In late August, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) sent a letter to Eric Holder asking for a federal investigation into 65 cases of police brutality in Chicago. None of the local press covered this story despite the press conference the group held on August 27.

The week before the Labor Day weekend during the height of the national outcry over events in Ferguson, the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) held a press conference about their letter to Attorney General Eric Holder calling for an investigation of 65 documented cases of police brutality in Chicago. How many local media sources covered this story? Zero.

Frank Chapman of CAARPR compared these cases to the torture and conviction in Israel of Chicago Palestinian leader, Rasmea Odeh.

Chapman’s statement connecting the victims of Chicago Police torture with a victim of torture in Israel is reminiscent of John Conroy’s 2000 book “Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People: The Dynamics of Torture”. In this seminal study, he identifies how ordinary people can rationalize their behavior and become torturers. He uses three case studies – British forces in Northern Ireland with IRA suspects, the Israeli army and Palestinian detainees, and Chicago Police Department (CPD) interrogation of suspects. In a chapter titled “Chicago – The Public is Not Aroused”, Conroy describes the Chicago media’s lack of interest in CPD brutality cases that continues to this day.

The Chicago case in his study involved Jon Burge. Burge was a Chicago Police commander in the 80s who was accused of torturing criminal suspects to obtain confessions. He was acquitted of police brutality charges in 1989 due to a hung jury. He was fired from the force in 1993 after the Police Review Board determined that he had used torture methods. His victims numbered over 200 and his case led to Governor Ryan suspending the death penalty in Illinois. He was eventually convicted in a federal court, not of police brutality, but of obstruction of justice and perjury charges. In 2011, he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.

So far, the Department of Justice has no plans to launch an investigation into the 65 current cases of police brutality.

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