Law enforcement

PI Original
by Adam Doster
2:36pm
Mon Jun 28, 2010

After Chicago's Gun Ban

Now that Chicago's gun ban has been reversed, city officials need to get creative about how they lower the demand for violent weapons.

Quick Hit
by Josh Kalven
9:48am
Wed Jun 23, 2010

Burge n' Blagojevich

If you're not reading John Conroy and Steve Rhodes' daily dispatches on the trial of fomer Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge, there is still time to start (though final arguments are scheduled for later this week).  Here is Rhodes today highlighting the imbalance in local media coverage:

Who cares if a decorated Chicago police commander tortured dozens - if not more - of African American men, some of whom wrongly ended up on Death Row, when our former governor is caught on tape musing about trading a U.S. Senate seat for the ambassadorship to India? Don't be such a downer! Blago is fun! Burge is a drag. [...]

This is what happens when news is defined in large measure by its entertainment quotient. If I had a nickel for every time I heard a reporter describe how much fun it was to work in a town with such brazen political schemes. Fun? You have to live here too. It's disgusting.

Quick Hit
by Josh Kalven
8:28am
Wed Feb 24, 2010

Repossessed Squad Cars?

Reading Carol Marin's Sun-Times column today, this passage popped out at me:

[I]n Illinois, we've deferred our problems until it's almost too late. Like in Downstate Alexander County, for instance, where all the squad cars were recently repossessed, and 75 percent of the sheriff's department was laid off. Imagine.

That's right.  The sheriff's department in Alexander County is so broke that it fired three-quarters of its staff and missed so many car payments that the bank repossessed five of their seven squad cars.  A sheriff's department in St. Lucie, FL ultimately donated five of their own cruisers last September.  Read all about it here.

PI Original
by Angela Caputo
11:23am
Thu Nov 12, 2009

Another Victory For Police Secrecy (But The Fight Goes On)

Chicago's police officers are the city's first line of defense and
they deserve our thanks.  That being said, they are also paid with
taxpayer dollars and should be expected to withstand public scrutiny. 
Yet again and again, the Daley administration has worked to prevent
...

PI Original
by Angela Caputo
1:40pm
Mon Aug 3, 2009

More Evidence Of The Need For Reform At Tamms

Back in May, Gov. Pat Quinn called for an examination of the policies at Tamms Correctional Center in response to criticism that prisoners are languishing there in solitary confinement -- in some cases for more than a decade -- despite its intended purpose as a short-term ...

PI Original
by Josh Kalven
9:30am
Tue Jul 21, 2009

Religous, Political Leaders Voice Support For Reforming Tamms

Last week, the organization Tamms Year Ten held a rally outside Chicago's Thompson Center to highlight the human rights situation at Tamms Correction Facility in downstate Illinois.  It attracted a number of speakers from state and city government, numerous religious leaders, ...

PI Original
by Adam Doster
10:21am
Tue Jun 16, 2009

Kirk's Latest Priority: Saving Illinois From "Zombie-Like Kids"

Rep. Mark Kirk still can't make up his mind about the possibility for running for higher office next year. This morning, the North Shore Republican
told WBEZ
that he delayed his scheduled announcement in order to see who else enters both the 2010 gubernatorial and U.S. ...

PI Original
by Josh Kalven
9:43am
Tue Jun 9, 2009

Cops As Crossing Guards?

This is a bizarre proposal:

Nearly 300 Chicago crossing guards, detention aides and traffic control
aides could face layoffs next month as their jobs are replaced by city
police officers, a union representing those workers said today. [...]

"The ...