Evidence Chicago police tortured suspects

[Virginian]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060719/...police_torture

Special prosecutors investigating allegations that police tortured nearly 150 black suspects in the 1970s and '80s said Wednesday they found evidence of abuse, but any crimes are now too old to prosecute.

In three of the cases, the prosecutors said the evidence was strong enough to have warranted indictments and convictions.

"It is our judgment that the evidence in those cases would be sufficient to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt," Robert D. Boyle and Edward J. Egan wrote.

The four-year investigation focused on allegations that 148 black men were tortured in Chicago police interrogation rooms in the 1970s and '80s. The men claimed detectives under the command of Lt. Jon Burge beat them, used electric shocks, played mock Russian roulette and started to smother at least one to elicit confessions.

No one has ever been charged, but Burge was fired after a police board found he had abused a suspect in custody. His attorney has said Burge never tortured anyone.

The report released Wednesday also faulted procedures followed by the Cook County State's Attorney's office and the police department at the time of the alleged abuse, saying they were "inadequate in some respects" but had since improved.

Mayor Richard M. Daley was the state's attorney during part of the period investigated.

Daley's office did not immediately return a call for comment Wednesday. A police spokeswoman also did not immediately return call seeking comment.

Boyle and Egan said they found three cases with enough evidence to seek indictments, including one involving the man whose abuse allegations led to Burge's firing. The man, who was convicted of killing two police officers in 1982, claimed Burge and two detectives beat and tortured him with electric shocks.

"Regrettably, we have concluded that the statute of limitations would bar any prosecution of any offenses our investigation has disclosed," the prosecutors said. The statute of limitations on the allegations is three years.

They also said they believe there was abuse in other cases but that the evidence wasn't as strong.

Several people who claimed to have been abused or tortured by Chicago detectives have filed civil lawsuits against the city and police department, and the report could bolster their legal claims.

There had also been a legal battle over the release of the report. The Illinois Supreme Court eventually denied a request from a former prosecutor, listed in court documents only as "John Doe," to block portions of the report from being released.

In May, a United Nations anti-torture panel said the Chicago investigation needs to go farther than it has. The panel said the United States should ensure that law enforcement officials who mistreat suspects are punished.

[TheOldRhino]

The men claimed detectives under the command of Lt. Jon Burge beat them, used electric shocks, played mock Russian roulette and started to smother at least one to elicit confessions.

Anyone else reminded of that scene in Starsky & Hutch?

[Pedro56]

You know what gets me about this? These guys were not innocent, they were bad people that should be put away. It wasn't like they picked some jag off, off the street that had never been arrested before. That report is a joke and a waste of money.

[Retdetsgt]

You know what gets me about this? These guys were not innocent, they were bad people that should be put away. It wasn't like they picked some jag off, off the street that had never been arrested before. That report is a joke and a waste of money.

Maybe so, but I don't want to live in a country where police can torture anybody. That's not our job. Besides, every so often we do bring someone in for questioning that is innocent. It's no big deal until they do it to you or someone you know.

When I was 16, a Texas Highway patrolman broke my nose because I answered a question by saying, "Yeah" (not even in a smartass tone) instead of "Yes sir". I'd fantasied for years about stopping that prick up here in Oregon someday. A few days off w/o pay would be worth a little stick time with that dumbass redneck.

[bird1]

in this day and age we leo's cant do things in police work that our fathers and uncles did back in the day. im sure that police work in the 70' and 80's was hard, but those days were different. back then it was a total different mind set. we had cops who kicked ass and took names there was no playing around. those cops back then didnt take crap from anybody they did what they did and they got the job done. im not defending what they did but they worked in a time were stuff like that was overlooked and wasn't frowned upon. i know this retired sgt. that lives by my house he always bragged about his days during the chicago democratic convention he would show me his night stick and say how many hippies he cracked over the head with it ( while smiling ). we now work in an era were u cant get away with stuff like that anymore and it wont be tolerated. lawsuits and jail time for coppers who cross the line.

[Retdetsgt]

I was a cop in the 70's and 80's. And no, it wasn't harder than it is today. It was different, where you have gangs, we had riots when I first started. L.A. style gangs came here in the mid 80's though.

But I worked with a lot of cops from the head cracking days. The ones who did the head smashing were often too dumb to be able to adapt to the fact that the courts had given rights to defendents. I witnessed too many of these guys beat the hell out of people just because they could. The profession is much better off without them, trust me on that.

It really wasn't that difficult, they just changed the rules and we had to change with them. The better officers kept abreast of the court rulings and acted accordingly. I never had a case thrown out because I violated rights and neither did most cops I worked with. The cops that lost the cases were the ones too lazy to do it right.

[Andrewtx]

Maybe so, but I don't want to live in a country where police can torture anybody. That's not our job. Besides, every so often we do bring someone in for questioning that is innocent. It's no big deal until they do it to you or someone you know.

Completely agree..