and they wonder why they have problems

[Tvandermyde]

Cook County and Chciago politicians always complain about guns and gun owners. Mybe if they did what we said, lock 'em up, we would not have thie problems they complain about. Interesting article about the individuals who shot the chicago cop lat week.

 

 

2 belonged behind bars before officer's slaying

By John Kass

Just two weeks before young Chicago Police Officer Alex Valadez was shot down on the edge of a vacant South Side lot, his alleged killer, Shawn Gaston, was in court, accused of another probation violation on a felony gun charge.

 

That's right, another probation violation.

 

It wasn't Gaston's first alleged violation of probation. It wasn't his second. It was his third, Cook County prosecutors confirmed late last week.

 

Gaston, a member of the Gangster Disciples street gang, was arrested in 2007 for carrying a loaded handgun. He pleaded guilty to the charge of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, a felony.

 

In that case, he was granted probation by Cook County Circuit Judge Bertina Lampkin, not unusual for someone with misdemeanors but no felonies on his record.

 

Prosecutors said Gaston violated the terms of his probation by twice testing positive for marijuana and for failing to perform community service as ordered.

 

Gaston obviously wasn't someone police and probation officers ignored. He was on their radar.

 

Common sense suggests that Judge Lampkin, a former prosecutor with a reputation as being pro-prosecutor, would have been angry with Gaston's repeat violations of her mercy.

 

You might think she'd order a gangbanger with a gun who thumbs his nose at the system to at least be held on a high bond, so he could think things over in the county jail.

 

But this is Cook County.

 

And cops and judges and prosecutors are hauling water with a sieve.

 

"They just don't take gun cases seriously," said a ranking officer in line with me at Valadez's wake, on the day before he was to be buried. "You'd think they'd take them seriously, but they don't."

 

Our politicians make lots of noise when it comes to guns and violence. They make speeches and stand in front of the cameras and shake their fingers in anger.

 

But the woman who was raped in the suburbs and now has a gun in the drawer isn't the problem. The old guy in the city -- feeling he must violate the city's handgun ban because he's not a politician with bodyguards but an old man alone -- is not the problem.

 

The problem is this: thugs with guns. And if they violate probation on gun charges, they should be incarcerated.

 

But on May 19, Judge Lampkin continued Gaston's probation violation case to July 7, records show. So Gaston walked out of the criminal courthouse at 26th and California. He didn't have to put up any money. All he had to do was sign his name and walk free.

 

Thirteen days later, Officer Valadez was dead.

 

Who can say whether Gaston and his alleged accomplice, Kevin Walker, are guilty? They'll have a trial.

 

And the defense will try to show that they couldn't possibly have known Valadez was a cop when the trigger was pulled.

 

But the repeat allegations of violations of probation aren't debatable. And FOP President Mark Donahue has written a letter to Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans, asking why Gaston and Walker were not in jail, but on the street. (Walker was on probation after pleading guilty to aggravated attempted armed robbery.)

 

"For years, judges had to release these people based on overcrowding of the Cook County Jail. That's not the case anymore," Donahue said. "There's plenty of bed space, and for the judiciary to feel they still need to release these predators back out on the street, there has to be an explanation."

 

They held the wake Friday at Blake Lamb Funeral Home on 103rd Street in Oak Lawn, before the funeral on Saturday.

 

There was a hurtful silence in the line. It stretched through the parking lot and down the block. You could hear hard shoes on the walk, cars passing, kids playing ball in a yard, but not much else.

 

Inside, the silence was worse, except for a young woman in black being comforted by other women in black. She wasn't shrieking. She was trying to catch her breath between sobs.

 

All the women of the family were in black. Most of the men and women in line were in blue.

 

There were photos of Valadez, only 27 when he was killed, next to the flowers: on his bed as a baby, later as a toddler surrounded by books, and later still, the young officer at 12, in a new suit, the boy being serious for the camera.

 

About 8 miles to the northeast, near 60th and Hermitage where Valadez was shot early Monday, there was another serious young boy, about 12, sitting behind his father on the porch.

 

"It's a terrible thing what happened to that officer, but there's something good about it, if that's possible," said the man, who identified himself as Cornell. Residents say the neighborhood has swarmed with police since the shooting, and the men who usually hang out on the street are lying low.

