Pubdate: Wed, 28 May 2014
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2014 Sun-Times Media, LLC
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/5QwXAJWY
Website: http://www.suntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81
Author: Michael Sneed
Page: 4

MCCARTHY TOLD: EXPLAIN POT TICKETING

Cop shop . . .

Punishment by pot? Sneed has learned Mayor Rahm Emanuel is ordering 
top cop Garry McCarthy to explain why misdemeanor marijuana 
possession means one thing on the North Side - and a very different 
thing on the South and West sides.

Translation: Rahm, who is running for re-election, wants to know why 
police are choosing to arrest rather than ticket misdemeanor 
marijuana violators in African-American communities.

In a recent Sun-Times poll, only 8 percent of African-American voters 
surveyed said they would vote for Emanuel.

Buckshot: Unhappy with the statistics, the mayor is giving McCarthy 
30 days to ensure the law is applied evenly across the city.

Backshot: Since the city ordinance was enacted almost two years ago 
allowing officers to ticket or make an arrest, recent reports show 
officers have chosen to make an arrest nine out of 10 times.

All but one of the communities in the top 20 percent of marijuana 
arrests are primarily African-American.

"Mayor Emanuel has called for a full review of the ordinance and how 
it is being implemented to see if there are ways to further bring 
down the arrest rate, particularly in areas that have seen a 
disproportionately high arrest rate," said Sarah Hamilton, Emanuel's 
director of communications.

Police made 5,000 fewer marijuana arrests in 2013, after the 
ordinance passed, than in 2011, according to police statistics.

"Every arrest results in cops off the street processing a low-level 
drug offense, rather than on the beat fighting serious crime."

Hamilton said Emanuel has asked McCarthy to focus on three areas:

Consider giving police officers more latitude to write tickets.

Discuss how many marijuana tickets officers are writing in CompStat 
each week and hold District Commanders publicly accountable.

Improve officer training on the law.

A history note . . .

It's a record: Jesse White will become the longest serving Illinois 
secretary of state in history on Friday. He has served since January 
1999 and is running for re-election this fall.

Back history: On Friday, White, 79, will have served one day past the 
previous record holder, James A. Rose, who was Illinois secretary of 
state from 1897 to 1912.

Polar postcards . . .

Weird weather report: Greetings from Sneed's old stomping grounds, 
the Upper Peninsula of Michigan - where 80-degree temperatures gave 
birth to giant ice cubes nipping the Marquette, Michigan shore of 
Lake Superior. Unbelievable sight. Akin to a Georgia O'Keeffe cloud 
painting. Check out the photo snapped this weekend by Susan Pearce Manson.

I spy . . .

Yankee star Derek Jeter stopped by Chicago Cut Saturday after his 
team beat the White Sox . . . On Friday, he came by Rosebud on Rush 
for pasta and a little Joe Torre talk with restaurant owner Alex Dana 
. . . George "Star Wars" Lucas and wife Mellody Hobson stopped by 
Gibsons last week.

AmBush 'em . . .

Former President George W. Bush, 67, was in Chicago over the weekend 
for partial knee replacement surgery before heading back to Dallas to recover.

Hill swill . . .

Page proof ? It sure looks like women are turning the pages for 
Hillary Clinton.

Explanation: The first printing of her upcoming memoir, "Hard 
Choices," has already sold out.

Even though it doesn't come out until June, a million copies sold 
after Vogue, an upmarket women's magazine, printed an excerpt for Mother's Day.

Sneedlings . . .

Wednesday's birthdays: Gladys Knight, 70; John Fogerty, 69; Carey 
Mulligan, 29, and Halina Tyburska, 99.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom