Lessons From Chicago's Corrupt Cop

by Matt Kelley

At long last, a small measure of justice in Chicago.

This week, former Chicago Police Detective Jon Burge was convicted by a federal jury of lying about his role in torturing suspects over a two decade reign of terror on the city's South Side. Though the statute of limitations has run out on his actual misconduct charges, Burge could face 45 years in prison for perjury — and he will certainly go down in history as one of the most notorious cops in recent memory.

The jury convicted Burge after hearing testimony from and about five suspects tortured by the rogue detective and officers under his command. (More than 100 other cases in which he tortured suspects — dozens of them later proven innocent — were not allowed as evidence.) One juror told NPR that all he needed was the testimony of another police officer who saw Burge pointing a gun at a suspect who had a plastic bag over his head.

Sentencing is set for Nov. 5, and those 45 years are no sure thing. Burge's lawyers will seek probation for their client — regular readers know I'm not a fan of absurdly long sentences, even for dirty cops, but for a man who sent countless innocent people to prison, the sentence should send a message.

Aside from bringing a mesaure of justice 17 years after Burge was fired, this trial and conviction should remind us of two broader issues:

1). That pressure to get convictions can sometimes overwhelm the pursuit of justice; and

2). When allowed to operate in secret, corrupt, malicious police officers (and other officials) can wreak havoc.

It's these facts that should turn our focus to badly needed safeguards, still in their infancy two decades after Burge's tour of "duty." One key example of necessary reform includes recording of custodial interrogations. Currently, only 17 states require that police record their questioning (at least for some crimes). Illinois is one of them, but recording is only required during interrogations for murder cases.

Why record? When an interrogation is recorded, a jury can see that the officer didn't force the confession, or feed the suspects facts, or repeatedly deny a suspect's requests for a lawyer. Such a recording helps protect a defendant's rights, while helping the prosecution deflect false challenges.

Agreements to record interrogations have been voluntarily adopted by more than 500 jurisdictions, and despite the strong resistance the policy often faces from police and prosecutors, a report from the Center on Wrongful Convictions in Chicago finds that police have actually benefited greatly from the reform, and give it almost universally high marks.

Jon Burge deserves justice, and yesterday we took one step closer to seeing that happen. But we all deserve a system that protects us from similarly malicious cops and prosecutors.