accident that a dispatcher gave the order to NOT salt Lake Shore Drive on Monday morning.
Item: Second City Cop blog (SCC) notes that one of their commenters, “from a cop on traffic control at the scene,” said that a snowplow driver on the inner drive” waived him/her down “and he stated that they were under orders...NOT to salt Lakeshore Drive! The City Snowplow Driver seemed sincere and pissed off that a needless accident had to happen because of his direct orders.”
SCC also noted that an e-mail to them seems to confirm this:
“A friend who monitored the radio transmission this morning stated that someone from streets n san broadcasted the following... ‘No More Salt On Lake Shore Drive’! That was before the Sgt Crashed. Can someone pull the tapes for that Sgt's family! I figured your the best source of info relay.” See more comments about this at Second City Cop...
Item: A local blog says that “Mayor Daley gave the order NOT TO SALT Lake Shore Dr. during snow storms - Due to the salt killing the plants in the center planters.... And now we have today's accident that claimed the life of Sgt. Haymaker.... There are many reports that the Streets and Sans guys were given the ordered NOT TO SALT LAKE SHORE DRIVE. Why? Because the salt gets kicked up into the cement planters and kills the plants and damages the soil.” (Source: Advisory for strong language)
If orders were given to NOT salt LSD, perhaps Supt. Weis should focus his murder investigation on Streets and Sanitation, as well as on Mayor Daley.
QUESTIONS REMAIN
Even if ice was a factor in the accident this morning, why did Sgt. Haymaker steer his car off of Lake Shore Drive, over the curb, and into light post and tree, with NO sign of any spin out prior to leaving the pavement of LSD?
There are now questions being asked as to why the road was so icy. Was it because there was no salt put on the road? Was Chicago Streets and Sanitation instructed to not salt Lake Shore Drive? Why would the City not want this large stretch of road traveled daily by thousands of people salted?
Attorney Jamie G. Goldstein asks, "There are now questions being asked as to why the ramp was so icy. Was it because there was no salt put on the ramp? Was Chicago Streets and Sanitation instructed to not salt Lake Shore Drive? Why would the City not want this large stretch of road traveled daily by thousands of people salted?" We'll forgive her for being misinformed by the media that Sgt. Haymaker was on "the ramp," but her question about salt - or lack thereof - on the road Sgt. Haymaker last traveled is valid.
Another frightening possibility might be found in alleged maintenance negligence. A commenter to one of the blogs cited above wrote that “There are reports on SCC that the pool car that the Sgt was driving was deficient too. Someone posted that the tires appeared to be nearly bald and that the airbag did not deploy.”
For Supt. Weis to blame the death of Sgt. Haymaker on two at-large burglary suspects seems like an attempt to divert attention away from possible negligence by the city itself: Mayor Daley for his anti-road salt position, Streets and Sanitation for allegedly ordering salt truck drivers to not salt LSD, and the Chicago Police Department for possibly assigning poorly maintained vehicles to its officers. Weis might have legal ground to stand on when he says he might bring murder charges against the burglars, if captured, but morally he stands on thin ice by not demanding full investigations into Chicago’s own bureaucratic morass.
FINAL QUESTIONS
No disrespect to Sgt. Haymaker is intended by this question, but it needs to be asked: Was his blood checked for alcohol and/or drugs? I do not mean to imply anything by that question, but if anybody else had such an accident we would ask. The public has a right to know that even for a private citizen. We have as much right to know that when it involves a police sergeant.
RELATED:
Exclusive: Chicago Cop's Death on LSD Raises Big Questions
Update 2/24/2010: Funeral Details for Sgt. Alan Haymaker
Update 2/23/2010: Who Really Killed Sgt. Alan Haymaker?
Update, 2/25/2010: Man Charged in Burglary That "Killed" Sgt. Alan Haymaker
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| R.I.P., Sgt. Alan Haymaker |
Note: Our photos, below, clearly show what the other media have not shown: That Sgt. Haymaker's car was never on the exit ramp, he did not attempt to take the exit ramp, and that he transitioned over the curb from Lake Shore Drive in a straight line with NO spin-out.
