By Fran Spielman
The Chicago Sun-Times
CHICAGO — An elite Chicago Police unit dogged by complaints and at the center of a cops-as-robbers scandal “needs more supervision,” a top police official said Tuesday.
First Deputy Police Supt. Dana Starks acknowledged the need to rein in members of the Special Operations Section under questioning at a City Council hearing on police torture by former Lt. Jon Burge.
Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) opened the can of worms when he called the behavior of S.O.S. officers “another form of abuse of power. . . . It happened 20 years ago and it’s happening today.”
Starks denied that complaints against S.O.S. officers were swept “under the rug,” noting that many people file an initial complaint but fail to follow through.
But, he said, “We have to improve our supervision all the way down to the sergeant level to ensure compliance by our officers and let our officers know that they are being monitored, they are being watched, they are being held accountable and there’s an expectation of professionalism.”
The Chicago Sun-Times reported last week that more than 1,200 complaints have dogged 57 S.O.S. officers over the past five years, but only four of those complaints have led to discipline: a 15-day suspension and three reprimands
Copyright 2007 The Chicago Sun-Times