SOS: 24th District Cops Out of Control

Fellow New Media Journalists: Please give this your attention, and help bring it to the attention of your readers. Bloggers - the free media - are under siege in Chicago's 24th Police District. This is a story for newspapers to latch onto as well - if they care about free media and free speech and police harassment. (They claim to - do they?) Where are the so-called, self-professed Free Speech Liberals? Craig and I have written about this extensively. Where are the ACLU types, so eager to defend neo-Nazis's free speech? Nazis can speak freely, even march past the homes of Auschwitz survivors, say the ACLU members. But bloggers? Why, they're bloggers! That's just unacceptable! Where are the so-called "community leaders" who call themselves "Progressives?" Where are our fellow bloggers? Where is Commander Steven Caluris, 24th District, who claims he is against the type of behavior that some of his troops are engaging in? They are silent, virtually all. Granted, a handful of people (mostly anonymous) are leaving comments on Craig's blog. Oh, how brave! Thanks for your virtually silent, anonymous-and-therefore meaningless support. The so-called civil libertarians of the 49th Ward in Rogers Park are precisely the opposite: They are boot licking sycophants to the local powers. They march lock step with Joe Moore and his cronies. None of them has stepped up to the plate, none has openly spoken out. That is why we need outside attention. Like a third world nation with a tyrant in power, we appeal to outside entities for assistance. All we ask for is your attention and assistance in getting the word out about official harassment of journalists in Rogers Park, the 49th Ward, the 24th Police District. To be sure, not all of the officers in the 24th are behaving badly. Most are not. But it only takes a handful of bad apples to make the whole house smell rotten. I am getting some of the abuse, but friend and fellow writer Craig Gernhardt is being harassed the most. Examples: * On June 28, Craig and I were assaulted by first responders (in front of the Ald. Moore's office). A paramedic committed assault and battery on Craig, then attempted strong arm robbery (no weapon) of his camera. A cop assaulted me, tried to steal my camera, brushing my hand with his in the attempted robbery. I have a formal complaint filed with Internal Affairs. See the video here. * In mid-June, Craig recorded video of some young kids working on the site of a gut rehab building. There is a police connection here, although weird. The kids were hauling fiberglass and other waste materials with no protective clothing or masks. (See * Child Labor Used in Rogers Park Rehab.) In any normal community, Craig would have been lauded as a hero for exposing the outrage - but here in socially dysfunctional Rogers Park, he is being attacked for it. Why? Mental cases here accuse him of making a child porn video! According to Craig, The kids are fully clothes, not doin anything sexual, are in broad daylight, in plain view of the street. The only sick people involved in the incident are the people accusing Craig of doing anything wrong. THE POLICE CONNECTION: About a week after Craig made this video, a female cop pulled Craig over and expressed her displeasure about it. She had no business doing this - it is a civil matter, not a police matter. * On July 6, a police car responded responded to a call about illegally parked vehicles where Pratt Avenue ends at the beach. The officer sees me, she also sees five illegally parked vehicles, and says to me, "I have a call that you're photographing cars. It's illegal to photograph cars." Huh? I ask her which ordinance makes it illegal to photograph a car in Chicago. Of course, she could not cite her make-believe ordinance. She wrote a ticket for a guy whose car was parked with two wheels over the curb, but ignored four life guard vehicles. (More about that over here....) This was not exactly harassment, but the message was loud and clear: The police (some of them) are more interested in hassling civilians than in doing their job.

For space considerations I'll stop here for now. But there will be more to come.

Warning! Sidewalk Bicyclists On Morse Avenue

Whew, the 24th District police (Chicago) have their work cut out for them! They are now, apparently, cracking down hard on bicyclists (over 13 years old) who ride on the sidewalks of Rogers Park.

The police just did a brilliant chase-down of a bicyclist last night. As the cops are reported to have said to the heinous offender, he was putting people in "grave danger."

Ah, but the "grave danger" continues! Today, right now, I see many cyclists over the age of 13 on the sidewalk of Morse Avenue. Where are the police? Why are they not stopping this imminent, grave danger? Of course, there is another way to look at all of this: Crime in Chicago and the 49th Ward is now, I guess, so low that the most serious thing the police have to worry about is bicyclists.

Drunk Crashes Car Into Bike Race

An alleged drunk driver killed one person and injured 10 others when he fell asleep at the wheel and slammed into bicyclists in a Brownsville, Texas, race. Juan Campos, 28, charged with the death of Alejandro Alvarez, 37, of Monterrey, Mexico, claims he is a legal U.S. citizen residing in the Texas-Mexico border town. However, according to Associated Press reports, the U.S. Consulate has not been able to confirm his status. FULL STORY at World Net Daily... MORE: The driver, Juan Campos, was driving drunk, and claims to have fallen asleep at the wheel. He was returning from an all night drinking binge with his girlfriend on Playa Bagdad, according to Mexican authorities. He somehow managed to swing his 1989 Gran Marquis around the event's police escort before slamming into a dozen bicyclists. In the uncropped version of the photo, it looks like it wasn't too difficult. FULL POST at Xavier Thoughts...

