Vol. 2, Issue 62: Chicago's Criminal Justice Playbook
At Issue: “Racially Charged” Comments Investigated
Ald. John Arena (45th Ward) last month requested an investigation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability into “racially charged language” used in online comments by police officers opposing an affordable housing development in Jefferson Park.
Referred to COPA by the city inspector general, Arena asked the agency to determine whether the commenters were indeed CPD members and whether the comments violated the department’s code of conduct (Chicago Tribune).
The Fraternal Order of Police issued a statement blasting the complaint as “baseless and politically motivated,” arguing that it violates its members’ civil rights (FOP).
The union also posted a letter from its attorney to Arena, demanding that he withdraw the complaint “to avoid serious penalties” and asserting that claims the comments were “racially charged” are “self-evidently false and violate the officers’ constitutional rights.”
Attorney Timothy M. Grace argued in the letter that residents oppose the development for reasons ranging from traffic congestion to the impact on local schools, that officers were acting as private citizens, and that “their arguments are rational, well-reasoned, and articulate.” He further stated that “their opposition is not race-based or discriminatory but race-neutral” and that the complaint is an attempt to “stifle their opposition.” The letter concluded with a threat of “legal action against you and your staff” (FOP).
While some residents have raised concerns about density in discussions of the proposal, the most vociferous opposition has focused on the inclusion of affordable housing in the development.
Last year, Neighbors for Affordable Housing in Jefferson Park compiled a 300-page collection of petitions, statements, signs, and social media messages from opponents of the development, which they described as “a representative sampling of the kinds of bigoted, hateful, and exclusionary views” fueling an opposition now presenting “a sanitized message about ‘density’ and ‘height.’” It included references to residents of affordable housing as “leeches,” “ghetto rats,” “scum,” “filth,” “slime,” “thugs,” “degenerates,” “miscreants,” and “two-legged shit” (Chicago Reporter).
Residents and organizers who asked not to be named told View From the Ground that some of the most offensive social media comments, including threatening messages, came from individuals who appeared to identify as police officers. They expressed concern that residents of the new housing would be profiled and harassed by police and that scores of current Jefferson Park residents who receive housing assistance would find such practices frightening.
Arena’s complaint reportedly identified 31 commenters who may be CPD members.
“The Chicago Police Department has clear rules regarding the private use of social media and how that private use reflects on the department as a whole,” Arena said in a statement to View From the Ground. “At a time when police leadership is working to restore the public’s trust in CPD, these inappropriate comments by members of the force undermine that necessary work. The comments made by a few officers in a public setting make it harder for all officers to do their job of protecting all Chicagoans."
DETECTIVE BOUDREAU “STANDS OUT”
Former detectives who once worked for disgraced Cmdr. Jon Burge, commonly referred to as “Burge 2.0,” have been named in two recent wrongful conviction lawsuits. One of them, former Det. Kenneth Boudreau, is a defendant in both lawsuits—filed by Nevest Coleman and by the Marquette Park Four—as well as in a lawsuit by the Englewood Four, which was settled for $31 million in December.
Boudreau was one of several Burge associates named in Coleman’s suit, in which he alleges they coerced his false confession (Tribune). Coleman and Darryl Fulton were cleared by DNA evidence of a 1994 rape and murder and released in December after 23 years in prison. Coleman, who was 25 and had no criminal record when he was arrested, was recently rehired as a White Sox groundskeeper, the job he held when he was arrested (Sun-Times).
LaShawn Ezell, Troshawn McCoy, Charles Johnson, and Larod Styles, known as the Marquette Park Four, were exonerated last year after fingerprint evidence cleared them of a 1995 double murder. They are suing Boudreau and 12 other officers, along with the city and county prosecutors (Tribune, MacArthur Justice Center).
The Englewood Four were exonerated after DNA evidence excluded them as perpetrators of a 1994 murder—and after a former assistant state’s attorney gave a statement to the FBI describing how Boudreau coached suspects on their statements and corrected them to ensure consistency with other statements (Sun-Times).
