Bait trucks...and dangling watches

A long life gives one opportunity see political mis-steps repeat themselves. The news of the bait truck flap where Chicago Police helped Norfolk Southern police set up an unlocked trailer with goodies, hoping to entrap Englewood residents to commit robbery, unlocked a memory of the bait truck predecessor. Thirty years ago we were treated to the 'dangling watch' caper Chicago Police staged to nab evildoers on the El. An undercover cop would feign drunken sleep with a shiny gold watch clearly visible on his dangling arm. It wouldn't take long for a passenger to relieve the apparent drunk of his watch, at which point two other undercover cops would pounce on the discombobulated bandit. Every week the papers gushed over the high profile arrests. No innocent passengers were ever reported injured during the mid ride melees. Nor were any of the perps reported to be first time offenders started on a life of crime by overzealous cops pretending to be protecting the public. But the public ate up the dramatic accounts splashed on page one almost weekly. At some point the police and public realized that facilitating criminal behavior was a foolish waste of police resources. This time, thanks to social media, the waste of police resources in a city filled with loads of real violent crime lasted only one occurrence.