We're having déjà vu over here. Back in 2006, then Police Superintendent Phil Cline was criticized for redefining the duties of his First Deputy Dana Starks, effectively removing Starks control over day-to-day police operations as well as oversight of the now disbanded Strike Team Special Operations Section. Now, current Police Supt. Jody Weis has made a similar move with First Deputy Supt. James Jackson. Weis has removed Jackson as the chair of the Merit Board,......

In what is being described as a "robbery gone bad," a woman was killed and an off-duty police officer was critically wounded early Wednesday morning on the West Side. The shooting occurred near the woman's home in the 3000 block of West Franklin Boulevard in the East Garfield Park neighborhood. Officers responded to reports of shots fired at 1:30 a.m. and found both the woman, 45-year old Kathryn Romberg, and the 49-year old unnamed officer,......

In today's "No Shit" story, Chicago's 2008 murder rate is up 18 percent compared to the first seven months of 2007, including a particularly bloody July that saw 62 people killed. From January to July this year, 291 people were murdered while the same time period in 2007 saw 246 murders. While the July tally seems high, it's still below the 66 murders from July 2006, though 2008's year-to-date tally is still higher than 2006's......

Mayor Daley announced that the city will try to repeat its successful gun buyback campaign this Saturday, with citizens bringing firearms into 25 participating churches between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. in exchange for a $100 prepaid MasterCard. BB, replica, and air guns will also be accepted in exchange for $10 prepaid cards. But the programs effectiveness, which brought in a record 6,700 guns last year (Daley and Chief of Police Jody Weis hope to......

Photo by Kudzuplanet I've had "Concrete and Clay" stuck in my head all damn day. Good thing it's so awesome. Illinois has seen fewer road fatalities this year than last. So far in 2008, there have been 484 traffic fatalities, which is about 100 fewer than over the same period last year. Finally, something good about high gas prices. [WBEZ] Jody Weis testified in front of City Council today. [Trib] A Red Line train......

Embattled Police Superintendent Jody Weis just can't catch a break. On Friday, Cook County Circuit Judge William Maki upheld the Chicago Police Board's decision to suspend Officer William Cozzi instead of firing him for the 2005 beating of a wheelchaired man was the correct one. The incident took place in August of 2005 at at Norwegian American Hospital in Humboldt Park. Video of the beating shows then-60-year-old Randle Miles handcuffed and shackled to a wheelchair......

Cartoon for Chicagoist by Tim Daly......

It seems like just yesterday we were talking about Daley's public support of under-fire Police Superintendent Jody Weis...because it was. Behind closed doors, however, it's a different story entirely. Mayor Daley reportedly raked Weis over the coals in a closed door meeting over the alleged mistakes made during the Taste that led to violence and the overall rise in the city's violent crime this year. One source told the Sun-Times, "It wasn't quiet." Weis was......

In the wake of the recent uptick in violence, including last week's Taste of Chicago shootings, Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis is being called to face the music by Alderman (29th) and Police Committee Chairman Isaac Carothers. "He's inexperienced, and it's his first Taste," Carothers said. "I want to see what his response is going to be to deal with this violence, not only at the Taste, but with this unprecedented violence in this city—13......

Yesterday, the mayor (finally) responded to the gang violence at the Taste this year. "We had 3.5 million people. It's only one shooting—and all of the sudden, you're describing it as chaotic. It's not chaotic. ... This is very safe," said Daley. The mayor, who was at an Academy of Achievement conference in Florida when the shootings took place, said that the police were present at the Taste, but were powerless to stop the violence.......

Photo of a "safe" crowd at the Taste by JOE M500 Police Supt. Jody Weis went on damage control yesterday, assuring reporters that "[the Chicago Police Department] will do everything we can to keep this place safe for our visitors and our friends. The safety at the Taste is undisputed." Well, besides the shooting the other night. Or the two other incidents of gun violence at the Taste in the past four years. Or the......

Josue Torres's mother wants an apology from police superintendent Jody Weis--and she's is threatening to sue if she doesn't get one. Recall Weis blamed the 8-year-old's parents for the child being shot. Jessica Perez, Josue's mother, is a legal secretary, and her boss, Robert A. Habib, is representing her. Habib released a letter to Weis, defending Perez and saying "your statement was defamatory and libelous. ... It was also unbelievably cruel and heartless.'' Weis didn't......

Police Superintendent Jody Weis said yesterday that the parents of 8-year-old shooting victim Josue Torres Jr. are at fault. "I hate to say it, but the parents are to blame for that 8-year-old being shot. They choose to engage in this activity. Now we have an innocent 8-year-old who is shot...[The boy's step-father is] engaging in gang activity and, more than likely, he's probably breaking some laws. ... As long as we have people who......

Burn on J-Fed: Time takes a skeptical look at our police superintendent, and they don't seem too persuaded that he's doing a good job. From "The Woes of Chicago's Top Cop": It had been one of the warmest weekends so far this year and so, Weis argued, there was simply "more outdoor activity, more opportunity for crimes to occur" — a common explanation for such crime outbursts, but not an especially persuasive one. The superintendent......

