[posted by Mike Murray]

* Springfield Ald. Sam Cahnman arrested

A Springfield alderman was arrested early Sunday for allegedly soliciting a sexual act from two undercover female police officers.

* Top cop: City’s drop in murder rate ‘encouraging’

Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis on Friday hailed an 11 percent drop in homicides and a 9 percent dip in all crimes during the first seven months of 2009 as a “very encouraging” sign that his department’s strategies are working.[…]

Through the first seven months of 2009, the city recorded 258 homicides, compared with 290 for the same period in 2008.[…]

Still, the city’s top cop said his detectives often have been stymied this summer in their efforts to solve violent crimes by a “code of silence” among victims who refuse to cooperate with authorities.

“I cannot stress this enough: The code of silence that exists in far too many neighborhoods is a contributing factor to much of the senseless violence, shootings and homicides we see every day,” Weis said.

* Dart done gathering evidence, says he can back up Burr Oak charges

Dart said his investigators and special FBI forensics experts have gathered enough evidence to back up the criminal cases against four Burr Oak employees accused of digging up graves, dumping remains in piles or in shallow graves and then re-selling the plots. Three graves were exhumed last week, indicating evidence of illegal grave stacking. One man’s body was found buried in a concrete vault without a coffin.

Tom Trautmann, the FBI’s assistant special agent in charge in Chicago, said identifying all of the pieces is too unwieldy a job because of the terrible records kept by Burr Oak.

“We wish we could have fully identified all the remains recovered to give some sort of closure to the families who were affected by this unfortunate occurrence,” he said.

* Burr Oak Cemetery desecration suspects indicted

The Cook County State’s Attorney announced a seven-count indictment this morning against four workers at historic Burr Oak Cemetery who had been accused in an elaborate grave selling scheme.

The indictments of all four added charges of aggravated theft of $100,000 to $500,000 from a place of worship, unlawful removal of grave stones, desecration of human remains, unlawful removal of deceased human beings from a burial ground and conspiracy to remove human remains. The crimes occurred between September 2003 to July 8, 2009, prosecutors said.

* Only retired cops patrol suburban Inverness

The 12 full-time officers who began patrolling suburban Inverness on May 1 collectively have spent more than 350 years in uniform — or better than 29 years per man.[…]

But the new officers’ experience also is saving the town money, Tatooles contends.

Because they already have earned pensions while working decades at other departments, Inverness could bring them on board for less money than it likely would have cost to hire less-experienced cops and then contribute to their pension plan. The village also is saving money on training — which can run more than $100,000 per officer.

“When you have the older guys, they’re all trained,” said Police Chief Robert Haas, who at age 50 is the youngest officer on the force.

* A sea change for Waukegan Latinos

Like so many towns across the U.S., Waukegan — a formerly mostly Caucasian, blue-collar manufacturing town 30 miles north of the Loop — was torn apart by a fervent anti-illegal immigrant sentiment that oozed all over its perfectly “legal” Hispanic residents.

The match was a city ordinance that impounded the cars of drivers caught cruising without a license or car insurance. A critical public safety issue, to be sure, but some Latino residents, who make up over half the town’s population, considered it rampant racial profiling.

It lit a powder keg. In June 200, the Waukegan City Council voted to apply to the feds for two Waukegan police officers to be trained for 287(g) authorization — a controversial program that would have allowed police to start deportation proceedings for any illegal aliens convicted of violent offenses such as rape, murder, sexual assault or drug violations.

Enraged Hispanic residents exploded in protests.

* Judge sentences man to 6 months in jail for yawning

As Circuit Judge Daniel Rozak handed down the cousin’s sentence — 2 years’ probation — Williams, 33, stretched and let out a very ill-timed yawn.

Williams’ sentence? Six months in jail — the maximum penalty for criminal contempt without a jury trial. The Richton Park man was locked up July 23 and will serve at least 21 days.[…]

Chuck Pelkie, a spokesman for the state’s attorney’s office, said the prosecutor in the courtroom that day told him that “it was not a simple yawn — it was a loud and boisterous attempt to disrupt the proceedings.”[…]

A Tribune review of a decade’s worth of contempt-of-court charges reveals that Rozak jails people — typically spectators whose cell phones go off or who scream or shout profanity during sentencing — at a far higher rate than any other judge in the county. There are now 30 judges in the 12th Judicial Circuit, but since 1999, Rozak has brought more than a third of all the contempt charges, records show.

* Patrick Kane arrested over $13.80 cab fare

An argument over 20 cents’ worth of cab fare has $875,000-a-year Blackhawks star winger Patrick Kane facing a felony robbery charge.

Kane — who’s scheduled to start U.S. Olympics orientation camp next week — gave the team a black eye and even caught his mother off guard Sunday when he and his cousin were charged with assaulting a cabdriver in his native Buffalo, N.Y.

* Why didn’t Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane just tip Buffalo cabdriver and let it go?

* 7 arrested for dogfighting in Kankakee Co.

Seven men were arrested and nine severely scarred pit bulls were rescued following a dog fight in Kankakee County over the weekend, according to authorities.

Cook County Sheriff’s Police said the fight was in progress Saturday evening near the village of Hopkins Park when the arrests were made, capping a two-month investigation.