Robert Smith claims Burge detectives beat false confession out of him

Robert Smith spent decades in prison on a wrongful murder conviction. Now, he’s suing the city and several Chicago Police Department detectives who worked under notorious Area 2 Commander Jon Burge, claiming they beat a false confession out of him.
February saw fewer carjackings in Chicago compared to the previous month amid historic snowfall totals and increased policing efforts, while the number of shootings and homicides recorded last month remain on par with totals from February 2020.
Gov. J. B. Pritzker signed a criminal justice bill Monday that is massive both in its size – 764 pages – and scope. We discuss the the coming changes and what concerns the bill raises for opponents.
Aldermen blocked a Wednesday vote on Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to spend federal COVID-19 relief funds, prompting the mayor to utter an expletive caught on a hot mic during the meeting.
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The Chicago City Council is poised to pay a Chicago family $175,000 after officers mistakenly raided their apartment in March 2017 while looking for their neighbor.
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Aldermen narrowly agreed Monday to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of James Anderson, who was fatally shot by police officers in September 2015 while he suffered a mental health crisis.
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The massive, 764-page criminal justice reform bill will eliminate cash bail, require law enforcement officers to wear body cameras and create a certification program for police. “This legislation marks a substantial step towards dismantling the systemic racism that plagues our communities,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. 
The author of a scathing report from the city’s Office of Inspector General says the senior leadership of the Chicago Police Department failed both their front-line officers and the public during the unrest that followed the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot fired back Friday at critics who blasted her for using $281.5 million in COVID-19 federal relief funds to cover the cost of salaries and benefits for Chicago Police Department officers. “Criticism comes with the job of mayor but this one’s just dumb,” Lightfoot said.
More than 100 convictions tied to former Chicago police Sgt. Ronald Watts and his team have been thrown out in recent years. “Today, we were able to bring some justice to nine people who were targeted and victimized by former Sergeant Watts,” Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said in a statement.
Progressive aldermen and community groups slammed Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday for using $281.5 million in COVID-19 federal relief funds to cover the cost of salaries and benefits for Chicago Police Department officers.
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The Chicago Police Department was “under-prepared and ill-equipped, and thus critically disserved both its own front-line members and members of the public,” according to the inspector general’s report, the first in-depth examination of the police department’s response to the unrest. 
A Chicago man allegedly pushed a woman out of her vehicle as he was attempting to escape during a carjacking before getting stuck in the heavy snowfall that blanketed the city Tuesday morning.
Chicago police are warning residents in the Englewood neighborhood about a series of armed robberies in which victims were lured to the area with the belief they were making a purchase through an online marketplace.
A new archive detailing the experiences of police torture survivors went online this month. We hear from two people who are helping those survivors heal.
A man arrested at least three times for impersonating a Chicago police officer, including once at age 14, appeared in court Friday on charges that he did the same crime three times this year, including once when he allegedly pulled over a vehicle and searched its occupants.
 

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