R.I.P.: Police Officer James M. (Jimmy) Johnson Jr.

O.D.M.P.

Police Officer James M. (Jimmy) Johnson Jr.
Carrollton Police Department
Georgia
End of Watch: Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Biographical Info
Age: 55
Tour of Duty: 3 years, 8 months
Badge Number: Not available

Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: Tuesday, November 11, 1980
Weapon Used: Shotgun
Suspect Info: Not available

Officer Jimmy Johnson succumbed to a gunshot wound sustained almost 30 years earlier as he and two other officers questioned an armed man.

The suspect had come into town with $20,000 in cash in preparation to conduct a large drug deal. As the man and a female acquaintance were watching a movie prior to the drug deal someone broke into the man's truck and stole the money.

The female alerted a gas station clerk that the man was armed with a shotgun and asked the clerk to call the police. Officer Johnson and two other officers located the suspect behind a local mall and blocked his truck in with their patrol cars.

Both occupants of the truck exited the vehicle and the officers recovered the shotgun from inside the truck. After speaking for a few moments the man pulled out a .38 caliber revolver and attempted to escape, holding Officer Johnson hostage.

The man retook possession of the shotgun and started walking Officer Johnson away from the scene. A struggle ensued and the suspect shot Officer Johnson in the back with the shotgun, several wounding him. The suspect was shot and wounded in the ensuing shootout with the other officers and taken into custody.

Officer Johnson passed away from the wound on May 26, 2010. His death was ruled a homicide by the county coroner from the effects of the gunshot wound sustained on November 11, 1980.

At the time of the shooting, Officer Johnson had served with the Carrollton Police Department for just under four years. He is survived by his wife.

R.I.P.: Auxiliary Lieutenant Dan Kromer

O.D.M.P.

Auxiliary Lieutenant Dan Kromer
Taylor Police Department
Michigan
End of Watch: Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Biographical Info
Age: 54
Tour of Duty: 20 years
Badge Number: Not available

Incident Details
Cause of Death: Vehicular assault
Date of Incident: Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Weapon Used: Automobile
Suspect Info: At large

Auxiliary Lieutenant Dan Kromer was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver on I-94 at approximately 9:00 pm.

He had stopped to assist a disabled vehicle. A passing car sideswiped the disabled vehicle and struck Lieutenant Kromer, who was standing next to the car. The vehicle that struck him fled the scene and the driver remains at large.

Lieutenant Kromer was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to injuries early the following the morning.

Auxiliary Lieutenant Kromer had served with the Taylor Police Department for 20 years.Agency Contact Information
Taylor Police Department
23515 Goddard Road
Taylor, MI 48180

Phone: (734) 287-6611

NEWS: (National) U.S. Senate committee to hold hearing on rape investigations

Baltimore Sun

Hearing spurred in part by Sun reporting on cases in city

By Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun

10:12 PM EDT, September 7, 2010

Concerned that police departments nationwide fail to fully investigate rapes, a congressional committee will examine the issue next week at a hearing spurred partly by a Baltimore Sun examination of the systemic underreporting of sex crimes.

The Senate Crime and Drugs subcommittee has asked representatives of the Office of Violence Against Women to appear in Washington to discuss the problem, as well as a Pennsylvania woman jailed by police who erroneously accused her of making a false rape report.

The Sun reported in July that Baltimore for years led the nation in the percentage of rape cases in which police concluded that the victim was lying, with more than 3 in 10 cases determined to be "unfounded." Other cities have seen disturbingly high percentages of uninvestigated or dropped race cases in years past, and a women's advocate in Philadelphia pushed for the congressional hearing after the Sun's investigation reignited concerns.

The newspaper's report "made me believe that all of the issues [in other cities] were not just idiosyncratic problems, but that there is likely a chronic and systemic failure in police departments," said Carol E. Tracy, head of the Women's Law Project in Philadelphia. "I think it's important to expose it, and to encourage the federal government, which has very little jurisdiction around this, to nevertheless exercise greater accountability on the data that it does receive."

Tracy's group reviews rape reports marked as unfounded by Philadelphia police. The hearing was authorized by Sen. Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Democrat and former prosecutor who heads the Judiciary Committee.

The Sun analysis showed that four out of 10 calls to 911 over a five-year period had not generated a police report, having been dismissed by officers at the scene. Victims have reported being interrogated by detectives about their motives and truthfulness, while others said patrol officers ignored their allegations.

Since the problem surfaced, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake ordered the police department to conduct an audit of rape cases, and a task force of police, prosecutors and victim's advocates last week launched an effort to track down about 100 victims of cases that were labeled "unfounded" since early 2009.

Police have sent officers to training, and changed policies to prohibit patrol officers from not writing reports.

"We have failed sexual assault victims in Baltimore," Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III told city councilmembers at a City Hall hearing last month. "And we have an enormous amount of work to do with our partners to restore the public trust and confidence."

The Senate hearing, scheduled for Tuesday, will include testimony from Susan B. Carbon, director of the national Office of Violence Against Women; Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsay and a Pennsylvania woman who was imprisoned by police who said she made a false report of rape. A serial rapist later confessed to the crime.

It was not clear whether Baltimore officials were invited to take part in the hearing; a spokesman for Specter did not return calls Tuesday night. Maryland Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, a Democrat, is among the legislators who sits on the crime and drugs subcommittee.

"Rape is a very serious crime and should be treated as such. Failure to properly investigate such crimes should never occur; it emboldens would-be perpetrators and discourages victims from stepping forward," Cardin said in a statement Tuesday night, adding that the hearing "is essential to bringing attention to chronic problems within our justice system."

A review of national FBI data shows significant disparities in rates of unfounded rapes. Though most cities have a percentage in the single digits, some, including New York and Cleveland, report zero — a figure that experts say is just as troublesome as Baltimore's high rate. The FBI does little to monitor the accuracy of reporting.

Baltimore's numbers stand out. The percentage of cases investigated by detectives each year that are deemed unfounded is five times the national average. Only Louisville and Pittsburgh have reported similar numbers in the recent past, and the number of unfounded rape cases in those cities dropped after police implemented new classification procedures.

Meanwhile, rapes have declined 8 percent nationally since 1995, but have tumbled 80 percent in Baltimore.

Baltimore is also one of only two cities in the country, out of more than 270 with a population of 100,000 or more, that records significantly more homicides than rapes. The other is New Orleans, where police have also faced questions. More than half the rape reports there have been classified as noncriminal "complaints," the Times-Picayune reported last year.

The rates of rapes per 100,000 people in Philadelphia and St. Louis — two cities that were found in recent years to be manipulating rape data and have made reforms — are more than double that of Baltimore.

In Philadelphia, the Inquirer newspaper showed that thousands of cases had been dumped by the sex crimes unit. Police in 1999 reopened 2,500 cases going back five years, the statute of limitations in Pennsylvania; of those, police auditors determined 2,300 were incorrectly handled.

Tracy's Women's Law Project was permitted to review all rape complaints that the department determines are "unfounded," a police term meaning the claim was baseless.

She said she has been collecting information as journalists and advocates in other cities contact her with similar problems.

"Given the apparent prevalence of the mishandling of rape complaints, we are concerned that the FBI is not exercising its auditing responsibilities as it collects and analyzes data," Tracy wrote to Specter in late July.

NEWS: Hoffman Estates names acting police chief

Daily Herald

Current head departs at end of month

By Ashok Selvam | Daily Herald Staff
Published: 9/8/2010 12:00 AM

Hoffman Estates Assistant Police Chief Michael Hish, a 25-year veteran of the department, will replace retiring Police Chief Clinton Herdegen.

"Nothing's going to change as for the openness of the department and the level of customer service to the community," Hish said.

Village Manager James Norris announced Hish's appointment to acting police chief during Tuesday's village board meeting. Norris selected Hish from an undisclosed number of internal candidates.

"Mike is well-suited for the position, and I'm sure he'll do a great job," Norris said.

Though he'll assume most of Herdegen's responsibilities, for now the title will remain "acting." Hish said he'd like to assume the post permanently but hasn't been told when a permanent chief would be named. Norris, who is in charge of filling the position, said he hasn't decided upon the process. Hish and other members of the police department will be considered.

