In a rare show of respect toward a member of the Chicago Police Department’s top brass, Second City Cop—the prolific, anonymous blog run by members of the department, which often features vicious commentary about both police leadership and citizens involved in crimes—points out that 18th District Commander Paul Bauer “held a rare position in regard to this website . . . we can’t think of a single significant instance where he was the target of someone’s ire.”
Bauer, 53, a 31-year veteran of the force, was shot to death by a man at the Thompson Center Tuesday afternoon. Shomari Legghette, 44, has been charged with the murder.
SCC refers to Bauer as a “voice of reason” and praises him for his skepticism of criminal justice reform, such as Chief Judge Timothy Evans’s push to make bonds more affordable and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart’s efforts to reducing the jail population. The blog quotes at length from an interview with Bauer about these issues that appeared on the Loop North News website last fall.
“It’s certainly a refreshing honesty not often seen on this Department nowadays,” SCC wrote. “And now it’s silenced. He will be missed.”