Free Bike Helmets on Saturday, June 7

Join Chicago's 20th District Police Officers for fun and information on Saturday, June 7. You can register your bike and get a free bike helmet and lock (while supplies last!), have your child fingerprinted by a certified police safety seat technician, and more. Enjoy free refreshments and "other surprises." Where: Amundsen High School, 5100 North Damen in the south parking lot When: Saturday, June 7 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. "come rain or shine" Why: Free stuff, good infomation, meet your neighbors A $2.00 donation will be requested For more information contact Alderman Mary Ann Smith's 48th Ward office at (773) 784-5277 or visit Ald. Smith's web site.

Response to Not-So Groovy Alley Story

Thank you for posting the item about the sadistic "new and NOT improved" alley design east of Sheridan ("Sadistic Alleyways a Bit Too Groovy") I have often used this alley as a north-south bike route, as do many other cyclists. I forwarded a link to your post to contacts at CDOT's bike program and Chicagoland Bicycle Federation to see if they can nip this problem in the bud. This kind of dangerous design is really unacceptable. Keep up the good work! Anne

Sadistic Alleyways a Bit Too Groovy

Some sick, twisted sadist at Chicago's Streets and Sanitation, who has apparently never ridden a bicycle, designed some of the newer alleys in Rogers Park. They were recently repaved in a torturous manner that can only be called cruel.

The alleys run north-south just east of N. Sheridan Road, from Albion north to Greenleaf. They are frequented by many bicycle riders, especially in warm weather when they provide safer access to beach front than does busy Sheridan.

The problem is two-fold: Deep grooves run up the middle of the alley, and occasionally cut across it at strange angles. These grooves are just wide enough that a bike rider could be in serious trouble if their tires go into them. Damage to the wheel, injury to the cyclist. Also, the new and more painful speed bumps, apparently designed by somebody who resents motorists and cyclists alike. The older, more gradual bumps were rough enough, but these could prove dangerous if hit too hard by a moving bike.

The grooves are obviously for drainage. But in the previous eight or nine years, I've never once seen these alleys flood.

Also see: Response to Not-So Groovy Alley Story

Morons on Wheels

Photo taken Sunday afternoon, March 16 on Morse Avenue, Rogers Park, Chicago.

This is an all too common site.

Young imbeciles leave their bikes strewn on the sidewalks, creating a hazard for pedestrians.

What kind of assholes are the parents of these little pukes?

Danger on the Sidewalks

A neighbor and faithful reader of The Bench is rightly concerned about the idiots who ride their bikes like crazy people along the sidewalks, specifically along N. Sheridan Road. I share the reader's concern, but fear that nothing can be done short of draconian measures. Bench: Your attention is requested to address the dire danger of bicycling scofflaws on the sidewalks of Sheridan Road in Rogers Park. See, especially, the extremely prominent signs on every corner of every cross-street directing bicyclists NOT TO RIDE ON THE SIDEWALK BUT TO WALK THEIR BIKES. I would very much like to avoid committing manslaughter - these doofuses make it really difficult. I feel your pain, dear reader, I really do. But I've had a video posted for a year now showing how dangerous the intersection of N. Greenview and W. Pratt is, and the Powers That Be have not responded to it. What makes you think they would respond to little ol' me demanding that something be done about cycling scofflaws? The law was changed within the past 18 months so that it is illegal for anybody over 13 years of age to ride their bike on a sidewalk. Ironically, that just makes it worse. Adults who ride their bikes on the sidewalk tend to be far more careful than kids, who often rip along at high speed without concern for the person who may unexpectedly walk out of a doorway and into their path. The law essentially legitimized that by specifically exempting irresponsible kids. Best to just poke your head out, look both ways, then enter the fast lane of the sidewalk. My suggestion to you, dear reader, is to take a hint from an old World War II movie starring Steve McQueen movie that I recall. McQueen and his band of soldiers strung thin wire from tree to tree, across the roadways, to decapitate the Nazi soldiers who were chasing them on motorcycles. The effect was swift and had the immediate effect of making the road much safer for pedestrians. You can pick up thin wire at any good hardware store. You might consider demanding speed bumps for the sidewalks in your neighborhood. Alderman Joe Moore of the 49th Ward is known to love speed bumps, and would probably respond favorably to your request for speed bumps to be placed along the sidewalks along N. Sheridan Road.

Annual Loyola Neighborhood Bike Ride

Sounds like fun!

Loyola University invites you to join them on a neighborhood bike ride and dinner.

Click poster for more information!