Chicago, IL —Chicago’s FOP got smart when they hired Pat Camden after his career as a cop and department spokesman.   Camden can now actually say what Chicago cops can’t without facing discipline.   His retired status gives him a First Amendment right that is now controlled by the FOP.   Okay he does not get to tell us how he really feels but at least the department cannot muzzle him. If they were a little smarter the FOP would make a real reporter out of him. Of course the FOP and the City of Chicago politicians seem to get along entirely too well.    Seemingly they have little in common but when it comes to voicing what’s on the minds of their membership the FOP fails big time.   I can’t help but fault the FOP for the CPD’s manpower shortages, failures to demand better in-service survival training and firearms needed to challenge the thousands of organized and armed street thugs.        Technology has given the FOP...

Chicago, IL —Over the last seven years blogging has become popular with many Americans including Windy City cops. Blogs have broken news that media organizations simply wont report. Having spent the last 24 years as a freelance TV news producer I learned the primary reason that important stories go untold and published. Journalists all think they need cooperation from politicians, bureaucrats and government in order to report news. In fact journalists beg for exclusive tips on government activities like police crackdowns, raids and important crime stories. The payoff for the tips comes in important exposure and glad-handing for certain self-serving accomplishments real or imagined. That, along with killing any unflattering stories. Reporters can’t seem to develop independent information sources and wrongly think without government official’s help they would be unable to report on government at all. Very few reporters have the courage to become persona non-gratia with any gove...

I'm sorry to tell you that the SCC site has been disabled for as long as four days. Feel free to post information here as an open post at least until the site is operational. I’m not sure just what’s going on but I won’t rule out sabotage by Daley and J-Fed. I’m sure they don’t want the daily body count information along with the failings of the department getting publicized. SCC is needed to keep the heat on in order to keep them honest. Keep the comments clean please. Update Second City Cop is back in good order.

Chicago--Daley appointed an overpaid law enforcement bureaucrat that will never enjoy success under the corrupt anti-police city administration. The meeting was attended by 100 to 200 officers. Second City Cop readers and another fine blogger, Rue St Michael Bienvenue recorded the minutes for posterity. J-Fed had nothing concrete to offer the undermanned, poorly equipped and demoralized officers. There were a few gripes put forth that J-Fed is taking under advisement. Little was settled but J-Fed is figuring out he has no clue about the street police work he’s supposed to be running. O.W. Wilson came in as a civilian but he was once a street cop before he became a criminologist and professor. J-Fed was a federal paper pusher. J-Fed would do well to lose the uniform and gain respect. He needs to figure out how to get the worthless mayor and city council to bring the department into the 21st Century. J-Fed needs to deal with manpower, equipment deficiencies. Nobody can be expect...

I must say that the City of Chicago has lost most its luster. Crooked politicians and their contractors have bled the city bone dry as they magically escape criminal investigation or Indictment. . Chicago has become the most unattractive place to live and work for all but the super rich or government freeloaders. The once proud police department has been decimated through affirmative action and the massive lowering of hiring standards. Clout provides sub-standard officers promotions and a job for life or at least until age 63. Clout always was a help but most officers needed at least a little of their own merits to succeed. Not anymore. The morale of the department is reflected in the overall lousy appearance of the officers. The officer’s grooming and image today is beyond saddening. The FOP is only a group of yes men for the politicians collecting inflated salaries forked over by working cops. The rank and file can’t seem to overcome residency requirements, mediocre pay an...

When I wore a police uniform there was no Second City Cop exploiting the Internet to expose the employment related injustices that plague the lives of too many hard working and dedicated cops. Working as a Chicago cop has become less desirable every year. Micromanagement along with the likes of Black Panther Party members and other police haters running Chicago has demoralized rank and file officers that signed on improve the safety and quality of life. I have to say today that it would not enter my mind to waste some Saturday taking the civil service exam to be a Chicago policeman. Okay, I will surrender to political correctness just this once and say police officer! Somewhere from the ashes came Second City Cop in the form of an interactive blog where bad management, incompetence and hazards to officer’s safety are exposed. Satire, gossip and fun have found its way into the mix too. Often it’s comments made by cops in the field that expose problems and at the same time give a ...

The deal was simple bring in a gun and leave with a card worth $50.00 0r $100.00 cash with no questions asked. If you have a shotgun and first saw the barrel short and you could get paid double! Last week, bureaucrats and various do-good organizations handed your hard earned tax money over to local thieves and burglars. It cost taxpayers well over $60K for 1200 guns. Most of the guns turned in were old and of questionable serviceability. A few of the guns are rare collector’s items suitable for museums but unless these surrendered guns are stolen along the way they will be destroyed. That’s happened in the past with thousands of guns entrusted to Chicago officials such as, General Francis P. Kane who later resold the guns to gang members and was never prosecuted. This cash burning silliness will only cause the void in the marketplace to be replenished with the latest and greatest firearms made. I wonder who may have been murdered so some criminal could steal their guns in order to p...

This story won't go away. Fred Hampton was every bit an urban terrorist when he openly advocated killing cops. Black Panther inspired murders of police officers created a very real war in Chicago. Beyond the officers that were murdered there were scores that were disabled for life as a result of Black Panther violence. That December, 1969 raid was at a point in time where officer safety (at least to the cops) was more important than the lives of those such as Fred Hampton who were on record calling for the murder of cops. There were two versions of that raid the cops and the murderous survivors. Both versions of events still exist. I suggest that if the cops were bent on a search and destroy that no Panthers from that Monroe Street flat would have lived to tell lies. If you chose to believe the surviving Black Panthers, you also have to accept the fact that Hampton was a criminal terrorist at war with his country and the police. I have two really simple questions. Is there such a ...

This post is somewhat of a response to my brothers at Second City Cop. http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/2005/12/final-thought-on-stupid-stuff.html Some over there have questioned the gathering and posting of the photos of the Southwest Airlines crash at Midway airport. No, the posted pictures are not in any way offensive. However the posting of the pictures with officers posing, on the Internet was a questionable career move. Let's move on to my response here... First of all, humans are curious about monumental events in the lives of people living in our world. It's natural to want to see and learn what went wrong that took or affected people's lives. We created and supported news organizations from the first day the Gutenberg press first rolled over newsprint. That has not changed since. Of course with the changes to technology, still-cameras, radio, film and today video cameras have entered our lives. They are all here to stay, quite simply because society demands their...