Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Police Uniform No Longer Guarantees Officer Safety

Jay Levine @ CBS2 discussing the fallout from the shooting death of Police Officer Michael Bailey. Here's something you should know if you haven't already:
Hillard had heard about the text message sent warning that gang members might be targeting police in Chatham, where Officer Thomas Wortham IV was killed back in May. There have been similar threats before, he said.

All you can do, said the former superintendent with two kids of his own, on the force today, is hope and pray, and wish for the good luck that nothing ever happens to them or any other Chicago sons and daughters, husbands and wives who risk their lives, to protect ours.
If that first paragraph is true we may have bigger problems than thought. There has been a lot of analysis since it appears that there were thugs out there willing to target a police officer only to steal his car. Unlike Thomas Wortham who wasn't in uniform Officer Bailey was.

UPDATE: Here's more on that subject from FOX Chicago:
An email warning Chicago police that gang members would be trying to kill them has officers on alert.

The email was written on Monday, apparently by a member of the Chicago Police Department's SWAT team.

The subject line said: "FYI--Officer safety." The email goes on to say "per area two detectives, phone calls were received in both the 3rd and 6th Districts in which the caller stated 'More police will be shot. Gangbangers in the area are passing the word. Every night they will be ambushing police in the Chatham area.'"

Three Chicago police officers have been murdered in the past few months, and two of those murders happened in the Chatham neighborhood where they lived.
Well Bailey's murder was actually in the Park Manor neighborhood not Chatham, but both neighborhoods are contained within the 6th!

Both via CapFax morning shorts!

2 comments:

  1. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. This is the recipe for KAOS because no one is going to let you just use them as target practice.

    I've already seen the effects the stress is taking on police officers as one exited his car in the middle of thes treet and threatened one of the young men on my block trying to play bad.

    The police are to strike back and make some examples soon if this situation is not handled.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The police officers I know are demoralized, worried and tired. They have lost three of their own in the span of two months. Two of them, right here in our ward. Can you blame them?

    However, having said that-- I believe that most, if not all Chicago Police Officers will continue to "Serve and Protect" us all in an ethical manner. And we need to continue to support them.

    ReplyDelete

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