"One step at a time," Norris said.

Hish said he looks forward to the challenge of the village's top cop and thanked Norris and the village board for trusting him and his abilities. He said he hopes to follow the example Herdegen has set in terms of service to the community.

Herdegen spent 20 months as acting chief before earning the permanent post after former Chief Donald Cundiff left in 1998. Herdegen praised Hish and Steve Casstevens, the village's second assistant police chief. The two have filled in for Herdegen as chief in the past when he was away from the village, for example when he's on vacation.

"That's one of the reasons Hish is qualified," Herdegen said.

One of the reasons it took 20 months until Herdegen was named chief was Norris was new to the village manager's post, Norris said.

"I had to get to know him, Norris said.

Herdegen will leave his post as police chief at the end of the month, ending his Hoffman Estates career which started in 1981. He's among 10 employees who took the village's early retirement offer which saves Hoffman Estates $1.1 million in combined annual salary and benefits. The village announced the cost-cutting moves last month and offered qualifying employees three years of health insurance coverage as terms of the buyouts. Public Works Director Ken Hari also accepted the offer and will leave at the end of the year. More buyouts will be offered later this year as the village plans next year's budget under a harsh economic climate.

The village named Hish assistant chief in 2002. Village officials credit him with revamping the emergency-preparedness plans for Hoffman Estates after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Herdegen said village staff works together better as a result of Hish's work.

Herdegen, 50, said he's not ready to say where he'll be employed after September. He previously said he'd take a job at another police department. The village will hold a reception before the board meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday Sept. 20 at village hall to recognize Herdegen's departure and career in Hoffman Estates.

Acting: Hish wants to assume post permanently

PENSION: Park board leader in Highland Park quits

RELATED STORIES:


PENSION: Follow up on park District in Highland Park

Chicago Tribune 

Pressure to resign mounted after pension controversy came to light
By Sue Ter Maat, TribLocal reporter

9:47 PM CDT, September 7, 2010
Advertisement

Bowing to public pressure amid a pension controversy, Highland Park Park District board President Lorenz Werhane Jr. announced Tuesday that he would step down after the board finds replacements for the two other board members who resigned last week.

Werhane told a packed room at a Park District special meeting that he had originally planned to stay to help guide the district back on track. But he decided his continued presence would cause too great of a disruption for the board, Werhane said.

"There have been those who have called for my resignation, and I have resisted," Werhane said. "I truly wanted to be part of the solution. But now I understand that will not be possible."

The Park District will accept letters of interest from residents who would like to be considered as board replacements, said Liza McElroy, the district's executive director.

Last week, former Commissioners Nancy Rosenthal and Stacy Weiss sent their resignation letters to the board and Park District.

The resignations followed two meetings on Aug. 19 and Aug. 30 where residents angrily demanded they step down.

Residents were outraged by the revelation in an Aug. 1 Tribune story that outgoing Park District Executive Director Ralph Volpe landed $270,999 in bonuses in 2008, boosting his compensation that year to $435,203.

Volpe, who retired at 57, receives a pension this year of $166,332. His pension likely would be about $110,000 had he received more typical annual salary hikes of 4 percent instead of the huge hike and bonus in 2008.

In another case, Park District finance director Kenneth Swan received a five-year contract that called for bonuses of about $75,000 a year. He has not yet retired.

Last week, Highland Park public officials, including Mayor Michael Belsky, called for Werhane to resign as well.

NEWS: Residents sue Melrose Park police alleging excessive force

--I have made a copy of the actual complaint in this case available {{HERE}}
Duke

Pioneer Press

September 7, 2010

By DAVID POLLARD dpollard@pioneerlocal.com

A group of Melrose Park residents have filed a federal lawsuit against the village's police department alleging several village police officers used excessive force against them in February.

According to the lawsuit, on Feb. 20 five people, two of them teenagers, were allegedly beaten repeatedly and verbally assaulted. In addition, the lawsuit claims a Taser was repeatedly used on them by Melrose Park police officers.

Melrose Police officers' Dezon Moss, David Borrego, Lt. Dino DiMaio and William Potamiano were also listed as defendants in the case.

Melrose Park Police Chief Sam Pitassi said he was aware of the lawsuit but could not comment. He said the lawsuit has been passed on to their attorney.

The plaintiffs, Juan Rivera, Janet Escobedo, Julian Aldaco, Juan Villareal and Margarita Rivera were attending a dance competition Feb. 20 at Cailyn Banquet Hall, 2225 W. North Ave. in Melrose Park.

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs left the banquet hall at 1 a.m. At some point, the Melrose Park police were called to the area where the dance was taking place to investigate an alleged disturbance. None of the plaintiffs was involved in any physical altercation that evening, according to the lawsuit. Words were exchanged between two teenagers and Villareal, who is 16, but no fighting took place, the lawsuit states.

As Villareal entered his family's vehicle, an officer grabbed him from behind, slammed him into a patrol car, handcuffed him, and put him in a squad car, the lawsuit states.

Margarita Rivera asked the police where they were taking her 16 year-old son; police refused to answer but allegedly called her profane names.

According to the lawsuit, Escobedo also questioned the police, and they called her profane names and then DiMaio allegedly grabbed her by the neck, lifted her off the ground and slammed her on his police car and punched her in the face. Escobeda is 15 years old and weighs 105 pounds.

The lawsuit states Borrego then used a Taser on the back of Escobeda at least three times. While in the back of the patrol car, Villareal expressed anger about what was going on and one officer allegedly used a Taser on him.

The plaintiffs' attorney, Barbara Long, said her clients are seeking monetary damages as well as injunctive relief so that the police department would be ordered to train their officers on how to properly use a Taser. “The Taser was discharged seven to eight times,” she said regarding the incident.

Long also believes police officers on the scene overstepped their bounds dealing with the teenage girl.

“From a common sense perspective, she is just this small girl that has never been arrested and is no threat to anyone,” she said. “They are going to be hard pressed to explain why they needed to continuously subdue this little girl.”

A court date has not been set.

NEWS: (Chicago) Chicago police net 20 in Labor Day gun arrests

Chicago Tribune

September 7, 2010 2:22 PM

Chicago police arrested 20 people on felony charges of unlawful use of a weapon since Friday, Superintendent Jody Weis said today.

Those arrested by this morning had a combined record of more than 175 arrests, Weis said.

"We are not talking about angels here," he said.

Weis did not immediately know how many gun-related arrests police made Labor Day of last year by comparison.

Since Friday, there were 24 shootings and two homicides in Chicago, most gang-related, Weis said.

Also over the Labor Day weekend, two juveniles - 12 and 15 years old -- were charged with robbery on charges they beat a doctoral student at University of Illinois at Chicago and took his cell phone and cash on Aug. 26. Weis credited UIC police for its help in the investigation.

-- Duaa Eldeib

BREAKING NEWS: (Chicago) Daley will not seek re-election

--Sure, why not? The city is in bleak shape. It needs millions to balance the budget, billions to finish the O'Hare expansion project. They are short thousands of police officers and fire fighters. Crime is out of control. His upper management is in shambles with useless people. Why wouldn't he leave?--
Duke

Chicago Tribune

Daley's decision stuns political world

September 7, 2010 2:29 PM

Mayor Richard Daley's surprise announcement that he will not seek another term sent shockwaves through the political world.

"Wow, wow," Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, said when he learned of the decision in the middle of a City Council Finance Committee debate.

"So all you wanna-be mayors, I guess you better run out and get your petitions," Burke added.
Burke was quick to praise Daley, who he called "the most successful big city mayor in America."

"I think (Daley) probably would want to be remembered principally for his ability to become the education mayor, for his willingness to take on responsibility for schools, that mayor had refused to accept for many, many years in Chicago," Burke said.

Burke said he would try to get Daley to reconsider his retirement plans, though he noted that the mayor's statement was "a pretty significant announcement."

• Ald. Bob Fioretti says he had been looking at the upcoming February mayoral race and was planning on having his own announcement in the coming weeks.

The Democrat's 2nd ward cover the city's West Side. He says several people have told him to run for mayor.

