BRIEFS
Marijuana plants are seen in Chicago where officers say they discovered two football fields worth of pot plants growing on the city's South Side, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012. Authorities say more than 1,000 cannabis plants were discovered during a helicopter operation Tuesday. Some were as tall as Christmas Trees. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford) Purchase photo reprints »
Chicago Police officers enter an area where authorities are busy chopping down 6-to-8-foot tall marijuana plants that they found growing on a chunk of land the size of two football fields on the city's South Side Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012. Officers on routine patrol in a police helicopter spotted the crop Tuesday under a canopy of trees about 3 miles from their hangar. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford) Purchase photo reprints »
Chicago Police officers enter an area where authorities are busy chopping down 6-to-8-foot tall marijuana plants that they found growing on a chunk of land the size of two football fields on the city's South Side Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012. Officers on routine patrol in a police helicopter spotted the crop Tuesday under a canopy of trees about 3 miles from their hangar. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford) Purchase photo reprints »
Marijuana plants are seen in Chicago where officers say they discovered two football fields worth of pot plants growing on the city's South Side Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012. Authorities say more than 1,000 cannabis plants were discovered during a helicopter operation Tuesday. Some were as tall as Christmas Trees. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford) Purchase photo reprints »
Marijuana plants are seen in Chicago where officers say they discovered two football fields worth of pot plants growing on the city's South Side Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012. Authorities say more than 1,000 cannabis plants were discovered during a helicopter operation Tuesday. Some were as tall as Christmas Trees. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford) Purchase photo reprints »
FILE - In this Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012 file photo, Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee speaks during a news conference at the Northeastern District Police Station, in Detroit. Detroit Mayor Dave Bing on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012 suspended Godbee in a probe of unspecified allegations. The mayor says he placed Godbee "on a 30-day suspension pending a full and thorough investigation of this matter." (AP Photo/Detroit News, Brandy Baker) DETROIT FREE PRESS OUT; HUFFINGTON POST OUT Purchase photo reprints »
Chicago police find big marijuana field in city
CHICAGO (AP) — In Chicago, a bustling urban metropolis where skyscrapers are as likely to sprout up as anything a farmer might plant, someone decided there was just enough room to grow something a little more organic: Marijuana.
The plants grew even taller than the tallest Chicago Bulls. However, just days before the crop on a chunk of land the size of two football fields would have been ready to harvest, a police officer and county sheriff’s deputy in a helicopter spotted it as they headed back to their hangar about three miles away.
On Wednesday, a day after the discovery of the largest marijuana farm anyone at the police department can remember, officers became farmers for a day as they began to chop down about 1,500 marijuana plants that police said could have earned the growers as much as $10 million.
No arrests had been made as of Wednesday, and police were still trying to determine who owns the property that housed the grow site on the city’s far South Side. But police said they were hopeful that because of the size of the operation, informants or others might provide tips about those involved, including a man seen running from the area as the helicopter swooped low.
Sex scandal embroils 2nd Detroit police chief
DETROIT (AP) — Detroit Mayor Dave Bing was elected to replace a scandal-plagued predecessor after promising to clamp down on crime. But following allegations of a sex scandal involving another police chief, he’s having trouble stabilizing the department, let alone the streets.
Bing suspended Police Chief Ralph Godbee, 44, after a subordinate, a 37-year-old internal affairs officer, claimed the two had engaged in a sexual relationship for about a year.
The mayor hired Godbee two years ago after firing his predecessor, in part because of similar charges involving a subordinate. Bing knew at the time that Godbee previously had a romantic relationship with the same woman, a police lieutenant.
Should Bing’s investigation conclude that Godbee too must go, the city would be forced to seek its fifth police chief in four years. In Bing’s three-plus years in office, he already has fired two chiefs.
“He’s had more people resign, fired, quit than any other mayor that I know of,” Councilman Kwame Kenyatta said Wednesday. “It either says he chooses the wrong people or doesn’t know how to choose the right people.”
Like many police departments, Detroit’s force is under severe financial constraints. The city has about 2,700 officers, down from 4,000 a decade ago.
The department reports most violent crimes numbers are down this year, but the city also is on track to eclipse last year’s 344 murders.
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