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US Lawyer Slams ‘Racist’ Chicago Police for Turning Blind Eye to Torture

© REUTERS / Jim YoungA protestor stands outside a police facility called Homan Square, demanding an investigation into a media report denied by police that the site functions as an off-the-books interrogation compound, in Chicago, Illinois, March 5, 2015
A protestor stands outside a police facility called Homan Square, demanding an investigation into a media report denied by police that the site functions as an off-the-books interrogation compound, in Chicago, Illinois, March 5, 2015 - Sputnik International
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The Chicago Police Department (CPD) ignored the Burge torture scandal far too long, an attorney in Chicago told Sputnik, accusing the city’s police force of racism.

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CHICAGO (Sputnik) – Former Police Commander Jon Burge headed the CPD from 1966 until 1972, and has been accused of introducing the use of torture techniques on suspects, such as the administering of electric shocks and suffocation.

The former CPD chief served less than four years in prison after being convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in 2010, but has never been prosecuted for torture.

“The Chicago Police Department has turned a blind eye to the Burge scandal for far too long,” said Locke Bowman, who is also the director of the MacArthur Justice Center at Northwestern University School of Law.

According to Bowman, the CPD is “racist, because of their manor of policing in colored communities and the number of disproportionate arrests in non-violent areas like mob and drug activity.”

Chicago police have created a “culture of impunity,” the professor stated. “Police have never owned up to any of their mistakes.”

A watch tower is seen at the Wasatch facility during a media tour Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015, at the Utah State Correctional Facility in Draper, Utah. Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday that he's opposed to the idea of allowing a state commission to pick a location to build a new prison instead of leaving the decision with the Legislature. - Sputnik International
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Earlier this month, the Chicago City Council passed landmark legislation, dubbed the Burge ordinance, to provide financial compensation and material support to police torture survivors and their families.

Bowman welcomed the move as a positive step toward reparation in the cases of torture committed by the CPD.

Over 200 African-Americans, including minors, were tortured during Burge’s tenure, according to local rights groups.

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