Fioretti says Daley has done a great services for the city, but he and Daley have had their differences.

• Gov. Pat Quinn said he had no clue Daley not running for re-election, and looked shocked when told by reporters.

"He's a great guy and a great mayor," Quinn said, adding praise for Maggie Daley's involvement in After School Matters. "Rich Daley and Maggie Daley are the heart of Chicago and they're special people. I think like everybody else I'm shocked to hear this but I wish both Mayor Daley and Maggie Daley nothing but the best. They love Chicago."

"They are two special people, they care about other people. They've got servants' hearts, each of them have served us over and over again in many different ways. So we have a permanent debt of gratitude to Mayor Richard M. Daley and his dad, Richard J. Daley, we have a permanent debt of gratitude to Maggie Daley and the whole Daley family. They understand that being on Earth is not here to just serve yourself but to really serve others, and they have done that over and over again."

He noted that Daley was an adviser to him after he assumed the governor's office, saying "the mayor is the best of all."

• Ald. Joe Moore, 49th, said he was "very much surprised. There was speculation he may not run again, but I think everyone had predicted over the last several weeks, as he made pronouncements that seemed to indicate he had every intention of running for reelection, that he indeed was going to run for reelection. So it is a huge surprise that is going to rock this City Hall.

"I think that in recent weeks with the lack of a credible re-election opponent, it looked like he was on his way to victory. As I've often said, 'You can't beat somebody with nobody.' And so far, nobody seemed to be the only potential opponent."

Moore, an independent Democrat often touted as a potential mayoral candidate, said he was planning to run for reelection "and my initial reaction right now is to continue" that effort. "But I'm still reeling from the news, so I'm not going to say anything until I let it soak in."

• Cook County Clerk David Orr says the political landscape in Chicago "changes enormously."

Orr said "many political people will be focused on the mayor's seat." He predicted much "scheming and planning."

• U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said he spoke with Daley after the announcement and believes the decision "was a personal, family decision."

"After 21 years as mayor and almost 40 years in public life, Rich Daley knew it was time.

"The job of a big city mayor is one of the hardest in America. The fact that Chicago is one of the best, most energized, most attractive places to live in our nation tells the story of Mayor Daley's record.

"Maggie, Rich and the Daley family poured their hearts and souls into Chicago. Their legacy can be found in the schools, the neighborhoods and the businesses large and small across this great city."

-- Hal Dardick, Monique Garcia, Associated Press

NEWS: (National) Sheriff fires deputies caught naked in forest

Chris Adkins and Scarlett Dennison

 

 

 

Johnson City Press


By Becky Campbell
Press Staff Writer
bcampbell@johnsoncitypress.com

Two Washington County Sheriff’s deputies caught drinking and having sex at a U.S. Forest campground are now off the county’s payroll.

Sheriff Ed Graybeal said Tuesday he dismissed Deputies Chris Adkins and Scarlett Dennison from their positions as patrol officers for the sheriff’s office because their conduct was unbecoming of officers, which violated the department’s general orders.

Adkins, 30, and Dennison, 42, paid around $250 each for the citations they received earlier this month from a U.S. Forest Service officer.

The event that led to the firings happened on a Friday night when the deputies were off duty. The U.S. Forest Service office and a Carter County deputy, working off-duty with the forest service at the time, came upon Adkins, Dennison and a third person, Jamie Walsh, 32, of Butler, around 11 p.m. July 30 at Cardens Bluff Campground.

The forest ranger and Carter County deputy were conducting patrols at area federal forest land campgrounds. The Forest Service hires off-duty Carter County deputies to assist them with patrolling those areas.

According to the federal citations charging the three, the forest ranger saw the three at a camp site drinking alcohol in the open and then engaging in sex.

No one has been able to say how long U.S. Forest Service Officer Scott Cairnes and Deputy Derek Hamm stood watching the trio, but in Cairnes’ report he wrote that he saw Dennison and Adkins engage in three sex acts and then Adkins and Walsh began to fondle Dennison.

Cairnes and Hamm made their presence known after the campers were startled by a camper at another site closing a truck door and the three stopped what they were doing.

All calls to the U.S Forest Service about the incident were directed to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Greeneville. Assistant U.S. Attorney Helen Smith said she did not know how long the officers stood watching.

Graybeal declined to comment further about the incident.

Walsh also has paid his fines, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Helen Smith.

The three were charged with possessing alcohol in a prohibited area, public nudity and public intoxication. Adkins had an additional charge of child endangerment because his 2-year-old son was asleep in a tent at the campsite.

Adkins and Dennison had been on paid suspension from the sheriff’s office since the incident. Both were patrol officers and worked on the same platoon.

They joined a growing number of dismissed officers in recent years.

Detention Officer Christopher Lynn Boyd, 40 of 1311 American Way, Jonesborough resigned from his position after he allegedly sprayed an inmate inappropriately with chemical spray.

Boyd was charged with two counts of assault and official misconduct. The incidents happened in April and May and involved the same inmate. Boyd is free on bond while awaiting action by a grand jury.

In 2008, jailer Timothy Crain was fired after investigators discovered he sold smoking tobacco to inmates for $100 a pack.

NEWS: (Illinois) SJ-R reporter fights traffic charge

State Journal-Register

By CHRIS DETTRO

THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER
Posted Sep 02, 2010 @ 11:30 PM
Last update Sep 03, 2010 @ 06:32 AM

A State Journal-Register reporter who covered a murder trial in Quincy last spring believes he was targeted by law enforcement because of news articles he wrote about the trial, his lawyer says.

Records show that Bruce Rushton had just finished covering the Shirley Skinner murder trial for The State Journal-Register in Quincy on May 6 when he was pulled over outside the Adams County Courthouse and charged with driving with a suspended license and disregarding a stop sign.

The license-related charge was dropped, but the incident has prompted a legal effort by Rushton, 46, to determine why he was stopped in the first place and to get the stop sign ticket dismissed. His attorneys are seeking information on law enforcement radio traffic and usage of a database used to check criminal records.

The stop sign charge is scheduled for an Oct. 12 court date in Quincy, said Dan Fultz, the attorney handling that part of the case. Rushton has retained Springfield lawyer Don Craven to help gain access to official records under the Freedom of Information Act.

“I’m not guilty of all charges and look forward to proving my innocence,” Rushton said. “Any further comments will have to come from my lawyer.”

“There is some concern he is being targeted,” Fultz said of Rushton. “That appears to be one of the motivations, but I don’t have anything to verify it at this point.”

Fultz said at issue is how the National Crime Information Center database was used to check Rushton’s driving record before the traffic stop.

Records show that Ashland Police Chief Jim Birdsell used the system to run a check on Rushton’s name on May 4, two days before the traffic stop in Quincy. At the time Birdsell ran the check in Ashland, Rushton was in Quincy, Fultz said.

Records reviewed by the newspaper showed Birdsell ran the first check of Rushton’s name in NCIC at 9:04 p.m. May 4. Birdsell says he was acting on a tip when he told Illinois State Police that Rushton’s driver’s license might be suspended because of a DUI charge.

“Somebody told me he had gotten a DUI in Sangamon County,” Birdsell said. “Whenever I get that kind of information, I verify it before I act on it. The computer showed he was suspended, and because he was in Adams County out of my jurisdiction, I just passed it on to the state police.”

Rushton was arrested and charged with DUI and speeding after a traffic stop in Springfield on Oct. 18, 2009. The DUI charge was dismissed due to insufficient evidence at the request of the Sangamon County state’s attorney’s office on Nov. 6. Rushton pleaded guilty to speeding and paid $200 in fines and court costs.

A motion filed by Fultz to reinstate Rushton's driver’s license was granted Nov. 6, but the suspension was still listed in the system when Birdsell checked Rushton's name.

Birdsell said he didn’t remember who told him about the DUI case.

The police chief had spent the earlier part of May 4 testifying in Skinner's case. The Ashland woman was convicted of shooting to death Steven Watkins, the estranged husband of her granddaughter.

Checks led up to traffic stop

Documents obtained in preparation for the traffic case show Birdsell wasn't the only officer checking Rushton's records in the NCIC database.

