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Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

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Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#301

Post by tptacek »

logfromblammo wrote: post #286
tptacek wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The quieter the neighborhood, the less likely it is you'll ever interact with a police officer. If you're in your mid-20s, the typical places to end up would be Uky Village, Logan Square, Roscoe Village, Lincoln Square, and Uptown. You wouldn't want to live in Streeterville or Edgewater for reasons beyond the number of police there. If you're seeing lots of police in Wrigleyville, it's because the neighborhood is ove…

If you are white and in the wrong place, the police may approach you and tell you where you ought to be and how to get there. If you're white in white Chicago, police pretty much don't exist. They're who you call before your insurance company whenever a property crime occurs, and that's only because your insurer makes you. You can compare maps at http://gis.chicagopolice.org/clearmap_crime_sums/startpage.h... and htt…

It's hard to think of a neighborhood within the limits of the city of Chicago where you could be "out of place" for being black or hispanic, since we have huge black and hispanic populations. Beverly, maybe? But that seems like an exception that proves the rule, since Beverly is effectively a south suburb.

I do not at all doubt that if you are an "urban" looking black person wandering around a suburb like Kenilworth you are likely to be harassed by the police. There are Chicago suburbs that are somewhat defined by whiteness.

But even the whitest neighborhoods in Chicago have pretty significant African-American or Hispanic populations as well (there aren't that many black families living in Lakeview, for instance, but there's a large number of Hispanic families there).

Also, no cop has ever warned me to get out of a dangerous neighborhood in Chicago. Has that happened to you? Where were you?

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#302

Post by alistairSH »

DannyBee wrote: post #257
alistairSH wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, Angelo's job (head of the local union) is to protect and advocate for the officers. Yes, he sounds completely ridiculous, but he can't come out and say "yup, they broke the dashcams." (In no way do I mean to imply he is correct, or that the system isn't completely broken.)

Fun fact: it's not effecitve advocacy if nobody believes you :)

Fair enough. :)

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#303

Post by uremog »

fapjacks wrote: post #277
uremog wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny, I lived next to a police officer once. He was the only one with illegal fireworks every New Year's Eve (in Hawaii, where aerial fireworks are illegal).

Now that's true, but I will say that HPD on Oahu are the most professional and legit police officers I've ever had to deal with. I lived in town for six years and had run-ins with the law and no complaints about their behavior, including a couple of times when I thought that surely I would end up being taken advantage of.

Fair point, I think they're mostly professional too and have friends who went into HPD, but I've seen enough that are not (grew up there 20 years, Ewa and downtown).

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#304

Post by TallGuyShort »

maxxxxx wrote: post #285
sixothree wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The worst years of my life were living next door to an Orleans Parish Sheriff. He would follow my friends home, he would spit out his gum onto my sidewalk, he let my dogs out of the yard every day for a week, he would blow his leaves onto my yard, he would let his dog bark all day and all night, he would hang his running leaf blower on the fence at 8:00 in the morning on a weekend. I really could go on and on. There…

I have heard a lot of similar stories from credible people. Is there no department that people can complain to? It seems there is no interest in making sure that cops and prosecutors do a good job. You would think that somewhere up the chain people would be horrified by this lack of ethics. I guess this bad attitude trickles down from DC.

The problem is it usually turns into a Think Of The Children argument. Among my friends on social media, everyone is either 100% anti-cop or pro-cop. No one is willing to discuss possible solutions to occasional injustice.

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#305

Post by JustSomeNobody »

CPLX wrote: post #21

Though I agree that this behavior is reprehensible and probably criminal, the comments here seem to miss at least some of the human dynamic here. I can't hardly imagine that most people posting here would ever consider a job where literally every word or sound that came out of their mouth during their entire working life was recorded, and likely subject to public disclosure. Saying that this is what cops signed up fo…

This is interesting.

A lot of IT workers have an expectation of privacy when working on a company owned computer. I wonder what they would say to being monitored. Probably be appalled.

If we factor out the "lives are on the line" aspect of it and only look at the "making sure one is doing their job properly" aspect, then what's the difference?

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#306

Post by anigbrowl »

Chicago PD needs to be disbanded and rebuilt from scratch under federal supervision. I had a lot of police in my family growing up and revered them as public servants, now I cross the street when I see a cop and won't give them the time of day. Yeah, a lot of cops are decent people doing a hard job, but no more respect until they clean up their own act.

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#307

Post by nommm-nommm »

rhino369 wrote: post #264
exstudent2 wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Americas biggest problem in the inner cities. This is absolutely not true. Have you ever lived in an inner city? Yes some people are fighting with each other but if you act respectfully, you'll be left alone. The police aren't cracking down because they "have to". They're cracking down (e.g. stop and frisk) because they're power hungry and ignorant. As someone who's lived in all manner of socioeconomic areas of the…

>This is absolutely not true. Have you ever lived in an inner city? Yes some people are fighting with each other but if you act respectfully, you'll be left alone. I've lived in downtown areas of Chicago and DC, but never what people mean when they say "inner city" (i.e. ghetto). They won't leave you alone. They'll rob you or break into your car. Criminals murder and steal from the people who live there at alarming r…

What does "have health care coverage" mean? Have health insurance? People with health insurance can and do still rake up significant out of pocket medical bills. And copays don't stop, even after you've met your deductible.

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#308

Post by selimthegrim »

sixothree wrote: post #172
bbarn wrote: post #74

Let's see.. in the 20 odd years here in Chicago, the sum of my police interactions are: Hit by a white shirt (supervisor) who came out of an alley on clark st while in a bike lane - somehow my fault, detained. Hit on foot, by a car with no lights on in a residential neighborhood while crossing at a crosswalk - somehow my fault for being outside while there was "a suspect being hunted" Watching officers on foot in 7-1…

The worst years of my life were living next door to an Orleans Parish Sheriff. He would follow my friends home, he would spit out his gum onto my sidewalk, he let my dogs out of the yard every day for a week, he would blow his leaves onto my yard, he would let his dog bark all day and all night, he would hang his running leaf blower on the fence at 8:00 in the morning on a weekend. I really could go on and on. There…

Maybe OPSO promised him that as a fringe benefit on top of the $12/hour (no, I'm not joking, I live in Orleans Parish) salary

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#309

Post by grandalf »

trophycase wrote: post #297
stephencanon wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe we should be training them to be friendly, authoritative and reasonable instead. You don't need to be an asshole to exert control; in fact it's much easier to do so if you aren't.

I don't think you know anything about controlling a situation when you're in the presence of thugs and criminals. All of these people who have no idea of what it's like to be a police officer sitting here being critics and armchair psychologists is just really tiring.

Fair point. What I do know is that I'm a lot less scary to harass than actual thugs and criminals. They should do their job and fight crime, not flex their muscles around non-criminals.

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#310

Post by vxNsr »

compactmani wrote: post #144
callinyouin wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm moving to Chicago in a few months. Are there certain neighborhoods that should be avoided on the basis of corrupt police activity? I wonder because I could see neighborhoods that are relatively safe in terms of civilian crime, but cops posted in that area might have nothing better to do than mess with its inhabitants.

The safest neighborhood in Chicago wrt police if you ask me is Hyde Park. This is of course if you are affiliated with the university. You get a free pass there because the police are paid extra to pamper.

The Safest by far is the northern side, Rogers Park.
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