 

"It's so quiet now. Old people feel they can come outside, and sit on the porch, and the old women can mess around in their yards, with their flowers," he said. "It's quiet now."

 

Quiet like the family of Alex Valadez, sitting straight backed on the couch in front of the casket. Quiet as Shawn Gaston's court file, with the alleged probation violations offering mute testimony to what should have happened, but didn't.

[Lou]

Thank you for sharing that Mr. Vandermyde.

 

It once again reinforces the plain truth that Chicago is the murder capital of the US of A not for lack of laws, but because of the lack of enforcing the existing laws.

 

If only the Daleys of the world understood.............

[TTIN]

Thank you for sharing that Mr. Vandermyde.

 

It once again reinforces the plain truth that Chicago is the murder capital of the US of A not for lack of laws, but because of the lack of enforcing the existing laws.

 

If only the Daleys of the world understood.............

 

If only the daleys of the world lost their armed bodyguards,I'll bet they would understand a lot better.

[Yas]

We can even do the math on the offenders ages.

 

 

Kevin Walker, 21, and Shawn Gaston, 20 From a Suntimes article june 3rd.

Two men charged with murder of Chicago cop held without bail

ENGLEWOOD | Two gang members retaliating for earlier shooting: police

 

 

June 3, 2009

BY ANNIE SWEENEY, FRANK MAIN AND MARK J. KONKOL Staff Reporters/asweeney@suntimes.com

 

Gunshot residue and ballistics evidence linked two reputed gang members to Monday’s fatal shooting of Chicago Police Officer Alejandro Valadez in the Englewood neighborhood, Cook County prosecutors said today in court.

 

Kevin Walker, 21, and Shawn Gaston, 20, appeared in Cook County court this morning, where they were ordered held without bail.

 

Both have previous gun-related convictions, and each had been given two years’ probation on the charges.

 

Gaston, however, has been served with a violation of probation three times in the last year but was allowed to remain out on bond, according to court records.

 

His next court date on the violations is scheduled for July.

 

Walker and Gaston now are accused of driving around Englewood early Monday morning with two handguns and a rifle looking for rival gang members to shoot, authorities said.

 

Instead, they shot Valadez, who was in the 6000 block of South Hermitage investigating reports of shots fired and that a gun was hidden in a garage in the area, according to Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney John Dilllon.

 

Gaston and Walker could face the death penalty, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said. If Springfield had passed legislation that Alvarez proposed, she said, Gaston would have been behind bars for his gun conviction, a felony. Alvarez proposed that unlawful use of a weapon be a non-probational offense for gang members.

 

"A tragedy such as this shakes the foundation of the entire department and reminds us all of the unforeseen dangers that are always present in the daily work of the police officer," she said.

 

As Valadez stood conducting an interview with a resident about the shots -- in plainclothes but with his star and badge on -- Walker allegedly drove onto the block and slowed down as Gaston fired from the car, Dillon said. Valadez was struck in the head and leg and died 14 hours later.

 

The two allegedly had returned to avenge the very shooting that Valadez and his partner were investigating, authorities said. Rival gangs had been fighting in the neighborhood all day.

 

The car Gaston and Walker were allegedly in was recovered by the department’s Targeted Response Unit. Three guns — a .40-caliber handgun, a .357-caliber handgun and a 9mm rifle — were recovered, Dillon said.

 

Dillon said ballistics testing showed that shell casings recovered from the car and the scene were fired from the same gun. Also, .40-caliber shell casings recovered at the scene matched the gun found in the car, Dillon said. And a bullet extracted from Valadez matched one of the guns recovered in the trunk. Gaston also tested positive for gunshot residue on his hand, he said.

 

Both Gaston and Walker gave statements admitting their involvement in the crime, Dillon said.

 

Valadez, 27, had been on the police force three years. He worked in the busy Englewood District on a midnight team that targeted high-crime areas.

 

"At the moment he was struck down he was doing what he loved to do,'' Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis said. "He was being a police officer. He gave his life serving the city.''

 

Gaston and Walker were arrested on a porch in the 6200 block of South Paulina shortly after the shooting — which happened at 12:15 a.m. Monday.