* The Illinois State Police ran Rushton's name in the database at 1:25 p.m. May 6.

* The Adams County Sheriff’s Office ran the name at 2:16 p.m. May 6.

Rushton was stopped by Adams County sheriff’s deputy Scott Doellman at 2:33 p.m. May 6,after Rushton had finished interviews relating to Skinner's guilty verdict. Quincy's 911 call center ran Rushton's name in the database at 2:35 p.m., the records show.

In a May 11 report, Doellman said he was on a stationary patrol at Sixth and Vermont streets near the Adams County Courthouse when a dispatcher told him Rushton’s license was suspended.

Rushton was driving a State Journal-Register car when he was stopped by Doellman for allegedly rolling through a stop sign outside the courthouse. When Rushton's license showed up as suspended in the NCIC system, Rushton was arrested and taken to the Adams County Jail.

Adams County officials learned Rushton's license was valid several hours after the arrest. Rushton was released on bond, and the suspended license charge later was dropped, Fultz said.

Rushton denies running the stop sign and intends to have a jury trial on the ticket, Fultz said.

License suspension never taken out of system

It's unclear why Rushton's license suspension wasn't removed from the NCIC database.

When a DUI arrest occurs, an automatic notice of license suspension is sent to the Illinois secretary of state's office. The suspension takes effect on the 46th day after an arrest, said the agency’s spokesman, Henry Haupt.

If a DUI charge is dropped during the six-week period, a county circuit clerk mails an order voiding the suspension to the secretary of state’s office, and the computer records are updated within two days, Haupt said.

In Rushton’s case, that didn’t happen, he said.

Haupt said the secretary of state’s office doesn’t have the paperwork showing that the suspension was rescinded.

“It could be that it wasn’t sent, that it got lost in the mail, or it got lost once it arrived here,” he said.

Haupt said Rushton called him May 6, the day of Rushton’s arrest. The court order was verified and Rushton’s driving record was modified the same day.

FOIA effort seeks radio transmissions

After the arrest, Rushton filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking copies of all radio transmissions made by Adams County Sheriff’s Office employees between 1:45 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. on the day of the arrest.

Adams County Deputy Fred Kientzle denied the request, stating Adams County State’s Attorney Jon Barnard advised him the documents were part of an active court case.

Later in May, Rushton filed a lawsuit in Adams County seeking immediate release of the records.

The sheriff’s office released some records in August, but Rushton told Craven, his attorney, he is still reviewing them for completeness.

“They sent a few pages of documents and a disc,” Craven said.

If Rushton and Craven determine the records aren’t complete, Craven said he will tell Barnard he’s not satisfied with what was released from the sheriff’s office “and ask him to go back to his client and determine where the remaining records are.”

Craven said the records that were received seem to indicate that “sheriff’s office personnel were waiting for Bruce to get in his car. They were watching him, following him and observing him at the Skinner trial.”

“Bruce thinks he was targeted because of the content of the news stories he posted about the Skinner trial,” Craven said. “At some point, Dan Fultz and I will have to get our heads together and decide where to go from here.”

Birdsell's check of Rushton's name in the NCIC database came hours after a story was published about the case at SJ-R.com. The article included defense allegations that Birdsell’s investigation of Steven Watkins' death was shoddy.

The story reported testimony that Birdsell waited months before seeking help from experienced homicide investigators and didn’t immediately summon a crime-scene investigator to Skinner’s home in Ashland, where Watkins was shot to death on Nov. 25, 2008.

Birdsell said he hadn’t read any of the newspaper articles associated with the Skinner trial.

“With all the stuff going on, I hadn’t read any of them since the first one a couple of days after the incident,” he said.

Birdsell said he was also unaware of Rushton's arrest when it happened.

“The verdict had come in, and I was pretty excited about that,” he said, referring to Skinner’s conviction on murder charges.

Chris Dettro can be reached at 788-1510.

About the handling of this story

Bruce Rushton has retained his own legal counsel to handle issues relating to his traffic stop in Quincy on May 4.

* Springfield attorney Dan Fultz is handling the traffic stop portion of the case.

* Don Craven, also a Springfield attorney, has been retained by Rushton to handle his effort to obtain records under the Freedom of Information Act.

Craven has worked for The State Journal-Register to handle FOIA cases on behalf of the newspaper, including some involving stories Rushton has worked on. Craven is not acting on the newspaper's behalf in this case.

The State Journal-Register has taken no stance in Rushton's case and is not a party to the legal actions.

Assignment change

Bruce Rushton often covers court, law enforcement and legal matters as a reporter for The State Journal-Register. While this case is being resolved, the newspaper has removed him from covering stories that would create the potential for a conflict of interest.

Rushton was asked for comment for this story as a source, but he was not involved in the writing and editing of the story.

NCIC records

The FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) is a computerized index that includes criminal history, fugitive records and stolen property. It is available to federal, state, and local law enforcement and other criminal justice agencies.

All records in NCIC are protected from unauthorized access through appropriate administrative, physical, and technical safeguards, according to the NCIC website. The safeguards include restricting access to those with a need to know to perform their official duties.

“Users of the NCIC system will be restricted to only those privileges necessary to perform an authorized task(s),” the website says.

PENSION: Culture of greed

Chicago Tribune Editorial

September 7, 2010

Park commissioners in Highland Park deliberately inflated the compensation package of their retiring executive director to bump his pension by tens of thousands of dollars per year. Bellwood officials were surprised — surprised! — to learn their village administrator, whose base salary was $128,940, collected nearly half a million dollars the year before he retired.

Welcome to Illinois, where shameless opportunism meets hapless fiscal stewardship, and the taxpayers lose again. If you think the culture of greed and entitlement is more or less contained in Springfield, the capital of pay-to-play, or Chicago (unofficial motto: "Where's mine?"), then you're not paying attention. Wake up.

Not long ago, we learned that the executive director of Metra had been padding his compensation for nearly two decades — granting himself ever-larger blocks of vacation and cashing them out in advance, for example, or authorizing extra deposits to his own 401(k) account — while nobody on the commuter rail's governing board so much as raised an eyebrow.

Last year we learned that officials at the state's flagship university were running a separate admissions system to help political power brokers clout their friends into college. The university's trustees were complicit or clueless.

In June, the Tribune reported that Roy McCampbell, village administrator for blue-collar Bellwood, made $472,255 in 2009 — more than any suburban municipal executive in Illinois. That includes $128,940 in base salary; $115,101 for work performed as budget director, public safety CEO, human resources director, finance director, mayoral assistant and other posts; $66,000 for serving as corporation counsel; $126,214 for unused sick and vacation days and $36,000 he couldn't explain, but then neither could the Village Board, which signed off on all of this.

Those bumps increased his pension from roughly $180,000 a year to more than $250,000, the highest in the state's municipal employee retirement fund.

And now there's Highland Park, where park commissioners awarded their soon-to-retire executives generous raises and bonuses to "provide them with a good pension for what they had accomplished for the community," according to Board President Lorenz Werhane Jr.

Executive Director Ralph Volpe, whose 2008 salary was $164,204, was paid $435,203 that year. That bumped his pension by more than $50,000, to $166,332 a year. Finance director Kenneth Swan got a five-year deal that includes a $75,000 bonus each year.

Facilities director David Harris, who was being groomed to take over the district, resigned with eight months left on his contract, but there were no hard feelings: The district paid him for those eight months anyway — and let him keep the taxpayers' SUV.

Residents weren't happy to learn that the district was passing out their money so freely. They packed two public meetings, demanding answers and calling for the resignations of the three commissioners who were on the board when the deals were approved. They didn't get many answers — commissioners said those would be posted later on the Internet — but by Wednesday, two of the three commissioners had resigned.

Two suburban lawmakers, meanwhile, want to hold hearings to consider limits on late-career pension bumps.

It's a familiar script, isn't it? From Springfield to the Urbana- Champaign campus, from a commuter rail agency to a suburban park district. This is Illinois. Watch your wallet.

