Rahm's Chicago sliding down the tubes

Second City Cop, a blog dealing with scuttlebutt in the Windy City and its police department, had an interesting post that apparently came its way from a reader:

We were sent to qualify at the academy today and the targets are broken so they only go out to the closest distance/3 yards. The range instructor said they were given the order to have everyone qualified even though the course is no longer up to State regulations. Said at Rahms direction we all need to be rushed thru before NATO in order to qualify for some federal funding (that CPD won't see a single cent of). A3 is no longer open for us to qualify at, nor will they allow us to go out south while on duty because it takes too long. Told us we can go on our own time if we want to shoot at the longer distances. This is a blatant bonehead move by what passes for leadership on this department. Our firearms course is shit as it is, this is unacceptable!

I can't vouch for the accuracy, even Second City Cop seemed taken aback by the claim. But it sure raises alarms about the preparedness of Chicago Police in even the most rudimentary shooting skills. The comments that follow the post raise even more alarms.

Meanwhile, here are some highly documented Chicago facts and stats that can be substantiated:

Chicago earlier this year ditched plans for a new outdoor police shooting range over environmental concerns.

Chicago's murder rate has spiked up by 60 percent in the first three months of this year.

So, I'm thinking... Connecting some dots, if you will...

Chicago's mayor is President Obama's former chief of staff...  Many more veterans of Chicago politics continue to staff key Obama administration positions... Our president himself is a product of the Chicago system.

Bad enough what Chicago politics is doing to Chicago. Do we dare flirt with what four more years under a Chicago-style White House might do to America?

Updated at 4:20 pm EDT 4/15./2012 to insert direct link to cited SCC post