Speed Trap Exchange

Here is a site which lists all the known speed traps around the county.


Speed Trap Exchange.

Mayor proposes record property tax increase

October 10, 2007

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter

Mayor Daley today asked the City Council to raise property taxes by a record $108 million to finance library maintenance and construction, but only if the Illinois General Assembly extends the 7 percent cap on property assessments.

If the state doesn’t act, Daley told aldermen, the City Council will have to find other ways to balance a 2008 city budget amid rising personnel costs and declining revenues tied to the housing slump.

To appease aldermen, Daley dropped plans to double the city’s gasoline tax, from a nickel a gallon to a dime, and also nixed plans to double the city’s tax on restaurant meals, from .25 percent to .50 percent.

But other taxes would see increases, raising the overall burden on city taxpayers.

“We have a choice: Do we maintain city services and make the investments needed to keep Chicago moving forward, or do we cut services, make substantial layoffs and and risk falling behind?” Daley said. “I believe we have only one choice

Cops to kill elite SOS unit

October 9, 2007

BY FRANK MAIN AND ANNIE SWEENEY Staff Reporters

The Chicago Police Department will disband its Special Operations Section, which is at the center of a corruption case involving seven officers facing criminal charges, a source said today.

The change could come as early as this afternoon, the source said. The unit — whose officers have citywide jurisdiction to target narcotics and gun crimes — includes the Hostage-Barricade-Terrorist Incident team.

One SOS member, Officer Jerome Finnigan, is accused of being the ringleader of a group of rogue SOS cops who allegedly conducted home invasions, kidnappings and robberies since 2002. The seven officers were arrested last year and face state corruption charges.

» Click to enlarge image

Police Officer Jerome Finnigan is accused of being the ringleader of a group of rogue SOS cops.
(AP file)

RELATED STORIES

• Bond cut for cop who aided probe

One SOS supervisor welcomed the move.

“Change us, disband us, do something,” said the supervisor, who refused to be quoted by name. “It’s getting harder and harder for guys to do good police work.”

“I’ve been in the unit for a long time,” the supervisor said. “There are still a lot of good people there. I’m tired of saying that’s where I work.”

The supervisor acknowledged Finnigan and his co-defendants have tarnished the once-elite unit.

“These are only a few bad apples [but] they’re very bad apples,” the supervisor said.

Finnigan, 44, was charged in federal court last month with trying to hire someone to kill a former cop cooperating with the government as a witness against him in the state corruption case.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Sunday that Finnigan is No. 3 in the department in the number of complaints of misconduct — 52 — filed against him between 2001 and 2005.

He’s on a list of 662 officers with 10 or more complaints over that period. The city has been trying to keep the list secret, citing concerns about privacy and other issues.

Boston University professor Tom Nolan told the Sun-Times the department should consider disbanding SOS to send a message to the public that such conduct is not tolerated.

Interim Police Supt. Dana Starks has been holding weekly meetings with top staff to study potential problems posed by officers with repeated complaints.

Report: 3 Chicago cops get desk duty after video

Updated: 4:14 a.m. CT Oct 7, 2007

CHICAGO - Three police officers in a troubled unit have been assigned to desk duty after questions arose about the accuracy of a police report on a March 2004 drug arrest, a newspaper reported Saturday.

Officers claimed Raymundo Martinez was arrested outside a bar after they found drugs on him, but a surveillance video showed about 30 officers searching patrons and arresting him inside the bar, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The officers have been assigned to desk work, Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond said.

The 2004 bar search involved an elite police unit now under state and federal investigation. Seven members of the same unit already face state charges, including armed robbery and aggravated kidnapping. All have pleaded not guilty.

The newspaper reported the report was filed by special operations section Officers Eric Olsen and Greg Insley. Bond would not name the officers, citing a pending investigation, and did not confirm that Olsen and Insley were among them.

A call to the police union, the Fraternal Order of Police, was not immediately returned. A phone message left with an Eric Olsen in Chicago also was not immediately returned, and no published listing could be found for Greg Insley in Chicago.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald last week revealed a federal investigation of the unit on the same day that a former special operations section officer was charged with planning the murder for hire of another officer.

City does a graet job again---- not

From Secondcitycop

Sunday, October 07, 2007

DISASTER!!!!

Marathon called off at 13 miles. They ran out of water, Gatorade, and ambulances. An unmitigated disaster. Links to follow eventually.

UPDATE: Fire Department opening hydrants to cool runners. Squad cars being utilized to transport the ill. If you wanted to know what a terrorist attack would look like in Chicago, this is a prime demonstration of how unprepared this city is.

UPDATE: Channel 2, Channel 5, Channel 7, Sun Times, Tribune coverage

If this was a CPD event, the papers would read "Police Kill One, Hospitalize 300" We certainly hope the headlines tomorrow read "LaSalle Murders Runner, 300 Wounded."

Mayor Daley's Culture of Corruption, via chicagoclout

From Chicahoclout.com

Mayor Daley's Culture of Corruption

Please enjoy this editorial from the Chicago Tribune. Bottom line, the Chicago City Lawyers lie repeatedly to the Judges. I always thought everyone presents their case in a honest manner, respecting the laws as written. Someone at Chicago's Law Department must have ordered the Chicago Lawyers to lie, which leads me to believe the culture of corruption, scare tactics, and retaliation, is alive and well in the Mara Georges Office. I would quit working for the City of Chicago, as a lawyer, if a supervisor ever asked me to lie in-front of a judge. The law requires this activity to be reported, it never has happened. Many of City of Chicago's lawyers are not the top college graduates. Many quit Mara Georges rein after a short stay. I think the newspapers would best serve Chicago if they looked into the Law Department, as closely as the Building Department. See the Editioral below. On the same page, the Tribune wants the Olympics so bad, they are seem ready to "look the other way", to land the Olympics. Patrick McDonough

Continue reading "Mayor Daley's Culture of Corruption" »

Chicago Teamster's 726 Approve Contract October 4, 2007

From Chicagoclout.com


Final Vote. 1134 Teamsters made proper votes. 974 voted YES. 159 voted No. One Teamster (From the 11 Ward) had his vote voided. Teamsters had a chance to make some historic gains. Better luck next time. Do not forget where the unemployment line is boys. Special thanks to my Teamster Inspector General. Patrick McDonough.