The retired police officer fought for fair treatment of black officers and fair policing of black communities.
Chicago Police Board
Police brutality complaints decline; disciplinary actions increase
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The agency that investigates allegations of police brutality received 1,367 such complaints during the first seven months of 1990, slightly less than the 1,420 complaints it received for the same period in 1989. And though it received fewer complaints, the Office of Professional Standards (OPS) has sustained, or upheld 74 complaints this year, about the same (75) as in 1989. The Chicago Reporter analyzed police data one year after widespread charges of police brutality swept the city. The Reporter reviewed data on OPS complaints for the years 1986 through 1989 and for January 1 through July 31, 1990, the most recent data available. Among the four complete years studied, 1987 had the most complaints.
From the Archives
Racial Brutality — or Police Brutality?
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Often when a bias crime case goes to trial, the prosecution needs only to convince a judge or jury that a defendant’s actions were motivated by ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or race. But sometimes, as in this case that ended Jan. 25, it becomes much more complicated.
From the Archives
White firefighters battle city’s promotion policy
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In 1990, the white-run firefighters union led the charge against affirmative action in the Chicago Fire Department.
From the Archives
Police response key to fighting hate crimes
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Crimes motivated by race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation may be going underreported because beat officers have little training in recognizing these types of bias crimes. And recent charges of police brutality have inflamed another problem: Some victims of bias crimes, especially minorities, may not report such attacks for fear of being victimized again — this time by police.
From the Archives
Reporter Probe Spurs U.S. Action
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U.S. District Court Judge Prentice H. Marshall’s recent ruling condemning the Chicago Police Department for illegally arresting thousands of minorities grew out ‘of an October 1982 expose by The Chicago Reporter.
From the Archives
Reporter Investigation Prompts ACLU Lawsuit
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The American Civil Liberties Union spurred by an investigation by The Chicago Reporter, sued the Chicago Police Department charging that it uses disorderly conduct arrests to harass blacks and Hispanics.
From the Archives
OPS Draws Complaints of Insensitivity
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Over the past year, administrators have been quietly reorganizing the Office of Professional Standards, the police agency charged with investigating citizen complaints of police abuse.
From the Archives
Minority Leaders Charge Police with ‘Disorderly Conduct’
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An analysis of police records by The Chicago Reporter shows that in the first half of this year there were 97,221 disorderly conduct arrests in Chicago. The analysis also found that those arrests are escalating most rapidly in predominantly black police districts.The sharp increases are particularly significant in light of the charges of police harassment and brutality from residents and leaders of the city’s minority neighborhoods.
From the Archives
City’s Clearance Rates Decline, National Rates Down; Few Minorities Assigned To Detective, Tactical Units
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Howard Saffold, president of the Afro-American Patrolmen’s League blames the police department, more than the criminal, for the current drop in clearance rates. Saffold puts it bluntly, “Racism is the basis of the low solution rate. No more than 13 per cent of the department’s detectives are black.” Saffold argues that since most serious crimes occur in the black police districts, most detective work must also be done in these districts.
From the Archives
The crisis of confidence in the Chicago Police Department
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The issues at the center of today’s Chicago Police Department scandal following the shooting of Laquan McDonald are disturbingly similar to those raised by community groups in 1972.