Chicago’s code of silence
Tuesday, Jan 5, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune editorial…
Just how far up in City Hall does the code of silence reach?
In the hours after Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke emptied his 9 mm handgun into 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, five other officers at the scene gave statements saying Van Dyke fired in self-defense. The Police Department’s official finding was the same.
After a police dash-cam video soundly contradicted that story, Mayor Rahm Emanuel acknowledged that an unspoken compact shields rogue police officers from accountability.
That culture extends beyond the rank-and-file, however, to a disciplinary system that can take years to run its course and almost never sustains a complaint against an officer.
And it has extended all the way to the city’s Law Department, according to a federal judge’s scathing ruling Monday.
U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang said a top city attorney “intentionally concealed” critical evidence in a 2015 civil trial in which a jury found two officers were justified in killing Darius Pinex during a January 2011 traffic stop.
* More on that…
Jordan Marsh, senior corporation counsel for the city, resigned after a judge threw out a previous ruling and ordered a new case in the wrongful lawsuit death brought by the family of Darius Pinex, killed by officers after a 2011 traffic stop in Englewood, according to the Tribune.
Judge Edmond E. Chang on Monday granted Pinex’s family a new trial, saying in a scathing ruling that Marsh intentionally hid evidence from the family’s legal team prior to the start of the trial.
According to the Sun-Times, Marsh failed to turn over a police radio transmission that proved officers who shot Pinex did not actually hear what they said they did over the radio, which the officers pointed to as their reason for pulling Pinex over in the first place.
“Because of the recording’s untimely disclosure, the first trial was unfair and Plaintiffs’ trial presentation was hurt beyond repair by the surprise,” Chang wrote.
* Background…
Mosqueda had initially claimed he stopped the Oldsmobile Aurora that Pinex was driving based on an Englewood District police radio broadcast that warned the car might have been involved in a shooting in a different police district about three hours earlier.
Mosqueda said he jumped out of his police SUV with his gun drawn because of the warning.
But the recorded broadcast didn’t actually say anything about an Oldsmobile Aurora being wanted in a shooting or having a gun inside.
It only said cops in the South Chicago District had chased a ’98 Olds Aurora with temporary plates and the pursuit was terminated, according to Chang.
Marsh “buried” the Englewood audio recording and gave misleading statements at the trial — even saying the recording would have been “recycled a long time ago” — before he admitted its possible existence, the judge wrote.
* More…
Steve Greenberg, an attorney who represents Pinex’s family, said the ruling raises questions about the Law Department’s role in perpetuating a police culture in which officers believe they can act with impunity.
“There’s just a total disregard for the truth, and it runs to the highest levels,” Greenberg said. “There is a culture to cover up and win at all costs.”
In acknowledging Marsh’s departure, city officials said the conduct outlined by Chang was “inexcusable.”
Question: Why was Marsh allowed to remain on the payroll so long? It’s ridiculous.
* Related…
* PDF: Judge orders retrial in fatal police shooting
* Despite scrutiny, Chicago cops shot fewer people in 2015: The Chicago Tribune reports officers shot 22 people last year, eight of them fatally. That’s a 40 percent dip in the total number compared with 2014 when 37 people were shot and 16 killed. The number of people shot by Chicago police officers has gradually dropped since 2011 when officers shot 56 people, 24 fatally. In 2012, Chicago cops shot 45 people, killing 12. In 2013, officers shot 35 people, killing 14.
* Services set for Bettie Jones, accidental victim of police shooting
* Chicago pays $5.5M in reparations to 57 Burge torture victims
* New IPRA chief promises greater transparency, independence: Fairley’s press conference ended after less than 20 minutes, with reporters shouting questions as she left the room.
* Man slain along Safe Passage route, 1 of 6 shot in Chicago
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Jan 5, 16 @ 11:57 am:
This culture pre-dates Rahman and developed under the supervision of many individuals from the city to the state level.
Officer involved shootings have dropped from 56 in 2011 to 22 last year? Not like you could tell from the media coverage, but that’s a significant achievement in a city so large.
- cdog - Tuesday, Jan 5, 16 @ 12:01 pm:
The code of silence is everywhere. Having been in bad spots in a ” previous life,” we have taught our kids to save their money so that they never have to compromise their values for anyone. Sometimes you have to walk.
Code of Silence– those who SHOULD to speak the truth won’t, and those who WANT to speak the truth can’t.
Does this happen anywhere else in the animal kingdom? Kind of an interesting discussion to be had there….
- crazybleedingheart - Tuesday, Jan 5, 16 @ 12:06 pm:
==Officer involved shootings have dropped from 56 in 2011 to 22 last year? Not like you could tell from the media coverage, but that’s a significant achievement in a city so large.==
Yes and no, for other reasons.
But it certainly seems that the mayor could have chosen to applaud that stat as progress. Instead, he chose to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by whining to the national media about “fetal” cops.
- Gooner - Tuesday, Jan 5, 16 @ 12:13 pm:
There are two different issues with Marsh. One goes to the Corp. Counsel generally and the other with him personally.
