THIS IS PATHETIC – AT 7:48 P.M. ET:  Chicago is overwhelmed with crime.  The south side, home to Barack and Michelle Obama, is a shooting gallery.  And what brilliant idea is being put forward to improve law enforcement?  From NBC News in Chicago:

The Chicago Police Department is seriously considering scrapping the police entrance exam, sources tell Fran Spielman.

Dropping the exam would bolster minority hiring and avert legal battles, according to one source, while others confirm that the exam could be scrapped to open the process to as many people as possible.

However, the lack of an exam would make Chicago the lone major city without one, and experts contend that the exam is integral to eliminating unqualified applicants.

The CPD has tried in recent years to boost minority hiring by offering the police exam online and turning to minority clergy to help in the recruitment effort.

What an insult to minorities, as if there aren't enough minority men and women who can pass the exam.  But how can you recruit minorities for the police department when you have the likes of Rev. Wright, and pastors like him, preaching hatred against authority and against the nation?  The lack of minority recruitment is a function of social attitudes.  New York has an extremely diverse police department, and one that is multilingual, and it hasn't cancelled exams.

Fraternal Order of Police President Mark Donahue said the plan "sounds ridiculous."

"With this, you're taking away one of the steps that attempts to legitimize the (hiring) process," he said.

Asked about plan Wednesday morning, Mayor Daley said he was unaware of any plans to do away with the exam.

"I never heard anything about that," he said.

But the city's Department of Human Resources didn't deny it. In a statement, the department said the city is "reviewing all options right now on how to handle the application process."

COMMENT:  Barack Obama's interest in Chicago, since becoming president, has been essentially limited to trying to get the Olympics for the city.  I would hope he'd have one of his Chicago-based aides pick up a phone and read the riot act to the dudes who came up with this crazy plan, the effect of which would be to make the city an embarrassment.

January 6, 2009