We don't really need to add any commentary to this. You'd think we wrote the last sentence ourselves, but this is from a reader on 3rd Watch:

Said in RC today that if you are mandated to stay OT you will not be given a "pass," the "pass" doesnt exist anymore. If you are mandated and don't stay you will get a CI automatically.

Ah, just in time for summer.

You've been forewarned. You regulars know who you are.

"Words of wisdom"

In the comments section, a reader questioned what our policy really is on not using real names, and why we removed one name and not another - and suggested we use our own "words of wisdom" on real-name posting. To answer what our rationale was this time:

1. It's our blog. We've had a few complaints, but only one other person has actually stepped up and put forth the effort to create and maintain another 911 blog. So we do as we see fit. 7 months and still going strong, with only two blogs for calltakers and dispatchers. We must both be doing something right.

2. In this case, one of the people mentioned by real name is facing criminal charges. The other isn't. Unless someone wants to start a fund for us in case of civil lawsuit...

Simple enough? We think so.

More posting later this week when "news" hits. In the meantime, open post. And keep it decent. We can't let the board run for a few days without mudslinging starting?

The makings of a Scandal?

Word is spreading around the Ops Floor that the Director of Personnel was allegedly arrested last night for criminal damage to property and - get this - cocaine possession.

Of course everyone's innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but we hear that the cocaine possession, true or not, is getting "swept under the rug," so it would never see the light of day in court anyway.

This strikes us as odd, because we believe this is the same person who we've heard has a horribly nasty attitude towards PCOs who need to deal with the off-site Personnel department. And it strikes us as a slap in the face because if someone alleged that one of US got slapped with allegations (at this point, that's all they are, you know) of narcotics possession, we wouldn't get it swept under the rug.

We'd probably be indefinitely suspended without pay pending the results of the investigation, which would include a drug test.

Residency.

Over at Second City Cop, there's talk about the Chicago Teachers Union pushing a House bill to lift their residency requirement, which has been around for 20 years. The bill is circulating through state government to make Chicago's residency requirement illegal. It already passed the state House by a vote of 105 to 4, next step is the Senate.

The Scum-Times artticle SCC references states that CPS is the only district in Illinois with a residency rule. Of course it is, we all know how the city is, it's "exempt" from state law.

Mayor Daley has been a big proponent. He has argued that teachers will invest more in the schools if they live in the city.

Yeah - "invest more" as in "pump more money in" by way of rising taxes.

Of course, the article also states that "critics fear eliminating the rule will prompt thousands of tax-paying teachers to move out of Chicago. That old bottom line is always the biggest factor in the city's decisions, damn us city employees to hell.

We've wondered for a long time why the city requires its employees to live within the city limits, when most other cities in the state have nothing closer to that than a "x-mile radius" requirement, meaning you have to live within x miles of that city's boundaries. We always figured the city didn't want lose the tax base that is its employees. Not to mention, it's easier to make us comply with the rules, i.e., $75 city stickers. If we don't pay in a timely fashion, we get suspended. Which is understandable, we're not trying to shirk our responsibilities.

Okay, most of us aren't.

But housing is cheaper in suburbs, schools are better in the suburbs, the taxes are lower in the suburbs, and most importantly - it's easier to find a decent area to live in for a not-exorbitant house price. A lot of people talk around the job about how ridiculous it is that we're forced to live in the city on blue-collar salaries when costs of housing are sky high. A condominium around the OEMC grounds can fetch $400,000 easy.

We wonder if, as SCC suggests, the Teachers Union's House bill will set a precedent for other city workers. If it does (and our union bothers to join other unions to fight for us), then we can easily see people moving to suburbs in droves. And count us in.

Laughable.

We missed a Scum-Times article a couple of days ago:

When [Ron] Huberman signed on as Daley's 10th chief of staff, he had a mandate to clean up the mess and keep the lid on future troubles.

Little did he know that the Hired Truck scandal would branch out into city hiring, prompting the conviction of the mayor's patronage chief and the appointment of a hiring monitor who would become a permanent fixture at City Hall.

Okay, so we're reminded that Daley appointed to a post in charge of remedying "patronage," a person who spent one year on the street as a police officer in a slow district, was immediately elevated to exempt rank because of a parent's relationship with Daley, appointed as head of the OEMC, and then appointed to the position of Mayoral Chief of Staff. All of this happened within the course of, say, 6 years of starting the police academy, and this is who's in charge of the "patronage" and "ethics" problems?

Like the title of this post says: Laughable.

Now it's time for Huberman to move on -- either to the private sector or to another government challenge.

But 35-year-olds don't go backward professionally. If Huberman is determined to remain in government, he's more likely to emerge as a long-shot candidate to replace soon-to-be-retiring Police Supt. Phil Cline.

A 35-year-old with one year of police experience (if that) as the superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.

Laughable. When we were told about this article, we laughed out loud at how preposterous the concept is.

But then again, this is Chicago, and it WOULD be "The Chicago Way." King Richie's been known to do worse, but we still doubt that this one fly.

But who knows, he's been reassured of his invincibility by everyone who voted him back in. And a big "Fuck you very much" to all of those people.

Blog links

The comments sections and Site Meter statistics (no, it's not an error when you click on it, you can only look at the total number of visitors) give us links to other sites that people have referred to and come to this site from, respectively. We hereby add to the link section in the left column:

Honorable Star, who even dedicated a post to our ongoing parking crisis, and;

Second City Rookie. Head over. Give them tips on how to get along with dispatchers. We already have.

And if you come across a local dispatch-/police-related blog that we don't have linked that you think deserves a mention (or any other suggestions), e-mail us at CPDDispatchBlog @ yahoo dot com.

Already?

From the comments section:

Anonymous said...
BREAKING NEWS

AV III IS GONE

That was quicker than we expected. Anyone else got any confirmation of this? And, does anyone have any speculation on who the replacement will be?

UPDATE: We confirmed it for ourselves, thanks to presumably the same poster who gave the information in the first place. Find the first stories at Channel 2 and the Chicago Tribune.

Hope you're happy

Permanent Watch Manager assignments have been announced.

H.C. will be assigned to 1st Watch.
R.D. will be assigned to 2nd Watch.
C.T. will be assigned to 3rd Watch.
M.D. will be assigned to Administration.

Be happy with what you have, it could've been a lot worse. A certain person could have been put back on the Ops Floor after demotion, instead of across the hall. Would you rather have had her as your Watch Manager instead?

You might want to park legally.

Today is the official start of "parking enforcement" in the OEMC lot.

That means all you people who just don't feel like walking to the building from a parking space so you park along the curb by the police trailer, all you people who jam up the northeasternmost corner of the parking lot and would raise holy hell if your car got hit by someone trying to navigate the turn that is too narrow due to your laziness and selfishness, all you people who park in the main aisle because there's no available "legal" parking space?

Beware. Your car might be ticketed or gone when you go back to get in it. And no, there hasn't been a viable alternative/solution provided, because the "alternate lot" is rather small, and is right next to a "transient" motel.

As always, we have done our part to warn and remind you. That is all.

BY THE WAY: We posted on 25February2007 asking what 3rd Watch employees were huddled in the atrium to discuss after their tour of duty. They were discussing the parking situation and the upcoming "enforcement," and what can or should be done at PCO level.