Good point
Friday, Jan 29, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
“This is the home of the first police torture reparations fund in the country, and no one’s been prosecuted for police torture,” said [Democratic Cook County State’s Attorney candidate Kim Foxx], a former assistant state’s attorney and onetime chief of staff to County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who backs her candidacy. “So the lack of prosecutions, or what’s happened in the Laquan McDonald case, is an indicator or a pattern of a lack of prosecutions for this type of misconduct by the state’s attorney’s office and particularly this state’s attorney.”
* The response was a bit weak…
Alvarez, the two-term incumbent, hit back with a defense of the thoroughness of her investigation into McDonald’s death and her record on police prosecutions. She said she remains focused on helping the victims of crime in the county, many of whom are minorities.
“I take great insult to the implication that I’m not open to the community,” Alvarez said. “I meet regularly with community members, and I think what we have to keep coming back to is what neither of my opponents want to talk about, and that is the victims, the victims of crime. That’s who we serve.”
- Super Anon - Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 9:27 am:
The police torture and reparations refer to incidents that happened in the 80’s. Alvarez was likely in law school at the time. So it’s really not a good point.
- West Side The Best Side - Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 9:32 am:
Kim Foxx the lawyer should know that all the cases from the Jon Burge era were well beyond the statute of limitations before the current State’s Attorney took office. Kim Foxx the politician doesn’t care. Anita Alvarez the lawyer should have pointed that out. Anita Alvarez the politician made a political response.
- @MisterJayEm - Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 9:37 am:
“I meet regularly with community members, and I think what we have to keep coming back to is what neither of my opponents want to talk about, and that is the victims, the victims of crime. That’s who we serve.”
Anita Alvarez believes that the line between “victims” and “offenders” is clear and immutable. Community members know it is, at best, blurry.
And very often, that line is imaginary.
– MrJM
- northernwatersports - Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 9:38 am:
No Ms. Alvarez, you intentionally mischaracterize the role of States Attorney. You now have taken to politicizing your office.
The victims of crimes rely upon the State to prosecute the offenders so that justice is applied equally to the entire community. You do not serve ONLY the victims, you serve all the members of the County of Cook, and the Office is supposed to act in their interests, to bring criminals to justice and to protect the community of the further threats they pose.
The problem you’ve yet to grasp is that a large portion of the community you serve perceives you as intentionally blind or ineffective in prosecuting those who’s oath is to protect the community. The community sees the torture, sees the videos and sees no action from your office that instills any degree of trust that the offenders are fairly prosecuted, thereby making the community safe. That trust is especially damaged when the public perceives that police officers aren’t held to the very same standards we expect of the average citizen, or that they somehow are above the laws they swore to prevent, investigate and enforce.
- Century Club - Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 9:50 am:
Kim Foxx is saying what a number of commentors here have said - there is a systemic problem in holding police accountable when they commit abuse. Burge may not be on Alvarez, but there are plenty of other cases that are on her, and Foxx is rightly pointing out that Alvarez is part of a widespread problem.
- Anonymous - Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 9:58 am:
Kim Foxx sounds like the prosecutor from Baltimore. That is unfortunate.
I do not tolerate police misconduct and feel that those who violate the laws and engage in brutality ought to be disciplined and prosecuted.
The criminal justice system is struggling because of an epidemic of crime. Anyone reading police blotters would know that, but Foxx seems to believe that the actions of rogue cops is the sole source of the crisis.
- Chicagonk - Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 10:08 am:
Until Kim Foxx mentions what she plans to do about shootings and homicides doubling in Chicago in the past month, I will vote for Donna More.
- The Man on 6 - Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 10:13 am:
== The victims of crimes rely upon the State to prosecute the offenders so that justice is applied equally to the entire community. You do not serve ONLY the victims, you serve all the members of the County of Cook, and the Office is supposed to act in their interests ==
@northernwatersports - I could not have said this better myself, and it bears repeating. It shows that either Alvarez is purposely mischaracterizing her office in order to leverage public sympathy in her favor, or she genuinely believes this, in which case she has no conception of her actual responsibilities to the People of the State of Illinois. In either case, she needs to go.
- Juvenal - Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 11:55 am:
=== “….neither of my opponents want to talk about, and that is the victims, the victims of crime. That’s who we serve.” ===
Unless the crime is police brutality, apparently.
- some doofus - Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 1:27 pm:
>The criminal justice system is struggling because of an epidemic of crime. Anyone reading police blotters would know that
Did this epidemic start just in the last two weeks? Murder is down by something like 50% in the last 15 years. Anyone actually paying attention to crime stats would know that.
- Qui Tam - Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 2:06 pm:
>The criminal justice system is struggling because of an epidemic of crime.
- Tone - Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 2:10 pm:
some doofus, notice the crime uptick last year going so far this year? You can thank BLM, Prekwinkle and all she enables for a completely demoralized CPD. CPS will only be reactive going forward for the forseable future. Who can blame them?
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 2:25 pm:
===and all she enables for a completely demoralized CPD.===
Says the guy who never misses an opportunity to whack public employees.