Those guys are incredibly overworked and underpaid. It is tough to do the job. You are dealing with a client that is disorganized and often uncooperative. There are major procedural problems in that office. It is difficult to do the job well.
However, not disclosing is another matter. A lot of us trial lawyers have come across late discovered evidence. We at times will get a call saying “Hey, I think there is another witness.” You check it out, and if there is in fact something new, you have to disclose it.
Like Marsh, my work over the years has been mostly on the defense side (I’ve had Corp. Counsel representing co-defendants, but never worked for that office). Nobody likes to have to deal with late disclosures, and you realize that the judge is going to give you hell (if it is a witness for your side, you need to explain why you did not find out earlier, and if it is pro-plaintiff, the judge is going to assume you buried it).
It is just the nature of the job though. Sometimes judges will yell at you but as long as you keep a reputation for honesty, that’s reduced.
Marsh crossed a line here. Per the judge, he knew and did not disclose.
That office really needs a top to bottom review.
- From the 'Dale to HP - Tuesday, Jan 5, 16 @ 12:13 pm:
===Question: Why was Marsh allowed to remain on the payroll so long? It’s ridiculous.===
Either he was a good solider or everyone thinks he knows someone (which may or may not be true).
===This culture pre-dates Rahman and developed under the supervision of many individuals from the city to the state level.===
Very true. But what’s odd is that Rahm has done nothing to change it and in some ways has rewarded the good soldiers even more so than Daley.
- Amalia - Tuesday, Jan 5, 16 @ 12:49 pm:
Gooner explains this nicely. Late yes, no disclosure no. IARDC will be busy with this one.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jan 5, 16 @ 1:02 pm:
–Question: Why was Marsh allowed to remain on the payroll so long?–
Because he was willing to obstruct justice and commit perjury.
- Gooner - Tuesday, Jan 5, 16 @ 1:15 pm:
Question: Why was Marsh allowed to remain on the payroll so long? It’s ridiculous.
Answer: You don’t fire a bad employee if you need them to testify for you. You wait until the judge or jury rules, and then you get rid of them.
- @MisterJayEm - Tuesday, Jan 5, 16 @ 1:24 pm:
“Just how far up in City Hall does the code of silence reach?”
Policies start at the top and trickle down.
– MrJM
- crazybleedingheart - Tuesday, Jan 5, 16 @ 2:05 pm:
===- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jan 5, 16 @ 1:02 pm:
–Question: Why was Marsh allowed to remain on the payroll so long?–
Because he was willing to obstruct justice and commit perjury.===
ding, ding, ding
- Precinct Captain - Tuesday, Jan 5, 16 @ 2:54 pm:
“Monday’s ruling marked the second time in less than a year the judge sanctioned the Law Department for withholding records in a police misconduct lawsuit and ordered a new trial.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-mayor-rahm-emanuel-met-0106-20160106-story.html
- NoGifts - Wednesday, Jan 6, 16 @ 9:13 am:
The point is the code of silence for shootings is the tip of the iceberg. There are a far greater number of other abuses that do not end in death and are likewise covered up. Burge is an example…he wasn’t acting alone. Who ever reported him? Which officers testified against him?
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Jan 6, 16 @ 11:27 am:
NoGifts- Jon Burge was supervising torture at Grand & Central in Chicago when Richie Daley was Cook County State’s Attorney. Cook County typically had a Irish system in the Machine days: an Irish Mayor of Chicago, an Irish Sheriff, and and Irish State’s Attorney, to cover up and not prosecute the crimes of a CPD with large Irish membership.
Now with the changing demographics of the city and Hispanic State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, why is nothing changing when it comes to police coverups?
Look at the influence of police unions in the state legislature, with many Reps. from majority white rural areas and small towns. Sue a cop in IL? You only have one year to file, not two as in any other tort, due to the legislature intruding on the domain of the courts to make it more difficult to sue police in a 1983 civil rights action.
Take a look at the much ballyhooed body cam bill from May. No criminal penalties if the recording is deleted or “lost.” The Good Old Boys in the legislature promote police criminality, it’s not just a Chicago problem.
- Payback - Wednesday, Jan 6, 16 @ 11:39 am:
NoGifts- Jon Burge supervised torture at Grand & Central when Richie Daley was Cook County State’s Attorney. In the Machine days, the State’s Attorney was Irish, the Sheriff was usually Irish, and the Mayor of Chicago was Irish, to protect the largely Irish Chicago Police.
With Hispanic State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, why has nothing changed? Look at the influence of police unions in the Legislature. Want to sue a cop in IL? You have only ONE year to file suit, thanks to the Municipal Tort Immunity Act. This acts as a barrier to slow down lawsuits against cops.
Look at the ballyhooed Body Cam bill passed in May. No criminal penalties for deleting or “losing” the footage. The legislature is encouraging cops to destroy evidence.
Outside Cook County a lot of legislators have a pro-police small town mentality. Police criminality and those who cover it up is not just a Chicago problem, it’s a Good Old Boy problem.