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| ] Police Commander '''Jon Graham Burge''' (born ], ]) is a former ] ] and decorated ] ] who has gained notoriety for allegedly ] more than 200 criminal suspects between 1972 and 1991, in order to force confessions.<ref name = ILGA>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/95/HB/09500HB0765ham001.htm|accessdate=2007-10-02|publisher=Illinois General Assembly|date=2007-03-27 |title=Amendment to House Bill 765}}</ref> Some of the people who confessed to murder were later granted new trials, and a few were even acquitted or pardoned.<ref name = ILGA/> Burge was fired from the Chicago Police Department in 1993 and lives in ]. In 2002, a special prosecutor was assigned to his case, but the review, which cost ]17 million, revealed improprieties that resulted in no action due to the ].<ref name=Brdtws/> Three of Burge's victims sued the city; a multi-million dollar settlement was almost reached in September 2007.<ref name = IsGag>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/ourtown/070928/gagorder|date=2007-09-28|accessdate=2007-10-05|title=Is This a Gag?|publisher = Chicago Reader|author=John Conroy}}</ref> Burge continues to receive a police ].<ref name=Tadeo>{{cite web|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2004/08/29/Worldandnation/Torture_allegations_d.shtml|accessdate=2007-10-03|date=2004-08-29|title=Torture allegations dog ex-police officer|publisher=St. Petersburg Times|author=LaPeter, Leonora}}</ref> | ] Police Commander '''Jon Graham Burge''' (born ], ]) is a former ] ] and decorated ] ] who has gained notoriety for allegedly ] more than 200 criminal suspects between 1972 and 1991, in order to force confessions.<ref name = ILGA>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/95/HB/09500HB0765ham001.htm|accessdate=2007-10-02|publisher=Illinois General Assembly|date=2007-03-27 |title=Amendment to House Bill 765}}</ref> Some of the people who confessed to murder were later granted new trials, and a few were even acquitted or pardoned.<ref name = ILGA/> Burge was fired from the Chicago Police Department in 1993 and lives in ]. In 2002, a special prosecutor was assigned to his case, but the review, which cost ]17 million, revealed improprieties that resulted in no action due to the ].<ref name=Brdtws/> Three of Burge's victims sued the city; a multi-million dollar settlement was almost reached in September 2007.<ref name = IsGag>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/ourtown/070928/gagorder|date=2007-09-28|accessdate=2007-10-05|title=Is This a Gag?|publisher = Chicago Reader|author=John Conroy}}</ref> Burge continues to receive a police ].<ref name=Tadeo>{{cite web|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2004/08/29/Worldandnation/Torture_allegations_d.shtml|accessdate=2007-10-03|date=2004-08-29|title=Torture allegations dog ex-police officer|publisher=St. Petersburg Times|author=LaPeter, Leonora}}</ref> | ||
| ==Early life== | |||
| Raised in the ] ] on the ] of Chicago,<ref name = TOT>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/policetorture/050402|accessdate=2007-10-02|publisher=Chicago Reader|date=2005-02-04 |title=Tools of Torture}}</ref> Burge attended ] where he showed a keen interest in the school's Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. There he was exposed to ], ]s, leadership and ]. He attended the ] but dropped out after one semester, which ended his draft deferment.<ref name = TOT/> He returned to Chicago to work at a ] as a stock clerk in early 1966. | |||
| In June 1966 Burge enlisted in the ] for six years of service, including two years of ]. He was promised law enforcement duties and reported for ] at ] in ] that fall. After basic training, he placed second out of 99 at a four week drill corporal school ] in ]. Following this he spent eight weeks at a ] (MP) school in ]. He became a MP trainer and then served as an MP in ], gathering five letters of appreciation from superiors. On ] ] Burge volunteered for duty in the ] where he was assigned to the Ninth Military Police Company of the Ninth Infantry Division. He reported to division headquarters, where he provided security as a sergeant at his division base camp named Dong Tam by ].<ref name = TOT/> Burge described his mp service as "escort of convoys, security for forward support bases, supervising security for the divisional central base camp in Dong Tam, and I finished my tour as a provost marshal investigator."<ref name = TOT/> During his service he earned a ], a ], the ] and two ]s for ], for pulling wounded men to safety while under fire.<ref name=Tadeo/> Burge claimed no knowledge of or involvement in prisoner interrogation, brutality or torture.<ref name = TOT/> In June 1969 ] ] announced large-scale troop withdrawals from ]. Ninth Infantry troops were among the first to leave and Burge was honorably discharged on ] ].<ref name = TOT/> | |||
