Illinois Police Misconduct Cases

Police misconduct is defined as any unprofessional actions made by an officer that result in a wrongful conviction or denial of rights to the injured party. Police misconduct may include police brutality, false arrest, racial profiling, falsified evidence and police corruption. Often, we only think of police brutality as police misconduct. The truth, however, is that police misconduct is more than police brutality as defined above.

The State of Illinois has a unique statistics on police misconduct over the years. On a survey made for the Bureau of Justice Statistics by the Illinois Criminal Justice Authority, twenty one percent of police officers in this state said that they have seen at least one fellow officer engaged in the use of more force than what is necessary to arrest a suspect. Also, the study said that 5.7 percent of officers had witnessed another fellow officer cover up excessive use of force and 8.5 percent of officers had known of another fellow officer failing to report the use of such force.

The weakness of the study, however, is the refusal of the Chicago police force to participate in the survey. The real scenario of the use of excessive force in the State of Illinois might not be well reflected by the statistics due to the refusal of the said police force which is the largest force in the state.

Below are some of the most notorious cases of police misconduct in Illinois. Let us take a look at some controversial cases when police officers of Illinois allegedly committed very unprofessional actions in the course of their official business.

·Derrick E. King was beaten by Area 2 officers using a baseball bat and telephone book

· Madison Hobley was handcuffed to a wall ring and beaten by Detectives Robert Dwyer and James Lotito, kicked by Sergeant Patrick Garrity and repressed by Detective Daniel McWeen. Hobley was later pardoned based on innocence and released in 2003.

· Leroy Orange was beaten and electrically shocked by Area 2 detectives. Like Hobley, he was later pardoned based on innocence and released in 2003.

· Andrew Wilson was kicked, punched and electrically shocked and forced against hot radiator by Area 2 officers.

· Reginald Mahaffey was punched, kicked and thrown against the wall and smothered by Area 2 officers with plastic bag.

These are just some cases of police misconduct in Illinois. There are a lot more cases of such misconduct in recent years, like the case of Robin Petrovic, a woman, who was allegedly abused physically by James Chevas of the Chicago Police Department.  Police misconduct in Illinois is a serious case. If you or a loved one is a victim of police misconduct, do not hesitate to come forward and stand up against these abusive officers. An experienced Illinois civil rights lawyer can help you fight for your right.