Thursday, July 19, 2007

QUIS CUSTODIET IPSOS CUSTODES
Means "Who Polices the Police?"


From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

List documents Chicago police complaints

A list of hundreds of Chicago police officers who have had 10 or more complaints filed against them singles out an elite police unit already under investigation in a criminal probe, according to a published report.

The Chicago Tribune reported in its Wednesday editions that the list, provided to City Council members with the names of officers blacked out, shows that the top four officers for complaints were all members of the Special Operations Section. Those officers each had 50 or more misconduct complaints against them in the past five years.

That unit is the subject of an ongoing investigation by Cook County prosecutors. Six officers have been indicted on charges ranging from burglary to armed violence.


Click
here for the rest.

This is what I keep talking about when I say that the problem isn't with the police so much as it is with police culture. This case is the extreme example which proves the rule. Most of the time, it's the actions of a relative few which are encouraged by the overall sense of hypermasculinity, self-righteousness, and us-against-them pervading all police departments throughout the nation, and these same cultural issues then encourage other cops to either keep their mouths shut or turn a blind eye. Apparently, this Chicago special ops unit thoroughly corrupted everybody. It's good to hear that they're being investigated, but it will happen again. Somewhere. Soon. As long as we tolerate such screwy attitudes among the police who are supposed to protect us, rather than oppress us, we'll be oppressed. It's inevitable.

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