Jul 24, 2007 7:25 pm US/Central
Former Officer Details Chilling Story Of Torture
Allegations Of Abuse Under Burge
by Mike Parker
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
-
-
Former police Cmdr. Jon Burge
CBS
The reign of Jon Burge as a commander in the Chicago Police Department was considered a cancer on the force.
CBS 2's Mike Parker reports, Tuesday, for the first time, a city council committee heard from an officer who witnessed the abuse.
Retired Chicago police officer William Parker told a chilling story to the city council's police and fire committee. In 1973, as one of a handful of African-American detectives, he sat at a desk at Area Two Headquarters typing a report.
"I heard a bloodcurdling outcry, the likes of which I'd never heard before," Parker said.
He told aldermen how he followed the sound into a nearby lieutenant's office.
"I saw seated on the floor in front of me, a male, black, with his pants and shorts pulled down to his knees and his right hand handcuffed to the radiator. Standing over him was Jon Burge. To Burge's right were two other white detectives."
Parker had stumbled into an apparent torture scene, orchestrated by Burge, the Chicago cop accused of beating and shocking confessions out of scores of black suspects for almost 20 years.
"He was whimpering in pain, crying, moaning, obviously in pain," Parker said.
Parker says he was ordered out of the room, and several months later was demoted to patrolman. He waited until he left the force to talk about it. "When the hammer came down on me, there was nobody to go to. Nobody wanted to hear anything I had to say," he said.
The council committee is struggling to find a way for the city to stop paying for Burge's legal fees. One estimate suggests the cost so far for defending Burge and his fellow accused officers is more than $10 million.
Burge was first accused of torture by cop killer Andrew Wilson in 1982. Wilson was so badly beaten after capture he was sent to the jail hospital instead of a cell.
Wilson won a civil case against the city in the alleged torture allegations, which led to Burge's termination in 1993.
In all, 146 African-American men accused Burge and his subordinates of torture, which included beatings, use of cattle prods, suffocations with typewriter covers, and use of a black box to electrically shock genitals, ears, and lips.
Allegations against Burge and other detectives have been a hot-button issue in Chicago for several years. Some have even argued that the torture claims and other allegations against police are so severe as to be a mark against the city for the Olympics.
Last April, a highly critical report endorsed by more than 200 groups was released. The groups have been petitioning for a federal investigation, and believe it's a very real possibility the U.S. Attorney could act where special prosecutors did not.
Last week, the City Council voted to restructure the police Office of Professional Standards so it will report to Mayor Richard M. Daley rather than police Supt. Philip Cline. Activists had demanded that change not only because of the Burge allegations, but also in the wake of the beating of a female bartender, allegedly at the hands of an off-duty Chicago Police officer, and other recent alleged incidents of violence by on- and off-duty police officers.
Burge's attorney has said the former detective commander never tortured anyone. Burge now lives in Florida.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
SLIDESHOW: Did You Know? Stars From Chicago!
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments