Readers, please pass this post along if you have time today. On the one-to-ten scale of posts that matter in the larger scheme of things, this one strikes me as 9.425.
I feel like going sideways today, into the heart of Chicago and law enforcement. The Chicago Police Department (CPD) has 12,000 officers, enough to fill a small, resort town. To put the matter in perspective, 17 counties in Illinois contain fewer than 12,000 people (sea to shining sea of corn out there) and a few counties contain about 12,000 people. That’s lots of cops.
Recently, the video of a white officer shooting a black young man named Laquan McDonald captured the news, and rightfully so. That video shows what appears to be an unjustifiable and inexplicable shooting. The officer was charged with murder, the police superintendent fired and a federal investigation ensued.
Here is the part of that story that captured my full attention and made me believe I needed to add this story to eduhonesty.com: Street stops have fallen dramatically in the recent past. In January of last year, 61,330 contact cards were filled out, reflecting police stops. For January of this year, only 9,044 stops have been recorded on the new form that officers are now required to fill out for each stop. That’s a drop of 52,286 recorded stops. That’s a drop in stops of about 85%.
“‘The days of the hunch are over,’ said a sergeant with 20 years’ experience who works on the South Side.” (Most information and this quote are taken from the Sunday February 29, 2016 Chicago News Tribune)
What happened to those hunches? Government interventions happened to those hunches. Since January 1st, Chicago cops have been required to fill out detailed, multi-page reports every time they make a street stop as part of a new, state law and an agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union. The new reports slow down street stops in two ways. First, they create a lengthy log that may be scrutinized later. This does prevent stops that might be tough to justify later. Second, the reports require a great deal of time to fill out, time that necessarily takes an officer off the street.
I can see readers saying to themselves, “well, those officers should not be making stops that cannot easily be justified.” But I am not certain I agree. I would like to refer readers to my post on April 4, 2015, “For Rick, who lives where he works,” and a few posts nearby in that time frame. The fact is that cops tend to know the local gang bangers. Especially in gang-ridden areas, cops know the kids and young adults who are active in local crime.
Street gangs in Chicago, Illinois
Asian street gangs in Chicago
Asian Boyz
Black Shadow
Black Widows
Hop Sing
Local Boys
Wolf BoysFolk street gangs in Chicago
Ambrose
Allport Lovers
Black Disciples
Brazers
City Knights
Gangster Disciples (GD), branches include Eight ball Posse, Insane Gangster Disciples and Hellraisers
Gangster Party People
Harrison Gents
Insane C-Notes
Insane Campbell Boys
Insane Cullerton Deuces
Insane Deuces
Insane Dragons
Insane Guess Boys
Insane Latin Lovers
Insane Latin Jivers
Insane Orchestra Albany
Insane Popes (North Side)
Insane Spanish Cobras
Krazy Getdown Boys
King Cobras
La Raza
Latin Dragons
Latin Eagles
Latin Stylers
Latin Souls
Maniac Campbell Boys
Maniac Latin Disciples
Milwaukee Kings
Morgan Boys
Racine Boys
Satan Disciples (SD)
Simon City Royals
Spanish Gangster Disciples
Spanish Gangster Two Six
Two Two Boys
Young Latino Organization Cobras
Young Latino Organization DisciplesPeople street gangs in Chicago
Bishops
Black P Stones (braches include Apache Stones, Jet Black Stones, Titanic Stones, Ruben Night Stones, Jabari Stones, & Black Stone Villans)
Four Corner Hustlers
Familia Stones
Gaylords
Insane Popes (South Side)
Insane Unknowns
Latin Brothers
Latin Counts
Latin Pachucos
Latin Stones
Loco Boys
Mickey Cobras
Noble Knights
Outlaw Bloods
Party Players
Ridgeway Boys
Saints
Spanish Lords
Stoned Freaks
Twelvth Street Players
Vice Lords (Branches include the Conservative VLs, Unknown VLs, Insane VLs, Renegade VLs, Mafia Insane VLs, Imperial Insane VLs, Cicero Insane VLs, Spanish VLs, Traveler VLs, Outlaw Lunatic Traveler VLs, Ebony VLs, Gangster Stone VLs, Undertaker VLs, & 4VLs.)
