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Probe finds years of civil rights violations The ASSOCIATED PRESS CHICAGO – The Justice Department on Friday laid bare years of civil rights violations by Chicago police, blasting the nation’s second-largest department for using excessive force that included shooting at people who did not pose a threat and using stun guns on others only because they refused to follow commands. The report was issued after a yearlong investigation sparked by the 2014 death of a black teenager who was shot 16 times by a white officer. The federal investigation looked broadly at law enforcement practices, concluding that officers were not sufficiently trained or supported and that many who were accused of misconduct were rarely investigated or disciplined. The findings come just a week before a change in administration that could reorder priorities at the Justice Department. Under President Barack Obama, the government has conducted 25 civil rights investigations of police departments, including those in Cleveland, Baltimore and Seattle. President-elect Donald Trump’s position on the federal
ILLINOIS ROUNDUP
News from across the state
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AFSCME members to vote on strike authorization
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois’ largest public-employee union told its members Friday that they soon will vote on whether to authorize a strike if contract talks with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration remain stalled. The vote would not guarantee a strike, but indicate whether members of the state council of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees want to give their bargaining committee power to walk off the job after Rauner dismissed a contract-compromise plan this week. In that plan, the union offered to forgo any general wage increases for a fouryear period, although newer employees
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Attorney General Loretta Lynch speaks Friday during a news conference accompanied by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta (left) and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in Chicago. review process is unclear. His nominee to be attorney general has expressed reservations about the system, especially the reliance on courts to bring about changes. Asked about the investigation’s future, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said talks between the city and the government would go on regardless “of who is at the top of the Justice Department.” Chicago officers endangered civil-
ians, caused avoidable injuries and deaths and eroded community trust that is “the cornerstone of public safety,” said Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division. The federal government’s recommendations follow an especially bloody year on Chicago streets. The city logged 762 homicides in 2016, the highest tally in 20 years and more than the combined total of the two largest U.S. cities – New
would still be entitled to annual “step” increases as they gain experience in their first eight years. Among other concessions, AFSCME offered to pay more for health insurance, but a Rauner spokeswoman called the offer “superficial.” AFSCME Executive Director Roberta Lynch termed the concessions “real sacrifice” in a memo to employees.
want the City Council to be granted the power to hold the Chicago Housing Authority accountable for the amount of affordable housing the agency is creating.
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6 arrested when protesters interrupt mayor’s speech
CHICAGO – Chicago police said six people were arrested after they disrupted Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s speech during an interfaith breakfast honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said all six arrested Friday morning at the Hilton Hotel will face trespassing charges. One of the six also will be charged with aggravated battery for becoming aggressive with an arresting officer. The Chicago Tribune reported the protesters were housing advocates who
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Transient charged in death of woman, attack on boy
OTTAWA – Prosecutors said a transient has been charged with stabbing to death a rural Illinois woman and assaulting an 11-year-old boy. Murder, predatory sexual assault of a child and aggravated battery charges were filed against 38-year-old Carl E. Lenard. During a hearing Thursday, State’s Attorney Karen Donnelly said Lenard fatally stabbed 41-year-old Damaris Lopez Pacheco Alvarado on Tuesday at her home west of Streator. Donnelly also alleged Lenard beat the boy and assaulted him before the victim was able to escape and inform a neighbor. Donnelly said Lenard attempted to flee in Pacheco’s vehicle, which he crashed
York and Los Angeles. The Justice Department began the Chicago investigation in December 2015 after the release of dashcam video showing the fatal shooting of 18-yearold Laquan McDonald, who was walking away from police holding a small folded knife. The video of the shooting, which the city fought to keep secret, inspired large protests and cost the city’s police commissioner his job. The report “confirms what civil rights lawyers have been saying for decades,” said attorney Matt Topic, who helped lead the legal fight for the release of the McDonald video. “It is momentous and pretty rewarding to see that finally confirmed by the U.S. government.” Investigators described a class for officers on the use of force that showed a video made 35 years ago – before key U.S. Supreme Court rulings that affected police practices nationwide. When instructors spoke further on the topic, several recruits did not appear to be paying attention and at least one was sleeping, the report said. Justice Department agents who questioned Chicago officers found that only 1 out of 6 who were in training or who just completed the police academy “came close to properly articulating the legal standard for use of force,” the report said.
while being chased by police.
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Former teacher sentenced for abusing 15-year-old
CHICAGO – A former Chicago high school teacher received a probation sentence after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy. Benjamin Zollo pleaded guilty to aggravated criminal sexual abuse charges. Cook County Circuit Judge Thomas Gainer sentenced him Thursday to two years of probation. Prosecutors said the 34-year-old Zollo, who taught at Lincoln Park High School, contacted the boy online. After exchanging messages for a month, the boy went to Zollo’s home, where they had sex. They eventually met every two weeks, before the teen spent the night with the Zollo on New Year’s Eve 2015. Prosecutors said the boy’s parents were upset he was gone all night and called police. When questioned by his father, the boy admitted where he had been.
– Wire reports
Daily Chronicle / Daily-Chronicle.com • Saturday, January 14, 2017
Justice Dept. report blasts Chicago police