Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Tuesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“One by one, five police officers took the witness stand at the Skokie courthouse late last month for what would typically be a routine hearing on whether evidence in a drug case was properly obtained,” the Tribune reports.
“But in a Perry Mason moment rarely seen inside an actual courtroom, the inquiry took a surprising turn when the suspect’s lawyer played a police video that contradicted the sworn testimony of the five officers – three from Chicago and two from Glenview, a furious judge found.”
It’s called testilying.


“Cook County Circuit Judge Catherine Haberkorn suppressed the search and arrest, leading prosecutors to quickly dismiss the felony charges. All five officers were later stripped of their police powers and put on desk duty pending internal investigations. And the state’s attorney’s office is looking into possible criminal violations, according to spokeswoman Sally Daly.

“Obviously, this is very outrageous conduct,” a transcript of the March 31 hearing quoted the judge, a former county prosecutor, as saying. “All officers lied on the stand today . . . All their testimony was a lie. So there’s strong evidence it was conspiracy to lie in this case, for everyone to come up with the same lie . . . Many, many, many, many times they all lied.”

I wonder if the director of the FBI, who was in town, saw the story.
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“In his first visit to Chicago since becoming director of the FBI, James Comey said today he is ‘painfully aware’ of the city’s seemingly intractable gun violence and plans to direct more federal resources at the problem,” the Tribune reports.
“Comey, who was in town meeting with staffers in his Chicago field office, told reporters in a brief news conference at the FBI’s headquarters on the West Side that new congressional funding will allow for 2,000 new hires nationally over the next year and a half.

“New agents are coming. New analysts are coming,” Comey said. “And I’m sure that one of the ways we can deploy those resources is to try and help with violent crime in a city like Chicago.”

“Flanking Comey at the news conference were Chicago police Supt. Garry McCarthy and U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon, who both have been under pressure to do more to rein in gang violence that has made headlines around the country.”
I wonder if Comey and McCarthy talked about this.
I also wonder if Comey saw this story while he was here.
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“Comey said reducing the number of shootings is difficult in a city like Chicago that has an ’embedded, longstanding’ gang culture that can’t be solved simply by stepping up arrests. It’s a problem he remembers from his days as a law student at the University of Chicago in the early 1980s, he said.

“There is not an easy answer on violent crime, especially gang-related crime that is so embedded in the culture,” he said. “Chicago has a larger and more ingrained and sophisticated street gang structure than many American cities . . . You can’t arrest your way to a healthy neighborhood.”

He’s right.
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Finally, do you think Comey happened to tune in to WGN-TV in his hotel room later?

Maybe Vanecko was just in a hurry to get to the Pepper Canister and not talk at all about being in jail.
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Fioretti vs. Rahm
“Ald. Robert Fioretti on Monday sounded every bit the candidate for Chicago’s top office with his public dissection of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s tenure, but he stopped short of saying he would run,” the Tribune reports.
“During a 20-minute speech at a City Club of Chicago luncheon, the 2nd Ward alderman harshly criticized Emanuel, decrying last year’s school closings and persistent crime and unemployment in low-income neighborhoods. He blamed policies dictated by ‘the elite. … So we continue down this road of degrading low-income neighborhoods.’

“Deals are being cut at our expense,” said Fioretti, 61, a second-term alderman whose ward boundaries were radically shifted in the city’s recent remap. “This is not responsible stewardship . . . This is a basic issue of competence here.”
Just as New York Mayor Bill de Blasio did during his successful run for office last year, Fioretti painted a “tale of two cities” picture, depicting Chicago as one city for the wealthy and another for the poor.
“At its root, we are seeing the widening of Chicago into two cities,” Fioretti said.

Fioretti is right, but . . .


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Weev Conviction Overturned
Punished for outing AT&T security flaw.
Theo’s Casualties Mount
Patience is not a virtue.
Slint, Styx & St. Louis Palooza
Plus: Rockie Fresh, Blood Money, and Justin Bieber with Chance the Rapper. In our Local Music Notebook.
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BeachBook
* Study: American Policy Exclusively Reflects Desires Of The Rich; Citizens’ Groups Largely Irrelevant. For reals, not The Onion.
* CPS’s Chicken Nuggets Don’t Contain Much Chicken. For reals . . .
* Chicago-Based Ultimate Frisbee League Signs ESPN Deal. For reals . . .
* Whitefish Shortage Hits Skokie Food Market And Other Area Stores Just As Passover Arrives. For reals . . .
* Area Man Teaches Baby To Play Guitar. For reals . . .
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TweetWood


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The Beachwood Tip Line: Testify.

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Posted on April 15, 2014