| He returned to his parents' home, took a job as a mechanic and gas station attendant, and watched a bitter population shift. Bowen High School, which had been 93 percent white when Burge graduated in 1965, was only 14 percent white in 1972. Burge's parents sold their home in 1973.<ref name = TOT/> | |||
| ==Torture methods== | |||
| Burge became a police officer in March 1970 at age 22 on the ]. In May of 1972, he was promoted to detective and assigned to Area Two Robbery.<ref name=TOT/> In twenty years of service where he developed a reputation for defusing volatile situations, he earned 13 police commendations and a letter of praise from the ].<ref name=Tadeo/> His downward fall began with the investigation of a ] ] incident in which a police officer was stripped of his weapon and both he and his partner were fatally shot. It was clear that the suspect had received sufficient injuries to be sent to the hospital with more than a dozen injuries caused while in police custody.<ref name=Tadeo/> | |||
| Burge and other Chicago Police officers would use methods of torture that left few marks. They were accused of slamming telephone books on top of suspect’s heads; apparently this is quite painful but does not bruise the scalp. They would use an old-style hand cranked telephone which generated electricity, and attach wires to the suspect’s genitals or face. After a few cranks, Burge would tell the suspect he was going to make a “long-distance call.” This usually resulted in a confession. Burge and his henchmen would also engage in mock executions, in putting plastic bags over heads, cigarette burnings and severe beatings. At one point he is even alleged to have supervised the electrical shocking of a 13 year old boy, Marcus Wiggins.<ref name = ILGA/> There were three separate electronic devices that Burge and his detectives were accused of using: a ], a hand cranked device and a ]. The last device was said to be regularly placed either on or up their ] or against their exposed ].<ref name=TMTD>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/policetorture/thirddevice/|accessdate=2007-10-04|title=The Mysterious Third Device|publisher=Chicago Reader Inc.|author=Conroy, John|date=2005-02-04}}</ref> | |||
| ==Discovery== | |||
| Initial reports of torture appeared in the pages of the alternative weekly the '']'' in 1990<ref name = ReaderScoop>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/torture/900126_1.html |accessdate=2007-10-09|publisher=Chicago Reader|date=1990-01-26|author=John Conroy |title=House of Screams}}</ref> An investigation conducted by Chicago Police Department's Office of Professional Standards concluded that Police Commander Jon Burge and his detectives engaged in "methodical" and "systematic" torture, and "The type of abuse described was not limited to the usual beating, but went into such esoteric areas as psychological techniques and planned torture."<ref name=Progr1994>{{cite web|url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1295/is_n7_v58/ai_15533722 |title=Torture behind bars: right here in the United States of America|author=Paige Bierma |publisher= progressive.org |date= July 1994}}</ref> | |||
| In ]], ] called for an investigation into police torture in Chicago.<ref name = ILGA/> In 1993, Burge and his officers were suspended without pay for a year. The officers were reinstated and Burge was fired.<ref name=Tadeo/> A ] ] ] and his students uncovered exonerating evidence. In 2000 Governor Ryan halted executions in Illinois after courts found 13 ] ]s had been wrongfully convicted. He then ]ed 4 inmates of the "Death Row 10" inmates.<ref name=Tadeo/> | |||
