So, remember when I told you all about that new sting operation where cops dress as regular folk and try to catch people who don’t yield to pedestrians? Well, apparently–along with more than 100 warnings– the CPD doled out a healthy dose of confusion. Check out these selections from the Tribune.
“James Fugate of the South Side was one of the drivers stopped by police. He held a warning handout, looking perplexed.
‘I saw him come out, but he stood right in front of the sidewalk,’ Fugate, 32, said.
The decoy would have had to roam a little further into the street for Fugate to realize he was trying to cross, he added.”
“‘I saw him, but to be honest, I thought maybe he was drunk or something,’ said Elisa Chessen, 39, of Skokie, who also received a warning.”
So, apparently Chicago cops are going to start posing as pedestrians to catch drivers who refuse to yield at crosswalks. Ok.
“In the stings, an officer dressed in civilian clothing will enter the crosswalk to cross the street as a vehicle approaches from 140 feet away, officials said. That provides adequate stopping distance based on the 30 m.p.h. speed limit on most streets, officials said. The intersections are not controlled by traffic signals or stop signs, but state and city ordinances require drivers to yield to people in the crosswalk.” [Chicago Tribune]
Ok, good idea in theory… I suppose. I get as mad as the next guy when a car comes hurtling down the street, assuming that I will scamper to safety before it crashes into my tiny body. (Hence, I run like an idiot at every crosswalk). Once you’ve been flipped off by a big guy in a Hummer on Howard for crossing during a “Walk” sign, you tend to lose patience.
But really? What if the car hits the cop? Doesn’t this seem kind of dangerous? Maybe? Just a little? And it also begs the question: If you hit the cop, do you get a double citation? Failure to yield to a pedestrian and assaulting an officer. Eh, CPD. I just don’t know.
So, today I was taking a look at Second City Cop’s blog when I saw their post about Ruben Ivy and Devonte Smith. The headline read, “Angels, One and All,” the dek, “Honor students and future heart surgeons, each and every one.”
Then, SCC goes on to quote a Chicago Sun-Times article that describes how Ivy and Smith’s mothers defended them in court, saying that they were good boys despite their lengthy criminal histories.
It’s always interesting to see the cop’s side of the coin. When I was working the highly truncated grad school crime beat last quarter, I went down to one of the stations to try to talk to the officers. The first officer I met started off our conversation with a lengthy denouncement of the media. (This was around the same time as the whole Michael Mette fiasco, so it was warrented). Then, he told me that whenever a kid is shot, the paper always runs an angelic high school graduation photo and quotes his parents as saying that he was a “good boy.”
Are these good boys? I don’t know. Are they bad boys? Probably in some respects. Is the media at liberty to decide? Probably not. So how do we handle situations like this? Do we keep our mouths shut? Put the kibosh on the glamour shots? What do you think?
I mentioned it earlier this week–and never gave you more info. But here it is now: Jody Weis has “shook up” the police department.
On Friday, Chicago Police Department Supt. Jody Weis made James Jackson, 50, his first deputy superintendent, and Beatrice Cuello, 51, deputy superintendent of Bureau of Patrol. Jackson is African-American, and Cuello is Hispanic.
The Chicago Tribune also reports that Weis has created a bureau to keep officers in line. The new superintendent has appointed a former FBI man, Peter Brust, 51, deputy superintendent of this new bureau– the Bureau of Professional Standards.
Now for the shake-up: By giving these three high-ranking jobs, Weis caused three deputy superintendents to resign rather than be demoted.
Still, no one seems all that up in arms– at least according to what the news is saying.
Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th) told the Tribune: “I think he listened to the concerns of all my colleagues concerning the first deputy. The first deputy is African-American. He is putting a Latina over the patrol division. I think he is listening to the community.”
Weis is listening to the community, that’s a positive thing. But what about the fact that the first time Jackson and Cuello were mentioned in the article announcing their ascension they were identified as “an African-American” and a “Hispanic woman.”