In short, Sgt. Haymaker completely missed the well-lit, well-marked, easily visible Irving Park off ramp, and instead drove straight over the curb on Lake Shore Drive (LSD). He did not lose control on the ramp - in fact, he never entered the ramp. As he jumped the curb, his car continued in a straight line, knocking down a light pole and slamming to a stop when it hit a tree. It is not known whether Sgt. Haymaker was actually trying to take the Irving Park ramp - it seems very unlikely, however, because it was many blocks north of the burglary to which he was responding.
Sgt. Haymaker was still well north of where he should have been getting off, which should have at Belmont to approach the burglary at 3167 N. Clark. Belmont is 3200 north. The Irving Park exit ramp, actually at Bittersweet and Marine, is 4100 north.
The public "explanation" given so 
far by Chicago Police Department’s Major Accidents Unit is puzzling and insufficient in light of photographs (below) taken by Chicago News Bench on Monday afternoon.
The photos we have seen elsewhere, like the one here by The Chicago Tribune, do not show the tire tracks of the car as they leave LSD, go over the curb, and straight toward a tree. Our photos show that. According to CPD, Sgt. Haymaker was driving south on Lake Shore Drive as he was en route to a report of a burglary scene at 3167 N. Clark Street, several blocks west and more than 10 blocks north of the Irving Park off ramp. Lake Shore Drive is well lit. While "icy conditions" were named as a reason for the accident, visibility was not mentioned. The stretch of LSD southbound lanes is long and flat in the approach to the Irving Park off ramp, so nothing should have been obstructing Sgt. Haymaker's view of the wide and well-marked off ramp.
Our questions for the Chicago Police Department:
The car seems to have spun after leaving LSD and before striking the light pole; had it continued straight it would probably have missed the pole as indicated by the tire tracks still clearly visible in the snow at 3:15 p.m. today. This indicates that the car may have fishtailed, most likely as Sgt. Haymaker tried to steer and/or brake on the slippery snow-covered grass of the median on which he suddenly found himself.
Our photos below clearly show the path that Sgt. Haymaker's car took as it mysteriously went over the curb. There seems to have been no spin out prior to jumping the curb. We saw no skid marks on Lake Shore Drive anywhere near the accident scene.
 |  | Click images to enlarge |
 |  | Photos by Tom Mannis |
Suspect Sought for Fatal Halloween Hit and Run, Chicago
Alderman Eugene Schulter, 47th Ward, issued an email blast today asking for the public's help in finding Carlos Castillo, who is suspected as causing the death of Rachel Gilliam on Chicago's north side late last year. Gilliam, 25, had just left Bowman’s Bar & Grill at 4356 N. Leavitt in the North Center neighborhood, where she worked as a bartender and server.
From Schulter's email:
Feb. 16, 2010 - Carlos Castillo, 23, is wanted on an arrest warrant for a fatal hit and run traffic accident. The accident occurred near 4300 N. Lincoln in Chicago on Halloween night, 2009. The young victim was struck and killed as she left work that night. Castillo is 5'07 and weighs 200 lbs. His last known address in on West Jarlath in Chicago. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Carlos Castillo is urged to call the Chicago Police Department's Major Accident Investigation Unit at 312-745-4521.
RELATED:
Police Issue Arrest Warrant in Gilliam Hit-And-Run - Lake Effect News
Police identify suspect in fatal Halloween hit-and-run - JusticeForRachel'sBlog
Cops identify suspect in fatal N. Side hit-and-run - Reaction Radio
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Video Leads to Arrest in Uptown Robbery of Senior Citizen
Chicago - Jan. 17, 2010 - The surveillance video shows a man limping as he hurries from an Uptown apartment building, seconds after attacking an 85-year-old man in an elevator.
