The Chicago Police Are Seeking to Destroy Hundreds of Thousands of Records of Police Misconduct

[eridani]

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/31958-the-chicago-police-are-seeking-to-destroy-hundreds-of-thousands-of-records-of-police-misconduct

The Fraternal Order of Police has brought a legal challenge that threatens to limit the reach of Kalven v. Chicago, the 2014 Illinois Appellate Court decision holding that documents bearing on allegations of police abuse are public information. If the police union prevails, hundreds of thousands of police misconduct files currently available to the public will be destroyed.

The great bonfire of documents FOP wants to ignite would erase knowledge necessary to establish a credible regime of police accountability. Having finally broken through official secrecy and gained access to information needed to diagnose patterns of police abuse and impunity, the public would see the bulk of those documents go up in smoke.

The FOP challenge takes the form of a lawsuit seeking an injunction to stop the city from releasing information about police misconduct sought by the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

Soon after the settlement of Kalven v. Chicago, the two newspapers submitted FOIA requests seeking the disciplinary history of every Chicago police officer since 1967. The documents sought are not the underlying investigative files, but rather a list of every complaint and its disposition over the last 48 years. According to the city, the requested information comes to more than 7,000 pages.

In a striking demonstration of the reach of its new transparency policy, the city did not contest these requests but agreed to provide the information to the newspapers.

[ladjf]

1. At this point in American History, the crooks are winning

90% of the time. We are living in a very corrupt society. No end in sight.

[Lee-Lee]

2. Are the disciplinary records of every other city employee also available?

If so, than I am ok with the policy.

If they are only releasing cops records, than its unfairly singling out one class of employees. People forget cops are workers too and have every right to privacy in their work records as any other worker.

If released I predict huge outcry from all the folks who don't understand the massive number of bogus or false complaints PD's get.

[eridani]

3. Any government employee who kills someone at work should get the same treatment n/t

[Lee-Lee]

6. So all doctors and nurse and paramedics

But only those who have killed someone (far higher numbers in the medical field than police FYI) should have their employee records open to the public?

[eridani]

7. Medical professionals tend to cover for each other way too much n/t

[Nuclear Unicorn]

10. If there is evidence of unremediated criminal wrongdoing -- yes. Absolutely yes.

I don't see how the profession is a factor when the subject is people breaking the law and abusing power.

[A HERETIC I AM]

8. Bullshit.

If they are only releasing cops records, than its unfairly singling out one class of employees.

Except that Water and Sewer workers don't carry weapons and routinely beat the crap out of people. No one has discovered a secret building where city bus drivers take passengers and torture them.

[mopinko]

12. second that bullshit.

they are the only city employees who have the right to kill people. that is a right that must be overseen by the citizenry.

i am sure there are bogus complaints, but i doubt there is a pattern of bogus complaints against the same officer again and again. the noise will settle out. the patterns will be clear.

[hobbit709]

4. They couldn't possibly be trying to hide anything, after all the police are honest and forthright.

[bemildred]

5. You can't get more "transparent" than that. nt

[Nuclear Unicorn]

9. How is this not admission of a conspiracy of evidence tampering and obstruction of justice?

[Waiting For Everyman]

11. Wow, that's nervy!

Looks like the FOP has a lot to do with this problem. During the Baltimore riots it was said that it's hard to get bad cops out because of the union, and the investigation rules almost always clear cops because of the union's influence to make them so one-sided.

Destroying these records would be a clear travesty of justice.

[Stellar]

13. What!?

The Chicago Police Are Seeking to Destroy Hundreds of Thousands of Records of Police Misconduct

Police officers are not ordinary citizens. They are public officials vested with extraordinary powers.

So they want to destroy the evidence that could put some of these low-life MF in Jail!