Former Police Commander Jon Burge Returns to the Scene of His Crimes
September 2, 2004

Early this month, the Illinois Department of Justice took a long overdue step towards acknowledging wrongs committed over the past three decades by the Chicago Police Department (CPD) against dozens of African-American and Latino men. On September 1, 2004, Former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge was deposed in his lawyers’ offices of Freeborn & Peters in downtown Chicago. The deposition was part of a civil suit against the city, initiated by four men claiming that Burge tortured them while they were in police custody and forced them to make false confessions that robbed them of years of freedom. The deposition marks the first time Burge showed his face in Chicago since 1993, when he went into early retirement, following similar charges.

Madison Hobley, Aaron Patterson, Stanley Howard and Leroy Orange, the four men who launched the suit against Burge, were pardoned by former Gov. George Ryan in 2003 after years on Death Row.

Burge is accused of using torture, including beatings, suffocation, and electrical shocks, to extract false confessions from the men. A 1990 report by the Office of Professional Standards, a police investigatory agency, confirmed that physical abuse in the CPD during the late 1970s and 80s “was systematic” and included “psychological techniques and planned torture.”

During the deposition, Burge reportedly “took the 5th Amendment for hours,” according to G. Flint Taylor Jr., who represents two of the former inmates. Burge’s lawyer, Richard Sikes, says that he recommended Burge exploit his right to remain silent so as to not self incriminate in order to avoid a grand jury criminal case for “continuation of conspiracy.” The torture allegations are not punishable in a court of law because the three-year statute of limitations ran out a long time ago. Burge’s victims were in custody for the duration of the three years following their torture and any accusations made were not taken seriously.

Aaron Patterson, one of the former death row inmates spearheading the civil suit and a vocal activist against police brutality and corruption, was arrested the day after Burge was ordered to testify. He remains in prison. An overwhelming amount of government resources went into making the arrest, which Patterson claims was a “farse” and Cook County State's Atty. Richard Devine calls “a remarkable joint effort between federal and local prosecutors.” Patterson says he went undercover and was working with a film crew to expose the connection between the CPD, street gangs and illegal gun and drug sales. Meanwhile, the CPD hired a Latin King with a long rap sheet to act as an informant and set up Patterson. They dropped drug charges against the gang leader and paid him $6,000 for a job well-done. In addition, according to First Assistant U.S. Atty. Gary Shapiro, over $20,000 in government funds were used to make heroin purchases during the investigation. All to put one man back in jail. Patterson is currently facing charges of “intention” to purchase firearms.

Patterson is not the first to face questionable drug charges soon after denouncing the actions of the CPD, nor is he alone in his accusations against Burge. Together, attorneys G. Flint Taylor and John Loevy have uncovered 108 such allegations against the former commander and his men, all of which happened between August 1972 and September 1991. Taylor believes that Devine and Mayor Richard M Daley, Cook County State’s Attorney from 1980 to 1989, were complicit in a widespread conspiracy to cover up these abuses, allowing their perpetrators to enjoy impunity until the statute of limitations was exhausted. Mayor Daley, along with several other former police superintendents, have not been called to depositions, despite the requests of the Flint and Loevy.

Burge’s deposition is a step towards ending impunity for abuses of power in Chicago, albeit a small one. An investigation into over five dozen such cases, led by a special prosecutor, is currently underway to determine if criminal charges against officers involved in this scandal are an option. To date, however, no members of the police force have been disciplined for a single case of torture, other than two suspensions in 1993 and, of course, Burge’s early retirement. To the contrary, several of the men involved have since been promoted, commended, and/or allowed to retire with full benefits. Meanwhile, many of Burge’s victims remain in prison.