Showing posts with label Pam Zekman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pam Zekman. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

How big city politicians kill crime to bullshit to public.


Chicago, IL – You’ve just heard your local news anchor confidently tell you that despite how it may seem, crime in the Windy City is actually on the decline. But you have to ask yourself, is crime really slowing down, or is someone massaging the numbers with a pencil?

I don’t care what your mayor or the news media says, especially in large cities – the police chief or superintendent does not set policy. Mayors never give up that control. The police brass get their marching orders and either follow them or get replaced. Statistical deception is only limited by the creativity or lack thereof by those in charge of presenting the numbers.


The term often thrown around is “killing crime.” Here’s how it works: police reports are categorized on forms generated by the department. The system, created by the FBI, divides crimes into Part One offenses (the most serious) and Part Two offenses (less serious), all under the Uniform Crime Reporting system (UCR).


Take burglary as an example. A burglar breaks into a home to steal property or commit another crime. If the police make an arrest and clear the crime, it’s reported as a burglary. That crime is then cleared by police efficiency stats. But when they can’t make an arrest, police bosses don’t want it reported as a Part One burglary. So, officers are instructed to categorize it as vandalism and simple theft instead. It’s a clever way to cheat—by not reducing the burglary rate but showing an artificially high rate of solving crimes.


And what happens to officers who don’t play along with this bullshit? For starters, they’re reassigned to districts far from their homes. Their chances for promotion evaporate, and their efficiency ratings tank. You get the picture.


Now, how do they cover up homicides? As an investigative TV news producer, I got a tip from a Chicago homicide detective who spilled the beans. He explained that certain cases, like a murdered prostitute estranged from her family, get dumped into a special file labeled “pending death investigations.” The trick is that since these deaths aren’t officially classified as homicides, they never make it to the UCR system.


I asked the detective how I could get the numbers on these death investigations to expose the system. He told me what I already suspected—it would require a mountain of research, and I’d get no help from the department.


So, I took a different route. I filed a public records request with the Cook County Medical Examiner and got access to their case database. I compared the homicides listed in the city of Chicago with what city officials were claiming. The results were shocking: Chicago police had concealed over 350 murders. I passed this information to retired CBS2 reporter Pam Zekman, who confronted former Chicago Police Superintendent Phil Cline with our findings. That story won an Emmy.


If you’re a mayor and don’t like your crime statistics, don’t worry—you can always cheat. Below is a brief rundown of the Uniform Crime Reporting system. Anyone with half a brain can figure out a way to bullshit the public.


The UCR system is a national crime data collection program managed by the FBI. It classifies crimes into two categories: Part One Crimes (the serious stuff, like violent and property crimes) and Part Two Crimes (less serious offenses). Part One Crimes are what most jurisdictions use to gauge the overall crime rate, and these are the numbers the public hears about the most.


Part Two Crimes, on the other hand, cover a broader range of offenses but don’t carry as much weight when calculating crime trends or shaping public perception.


Now that I’ve told you how officials hide or kill crime, here’s the flip side: some jurisdictions over-report crime to snag more federal funds.


So, how trustworthy is the UCR? About as trustworthy as your local politicians!

Saturday, December 29, 2012

More than 500 Chicago Murders in 2012 , A Liberal Milestone Revealed.

Chicago, IL—All of the elected officials and bureaucrats in the Windy City are Democrats and most are from the far Left fringe.  There are no Republicans or Conservatives to blame.  Here they have enacted the most unreasonable gun bans in the entire nation.
Corruption in Chicago is beyond legendary.  A significant percentage of the 50 member City Council are either street gang members themselves or are closely related to them.  When it comes to combating crime these politicians will try anything at all as long as it cant and does not work. 
The policy of the city government is to insure that the city’s criminals are the only ones armed.  Over the years they even banned the cops from using police style shotguns.  They have allowed the police department manpower to dip into dangerous levels.  As they cite budgetary problems they handed millions in cash grants to known criminal groups such as Cease Fire
Who could forget when the City bankrolled the old P. Stone Nation later known as El Rukin.  The gang members bought lots of guns, ammunition and capitalized their drug, prostitution and extortion activities in style.   The leader, Jeff Fort is still in a Club Fed warehouse somewhere today.
The criminal/political organization running Chicago knows that gang extortion and their armed robberies could be hampered if their intended victims could fight back. 
The keeping and bearing or arms is an American Civil Right.  The city has shamelessly and shockingly violated those rights for decades.  The quality of life has diminished and thousands productive, tax paying citizens have fled for their very lives.
Is the 500 murders figure correct?  I say that it is much higher because of the way the administration cooks the crime statistic books.  They insist on classify a significant number of murders as open death investigations to avoid reporting.
The reason I know about this is that a few years ago I brought WBBM-TV and investigative reporter Pam Zekman a story showing the shenanigans.     I arranged to quietly obtain the entire database of the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office
We then pulled from the list the Chicago cases where the Medical Examiner listed the causes and manner of deaths by homicide.  When we compared that with the official police department’s Uniform Crime Reporting totals they undercounted murders by around 200. 
People have a right to defend themselves and families even from criminals that are being facilitated, protected and enabled by government. Chicago’s government is a criminal enterprise that should be resisted and shut down by any means available.
Unfortunately Chicago cops can’t do their jobs as the oath they take demands.  They are far better off simply turning their heads when citizens use deadly force to protect their lives, families and property.   The younger cops are never going to see the money they pay into the pension system and better get out while they can.
Business in the Windy City is doomed.  The voter rolls are so over- bloated with the non-productive, entitlement addicted and the criminal element that there is no hope or help for the future.
Those 500 murders a year in Chicago is only the beginning of a horrific story.  Don’t forget that the 500 undercounted figure is pure fiction anyway.