| The book ''Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People'' (ISBN 0520230396) by John Conroy includes four chapters on his story.<ref name=Tadeo/> | |||
| ==Fallout== | |||
| In 2003 outgoing Republican Governor ] commuted the death sentences of 167 prisoners on Illinois’ death row.<ref name = CNNRyan>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/01/11/illinois.death.row|accessdate=2007-10-05|publisher=CNN|author=Jeff Flock |date=2003-01-13 |title='Blanket commutation' empties Illinois death row}}</ref> ], at the time the ] ], has been accused by the Illinois General Assembly of failing to act on information he possessed on the conduct of Burge and others.<ref name = ILGA/> On July 19, 2006, US Congressman ] issued a press release calling Mayor Daley culpable, possibly even criminally culpable, for his failure to prosecute until the statute of limitations had run out.<ref name = JJJ>{{cite web|url=http://www.house.gov/list/hearing/il02_jackson/060719DaleyCulpableInCopAbuse.html|accessdate=2007-10-02|publisher=US House of Representatives |author= Office of Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.|date=2007-07-19 |title=Daley Culpable In Cop Abuse - Must Explain Himself | |||
| }}</ref> Jackson called for an investigation to determine if there was any planned delay to allow the cases to expire.<ref name= JJJ/> | |||
| Since being fired Burge has lived in ], a suburb of ]. In 1994, he bought his current wood-frame home for ]154,000 and a {{ft to m|22|abbr=yes|wiki=yes}} ] named ''The Vigilante''.<ref name=Tadeo/> | |||
| ==Review== | |||
| In 2002, the Cook County ], the Justice Coalition of Chicago and others petitioned for a review of the allegations against Burge. ], a former Illinois Appellate Court jurist and semiretired lawyer who lived in Florida, was hired as a ] to investigate allegations dating back to 1973. He hired an assistant, several lawyers and retired ] (FBI) officers.<ref name=Tadeo/> The only prior official investigation, which resulted in Burge's firing, had been by the Office of Professional Standards, which determined that "the preponderance of evidence is that abuse did occur and that it was systematic."<ref name=Jotp>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20020425/ai_n12459837|accessdate=2007-10-04|title=Judge orders torture probe|publisher=FindArticles|work=Chicago Sun-Times|date=2002-04-25|author=Sadovi, Carlos}}</ref> Former prosecutor Robert D. Boyle was also appointed as a special prosecutor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20020425/ai_n12459836|accessdate=2007-10-04|title=Special prosecutor to probe cop torture|publisher=FindArticles|work=Chicago Sun-Times|date=2002-04-25|author=Sadovi, Carlos}}</ref> Both special prosecutors are former prosecutors by profession.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20020425/ai_n12463416|accessdate=2007-10-04|title=Pair praised: 'This ain't going to be no whitewash' 2 prosecutors'|publisher=FindArticles|work=Chicago Sun-Times|date=2002-04-25|author=Pallasch, Abdon M. }}</ref> In 2003, former Chief of the Special Prosecution Division of the ] Gordon B. Nash Jr. was appointed as an additional special prosecutor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20030312/ai_n12491403|accessdate=2007-10-04|title=Cop torture probe gets boost from ex-prosecutor|publisher=FindArticles|work=Chicago Sun-Times|date=2003-03-12}}</ref> | |||
| A total of 60 cases were reviewed.<ref name=Jotp/> A special prosecutor was hired because Cook County State's Attorney, Richard Devine, had a conflict of interest stemming from his tenure at the law firm of Phelan, Pope & John, which defended Burge in two federal suits.<ref name=Jotp/> Criminal Courts Judge Paul P. Biebel Jr. presided over the determination of the need of a review to determine the propriety of criminal charges and the appointment of the special prosecutor.<ref name=Jotp/> | |||