PENSION: (Melrose Park) Improper pension of $82K paid back

Sam Pitassi

--It is refreshing to see that the business as usual culture of "double dipping" is being addressed on this level. It is also refreshing to see that the matter was fixed peacefully and without some type of legal action being needed.--
Duke






Chicago Sun-Times

MELROSE PARK | State says no to police chief's deal

September 7, 2010

BY STEVE WARMBIR Staff Reporter

Melrose Park's police chief has quietly paid back more than $82,000 in pension benefits he improperly received while still on the village police force, after the Chicago Sun-Times revealed the unusual arrangement.

Police Chief Sam Pitassi retired in July last year as police chief then was quickly re-hired as a consultant to the village, with essentially the same responsibilities as chief. The Chicago Sun-Times first reported the unusual deal in April.

Under the agreement, Pitassi could collect his pension of $8,125 a month plus his consultant's salary of $65,000 a year, for more than $162,000 a year.

At the time, Melrose Park Mayor Ronald Serpico called the arrangement "a good-government thing."

Unfortunately for Pitassi, the state didn't agree, and despite efforts by village officials to make the deal work for Pitassi, he wound up giving the pension money back.

With the deal dead, village officials promptly rehired Pitassi back as police chief in July this year -- at $130,000 a year.

Pitassi was alerted early on by the police pension board attorney that the pension arrangement might not fly under Illinois law, according to documents obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Later, an attorney for the village sought advice from the Illinois Department of Insurance on whether the deal was valid, and the answer was no.

"In essence, Mr. Pitassi's duties as an administrator under the employment agreement appear to be substantially identical or potentially identical to the duties that Mr. Pitassi was required to perform as the chief of police prior to his retirement," according to the letter, written in March by Glen R. Gasiorek, staff attorney for the Illinois Department of Insurance.

Village attorneys rewrote Pitassi's consulting contract, but the village police pension board still did not approve Pitassi getting a pension while doing essentially the same job he did before as chief but under a different title.

One pension board member, Larry Spino, said in an interview he felt the measure was being pushed through.

"I'm not going to vote for something that's wrong," Spino said.

"I've got one interest -- to keep that pension fund healthy."

An Open Letter to the Good People of Chicago and a Call to Action

Reprinted from: The Adventures of a Highway Road Runner

2010-09-02

An Open Letter to the Good People of Chicago and a Call to Action

Blog posts, newspaper articles, tv news segments and radio talk shows... while meant to inform the public of the dangerous state of Chicago... are just words... meaningless without action.

What do the people of Chicago really want?

If the people say nothing and do nothing, even by apathy, they condone the current state of affairs in this city. Nothing will change.

We are a Nation and a city of laws. The people of Chicago should not be reduced to "negotiating" with anyone to comply with the rule of law.

It is time for the people of Chicago to unify their voices... to demand positive change... for the common welfare of its society.

The people of Chicago deserve to live in peace in their homes, their blocks, their communities. They should accept nothing less.

The police, as part of and empowered by the community, are charged with the duty to keep all of Chicago safe. To be effective in that public mandate, the pollice must be staffed with adequate personnel... competent and honorable leadership... and the best tools available.

The Fraternal Order of Police, representing Chicago Police Officers, have stated that all of its members are aware of the dangerously low manpower within the Department that has created unsafe conditions for Chicago Police Officers and Chicago citizens alike.

The Board of Directors of Chicago Lodge #7 voted to stage a march that will take place on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 at 1000 hrs at Chicago Police Headquarters, 3510 S. Michigan Ave. It has encouraged all of its members to attend this march.

What is the will of the people of Chicago? The rule of law or the rule of terror?

The people of Chicago MUST take a stand, one way or the other. The will of the people (or the lack of it) will determine its future.

I respectfully request the good people of Chicago to rally and organize 50,000 of its citizens to answer this call to action with a loud and unified voice... to stage their own march at Chicago City Hall on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 at 10:00 a.m... the same date and time that its police force will march on its headquarters.

The good people of Chicago must decry the out of control public violence that continues to kill its children... its citizens...and its police officers who protect them.

The good people of Chicago must demand...

    * The positive changes needed to restore the rule of law to ALL Chicago neighborhoods
    * The adequate staffing, resources, and the competent, honorable leadership for its police department to be effective in meeting this public mandate.
    * A refusal to negotiate for or accept anything less than a dedicated, responsive city government and a well trained, motivated police force, to protect their lives, their property and their liberty.

As a messenger and servant of the people, I have sounded the warning that many others have been afraid to. This warning can no longer be ignored or dismissed.

Who will answer this call? Will you answer this call?

Chicago needs you... NOW!

Respectfully,

John Andrews

Citizen of Chicago
One of many honorable defenders who stand ready with a sworn duty to serve and protect this city and its people

NEWS: (National) ACLU lawyers seek to quash wiretapping charges

Baltimore Sun

Motorcyclist arrested for taping his own traffic stop

By Peter Hermann, The Baltimore Sun

5:40 PM EDT, September 3, 2010

Citing a 2,000-year-old Roman quote, "Who will watch the watchers?" a Harford County judge skeptically questioned prosecutors Friday pressing criminal charges against a motorcyclist for recording his traffic stop and posting the video on the Internet.

Circuit Judge Emory A. Plitt Jr. said he would issue a written ruling shortly as to whether the case against Anthony Graber can proceed to trial Oct. 12, but he acknowledged that appeals courts have not ruled on the issue and that "we are on unplowed ground."

The judge referenced the videotaped beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles, the proliferation of surveillance cameras and the ease with which virtually anybody can quickly snap pictures and record events and self-publish with a click of a button.

Harford County State's Attorney Joseph I. Cassilly has already gone on a radio station to debate the merits of the case with an attorney from the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought a team of high-powered lawyers to court on Friday. Among them was Joshua R. Treem, a former federal prosecutor who represented one of the D.C. snipers and currently represents a Baltimore city councilwoman under indictment.

The conflict arises from a March 5 stop by a plainclothes state trooper who pulled Graber over after watching him speed through traffic topping 100 mph and pass several cars on one wheel with his motorcycle. Graber had been wearing a camera attached to his helmet to record his ride.

Trooper J.D. Uhler jumped out of his unmarked car with his gun in his hand, but did not point it at Graber, as he ordered him to dismount, and he issued several citations.

Five days later, after seeing the encounter —video and audio — posted on YouTube, state police obtained a search warrant and raided Graber's house. They seized his cameras and computers, and prosecutors later obtained a grand jury indictment charging the 24-year-old Maryland Air National Guard staff sergeant with violating the state's wiretapping laws. He faces up to 16 years in prison and the loss of his engineering job if convicted of a felony.

Maryland law says that a person may not "willfully intercept … oral communications" without consent. It defines "oral communications" as "any conversation or words spoken to or by a person in private conversation."

The question before Plitt is whether a conversation between a police officer and a person he stops on the side of the road is private. Maryland's attorney general issued an opinion in July advising police agencies that people have a right to record officers and that most interactions between the police and the public can not be considered private.

Treem argued that the indictment violates Graber's constitutional right to free speech, and he said it's perfectly legal to capture audio recordings in places where people have no expectation of privacy. He said Uhler made a traffic stop "in a public place on a public highway. The police officer was doing his public job."

Assistant State's Attorney David W. Ryden countered that "just because you are in a public place doesn't mean your speech is public." He noted that police officers should be able to talk to witnesses, even on a public street, without fear that the conversation will be recorded by a bystander.

Ryden said he should be able to have a "whispered chat" with his co-counsel on a park bench outside the courtroom without fear, but Plitt quickly told him the analogy wasn't credible because the issue with Graber involves an officer conducting official business.

The judge noted that the trooper could use any part of the conversation with Graber in court, hardly making the discussion private. "The only difference here is the camera," Plitt said. When the prosecutor said police may be concerned, Plitt shot back, "What difference does it make what the police think?"

Another assistant state's attorney, Scott H. Lewis, argued that many police officers in Maryland have cameras mounted in their dashboards and that the law requires them to notify drivers that they are being recorded on traffic stops.

That provision is there, Lewis said, because the law recognizes the back-and-forth between officer and driver "as a private conversation." The same rules, he said, should apply to citizens who want to record police.