 

Stop by State Police called key

A pivotal break in the case came from an Illinois State Police officer, who, by chance, had stopped Gaston and Walker the day before the shooting in the 2007 Pontiac detectives believed was used in the drive-by, several sources said.

 

The two were stopped for a seat belt violation, and the encounter was videotaped as a matter of routine practice, the sources said. It was key because it put Gaston and Walker inside the car together a day before the Valadez shooting.

 

Detectives found the ticket and contacted the state to ask whether there was a tape, source said. It was turned over immediately.

 

Chicago Police respond, on average, 87 times a day to calls of shots fired, according to 2008 statistics. Valadez was the type of officer who wanted to answer such high-risk calls, his colleagues recalled .

 

“He came out every day and hit the street with something to accomplish,’’ said Officer Melvin Oliver, a member of Valadez’s team.

 

Co-workers also recalled Valadez as a proud father-to-be who showed off ultrasound photos. They remembered his fun attitude and smile.

 

Brother Rice remembers officer

The officer’s slaying also struck those who hadn’t seen him in years, including his former principal at Brother Rice High School.

 

Jim Antos said when he saw a smiling photo of Valadez on the front page of the Chicago Sun-Times Tuesday, he remembered a quiet, amiable young man who was among a small group of students who chose to attend a religious retreat at the Southwest Side school.

 

“For Alex, it speaks volumes that he [had] the courage to go. For a lot of guys it’s not the coolest thing to do,’’ Antos said. “It’s four days of coming to know yourself, coming to know God better. . . . You come to know you are truly a good person. It doesn’t surprise me that he went into the kind of work he did in terms of wanting to help people.’’

 

Gaston was arrested in 2007 for carrying a loaded gun in the 6000 block of South Paulina — about two blocks from Valadez’s slaying. He pleaded guilty to a felony and was sentenced on March 20, 2008, to two years’ probation by Judge Bertina Lampkin.

 

Gaston, of the 6200 block of South Paulina, has been arrested at least 13 times on charges that include robbery, assault and gambling.

 

Walker, of the 2500 block of West 70th Street, pleaded guilty to a 2008 aggravated armed robbery in the 6400 block of South Fairfield after he pulled a man from a truck as an accomplice held a gun to the man’s head, according to court records. He was sentenced to two years’ probation for that offense.

 

http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/1603777,...060209.article#

 

I started to highlight pertinent violations of already existing Illinois, Cook County, and Chicago law but basically the whole thing would have been highlighted. Both were poster children on why Chicago is currently the murder capitol of the country. Both the FOP and Officers family should be able to sue the criminal justice system. It should have never gotten to this point.

[chicago guy]

Sorry guys; Daley DOES understand -- say what you like, he isn't THAT stupid. HE just doesn't care. His verbage wins votes. If he cracks down on the bangers, he loses the ethnic voters.

[Tvandermyde]

guys and gals.

 

as part of my lobbying to keep the issue in perpesctive with legislators, I send news clips like this to the to our supporters. highlighting the fact that they should have been in jail just like Cerial Weeks.

 

I would suggest you all do the same. Not only is it a good thing to keep in touch with your legislators about bills and the issue of the day, but think about them getting 5, 10 or 20 news clips that remind them of the fact that bad guys with guns doing criminal deeds are NOT getting punished in Cook County? And the tag line is why don't they try enforcing the laws on the books?

 

Leaving the question open. Let Cook County answer the question, not us. It is a simple and effective way for us to buttrise our position.

 

todd

[Yas]

Its stuff like this that also help us combat Chicago bans. Because its still not working there despite the laws they have passed.

[Xwing]

Its stuff like this that also help us combat Chicago bans. Because its still not working there despite the laws they have passed.

 

The problem is that they mayor and his cronies don't care in the slightest. They know that new gun laws looks good on TV but don't require any work. They know that enforcing the actual laws and getting criminals off the street is much harder. And they couldn't care less about the safety in Chicago, since they all have bodyguards.

[Air Commando]

there are enough smart people in Chicago to vote his a** out this next time and if he does get re-elected then there will be nothing to stop him because with all the **** he's done over the last couple years if people are that stupid to keep him in then nothing will get him out.