Results tagged “cpd”

• A pair of area deaths related to H1N1 have been reported. In related news, a truck with 900 H1N1 vaccine doses was stolen in Milwaukee though police have apprehended a suspect.
• As the search continues for a hit & run driver responsible for the death of 25-year-old Rachel Gilliam, a surveillance tape is making the rounds that shows the alleged car that moments later hit Gilliam and her family is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the driver.
• With 1,000 officers eligible to retire, Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis admits he's "nervous" about retirements cutting into the CPD's already thinned ranks.

The city's LGBT community (in addition to, ya know, people who don't enjoy police misconduct) received good news Thursday when it was announced Officer Richard Fiorito has been placed on desk duty pending the resolution of 20-some federal lawsuits alleging his misconduct.

At the end of this year, Chicago could be short 800 cops compared to last year the police union told the Sun-Times. The shortage is attributed to vacancies, attrition rates, and Mayor Daley’s 2009 budget which has significantly slowed down hiring. Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis told the Sun-Times last week that the CPD hopes to use federal grant money to hire 150 new officers this year. In the short term Weis will manage the officer shortage by shifting officers from desk jobs, or pay officers overtime with federal grants to cover the streets this summer.

Yesterday hundreds of records of special education students at Lake View High School dating back two decades were found in a Lakeview alley. Those records included confidential and sealed records instructed to be opened “only by the psychologist.”

Details on the return of Bear, a Chicago Police K9 who was found Sunday morning after close to four days of searching, were shared at a press conference yesterday afternoon. Howard Overton spotted the 2 1/2 years old German shepherd "near a cemetery on the border between Evergreen Park and Chicago," according to Chicago Breaking News. Realizing the tan and black K9 looked like "the dog on the news," Overton got the attention of a nearby police car.

While the Chicagoist intern isn't startled by storms, we know that's not true for all dogs, including some police dogs. This morning, the Chicago Police Department reported that one of its K9s, BEAR, went missing last night. According to an email sent out by the CPD, the dog's handler took it outside for a potty break when a crack of thunder - and we had plenty of that last night - scared the dog who scaled a five-foot fence and took off. The 74 lb black and tan shepherd was last seen near the 3800 block of West 109th Street.

Carnell Pitts, 18, was shot and killed at a house party on the South Side late Friday night, just two weeks after his younger brother, Kendrick Pitts, 17, was shot and killed along with two others. Carnell Pitts had allegedly been arguing with someone and was shot in the back. He later died at Advocate Trinity Hospital of multiple gunshot wounds. The death was ruled a homicide, and the police do not have any suspects in custody at this time.

The Chicago Police Department's Internal Affairs division has completed its investigation into the Vincent Richardson affair, the case of the 14-year-old teen cop impersonator. Tina Skahill, chief of the Internal Affairs Division, said, “We did find evidence that department members — at least five — violated department rules and regulations." The full report won't be released to the public until CPD superintendent Jody Weis has a chance to review it himself. Investigators interviewed witnesses and examined surveillance footage as part of

The now-former Senator from Illinois continues to dominate the news around here (though we'll pass on his gym updates, Trib).

We're third in population, but first in murders. For the first time in 10 years, Chicago has surpassed New York City in murders (and L.A. to boot). As of Tuesday, Chicago has had 426 murders so far in 2008 compared to 417 for New York City and 302 for L.A. Just more trouble for embattled Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis who will appear before the City Council today to discuss budget issues for the CPD. Chicago is on pace to top 500 murders for the year, which is still short of the bloody 1998 when the total was around 700.

Last week, we wrote about the shortage of police officers as crime in the city was rising, a correlation Mayor Daley denied. In keeping with his line of (faulty?) thought, a number of the proposed job vacancies being eliminated in the City's attempt to get it's $420 million budget under control includes several hundred police positions. According to the Sun Times, "the Chicago Police Department has 329 sworn vacancies and 424 openings for non-sworn police employees. That's in addition to the 705 officers on medical leave and 625 officers on limited or convalescent duty status." These vacancies would be eliminated in spite of Daley's promise earlier this year to add more officers to the force.

Just days after another officer was killed in the line of duty, Officer Richard Francis, who was killed in the line of duty in July, was honored today with a special ceremony during which his star was retired. It was the 462nd CPD star to be retired

Chicago police officers are making fewer arrested and taking fewer guns off the street this year, and some say it's because officers are afraid of being investigated—and don't feel supported—by the Jody Weis regime.

An off-duty Chicago police officer appears to have shot his two young children and then killed himself this morning. The 9-year-old boy is currently in critical condition, but the 7-year-old girl died from her injuries. (Earlier reports put the children at 6 and 8, then at 8 and 12, but the most current says 7 and 9.) [S-T, Trib]

The CPD is considering changing how its cars and SUVs look. And lo, the options are fug.

The police board released documentation yesterday of officers who'd been reprimanded, one of whom is ex-Sergeant Nicholas M. Ortega, who was fired for having sex in his office and wearing his uniform in a bar. Turns out it was one big incident, and the woman Ortega slept with was a rookie cop's wife.

The Chicago police board released records today that cover officers who've been suspended or fired. In the report:

Two bloggers from The Bench, a blog about Rogers Park, say the police owe them an apology.

I recently found myself on a nearly-empty Brown Line car during the early evening, when I realized that a man sitting next to me was masturbating. I kicked him and yelled at him to stop, which he did, and he left the train at the next stop. My immediate reaction was to feel relieved that I had so quickly recognized and taken control of the situation. And although I was grossed out, my prevailing feeling was: Fuck you, man. Nice try.

A group of partygoers is suing the Chicago Police Department for $10 million for what they say was misconduct and an illegal search of a La Familia Motorcycle Club in Logan Square. The suit claims police officers used stun grenades, held people at gun point for three hours, stole $3,000, and performed inappropriate and humiliating strip searches on female guests.

The CPD has issued 101 warnings in two hours today to drivers who failed to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk. An undercover officer tried to cross at Belmont and Lawndale in a sting operation to bust folks who don't yield to those of us on foot. The law requires drivers stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, even when there's no stop sign or traffic light, but not everyone is so into following that rule.

Keating approached the man outside, who first said he was a cop, then said he needed the gun for protection, and then said he also had a 12-gauge shotgun in his truck. Kucia has been charged with unlawful use of a weapon. [S-T, S-T]

The Chicago Police Department is investigating a bomb threat made last night to the WTTW Channel 11 station. Officials say that the threat may have been tied to last night’s premiere of the station’s new LGBT documentary, Out & Proud in Chicago.

takes a skeptical look at our police superintendent, and they don't seem too persuaded that he's doing a good job.

There are two noteworthy items in this recent report about a man who died Saturday from blunt head trauma after falling out of a police wagon. The first item of interest is the story in and of itself; the suspect was handcuffed and trying to escape from police custody, but the paddy wagon was stationary, and he was not struck by another vehicle. He simply … fell on his head, and died later from his injuries at Stroger Hospital. The death is under investigation.

Ugh, paper work is the worst. And we're all guilty of letting it pile up, from time to time. But we're pretty sure cops aren't supposed to do that. With parking tickets. Like, the ones they've issued. Maybe Sal Mungia didn't get the memo? Or maybe it got lost? Under the pile of nearly 300 tickets he wrote but didn't give to drivers?

Jody Weis wants Chicago cops to drive SUVs instead of what he called the "horrible" fleet of cars they current drive.

Roberto Gonzales, 24, died last night after police Tasered him. An officer told the Trib that he was "Tasered on the West Side after resisting arrest, and becoming combative and violent while being taken into custody." Gonzales's autopsy is scheduled for today. [Trib]