But Treem said the law requires officers only to inform the motorist of the camera and that the recording can continue even without the driver's consent. The judge agreed, noting the police now "have it two ways" — requiring consent to tape officers but not requiring consent for officers to tape citizens.

Plitt also agreed with Treem, who said prosecutors' use of the word "devices" to describe the cameras they seized was insufficient to distinguish between "a bug," which he said the wiretapping law was designed to address, and a cell phone camera that has multiple uses and is not specifically designed for "surreptitious recording."

After Treem complained about the vague references to technology in the indictment and search warrant — prosecutors used the word "devices" — Plitt interrupted, "You mean like not recognizing YouTube at all?" At another point, the judge reached into his own pocket, pulled out his cell phone and held it up to demonstrate how easy it is to be a videographer. "Thirty seconds, audio and video," the judge said.

He then recited the quote, which he said he found in a 1972 Maryland Court of Appeals case on whether the state could send people to psychiatric wards.

Researcher: Chicago Had First Female Cop

Officer.com

Posted: September 5th, 2010 03:38 PM GMT-05:00

UPI

A retired federal agent and amateur historian said his research indicates the country's first female police officer worked in Chicago in the 1890s.

Rick Barrett, a history enthusiast and former Drug Enforcement Administration agent, said he came across the name Marie Owens while researching forgotten Chicago police officers in 2007 and further digging revealed she had been a detective sergeant in the department, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.

Barrett said Owens had been hired as a city factory inspector in 1889 to help enforce child labor and compulsory education laws. He said she was transferred to the police department in 1891 amid increased pressure on public officials to enforce child labor laws. She was given a badge, the rank of detective sergeant and powers of arrest.

However, Barrett said, Owens' contributions were largely forgotten due to a historian in 1925 incorrectly identifying her as the widow of a patrolman.

Barrett said Owens was likely the first female police officer in the country, with the title previously thought to be held by a Portland, Ore., woman hired in 1908. Chicago officials said they previously believed the first female police officers were hired in the city in 1913.

NEWS: Cops: Ex-worker stole from Elgin police department

--$51,500.00 a year job as a C.S.O. Not a bad salary. Out the window for $1500.00. Can you say, STUPID!!!--
Duke

Daily Herald

By Lenore T. Adkins | Daily Herald Staff

Published: 9/3/2010 4:35 PM

A former community service officer from the Elgin Police Department faces felony charges accusing her of stealing $1,500 from the department, police said Friday.

Sarai Villarreal, 33, of the 300 block of South Clifton Avenue, Elgin, was charged with one count of theft over $300 from a government institution and one count of misconduct for using her position to steal, said Lt. Glenn Theriault.

Villarreal stole $500 on three separate occasions - Aug. 7, Aug. 12 and Aug. 24 - from people who paid a fee to retrieve towed vehicles, authorities said. Officials said Villarreal, who resigned Thursday from her $51,500 a year position, took the money while working the police station's front desk.

"This is unacceptable and the citizens expect more from employees at the police department," said Police Chief Jeffrey Swoboda. "It won't be tolerated."

Police said they launched an investigation shortly after an internal audit system tipped officials off that money was missing.

"Within a couple of weeks of it happening, we were able to identify the problem and put and end to it," Theriault said.

Community service officers are non-sworn employees responsible for various tasks, including traffic control, animal control, assisting in the jail and accepting bond payments.

Villarreal, a city employee for nine years, turned herself into the station Friday after a warrant was issued for her arrest, Theriault said. She was released after putting up $300 bond. Her next court date is Sept. 16 at the Kane County Judicial Center.

If found guilty of the most serious charge, which in her case is theft, she could spent between three and seven years in prison.

NEWS: (Cook County) Sheriff: Cicero men nabbed with 2 kilos of cocaine

--Nice pinch--
Duke

Chicago Tribune

September 5, 2010 8:18 AM

Two Cicero men have been hit with felony drug charges after allegedly trying to sell about 4½ pounds of cocaine to undercover Cook County sheriff's investigators, the sheriff's department said today.

Narcotics officers started investigating Juan Gonzalez, 55, and Julio Corral, 52, in mid-August after they got information about a drug-trafficking operation in Cicero, according to a statement from Sheriff Tom Dart's office.

Police believe Gonzalez and Corral were "mid-level operatives" in a larger drug organization. According to the statement, police arranged a meeting with Gonzalez at which they bought an ounce of powder cocaine. Later, the undercover officers negotiated with Gonzalez to buy two kilograms -- about 4.4 pounds -- of cocaine for $62,000, the sheriff's office said.

On Wednesday, an officer met Gonzalez at a restaurant in Cicero and Gonzalez asked the officer to go to his home in the 5300 block of West 30th Street to buy the drugs, police said.

When they all arrived at the home, police arrested Gonzalez and the passenger his car, Corral. When he was arrested, Corral dropped a black canvas lunch bag containing two shrink-wrapped bricks of powder cocaine, according to police.

The drugs would have fetched about $600,000 on the street, police estimated.

Gonzalez has been charged with one count of delivery of cocaine and one count of possession of more than 900 grams of cocaine with intent to deliver, the sheriff's office said. On Saturday he was ordered held in lieu of a $500,000 D-bond, meaning he must post $50,000 to be released.

Corral, of 1800 block of South Austin Boulevard in Cicero, was charged with the same possession count as Gonzalez and is being held on a $20,000 cash bond. He must post the full amount to be released.

-- Staff report

NEWS: (Chicago) Man arrested with heroin, cash

--Nice pinch--
Duke

Chicago Tribune

From left: Confiscated cash and heroin, and suspect James E. Pickett. (Chicago police handout photos)

September 4, 2010 9:29 PM

Chicago police narcotics unit officers working in the South Loop arrested a man with 2 kilograms of heroin and more than $190,000 in cash, police said tonight.

On Friday the officers were working on the 2100 block of South Canal Street when they saw James E. Pickett, 45, engaged in what they suspected was narcotics-related activity, police said in a news release.

Officers stopped Pickett, of the 8600 block of South Damen Avenue, for investigation and called in a canine unit, eventually finding $191,380 in cash and 2 kilograms of heroin worth $200,000, police said.

Pickett was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance. Pickett was due in court Saturday, but bail information was not available.

--Staff report

NEWS: Craigslist shuts down adult services sections

Chicago Tribune

By Carlos Sadovi, Tribune reporter

9:38 PM CDT, September 4, 2010

Craigslist has shut down its adult services sections, weeks after Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and attorneys general from 16 other states demanded that the company do so, officials said Saturday.

Links to the section from each city's home page were replaced by a black and white "censored" logo Friday night.

Madigan and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart have been among local leaders trying to get the company to more closely monitor the site, which has been a haven for sex workers, customers seeking prostitution services and even sex trafficking.

"Investigations we conducted revealed very little, if any legitimate services being offered through that link," Cara Smith, deputy chief of staff for Madigan, told News 720 WGN-AM on Saturday. "The tone of the ads were tamer because Craigslist implemented some screening, but there is no question what was offered for sale, and it was sex."

Last year, the company changed the category name from "Erotic Services" to "Adult Services" in response to local and national pressure from law enforcement officials.

But even after that change was made, Dart's office filed a federal lawsuit against Craigslist in July, saying that the change in the category name had failed to deter solicitation of prostitution on the site. That suit was later thrown out.

Dart said Saturday that of the 500 prostitution arrests made by the sheriff's department this year, about a third are from Craigslist, making it the, "single largest source of prostituted and trafficked women in the Chicago area."

Craigslist did not respond to requests for comment Saturday.

NEWS: (Illinois) Speeding becomes a high-ticket item as fines rise

--But the law was still enacted to take more money from the fines and give it to the state police in order to help ease their budget problems.--
Duke

Chicago Sun-Times

Fines will zoom up as much as 60% for lead-footed drivers Sept. 15

September 5, 2010

BY DAVE McKINNEY AND STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporters

Being a speed demon on Illinois roads soon could take a bigger bite out of your bank account.

