A reader sends us a disturbing report:I was coming home tonight and there was a massive inferno at the Wilson El station! Cops everywhere, fire trucks and hundreds of agitated groups gathered everywhere. Seems to be gang incensed. There were about 6 police cars and 20 or so police officers apparently arresting various gang members who were rioting. Truman security guards were locking down the doors. Very very bad, felt like I was in Bosnia.
What are you talking about? This is one of the lowest crime areas in the city. Just ask the alderman.
ReplyDeleteare you sure it wasn't turnstile jumping they saw happening?
ReplyDeletein all seriousness, this is horrible news if it is true.
Really bad news. I could hear all the sirens, but didn't know what they were for.
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be long hot summer. Day-um.
I wonder if the alderman will have any comments, as this took place less than a block from her office.
This is less than a month after another big fight in the same place. That one made them shut down power to the Red Line.
ReplyDeletePolice break up brawl at Wilson El stop
Why can't I find any of this information on the news channels?
ReplyDeleteOnce again, what is the common denominator?
ReplyDeleteThis is what you get when you have a mayor, and a political entity, that promote a thuggish life style. And tie the hands of the police. Just a little inside information...the police citywide have stopped "proactively policing." This might be part of the reason for the upsurge in violence. And don't think for a second that the gangbangers aren't aware of this.
ReplyDeleteAnd where will our Alderman be tomorrow? Will she even acknowledge this incident or any of the other recent shootings, fights, gang related incidents, etc. that have taken place rencently? Come to think of it, where have any of the Alderman been, especially after this past weekend? I didn't see one of them on the news addressing the violence. They sent the poor police spokeswoman out in front of the mics to blame it on the warm weather....way to stand up for your constituents, elected officials!
ReplyDeleteI heard they were pissed off to find out that Popeyes was still closed.
ReplyDeleteBoy, the blog trolls are active lately. It's a lot like the days when COURAJ members would try to disrupt CAPS meetings so that nothing could get accomplished, or would pretend to be racist or classist property owners on Uptown message boards to make the real property owners look like a bunch of bigots. You can see how effective that tactic was.
ReplyDeleteCheck out Uptown Crime Blotter. Lots of activity tonight. Shots just fired by Truman College and man reported shot on Sunnyside - not sure if they're related. I heard the shots but didn't realize that's what they were until I checked Uptown Crime Blotter.
ReplyDeleteThis is just pure insanity.
Uptown always goes crazy during a full moon. Sunday, April 20, 2008 was this month's full month and next month's will be May 20, 2008
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy but it's true. Just ask the hospital emergency room workers.
Apparently Uptown has turned into the Wild West tonight. At least four different shootings in the last hour alone.
ReplyDeleteFunny, Daley was on the news tonight fuming over persons being stuck underground on Blue Line El cars last week. I wonder why he never rants about passengers dodging bullets while entering the Uptown's Wilson El station?
ReplyDeleteGetting shot at the Wilson El in Uptown is a statistically more likely death than touching the 3rd rail. I guess the Downtown problem is not acceptable while the Uptown problem is institutionalized.
the police citywide have stopped "proactively policing."
ReplyDeleteWhat does this mean? How have police practices changed, and why?
"Truman security guards were locking down the doors."
ReplyDeleteGood thing the Truman students, faculty and administrators won't have to be riding the Wilson EL much longer. That new parking garage I am buying them is looking like it will will come in pretty handy about now!
Time to get a new leader int he community that can help us !!!
ReplyDeleteShe's unaware of all this. As Alderman Helen Shiller always says, "That's not my reality."
ReplyDeleteAnd, as Charlie Manson said in the Sharon Tate murder trials, "I have removed myself from this reality by cutting an X in my forhead."
Similar personalities.
Oh, no you didn't! I am going to order a venti latte and sit back and wait for the round of criticism that comes from the last comment. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteWalking past the Wilson Ave. Fire House at the time of this huge scene at wilson el stop (7:45 pm) we were told by a nice (and handsome) fireman, "Somebody got beat up", and then, "But there are going to be a lot more shootings, some big gang banger was shot and killed." WHERE IS THE MEDIA?
