Is top cop arrogant and aloof?

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New police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, Monday, May 2, 2011. | Jean Lachat~Sun-Times

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Updated: February 16, 2012 8:21AM

The police blotter . . .

Top cop shop: Is new Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy developing a rep amongst the rank and file for being being aloof and arrogant?

“I would say with great confidence he is more [disliked] than [former Supt.] Jody Weis,” said a Chicago Police sergeant who sent Sneed a stream of criticisms — but asked not to be identified.

◆ To wit: The criticisms range from McCarthy’s “his way or the highway” attitude; refusing to take advice from the rank and file with 30-plus years experience; and overworked and unsupervised detectives with unbelievable workloads.

“We are cut to the bone,” the source emailed.

◆ Checking it out: “I would say criticism of him not listening and being arrogant and having a big ego is correct,” said another source familiar with Chicago Police operations.

◆ The flip side: “McCarthy is doing what he can. He is hampered by one major person, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is not hiring more cops,” according to a third source. Stay tuned.

Word choices . . .

Is there such a thing as female and male words? Consider the tough word choice used by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to describe the video showing U.S. Marines urinating on dead insurgents in Afghanistan.

◆ Hillary: “dismay.”

◆ Leon: “deplorable.”

The Fergie file . . .

Poor lo Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. She’s got herself embroiled in a sticky wicket . . . trouble . . . again.

First, it was toes, then fees; now it’s film.

◆ Translation: Turkish authorities have charged her with “breaching” the privacy of orphans for secretly filming them in a TV documentary. The charges could bring 20 years in a Turkish jail.

◆ Backstory: In 2008, Fergie disguised herself to film an orphanage where 700 physically challenged orphans live. Stay tuned.

The posh parlor . . .

Dateline: Downton Dollop — Please note: Actress Michelle Dockery, who plays the leading romantic character Lady Mary Crawley in the hit PBS-TV series “Downton Abbey” (which has Sneed glued to the tube on Sunday night!) . . . may be perfect playing a snooty, starchy upper class character — but in real life, she’s a jazz singer! Just thought you’d want to know.

The letter ‘G’ . . .

◆ Gable gab: In case you missed it, legendary actor Clark Gable’s grandson — Clark James Gable, 23 — was sentenced to 10 days in jail for aiming a laser pointer at an L.A. Police Department helicopter. And how was your day?

◆ Gorbachev gab: Memo to the eateries around Elgin when former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev keynotes at the Judson University’s World Leaders Forum this spring: Don’t serve him foie gras. But . . . the last time Gorby visited in 2008, he went to the restaurant at Herrington Inn & Spa in nearby Geneva and wanted borscht soup and a salad mixed with cukes, tomatoes, avocados, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt — dubbed the “Gorbachev salad.” He even wanted it placed on the menu should he return. “We’ll be ready for him,” inn chief Paul Ruby told Sneed Friday.

Sneedlings . . .

Congrats to CTA chief of staff Doug Kucia and wife, Leslie, on the birth of their son, David Douglas. . . . Calendar date: A celebration of the life of the late Steve Beshekas, longtime Chicago bar owner and friend of John Belushi, will begin at 7 p.m., Jan. 30 at Underground Wonder Bar, 710 N. Clark. . . . Today’s birthdays: Drew Brees, 33, and Terry Newman, ageless . . . Monday’s birthdays: Albert Pujols, 32; Kate Moss, 38; Judy Baar Topinka, ageless and priceless.