The paper could have identified Jackson as the Harrison District commander with years of experience investigating narcotics and gangs.
They could have introduced Cuello by calling her the Ogden District commander who has been involved with CAPS. They could have even said that she is currently getting her master’s at Northwestern University.
Why is race the most important characteristic? These two cops have years of experience under their belts.
What do you think? Will the accomplishments of Weis’s new appointments set them apart? Or does their race matter more?
Ok, usually it’s all doom and gloom over here at Watching the Detectives, but I thought that today (while we all cower under the looming jaws of Chicago winter) I’d bring some happy news.
Congratulations CPD, it’s a boy! For once, the CPD made the Trib for something positive. At 2:30 am, Sgt. Stacey Smith helped deliver a baby boy in a South Side basement bathroom. Sarge even supplied balloons, bibs and diapers.
I hope she used the siren on the way to the hospital. Kids love that.
Last weekend, yet another cop allegedly broke the law. Cmdr. Wesley Scott, 47, was Cicero’s first black police officer, according to the Chicago Tribune. This garnered him both criticism from some camps and praise from others—like Time magazine.
All this could be lost if Scott fails a drug test. You see, while he was rolling in the neighborhood he was allegedly rolling something else—pot. Officers pulled him over for running a stop sign and found the remnants of a roach—and not the creepy crawly kind.
Apparently, Scott is an exemplary cop who has done a lot of good in the neighborhood. So, maybe the law will go easy on him.
Other cops have gotten away with similar escapades—take Edward Sanchez, a police officer from Dearborn, Mich. who arrested someone for possession, confiscated the marijuana, baked it into brownies and then called 911 in a drug-induced panic to proclaim: “We made brownies and I think we’re dead, I really do.”
Sanchez resigned, but no charges were pressed. The video of his 911 call, however, made him an Internet star.
Do you think that Scott’s track record as a good cop and good citizen should save him from reproof? Or do you think that he should get his just desserts (excluding brownies, of course)?
Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis may be living up to his promise to clean up the CPD. Officer William J. Cozzi, 50, is supposed to hit the streets once more in April following a suspension. A suspension he was slapped with after beating up a man in a wheelchair. That’s right, a wheelchair.
Granted, the man who drunk and raising hell, but he was in a wheelchair.
Now, Weis is considering revoking Cozzi’s “Get out of Jail Free” card. The new superintendent was quoted in the Chicago Sun-Times as saying he will take a “hard, close look” at the case. Maybe then Cozzi’s suspension will be permanent.
What is going on with these cops? What leads them to rain down the blows on the weak and innocent? Maybe it’s the power? Or maybe it’s the stress? Or maybe these cops are just bad guys?
Take a look at some other examples of police brutality and let me know.
The Chicago Police Department took another hit yesterday when a former sergeant was sent to prison for 25 years on charges of raping a drug addict while on duty.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, John Herman, 42, said that he didn’t rape the woman, that they had some kind of arrangement. But no one was buying that story.
Apparently, Herman’s family believes that he is innocent; his wife told the Sun-Times, “The truth will come out one day. His whole family stands behind him.”
But will the truth come out? Or is it already out? The situation with CPD has been touch and go lately, and the press has had no shortage of “cops gone bad” stories. You’ve got former Lt. Jon Burge and his reign or terror, Chi-town cops racking up the DUIs and that little incident with the SOS.
But, you also have cops like Mike Mette, who was sent to prison for punching some drunken fool cruising for a fight. He’s going up the river for five years because he defended himself. His friends and family have set up a fund to try to save him from lengthy imprisonment.
I am by no means saying that Herman is innocent. He probably isn’t. But you got to admit that there’s folks out there that take a special joy in seeing cops behind bars.
What do you think? Do you think Herman’s wife is right, that the truth will out? Or do you think that justice has been served?
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