From Chicago, the Sun-Timesreports on the death of a Bears fan: A skilled climber who enjoyed scaling up the side of buildings and trees, he may have even hopped over a railing to enjoy a cigarette behind one of Soldier Field’s famous columns before he fell, friends said.
Willie Nelson likes smoking pot
But we all know that. He doesn’t keep it secret and thinks it should be legal. But since it’s not, he’s been arrested for it. Again. Of course it’s silly a supposedly free country wastes our money and law enforcement resources arresting senior-citizen for smoking a pretty harmless substance. Of course it’s probably not a big deal for him. For…
Baltimore Officer Shot
A one-year veteran was seriously shot on N. Calvert Street early Sunday morning. He’s expected to survive. I hope he does. From the Sun: A man opened fire on him near the downtown nightlife hub, touching off a running gunbattle as tactical officers pursued the suspect up North Calvert Street. The suspect fled on foot, then sped away in a…
Five NYPD Officers Cleared in Shootings of Bystanders
Ray Rivera in the Times: Five New York City police officers who wounded two bystanders in a shootout with a suspect in Harlem in 2005 cannot be held negligent, the state’s highest court ruled on Tuesday, ending a five-year legal battle before it went to trial. In a 4-to-3 decision, the State Court of Appeals found that the five officers…
Balto. City Police Reject Contract, 19 to 1
The story by Julie Scharper in the Sun. The contract would have reduced wages by 1.95 percent in exchange for five additional vacation days. The FOP president said, “It’s not just a rejection of the city’s best offer. It’s a rejection of the mayor and her inability to respect what these men and women do for the city every day…
The high cost of crime
Here’s a sad story about the costs–physically, psychologically, and financially–from one shot crime victim.
Veterans Day
Thank you, veterans. You all have chosen to do something I am not willing to do. That doesn’t reflect well on me. (Though I do wish we had fewer wars and fewer veterans.)
Kill them all and let God sort ’em out
I’m strangely un-passionate about the death penalty. I think it’s wrong to kill. If I could wave a magic wand and do away with it, I would. And yet I don’t really care when criminals are executed. I certainly don’t shed a tear them. Recent poll datashow that 83% of Americans support the death penalty (other pollshave shown this figure…
Never Happened to Me
Carolee Bildsten, 56, of the 5300 block of David Court, allegedly assaulted the officer on Tuesday evening with what Gurnee Police Cmdr. Jay Patrick called “a rigid feminine pleasure device.” So says the the Trib. [Thanks to Hephestos, my Koumbaros.]
NYPD Holds Fire
The Wall Street Journal reports: New York City police fired fewer bullets at suspects last year than any time since the department first began keeping in-depth shooting statistics 39 years ago … In 2008, the department was also involved in 105 shooting incidents, with the 125 officers firing a total of 364 bullets. No city police officer last year was…