The Chicago Tribune featured Boudreau in a 2001 article, reporting that he had obtained questionable confessions in over a dozen murder cases where charges were later dropped or defendants were acquitted. “Boudreau stands out” for the number of his cases that have fallen apart, the Tribune reported. He had been accused of punching and kicking suspects and manipulating minors and individuals with developmental disabilities. He even obtained one murder confession from a man who was in jail at the time of the crime (Tribune).
Since then, several more convictions based on false confessions obtained by Boudreau have been overturned, including those of Harold Hill, Dan Young (NRE), Tyrone Hood, and Wayne Washington (NRE). Coleman’s lawsuit lists 33 individuals who claim Boudreau coerced false confessions from them, several of whom remain incarcerated (pdf). The Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission has so far found sufficient evidence to warrant judicial review of torture claims in three cases—those of Arnold Day, Anthony Jakes, and Clayborn Smith (ITIRC).
Four men alleging abuse and coerced confessions at Boudreau’s hands—Clayborn Smith, Javon Delaney, Johnny Plummer, and Miguel Morales—have court hearings next month on various efforts to seek legal relief, according to the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
One of Coleman’s attorneys, Russell Ainsworth of the Exoneration Project, called on prosecutors to reinvestigate all cases tied to Boudreau and other Burge associates.
While Burge was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in 2010, none of his associates have faced criminal charges (Guardian).
GERALD REED SUPPORTERS CHARGE ONGOING TORTURE
The mother of a man with a torture claim against the Chicago police joined a man recently released on the basis of his torture claim to address a Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) rally at the University of Chicago on February 20, calling for the release of all torture victims.
Armanda Shackleford discussed the case of her son, Gerald Reed, whose claim was approved for judicial review by the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission (ITIRC) and who, she said, has won a new trial slated to start this month.
She grew emotional at times while describing her ordeal in trying to locate her son after he was arrested and then hearing his story. He was held at Area 3 detective headquarters, where Jon Burge was commander. Reed refused to sign a confession and was handcuffed to a chair, she said. The chair was pushed over, and detectives kicked her son and stood on his leg.
The torture commission found that a metal rod previously inserted in his leg to correct a shattered knee was broken. Based on the evidence, “the only plausible explanation for the broken rod and loose [surgical] screws is the beating at Area 3 described by [Reed]” (ITIRC).
One of the detectives questioning Reed was Michael Kill, characterized by the Chicago Tribune as “a salty, old-school Chicago cop” who worked under Burge, who “has never backed away from the interrogation practices he says yielded confessions in more than 90 percent of his murder cases” and “has defended under oath his repeated use of the N-word while questioning black detainees” (Chicago Tribune).
Shackleford stated that “the torture has continued for 27 years” because the Illinois Department of Corrections has refused to perform the second stage of surgery needed to repair the rod in Reed’s leg, leaving him in constant pain.
Asked about the detectives who allegedly tortured her son, Shackleford said, “I would like for them to spend some time in jail.”
Jaimie Hauad, released from prison just a month earlier, paid tribute to Shackleford and other mothers who are the most stalwart supporters of wrongfully convicted prisoners.
Frank Chapman of CAARPR noted that the torture commission was created at the impetus of anti-torture activists and said Hauad’s release and Reed’s hearing resulted “because we have a movement.” He stated that there are now 500 prisoners with claims before the commission.
Shackleford endorsed CAARPR’s proposal for an elected Civilian Police Accountability Council, stating, “It’s a shame we don’t have CPAC because none of these things would have gone on.”
CITY SETTLES AGAIN AFTER EVIDENCE WITHHELD EVIDENCE
The city settled yet another police misconduct lawsuit days before trial after previously withheld evidence surfaced at the last minute (Chicago Sun-Times).
U.S. District Judge Martin Kennelly has stated that he will hold a hearing on the issue, promising to question current and former corporation counsels and police superintendents.
Disciplinary records, including some indicating that officers involved in the lawsuit may have committed perjury, were turned over when the city produced “unit files.” Personnel files ordered to be turned over in January 2016 had contained none of those records.
“It appears that for many years when plaintiffs requested personnel files and courts ordered [their] production... plaintiffs were actually receiving a sham personnel file,” attorneys for Aretha Simmons argued in a motion for sanctions against the city.