| On ] ], Burge was served with a ] to testify before a grand jury in an ongoing ] of police torture while in town for ]s on ]s at his attorney's office. Burge plead the ] to virtually every question during a 4 hour civil case deposition. He only answered questions about his name, his boat's name (Vigilante) and his $30,000 annual pension.<ref name=ScuwB>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20040902/ai_n12560707|accessdate=2007-10-04|title=Subpoena catches up with Burge|publisher=FindArticles|work=Chicago Sun-Times|date=2004-09-02|author=Korecki, Natasha}}</ref> The city continues to be bound by court order to pay for Burge's legal fees.<ref name=ScuwB/> The service of the subpoena was quite storied with Burge eluding servers at ] and a team placed at his lawyers office before dawn.<ref name=ScuwB/> | |||
| Three years into the investigation no criminal charges had been filed although several civil suits were filed in ]. By that time, a total of 139 victims were involved in the case as were 19 investigators. Disappointment on the progress caused the victims to request the ] allot them an hourlong hearing at their October 2005 session.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20050830/ai_n15617258|accessdate=2007-10-04|title=Global agency asked to probe police torture|publisher=FindArticles|work=Chicago Sun-Times|date=2005-08-30|author=Sweeney, Annie}}</ref> | |||
| On ] ], the ] unblocked the release of the special report by Egan that took 4 years and cost $17 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20060621/ai_n16492174|accessdate=2007-10-04|title=Court clears way for report on cop abuse|publisher=FindArticles|work=Chicago Sun-Times|date=2006-06-21|author=Pallasch, Abdon M.}}</ref> In the end 148 cases were evaluated. Half of the claims were deemed credible, but because of the ] no indictments were handed out. ] ], who had been State's Attorney at the time of the abuse, and all law enforcement officials who had been deposed were excluded from the report. Also, the 75 credible abuse cases were overlooked with the report focusing on doubts about the actual torture of pardoned death row inmates. Among the final costs were $6.2 million for the investigation and $7 million to hire outside counsel for Burge and his cohorts.<ref name=Brdtws>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20060723/ai_n16667067|accessdate=2007-10-04|title=Burge report doesn't tell whole story|publisher=FindArticles|work=Chicago Sun-Times|date=2006-07-23|author=Marin, Carol}}</ref> Although the statute of limitations argument was a disappointment to many, the argument was very elaborately detailed in an 18 page section of the report. Debates in the ] pages continued for days and Egan explained his report to the public with legal theories and federal jurisdiction issues.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20060812/ai_n16653178|accessdate=2007-10-04|title=Professor's argument on statute of limitations gets failing grade|publisher=FindArticles|work=Chicago Sun-Times|date=2006-08-12|author=Egan, Edward J.}}</ref> | |||
| ==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
Revision as of 18:57, 15 November 2007
| Jon Graham Burge | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1947-12-20) December 20, 1947 (age 77) Chicago, Illinois |
| Occupation | Police Commander (retired) |
| Known for | police brutality |
Chicago Police Commander Jon Graham Burge (born December 20, 1947) is a former Chicago Police Department detective and decorated United States Army soldier who has gained notoriety for allegedly torturing more than 200 criminal suspects between 1972 and 1991, in order to force confessions. Some of the people who confessed to murder were later granted new trials, and a few were even acquitted or pardoned. Burge was fired from the Chicago Police Department in 1993 and lives in Florida. In 2002, a special prosecutor was assigned to his case, but the review, which cost $17 million, revealed improprieties that resulted in no action due to the statute of limitation. Three of Burge's victims sued the city; a multi-million dollar settlement was almost reached in September 2007. Burge continues to receive a police pension.
Notes
- ^ "Amendment to House Bill 765". Illinois General Assembly. 2007-03-27. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
- Cite error: The named reference
Brdtwswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - John Conroy (2007-09-28). "Is This a Gag?". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
- LaPeter, Leonora (2004-08-29). "Torture allegations dog ex-police officer". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
