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Chicago Police Officer Killed by Four-Time Felon

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Annie Sweeney reports for the Chicago Tribune:

On Tuesday, Bauer was fatally shot in the Loop by a four-time felon who had drawn the suspicion of tactical teams in the busy downtown area, police said. Officers tried to stop the man a few blocks from the Thompson Center, but he took off running, according to radio traffic of the incident.

Bauer encountered him at the Thompson Center, where a physical struggle resulted at a stairwell outside the government building, Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. Bauer was found by other officers. The suspect was taken into custody.

Though the suspect had a lengthy record of interaction with police, he had not been arrested by Chicago police since 2014, and each of his felony arrests resulted in prison sentences, according to public records.

We do not yet have information on what those priors were, but if they all resulted in prison sentences, it seems likely that a well-written and regularly enforced Three Strikes law would have kept this person off the street and Commander Bauer would still be alive.

What would Commander Bauer have thought?  We don't have to guess.  Here is the beginning of the story:

Just four months ago, Chicago police Cmdr. Paul Bauer didn't mince words when he spoke about his frustrations that career offenders weren't facing stiffer consequences in court.

"We're not talking about the guy that stole a loaf of bread from the store to feed his family," Bauer told the Loop North News. "We're talking about career robbers, burglars, drug dealers. These are all crimes against the community. They need to be off the street."

He took exception to Cook County's push to set more affordable bails for defendants as part of an effort to reduce the population in the jail.

"Maybe I'm jaded," he said. "But I don't think that is anything to be proud of."
Heidi Stevens has this remembrance of Paul Bauer, also in the Trib.

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