Three days later that same limp led to Dennis Dawson's arrest, 
Chicago police said Saturday. - Chicago Breaking News
Click to Watch the Video
Dawson was identified by security camera video that (allegedly) caught him in the act of beating up an 85-year old man, throwing him to the ground, then rifling through his pockets and robbing him on January 10. Dawson was arrested on January 14 and appeared in central bond court on Friday, January 15. Dawson's bond was set at $95,000.
ALSO SEE: Caught on Tape: Punk Beats and Robs 85-Year-Old Man
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Arrest Made in Fatal N. Side Chicago Fire
Chicago - Jan. 17, 2010 - Mahab Hassan, 26, of the 6700 block of N. Sheridan Rd., has been charged with aggravated arson, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and first degree murder, according to police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli. - Chicago Sun-Times
Hassan is charged with starting a deadly fire on January 14 in a multiple unit apartment building at 6720 N. Sheridan Road in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. The fire killed a 49 year old man, Noor Surani. Five other people were injured (including a firefighter), and 25 residents of the building were displaced. According to the Sun-Times report, Chicago Police detectives "found two points of origin for the cause of the fire as well as recovered a one gallon can of gasoline in the hallway, according to a detective with Bomb & Arson."
RELATED:
Man Arrested, Charged in Fatal North Side Blaze - FoxNews
See video by Rogers Park resident Al Iverson here. and here.
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Shiller's 911 Calls, a Baseball Bat, and Silence (Updated)
(Photo: CNB file image of N. Broadway and W. Wilson, taken August 2009; click to enlarge)
An odd incident occurred at Alderman Helen Shiller's office, 4533 N. Broadway in Uptown, happened at 11:18 a.m. Police removed a homeless man from the ward office without incident, but Shiller's staff refused to say why the police were called to handle a man thought to be homeless. (See related post, "Cops Called to Ald. Shiller's Office, Staff Mum.") Shiller's chief of staff, Denice Davis, told Chicago News Bench that it was "none of your business" why an emergency call was made to the police.
Despite Shiller's staff's reluctance to discuss an emergency call for help at an elected official's public service office, Chicago News Bench has obtained confirmation that the incident did in fact happen. A Chicago police officer with the 23rd District sent this message by email on the morning of Nov. 4:
"On the 3rd at 1118 Hrs 23rd District units were dispatched to Ald. Shiller's office to handle a disturbance. The tactical restored peace and left. The disturbance is alleged to have involved a homeless male....That is the information available on our call system."
"A mid-afternoon shooting in Uptown sent pedestrians near the corner of Broadway and Wilson diving for cover, and bullets smashing into the windows of the Wilson-Broadway Currency Exchange at 4599 N. Broadway," according to Lake Effect News. According to reporter Lorraine Swanson, "Twenty-third District police swarmed the scene around 2:15 p.m. Thursday. Witnesses said that four males began shooting across the Broadway and Wilson intersection with no regard for traffic or pedestrians at a person standing near the currency exchange. A mother and her three children dove for cover on the sidewalk, as bullets slammed into the currency exchange’s windows, witnesses said."
(Photo: Lake Effect News)
The October 29, 2009 shooting is by no means the first shooting at or close to the intersection of Broadway and Wilson. A smart gambler would bet that it won't be the last. Alderman Shiller tried to downplay the 2:02 p.m. October 29 shooting, insisting that the gunmen were not shooting at anybody in particular. That's not only a ridiculous statement, it is patently untrue. Chicago police officers told the Beat 2311 CAPS meeting on Nov. 3 that the shooters "were shooting at each other." The officers said that another shooting happened about two hours later in the course of a narcotics-related chase and arrest in Clarendon Park, about half a mile east of the currency exchange shooting. The officers said they did not know whether the two shooting incidents on Oct. 29 were related.