ReplyDeleteThe reason we are not doing proactive police work right now is simple. There is an external AND internal witch-hunt going on right now against the police. The mayor and our new sup want so badly to crucify police to show that they are "rooting out corruption" that they are throwing cops under the bus for minor procedural errors and seeking indictments. I hate dirty cops more than a civilian, because they make me look bad, but that's not what they are focusing on because that would require real investigations. Instead, they are going after any easy target they can find. Until this passes, we will be doing as little as possible. And before someone makes some self-righteous "it's your job" comment, we hate this as much as you do, and I don't see too many people volunteering to do my job.
ReplyDeleteIs there a way to find out the name of the big gang banger who got killed?
ReplyDeleteIt was Tupac..
ReplyDeleteuptown blue,
ReplyDeleteSo is that it? Nobody in the upper reaches of the force are taking actions and responsibility for whats going on NOW because of past infractions? Is that Nero's fiddle I hear? Corruption and bad cops are bad for everybody, especially the people who live here.
How many shootings last night?! This is amazing, I haven't seen much reaction from the traditional media outlets let alone the city.
And please, Uptown Blue, don't take this as an attack on you. I acknowledge every cop I see by my place so they know I appreciate what they are doing. I don't think it's something that can be fixed or solved or whatever the proper word is without some action by Weiss, Daley or the Alderwoman. And yes, I know the changes that happening are slim. But thank you for your efforts!
Uptown Blue,
ReplyDeletePersonally I think the police force looks worse now, being defeated by gangbangers, than they ever did because of a few corruption cases last year.
So if making national news for this past weekend isn't embarrassment enough, I don't know what will get you guys back doing the job the way you are supposed to.
To Uptown Blue:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the honesty you have wrote on this sight. It is good to know that some cops are reading the local blogs.
Though your "I hate dirty cops more than a civilian" creeps me out. What type of civilian don't you like? Or is all types?
I know your job is tough an all, but to a civilian reading that what are we to think? Are they on the side of good or the corrupt? Who the hell can we then trust?
I'm thankfull for your honesty!
Don't you think he meant he hates dirty cops more than a civilian hates dirty cops?
ReplyDeleteAnon 6:43 - I don't want to speak for uptown blue, but I took his comment to be that he being a police officer hates the dirty cops more than us civilians do. I do not think it was anything stating he hated civilians. Like I said I don't intend to speak for him/her - just giving my thought.
ReplyDeleteYes, I meant I hate dirty cops even more than civilians hate them.
ReplyDeleteAnd Pablo, most of us love doing our jobs right, and would continue to do so if it were possible. The sad truth is that it currently is not. Try asking the mayor or aldermen the questions that should be asked: How many policemen are there really? You say 13500, but hiring has not kept pace with retirements for nearly a decade and the department cannot staff its positions even minimally at current strength. Why are there officers being charged criminally for minor administrative errors? Why are the police brass focusing on meaningless "event number" generating busy work rather than the actual nuts and bolts of solving and preventing crimes. Why are officer's conviction rates not as important as their arrest stats? I could go on and on, but I doubt it would affect your opinion. I understand your frustration, and I even understand why you do not understand mine...
Uptown Blue,
ReplyDeleteI really have a lot of respect for what you guys do. I was just trying to understand the logic of the mayor and new supt. So if my comments came off as an attack on police, it was not. I was angry that Daley and Weiss are letting this city be run by thugs. In the four years I've lived in Uptown, especially the past couple months, I've always been more concerned with gangs than with police corruption. I feel there are far more gang bangers to get rid of than corrupt cops.
Pablo,
ReplyDeleteFair enough, and it looks like we definitely agree. Please understand that I and the other officers like me who love our jobs HATE not working like we normally do, so it's a sore subject for us.
Thanks Uptown Blue for explaining what you really ment.
ReplyDeleteuptown blue - the beat cops all say the same - your union is awfully quiet about daley and weiss - why don't they get info out on the decline in the number of police - since daley is a democrat and the state, county and city are run be democrats and the unions run the democrate machine why isn't there an uproar?
ReplyDeleteIf this "incident" you saw was around 2pm, it wasn't a riot. It was a poor soul who flung himself in front of the train. I saw it with my own eyes. I am a nurse and assited the cops in clearing the scene for the EMTs to come through. I hope this wasn't the incident you are referring to because if it is, you are simply spreading hearsay about an otherwise very sad occurrence.
ReplyDelete