The Freep tagged along to a massive drug raid — the third big bust in recent weeks — and has video of the city's assistant chief and new police chief answering a drug dealer's phone and fooling someone calling to warn of the raid in progress. The visuals are striking.
I say striking because while I'm glad the police are getting the job done, it's still a bit of grandstanding. Either way, it's clear why DPD had the press capture this moment: They're trying to send the message that they're trying their best to get things done under the worst circumstances. There's still work to be done; I know, I know, you're going to bring up the fact that police response times are still abysmal. But they're trying.
But back to the video. During "Operation Mistletoe," hundreds of cops swarmed a neighborhood on the city's west side and executed 20 search warrants and arrested 37 offenders. At one point, they confiscated a phone belonging to a dealer and a panicked associate nicknamed "40" dials in. No word on whether "40" ever figured out what actually happened, but Charlie LeDuff caught up with the phone's owner.