VillalobosStreet gangs in Chicago
12th Street Players
Adidas Boys
AkrhosAlmighty Latin King / Queen Nation (ALKQN)
Aztecas
Aztec Souls
Black Cobras
Black Gangsters
Black Souls
Brown Pride
Brothers For Life
Cameron City Outlaws
Crazy Gangsters
Homicide Boys
Imperial Gangsters
La Onda
La Primera
Latin Mafia
Latin Players
Latin Pride
Lynch Mob
Netas
Nike Boys
Paulina Barry Community (PBC) [inactive]
South Deering Boys
Sawyer Boys
The Arabian Posse
Thugs Re-United
Vatos Locos
Whipple Boys
Whipple Brothers
Young Sinners
– See more at: http://www.streetgangs.com/cities/chicago#sthash.UkDkp18V.dpuf
Last year, the cops could have seen a group of Four Corner Hustlers standing together on the street and stopped. Now that stop is highly unlikely to occur. Standing in a group on the street is no crime. But some of those cop hunches of the past allowed for action anyway, allowed that cop to stop and address trouble that appeared likely to develop. According to the Tribune, law-abiding citizens in Chicago are upset at the lack of police support in getting troublemakers off known drug-selling corners. In the meantime, through February 21st, homicides doubled in the city while shooting incidents went up even more.
That new two-page questionnaire “contains about 70 questions, including detailed background information on those stopped as well as an explanation for their ‘reasonable articulable suspicion’ for the stop and pat-down. One officer says it takes about 20 minutes to fill out, compared with a few minutes for the previous (contact) cards,” according to the Tribune. In theory, the forms can be filled out on data terminals in cars, but sometimes those terminals are not working, and officers must finish their paperwork in the station, leaving the streets early. Supposedly, the forms are going to be simplified, but that won’t rescue January, February, March or however many months the reform requires. We can only hope that the new form requires much less time to complete. I’m honestly not hopeful, however. I taught school for too long.
Eduhonesty: Hi, readers who are wondering where the education went in this education blog. It’s about to come back, since in a way this post has been all about education. I view this as another tentacle of the legislative octopus that’s smothering us all. Readers know I have been subbing lately. I have discovered I like to work half days. Fortunately for me, the system posts many of these days. I can still pick up an afternoon if I want today. Why? Because of mandatory meetings that result from government regulations, teachers — especially special education teachers — are being dragged out of their classrooms all the time. Meetings, meetings, meeting. Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork. Twenty-six page Individual Education Plans for students. Twenty-one page evaluations for teachers. Longer and longer self-evaluation forms. That last form sucked away hours of one of my evenings and then Lord Vader (otherwise known as my former Assistant Principal) did not even bother to read the thing.
Cops need to be able to do their jobs. Teachers need to be able to do their jobs. Well-meaning government interventions intended to fix problems frequently do a great deal more harm than good. I blogged this example from Chicago because I have seldom read anything more disheartening. I feel so sorry for those old men and women who are afraid to go out of their South Side houses right now. I feel so sorry for those teachers who are retiring early from a job they once loved.
Paperwork and oversight requirements are killing us out here.
P.S. On “Chicago Tonight,” they tried to explain away the rise in murder rates because warmer weather may have led to more people being out on the streets. Last year was an exceptionally warm winter, though, so I don’t see how this explanation accounts for the steep hike in deaths and mayhem. Besides, realistically, this version of warm weather can’t be leading that many more people to hang out on the streets. It’s been so cold that the air hurts people’s faces during most of this allegedly “warm” winter. I have to steel myself to walk the dog some days. The truth is that local lawmongers came up with a plan to fix the police and that plan seems to be misfiring all over the place.