The case recalled the “street files” issue of the 1980s, in which the city withheld secret files when ordered to turn over investigative materials (People’s Law Office).
Simmons sued over a raid on her home based on a search warrant with a faulty address, during which she was physically abused, and her 3-year-old daughter was traumatized after being held at gunpoint.
Meanwhile, an attorney in a case in which the city was sanctioned last year has moved for further sanctions after the city revealed the existence of an evidence officer’s file. The file contained documentation from the original crime scene investigation, which the city had previously denied existed (Chicago Reporter).
MCCARTHY COMMENTS ON LAQUAN MCDONALD SHOOTING
Former Superintendent Garry McCarthy, now exploring a possible mayoral campaign, drew criticism after commenting on the murder charges against Jason Van Dyke in the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald.
McCarthy stated that Van Dyke is “going to have a hard time... explaining why he did what he did.” However, he went on to cite “reasons in police training that may refute a murder [charge],” saying Van Dyke was in a “tactically inferior position” and referencing the so-called “21-foot rule,” which suggests that “if somebody is within 21 feet of you and [has] an open knife, you’re dead” (WFLD; Chicago Tribune).
When interviewer Mike Flannery pointed out that McDonald was moving away from Van Dyke, McCarthy responded that McDonald was moving “astride” the officer (WFLD; Chicago Tribune).
“Anybody who looks at that tape knows that [McDonald] was walking away from that officer and that officer was walking toward him,” commented Alderman Anthony Beale (9th), former chair of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee. “Maybe McCarthy needs to have his eyes checked to make sure he’s looking at the same tape the rest of the country was looking at.”
Alderman Rod Sawyer (6th), chair of the Black Caucus, stated that the video “shows a cold-blooded murder” (Chicago Sun-Times).
Eric Zorn noted that the 21-foot rule “says a suspect armed with a knife presents a potentially deadly threat to an officer whose gun is holstered when he is 21 or less feet away.... Van Dyke’s gun was already drawn and pointed at McDonald.” Furthermore, Zorn argued that if Van Dyke was in a “tactically inferior position,” it was because he immediately left his squad car and advanced toward McDonald.
Zorn also pointed out that the video of the incident “shows McDonald crossing one full traffic lane on Pulaski Road to move away from the officer seconds before he was shot” (Chicago Tribune).
McCarthy later suggested that his own firing, which occurred the day after Van Dyke was indicted, was part of a “political witch hunt” and that withholding the video of McDonald’s shooting was part of a “coverup” that “occurred at City Hall” (WTTW; Chicago Sun-Times).
RAPE CHARGE INVESTIGATED
The Chicago Police Department’s (CPD) Bureau of Internal Affairs has opened a criminal investigation into allegations by a 50-year-old Black woman that she was repeatedly raped by an on-duty officer for years, beginning when she was 14. Trina “Kim” Townsend stated that she had gone to the officer for help because a family member was molesting her (Chicago Tribune).
GUEVARA VICTIM SUES
Arturo Reyes, released from prison after nearly 20 years and blocked from returning to his native Mexico, is suing former Detective Reynaldo Guevara and 11 other officers for their role in allegedly coercing Reyes’ confession to a 1998 double murder (Chicago Sun-Times).
Charges were dropped against Reyes and co-defendant Gabriel Solache two months ago after Judge James Obbish threw out their confessions, accusing Guevara of telling “bald-faced lies” under oath. They were turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is now blocking Reyes’ request for voluntary removal to Mexico, based in part on his murder confession.
TICKETED WHILE BLACK
Last year, 56% of all bike tickets—almost all of them for riding on the sidewalk—were issued in majority-Black neighborhoods. That compares to 24% in Latino neighborhoods and 18% in white neighborhoods (Chicago Tribune).
North Lawndale residents received 397 tickets, while Lincoln Park residents received just five.
Meanwhile, virtually all tickets issued by police last year for failing to shovel sidewalks were in Englewood. The fine for the ticket is $500. Additionally, police enforcement of the rule banning parking on most arterial streets when there is more than two inches of snow on the ground focused on a few South and West Side neighborhoods (WBEZ).