Shiller's staff is typical of Shiller herself. Reluctance to discuss crime and violence, even that which occurs inside of and across the street from her own ward office, for example. Shiller's dismissal of the October 29 shooting as nothing more than harmless hijinx is also in character. At last night's CAPS meeting, Shiller's chief of staff (Denice Davis) tried to shout me down as I asked the police for information about the 911 call to Shiller's office that morning. This is the behavior and attitude - indeed, the mentality - that has cost Shiller so much support in her 46th Ward. Her virtual silence on the issue of violence is deafening. Uptown's silent scream of frustration, however, will be given a loud voice in late summer of 2010, when the aldermanic campaigning will reach a crescendo. After 22 years in office, it's now widely believed that Helen Shiller cannot win another term.
RELATED: Cops Called to Ald. Shiller's Office, Staff Mum (Updated)
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VIDEO: Cops Called to Ald. Shiller's Office, Staff Mum (Updated)
UPDATED: Also see: Shiller's 922 Calls, a Baseball Bat and Silence
First, Ald. Shiller's staff tried to deny that the police were called. Then, the alderman's chief of staff tried to shut me down at a CAPS meeting. Shiller is a public, elected official whose public service office had just requested emergency services from the police, -- and her staff told me it was none of my business why.
At 11:18 a.m. on Nov. 3, 2009, a call came over the Chicago police radio that Helen Shiller's aldermanic ward (46th) office called to report a homeless man causing trouble. The staff keeps a baseball bat at the reception desk - just in case. The police radio indicated that it may be an assault in progress. Several squads responded by radio that they would respond. I arrived at Shiller's office at 11:28 a.m.
A police car was still on the street, in front of the office, as I walked in and asked why the police had been called. Shiller's staff was evasive, refusing at first to even acknowledge that the officers had been there even as they were still visible through the front window.
(Update, Nov. 5:) Here is confirmation of the incident as provided by the Chicago Police Department: "On the 3rd at 1118 Hrs 23rd District units were dispatched to Ald. Shiller's office to handle a disturbance. The tactical restored peace and left. The disturbance is alleged to have involved a homeless male....That is the information available on our call system." ~ CPD officer, 23rd District, email to Chicago News Bench, 11/4/09.
Later, I attended the 7:00 p.m. CAPS meeting for Beat 2311 in Uptown, just around the corner from Shiller's office. During the questions portion of the meeting, I asked the police officers if they knew what happened at Ald. Shiller's office this morning. Shiller's chief of staff, Denice Davis, interrupted me by loudly shouting "You don't have to answer that!" I responded back to her, "The officers have the right to not answer, but I have the right to ask the question, and you have no right to stop me from asking it."
Shiller, a Democrat, is widely known to be unresponsive to the high crime in her Uptown neighborhood. Shiller is the alderman who was chased from a public meeting by an angry crowd last summer.
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Uptdate - ANOTHER Uptown Gang Fight, Sept 1st, 2pm
UPDATE/CORRECTION, SEPT. 5:
Uptown "Gang Riot" Was Actually Minor Shooting
Word in the street is that there was YET ANOTHER gang fight in Chicago's troubled Uptown neighborhood, said to have happened at 2:00 in the afternoon at W. Wilson and N. Broadway, a few yards from the CTA train overpass. We get this from a woman who was at the CAPS Beat 2311 meeting on Monday night (Sept. 1). Five hours after the gang disturbance, the 7:00 p.m. CAPS meeting took place at Truman College, less than 300 feet away from the reported rumble. The woman who told Chicago News Bench about the fight said that "a police captain" in the meeting acknowledged the fight, but would not discuss details with the meeting attendees. One has to wonder why not, and also why the superhuman anti-crime fighting efforts of 46th Ward Alderman Helen Shiller and her entire staff of expert crime fighters have not yet put a stop to the seemingly weekly gang battles in Uptown, despite their sworn implementation of Shiller's Secret Safety Strategy (SSSS). Looks like "positive loitering," the latest social networking craze for socially challenged Uptowners, is working about as well as SSSS is.
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