By Fran Spielman
Chicago Sun-Times
CHICAGO — Arguing that “a court order is a court order,” Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th) signaled Wednesday that he’s not about to voluntarily relinquish the Chicago Police bodyguards who have chauffeured and protected him for nearly three decades.
“A court order is a court order and, in order to change it, there would have to be a hearing,” Burke said after chairing a meeting of the City Council’s Finance Committee.
As a candidate, Mayor Rahm Emanuel vowed to shrink Burke’s bodyguard detail. “If Ed Burke has six police officers, that just can’t continue,” Emanuel said then.
Burke flatly denied that he has six bodyguards, but he refused to reveal the number.
Asked whether the bodyguard contingent he has now was still based on a court order issued in 1986, he said, “The court order is the court order. And it’s not 1986, it’s 1989. . . . There was a ruling in ’83, ’84, ’86 and ’89, if my memory serves me correctly.”
Burke walked away as a reporter asked whether the threat to his public safety when he was a lightning rod during Council Wars continues today.
Judson Miner, who was Mayor Harold Washington’s corporation counsel, scoffed at the notion that the court order based on Burke’s conflict with Washington could still be in effect. “His opposition ended when Washington was no longer there to oppose,” Miner said Wednesday. “The basis has evaporated. [Burke] has been in the pocket of every mayor since.”
Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, who said he’s trying to get more police officers on the street, said his hands are tied when it comes to Burke because of the court order.
On Wednesday, Emanuel acknowledged that the 1986 court order that blocked the city’s attempt to cut Burke’s bodyguard detail from four officers to two makes the issue “not as simple” as it seems.
“I asked in the transition for [Acting Superintendent] Terry Hillard to do a review based on security because I wanted this to be removed from politics. . . . The superintendent looked into it. There is a court order that exists with that. If we need to, we’ll look at that,” Emanuel said.
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