CHICAGO ― An agreement to make public all completed investigations of Chicago police misconduct will shine a light like never before on a department that has long been dogged by a reputation for brutality and a code of silence, according to a law school professor involved in the litigation that led to the city’s decision.
University of Chicago law professor Craig Futterman also said Monday that, by forcing the department to hand over information on specific cases as well as the names of officers who have been repeatedly accused of misconduct to the public, journalists, attorneys and others who file Freedom of Information Act requests, the department will be forced to investigate patterns of abuse.
“Because the department has refused to investigate those patterns, it leaves the cops (responsible) thinking they’re above the law,” he said. “This is going to be a strong incentive to say, ‘We’ve got to investigate.’”
The decision, which was announced Sunday by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office, ends a legal fight over the city’s long-standing policy of treating police misconduct incidents as personnel matters, and thus exempt under Freedom of Information Act laws. Rather than appeal an appellate court’s ruling that the city could not keep the records secret, the city said it would comply with such requests.
Emanuel’s office said the policy will help the city build trust between residents and the police force, while Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said it will demonstrate that the department takes seriously allegations of police misconduct.
Releasing the information in response to FOIA requests will likely trigger many requests for information on some of the most infamous scandals in department history, such as now-imprisoned former police commander Jon Burge, who is accused of overseeing the torture of dozens of men to coerce confessions. There may also be requests to see documents related to the investigation of Anthony Abbate, a police officer convicted in the 2007 beating of a female bartender that was captured on video.
Futterman said the public will be able to see recommendations made after internal investigations and not simply the final decision, which is particularly significant in cases such as the Abbate investigation, in which there were widespread suspicions about the department’s investigation.
