Hi Craig,
Yesterday at 3:45 p.m., I was coming out of the Washington Mutual at 1425 W. Morse. Right in front of me a couple of male/blacks (can I say that?) boys around the age of 14 or 15. They were rolling a joint and smoking it. They didn't have a care in the world that they were out in public and being viewed by others.
They passed this back and forth as casually as the gravy at a Thanksgiving dinner. I immediately called 911 and gave an exact location and a perfect description of the two. I had everything they were wearing down pat. I figured it would take about 10 minutes for a car to be dispatched.
I realize it wasn't an emergency, but we are told to call 911 and I was amazed at the audacity of these punks. (I have a 16 year old myself at Northside Prep.).
I pulled out of the lot, turned right heading east on Morse. I saw patrol car #2485 parked under the Morse 'el' and two officers were getting into it. I pulled up and rolled down my window and informed the officers that there were two kids rolling and smoking right in front of me. They acknowledged me and drove right up to the two boys.
I parked because I was going into the shoe repair shop. I watched the two officers bust the youth. They checked them out and even looked under their hat. As they were doing this, an undercover car showed up with two more officers. This may have been the result of the 911 call.
Anyway, you should have seen the flabbergasted look on these two kid's faces. They couldn't believe the cops were questioning them.
They acted as if they had been sitting in their own front room drinking a juice box.
I may be getting old but when I grew up in Chicago (Sauganash) we would half expect to be busted if we dared to do anything so blatant. After I went around the block the undercover car and the two boys were gone. I'm assuming they were hauled off to the revolving door of our justice system.
The cops did a good job and should be recognized for this so I figured I'd let you know.
Signed,
Watching On Morse
P.S. Nathan, this isn't a Craig self-contrived post as you've claimed on other blogs. If you don't believe me, post your e-mail address and I'll be in touch with you!
11 comments:
maybe if the cops started arriving promptly in this manner more often, then morse wouldn't be in such bad shape.
A couple of years ago the City or Cook County State's Attorney's Office (can't remember which) released a study that stated the revenue generated from a guilty party paying the fine for this infraction was less than the cost of an officer writing and the state then prosecuting said infraction. In plain English: it costs more to enforce pot laws then the revenue the pot laws generate. Pot is definitely low on the priority list of 99% of the cops out there. Of course, smoking in broad day light is an entirely different manner.
commonsense, are you providing that info as an fyi, or stating that the cost/benefit analysis doesn't support prosecuting pot-smokers? I would counter that that same analysis could apply to many different nuisance offenses, but doesn't account for the non-economic benefits of prosecuting the offenders. Such as, not having a couple of stoned teenagers running around loose, or providing them with an experience at a young age that might sway them from further wrong-doing in the future (or at least make them less blasé about smoking pot in a public place).
omg, not pot! was the swat team called?
i mean, really, come on. everyone knows pot isn't any worse than drinking. its probably better.
those teens probably would have gotten high, grabbed some snacks, and gone to lay on the couch and watch cartoons.
guess it would be better if they were roaming the neighborhood looking for trouble instead.
pretty much everyone knows the war on drugs is a failure. waste of money and resources. why do you think our jails and courts are overcrowded? cause we are so busy busting people for a few grams of pot.
@dave
Laws should not be ignored because you think they are not important.
I'm not surprised at the blatant pot smoking in public. When I lived on Morse, there was a neighbor who lived across the hall from me. She regularly smoked her joints as she walked up and down the street. She wasn't the only one.
The little park area on Pratt right before you get to the beach was known as a major area for weed smokers in the 1980's. You could get a contact high just by walking past the area.
I guess there are a still lots of people who think weed is no big deal. However, it's still illegal. The teens shouldn't have been surprised that the cops and neighbors wouldn't appreciate them smoking it in the open.
hey jay,
are you going to tell me you've never broken a single law? never gone 1 mile over the speed limit?
use your cell phone in your car? jaywalk? never did any drinking when you were in high school?
because there are so many little bullshit laws, i'd be willing to bet everyone breaks the law every single day, in one way or another.
i personally believe drugs should be legal...like liqour and cigaretts...and regulated by age as they are..but just as those, using illegaly should be called to account so should anyone openly and blatently breaking any law...the disregard for the rules of our society start young...and unfortunately grow sometimes with the law breaker..then we are all in for trouble
Maybe they get high and then clobber someone to get their next joint. I don't think they get the weed with their link cards, and I don't beleive CPS is giving it out as a reward for showing up at school, YET!
Amen Dave, my voice is hoarse shouting out about the ridiculousness of the drug war.The kids should be busted though as they are under-aged - and flaunting their lawless bravado in public should not be tolerated. Let's just hope these kids don't start smoking crack or that nasty meth shit. And Mr. Jones you are most likely gonna get clobbered from someone drinking.
In Rhode Island they decriminalized it and instead charge the offender for the amount of tax on the amount of pot in their possession. As cannabis used to be legal, there are tax stamps in existence, yes even in Illinois, just like there are for cigarettes. A high ranking cop suggessted decriminalizing it years ago, just collect a fine.
The state's broke, the county's broke, the city's broke - why not do what Rhode Island does? They'll make money and we won't have to pay for these kids in jail and on aid forever because their drug conviction precludes them from getting a job, or going on to higher education, or whatever.....it certainly limits future opoprtunities if a kid wants to straighten their life out later.
You want to pay for them forever, in and out of prison? Keep prosecuting them.
And prattpangs is right. Alcohol is the drug of choice for offenders in the property and violent crimes department.....and it's legal. An extremely high percentage, probably over half, of all violent crime is committed by people intoxicated by alcohol.
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