Chicago's Finest

I do have great respect for the police and the tough job they have to face but when there's a constant stream of stories about their corruption, abuse of power and better-than-thou attitude it's hard not to become disillusioned. Here another cop tarnishes the already damaged reputation of the Chicago PD.

It took a Taser to subdue a Chicago Police officer who attacked two Forest Park cops Saturday night, authorities said.

Richard Schmidt, on the force two years and assigned to the Englewood District, faces felony aggravated battery charges for allegedly striking two Forest Park officers as well as a paramedic.

Given that he holds other LEO and emergency services personnel in such low regard, one can only wonder about his attitude to non-Only Ones.

"Schmidt was on the second floor of the tavern intentionally jumping in the air and landing on tables with his back and breaking them," the Village of Forest Park said in a statement.

Forest Park Police arrested Schmidt for criminal damage to property, Aftanas said. At the station, Schmidt resisted instructions, elbowed an officer in the face, and "attacked'' a sergeant, according to the statement.

Schmidt also spat blood at a paramedic and hit a paramedic in the neck, said Cook County state's attorney spokesman John Gorman.

And it's not an isolated incident either.

The incident echoes other recent notorious cases in which off-duty officers got into bar brawls. Anthony Abbate faces felony charges over a videotaped beating of a female bartender last year, and three officers face charges over a melee at the Jefferson Tap & Grille.

I'd have a lot more respect for the police if they held their own, sworn to uphold the law, to a higher standard and always threw the book at them when they broke the law. Sadly that seems to not be the case.