The police blotter . . .
Sneed has learned that Police Supt. Garry McCarthy is authorizing the wearing of black mourning bands by all Chicago police in honor of the two New York City police officers killed last weekend.
Sneed also is told that McCarthy, a close friend of New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, will travel to New York to attend the funeral Saturday of Rafael Ramos, one of the two slain officers.
Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, are also expected to attend. The funeral for the second New York cop, Wenjian Liu, is still in the planning stages.
McCarthy, a former New York City cop who hails from the Bronx, is authorizing the mourning bands on officers’ stars not only in memory of the two murdered New York cops “but out of respect for our brothers and sisters in the New York Police Department,” a top police source tells Sneed.
The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley — who posted on social media his intent to kill two cops in retaliation for the police-involved death of Eric Garner — shot the officers while they were sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn on Saturday before killing himself.
The murders have thrown the already reeling city, home to many recent anti-police demonstrations, into turmoil.
Police blotter II . . .
Sneed also has learned that Illinois State Police Director Hiram Grau, a retired Chicago Police deputy superintendent, just dispatched a missive to his police force to remain vigilant in dangerous times, according to a state police source.
Grau’s message stated:
“These are troubling times and I remind all law enforcement officers to remain ever vigilant.
“Please remember that tomorrow is promised to no one so please give your loved ones a hug and say I love you when you leave home for work.
“Thank you for your courage and your continued commitment to duty.
“God bless each and every one of you and your families.”
Surf & turf . . .
President Barack Obama’s foursome on the golf links in Hawaii, where he has been on vacation since Friday, has not included two of his usual golf buddies.
- Translaton: Dr. Eric Whitaker — who has been described as Obama’s BFF and was recently labeled a hostile witness in the trial of two people accused of defrauding the Illinois Department of Public Health while Whitaker was the agency’s head — was not part of the usual foursome.
- Neither was NBA broadcaster Ahmad Rashad, who has been romantically linked to White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett.
- Sneed is told that Jarrett, who usually accompanies the Obamas on vacation — and is recovering from back surgery — is spending the holidays in Chicago to be with her mother, who also just underwent surgery.
A Rodman report . . .
Kim whim: Basketball bad boy Dennis Rodman no longer wants to be seen with his former best buddy, North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un.
- To wit: Rodman is furious over the creation of a videogame called “Glorious Leader!” in which players can fight America as Kim or as Rodman.
- Nitwit: Rodman wants to be removed from the game because it portrays him in a “negative light” — and he is threatening legal action, according to TMZ.
Sneedlings . . .
Wednesday’s birthdays: Ricky Martin, 43; moviemaker Lee Daniels, 55, and Ryan Seacrest, 40.