"'Everything was the exact opposite of the way it should be,'" says David Hoffman, the city's inspector general, describing the bribery and corruption in Chicago's zoning and building departments. Sayeth the Trib: "The alleged bribes helped developers avoid seeking necessary variances, receive certificates of occupancy that they were not entitled to and pass inspections that they should have failed, authorities said." [Trib] Emil Jones is taking out interest-free loans from his campaign fund. It's......

Photo by Katherine of Chicago City crews have filled over 400,000 potholes since December. Wow. But the Transportation Commissioner says real resurfacing projects can't be completed until the state coughs up the money. [S-T] Nick Swisher writes "D.30" on the underside of the brim of his hat, which stands for his nickname, Dirty 30. [link, via] "[Police superintendent Jody] Weis marked 100 days on the job Saturday and he hasn't just ruffled feathers. He's......

Jody Weis wants Chicago cops to drive SUVs instead of what he called the "horrible" fleet of cars they current drive. Weis also said he'd like to get officers better flashlights and radios, and standardize their weapons. The wish-list was part of a speech he gave this afternoon at the Chicago Crime Commission luncheon. From the Trib: ...Weis noted that making any of these changes would cost money, and the city budget crunch might......

Woah, big news out of the CPD today. Jody "J-Fed" Weis replaced 21 of the city's 25 district commanders in a massive overhaul, the details of which are still emerging. But the Sun-Times says, The major changes include appointment of Thomas Byrne as chief of detectives and Debra Kirby as Weis’ new general counsel, sources said. Byrne was previously commander of the Belmont Area detective headquarters and Kirby was in charge of the Internal Affairs......

More bike or foot patrols was not part of Fraternal Order of Police 3rd Vice President Greg Bella’sdemands for a more fit police force. Photo by Tobias Higbie. We reported in yesterday’s Extra, Extra, that top cop Jody Weis -- a buff body builder married to a personal trainer -- wants to modify the current incentive for officers to stay healthy and fit. Instead of the $250 bonus payment for officers to run a......

Photo by A Funky Damsel The Red Line is going to be jacked this weekend. Southbound trains will be running on the elevated tracks between Cermack and Fullerton stops.[CTA] Kaushik Patel, who is accused of murdering his two young sons by setting them on fire, tells the Trib that he only intended to kill himself. [Trib, kind of freaky photo of Patel] One person was shot and killed, and another person beaten with a......

Photo by Bowl Rider Stephen Kazmierczak's professors and classmates say he seemed like a normal guy. [Trib] Wait, an office complex out by O'Hare costs $100 million? [AP] Violent crime on the CTA is up. [CBS 2] Watch out for a five-ton sand sculpture in the Millennium Park garage starting Monday. It's part of South Carolina's tourism campaign. [Crain's] Jody Weis is cleaning house at the CPD. He appointed four new deputy superintendents and......

Screw Valentine's Day...let's think of tomorrow as Palentine's Day instead. High fives and paper airplanes for everyone! Daley's plans to privatize Midway is forging ahead, with five of the seven carriers who fly into Midway agreeing to the proposal. [Crain's] Anthony Abbate may plead guilty to aggravated battery. [S-T] Illinois lawmakers have accepted $83,000 from tobacco companies in the four weeks before the primaries. Is there such a thing as "small" tobacco, or is it......

It certainly felt that way, Kookybites Today's must-read: The Reader's Whet Moser discovers the Chicago Tribune was not such a big Martin Luther King fan back in the day. Chlorine fumes in an Elmhurst hotel's waterpark sent 20 people to the hospital this afternoon. [CBS 2] Incoming CPD superintendent Jody Weis will, according to spokeswoman Monique Bond, be taking a "hard, close look at for further action" at the case of Officer William J.......

It's official for Jody Weis: He's the new superintendent of police as of today, now that the City Council has approved him. 3rd Ward Alderman Pat Dowell cast the lone dissenting vote, saying she thought Weis's answers to the Council's questions were too general. First one Weis's agenda? Picking his next-in-command, and then cleaning up the department and its internal investigation branch. He told the Trib, People usually come out of the academy very excited......

Goose Gossage is the lone Hall of Fame inductee this year. He should also be inducted into the mustache HoF, dudes. [MLB.com] McCormick Place will soon display O'Hare and Midway flight info. [Crain's] President Bush says he backs Chicago's Olympic bid. [CBS 2] After serving 21 years in jail for two murders he didn't commit, Herb Whitlock was finally released today. [Trib] A bunch of puppies (plus some adult dogs) seized from a decrepit trailer......

Wow, it's been hours since Al Sharpton was in the news, so here we are today with a new round of Sharpton headlines. He held a press conference outside the Mayor's office this morning demanding that the City effectively treat its police brutality issues--or Sharpton will campaign against Chicago's Olympic bid. He also urged aldermen to reject Daley's nominee for police superintendent Jody Weis's because Daley selected Weis without input from the black community. Psst,......

"Law enforcement officials at all levels, from the detectives who investigate cases to the superintendent, as well as the state's attorney's office, have failed to properly police the police." Wow. The Trib goes all out today with a massive story about police shootings, and it's extremely critical of the CPD. According to the story, "More than 100 people have been killed in the last decade; 250 others have been injured. But only a tiny......