Fines for a series of minor but common traffic offenses will go up by as much as 60 percent -- adding $45 to the typical speeding ticket -- after the Illinois Supreme Court signed off on new charges that take effect Sept. 15.

The increases pertain to situations in which motorists get ticketed for garden-variety traffic infractions, such as speeding, but aren't required to show up in Traffic Court.

Instead, drivers plead guilty, pay the ticketing officer or mail in a payment to the court as bond and have that payment stand as the eventual fine for the offense. The approach typically is much cheaper than going to court, where court costs can easily put the final bill for a speeding ticket well above $200.

Under the new bond structure, speeding 20 mph or less over the posted limit will cost $120 for those who bypass Traffic Court. The current bond is $75.

Costs for several other infractions, such as not wearing a seat belt or driving on a suspended or revoked license, will jump as well in the first court-imposed mail-in bond increases since 1993.

"Everybody was in agreement the amount should go up because it's been 17 years since the last increase. We realized that the consumer price index had gone up a whole lot in that time. We realized we were less than a lot of the states," said Champaign County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Ford, who chaired the Supreme Court subcommittee that recommended the increases.

"Part of the purpose of bond is for people to show up in court and not violate any other laws. If it's seen as a bargain, and we don't need to show up in court, it's seen as a disrespect for the law. If it costs you a little more, you'll think about a ticket a little more," Ford said.

The increases have the potential to pump more revenues into some cash-strapped county and local governments, though there are no firm estimates from the courts, the secretary of state's office or the Illinois Municipal League.

But in DuPage County, where about 185,000 tickets get adjudicated annually by the court system there, Circuit Court Clerk Chris Katcharoubus predicted Friday the higher fee structure could result in "a couple million dollars or so" more for the county.

A spokeswoman for Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown did not have estimates available Friday on the financial impact of the increases in the state's most populous county.

"The financial impact was not something we looked at because we see this as bond," said Ford, the Champaign County judge. "But of course, with the petty offenses where the person can just use their bond money to pay, there'll be a financial increase in the amount of money getting paid to the [Circuit Court] clerks. But that's a by-product of it."

Whatever increase governments outside Springfield see could blunt the expected financial blow from a new law Gov. Quinn enacted in July to take $15 out of each mail-in bond payment and channel those funds to the State Police, which the Illinois Municipal League and Republicans opposed on grounds it would mean less money from tickets for local and county governments to divide.

The legislation passed the Democratic-led General Assembly as an alternative to massive layoffs Quinn threatened against the State Police last spring in a bid to offset the state's $13 billion budget deficit.

Fees for mail-in bonds get divvied up so that 44.5 percent of the cost a motorist pays goes to the local government where the ticket was written. Another nearly 39 percent goes to the county in which the ticket was written, and about 17 percent goes to the state treasurer.

With the state's economy in the dumps, the higher cost that soon will be imposed on some traffic offenses wasn't a popular topic among those leaving Traffic Court at the Daley Center on Friday -- even though most of those motorists would not have had the option of simply mailing in $75 to settle their traffic infractions and bypass court.

"That's terrible because a lot of people have lost their jobs," Barbara Oladunni, 40, an unemployed South Sider, said of the increases that will kick in in two weeks. "Speeding is a serious offense because somebody could get hurt, but I think the [new fines] are a little ridiculous."

"Man, that's too much," said Michael Green, 32, a South Sider and a forklift operator, when told of the new fee structure. "They've already got their hands in too many people's pockets. I'm going to be more careful. I'm going to drive like somebody's grandfather."

NEWS: (National) U.S. Fails to Notify Victims About Prison Furloughs

--Does this really surprise anybody? A system in this country does not work, SHOCKING!!!! Until this country and those who run it decide that enough is enough as far as crime goes and we have real reform in the way we deal with it, you will continue to see breakdowns, like this.--
Duke

New York Times

By CHARLIE SAVAGE

WASHINGTON — The federal Bureau of Prisons has long recognized a potential problem with its handling of furloughs of inmates for medical treatment: nobody has the job of notifying crime victims and witnesses that an inmate is being temporarily released.

In 2003, the bureau drafted a proposed policy that would require officials to provide such notice.

Yet seven years later, the bureau has yet to carry out the policy. And the agency now says it may not be able to fix the problem until 2017 — a time frame called “excessive and unacceptable” in a new report by the Justice Department’s inspector general, Glenn A. Fine.

“There has been excessive delay in implementing the B.O.P.’s revised furlough policy, which affects victims’ rights and hinders the B.O.P. from addressing weaknesses in the furlough program,” Mr. Fine said in a statement. “It is critical that the B.O.P. implement a revised furlough policy in a more timely manner.”

The report did not identify any instances in which a federal inmate on a medical furlough had harassed victims or witnesses. But it presented the potential for that as obvious.

Bureau of Prison officials told Mr. Fine’s office that they agreed the furlough procedures needed an overhaul. But they said they could not fix the policy quickly because of a contract with the labor union that represents guards and other bureau employees.

Under a collective bargaining agreement with the National Council of Prison Locals, a part of the American Federation of Government Employees, any policy changes at the agency that could have an effect on conditions of employment must be negotiated. Agency and union officials meet for three days each month to discuss such issues, one at a time and usually in the order in which they were proposed.

While the bureau sent the draft furlough policy to the union in 2003, it has still not been discussed. There are about 50 pending policy matters awaiting negotiation, Mr. Fine’s report said. Although it was not clear where in the line the furlough policy is, it is not likely to get to the front for “a very long time,” agency officials told Mr. Fine’s office.

“We will make every effort to negotiate the furlough policy with the union to implement the required changes,” the Bureau of Prisons told the inspector general’s auditors. “This will be completed by Dec. 17, 2017.”

Bryan Lowry, the union’s president, said he rejected any effort to “point the finger at the union.” He acknowledged that the union would want to discuss the additional work that a notification policy would entail, but said that it had no objections to taking care of such a “serious issue” ahead of other policy proposals.

“They could have moved this to the front of the line, but they never requested it,” Mr. Lowry said, adding that the union has never objected to a request to deal quickly with a high-priority issue. “We would have moved that straight to the top and tried to negotiate that and get it out as soon as possible.”

The Bureau of Prisons’ press office did not respond to requests for comment.

The inspector general’s report said that from 2007 to 2009, federal prisons granted “nontransfer” furloughs — those in which an inmate left and then returned to the same prison — to about 2,000 inmates a year, representing less than 1 percent of the federal prison population.

Reasons for furloughs included receiving medical treatment, visiting dying relatives, attending funerals, appearing in court and participating “in educational, religious, or work-related functions.” Only inmates who meet certain security standards are eligible for temporary release.

NEWS: (Chicago) Residents reclaim park with overnight campout

Chicago Tribune

South Side community honors slain officer, who fought against neighborhood violence

By Cynthia Dizikes and John Byrne, Tribune Reporters

10:22 AM CDT, September 4, 2010

UPDATE: Shoulder to shoulder with their eyes to the ground, dozens of children performed garbage pick-up duty in chilly Nat King Cole Park Saturday morning, wrapping up the first "Peace in the Park After Dark" slumber party.

It won't be the last, Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th) promised.

"This has to be a tradition now," Lyle said."Maybe we'll do it a few weeks earlier, because it was a little on the cold side (Friday) night. But we'll definitely be back."

More than a 100 people pitched tents in the park Friday, Lyle said. They were honoring the memory of Chicago Police Officer Thomas Wortham IV, who had proposed a show of neighborhood unity to take back the park before he was shot to death outside his home across from the park in May.

Jaquan Dailey, 12, said it was especially good to hear from former gang members who talked to the overnight campers about spending time behind bars. "They said nobody came to visit them. Their supposed friends and family suddenly weren't there for them," Dailey said as he waited in line for breakfast at the park.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chicago police Officer Thomas Wortham IV would have liked what took place at Nat King Cole Park in his old South Side neighborhood Friday night.

As the skies darkened, dozens of children, community leaders, and Chicago police officers gathered to set up tents and fire up grills before settling in for the night. The overnight campout, dubbed "Peace in the Park After Dark," represented a step toward Wortham's goal of reclaiming the park from growing violence in the community.

"He would be happy, he would be smiling," said Wortham's father, Thomas, as he surveyed the scene. "He wanted this park to be a safe haven for people in the community."

Two springtime shootings at the South Side park shook the sense of security long enjoyed by area residents. Then in May, Wortham, who had been head of the park's advisory board, was shot outside his family home, just across from the park, by robbers who were trying to take his new motorcycle.

In recent years, the park had ceased to be a gathering place for many community residents. Wortham's father said that at night, the park typically sees little activity, just a few people taking a walk or a handful of teenagers playing basketball.

But on Friday evening, the park was alive with activity as children dashed about, eating hot dogs and hamburgers, while adults set up games and chatted.

"This is a way for (kids) to see police officers just as people," said police Supt. Jody Weis, who was on hand early Friday evening but didn't plan to spend the night. "These types of events… break down a lot of those barriers that unfortunately exist when they shouldn't."

The campout was organized by the Chicago Police Gresham District and community leaders including Ald. Freddrenna Lyle, 6th, who planned to be among the 100 or so overnight campers.

"I don't really see police together like this, just hanging out," said Joseph Dean, 14, a freshman at Harlan Community Academy. "It's kind of cool."

Wortham's mother Carolyn said that the campout was a testament to everything her son worked for.

"I firmly believe he is looking down on this and he is having the time of his life," she said. "This is what he was working toward. This is what he wanted to happen."

R.I.P.: Border Patrol Agent Michael V. Gallagher

O.D.M.P.

Border Patrol Agent Michael V. Gallagher
United States Department of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection - Border Patrol
U.S. Government
End of Watch: Thursday, September 2, 2010

Biographical Info
Age: 32
Tour of Duty: 2 years
Badge Number: Not available

Incident Details
Cause of Death: Automobile accident
Date of Incident: Thursday, September 2, 2010
Incident Location: Arizona
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available

Border Patrol Agent Michael Gallagher was killed in an automobile accident on Federal Route 19 on the Tohono O'odham Reservation near Casa Grande, Arizona.

His patrol truck collided with an oncoming vehicle, causing him to suffer fatal injuries. The woman driving the oncoming vehicle suffered minor injuries.

Agent Gallagher had served with the United States Border Patrol for two years and was assigned to the Tucson Sector. He is survived by his wife, two sons, mother, father, and two sisters.

Agency Contact Information
United States Department of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection - Border Patrol
1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Room 6.5E
Washington, DC 20229

Phone: (202) 344-3532

NEWS: Elmwood Park board lifts gun-sale restriction

Pioneer Press

September 2, 2010

By CATHRYN GRAN cgran@pioneerlocal.com

Elmwood Park has amended its ordinance pertaining to the sale of guns in the village.

At the Aug. 16 village board meeting, trustees approved eliminating a restriction on sales of guns to residents whose municipalities prohibit guns within their boundaries.

Such municipalities include Chicago and Oak Park.

The village wanted to be consistent with a U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Chicago's ban on gun possession, said Elmwood Park Village President Peter Silvestri.

"To keep things in perspective, 20 years ago we had five gun shops in town," he said.

Through various public safety and zoning measures, the village has been able to whittle that number down to one -- Illinois Gun Works at 7229 Grand Ave.

"He is reputable," Silvestri said of gun shop owner Donald Mastrianni. "He works well with the (Elmwood Park) Police Department.

"And considering how close we are to Chicago, we're fortunate."

Mastrianni said he is more than happy to "work hand in hand" with the village, considering his knowledge of state and federal gun statutes.

At the board meeting, Silvestri said the village still has some of the strictest gun sales-related regulations.

"But we are consistent with the Second Amendment and prevailing law," he said.

NEWS: Chicago gangs vs. Chicago cops

--"An open feud has erupted over who is to blame for street violence in the city" Reading this comment makes me want to throw up. Who is responsible? the drug dealing, thug, gang members  are responsible. You want to blame it on the police? That is idiotic at best. Blame it on the politicians and the police administration for turning a blind eye for so long to an escalating problem. This will be a very big topic of discussion Thursday's edition of Duke's Blotter Live.--
Duke

PoliceOne.com

An open feud has erupted over who is to blame for street violence in the city

By Mark Guarino
The Christian Science Monitor

CHICAGO — The number of police officers shot in Chicago is escalating, most recently two wounded early Wednesday, and gang leaders here say they are being unfairly blamed for the escalating violence that has rocked the city this year.

In an unusual move, gang representatives held a press conference Thursday on the city's far West Side to tell their side of the story - in the face of law-enforcement threats to come after them via a federal statute that targets organized crime. Their point: They can't put a stop all street violence, and Chicago police themselves have a lot to answer for in their own behavior.

Street violence "is not always organized. It's spontaneous," community activist Wallace Bradley, a former member of the notorious Gangster Disciple gang, told the Sun-Times Thursday.

The press conference follows on the heels of an explosive weekend report from the Chicago Sun-Times about an Aug. 17 secret meeting between local gang leaders and federal, state, and local law-enforcement agencies - including Police Superintendent Jody Weis. At the meeting, authorities reportedly said that if one more gang member shoots another, they would prosecute the gangs' members and leaders - not just the assailants - under the federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act. Gang members were also told to expect more parole visits and traffic stops in their neighborhoods, according to the newspaper's report.

The revelation about the meeting has touched off a ferocious debate over how best to address the rising violence and the gang problem in Chicago. Mayor Richard M. Daley has defended the summit. But many local alderman criticize the approach. It's an "admission" that Chicago police "can't control the streets," said Alderman Bob Fioretti. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) said a more sound approach is better enforcement of assault weapon bans.

So far this summer, three police officers have been killed, and two were wounded early Wednesday while executing a search warrant for weapons. Chicago's homicide rate is among the highest in the nation.

Buttressing the gang representatives' views, some who study gangs say that Chicago's have become much more decentralized than they used to be - and that the former tightly controlled hierarchies have devolved into loosely affiliated splinter groups battling over local turf.

The organizational breakdown means younger gang members feel they "don't have to answer to nobody," says Tio Hardiman, director of CeaseFire Illinois, which works to prevent neighborhood violence. "They form cliques on the blocks and feel they're untouchable, basically because no one can govern them." Random killings that result from spraying bullets into a crowd are not typical of gang operations, he says.

"No gang leader would sanction the killing of a kid. They would not do that. Those are people operating on their own," Mr. Hardiman says.

For their part, gang leaders on Thursday said they were coerced into meeting with law enforcement officials last month, and they complained that authorities' efforts to blame them for the rising violence - and threats to dog their members - verge on violating their constitutional rights.

Police Superintendent Weis "is not interested in solving [violence] from a community perspective," Mark Carter, a former gang member who helped organize the conference, told the Sun-Times on Wednesday. He criticizes the police department and Mayor Daley for using techniques that gang members feel are harsh and unjust.

Tension between the black community and Chicago police is not new, but it is particularly high since the conviction in late June of former Chicago Police Comdr. John Burge. Mr. Burge was convicted of lying to authorities, but his federal trial documented decades of police torture under his watch.

The police will continue to have a perception problem here until Weis speaks out about the systemic abuse revealed in the Burge trial and roots out others who support it, says John Hagedorn, who researches gangs at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

"You don't torture people for decades and get away with it and have the consent of silence within the police and not expect it to have an effect," says Mr. Hagedorn. "This accountability thing should cut two ways."

Burge's first trial in 1989 on police brutality charges resulted in a hung jury, and he was not retried before the statute of limitations expired. He was subsequently charged in 2008 with perjury and obstruction of justice related to the brutality case. That federal trial, prosecuted by the office led by US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, described hundreds of cases of abuse in the 1970s and '80s that cost the city $19.8 million in settlement claims. It resulted in the state pardoning four men serving time on death row.

Burge's perjury conviction continues to resonate in the city's poorest neighborhoods, where attitudes about it among people are "raw," says University of Illinois's Hagedorn.

"It's there at a conscious and a subconscious level within the community. You've got one guy convicted of perjury and that's just one guy. What about all the other people who were there who knew it? This is not being talked about by anybody," he says.