ORDINANCE
REPARATIONS FOR THE CHICAGO POLICE TORTURE
SURVIVORS
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago acknowledges that former: Chicago Police Commander Jon Bulge and detectives under his command systematically engaged in acts of totture, physical abuse and coercion of African American men and women at Area 2 and 3 Police Headquarters from 1972 through 1991; and
WHEREAS, the acts of torture committed by Burge and detecdves under his command included electrically shocking individuals on their genitals, bps and ears with an electric shock box or catde prod; suffocating individuals with plastic bags; subjecting individuals to mock execution with guns; physical bearings with telephone books and rubber hoses; and other forms of physical and psychological abuse; and
WHEREAS, Burge and his men committed diese acts of torture and abuse to extract confessions from the victims which were subsequently admitted against them in their criminal prosecutions resulting in their wrongful convictions; and
WHEREAS, these acts of torture, physical abuse and coercion violate state, federal and international law and such acts are universally condemned worldwide; and
WHEREAS, the trauma and damage caused by these heinous acts continue to deleteriously effect the torture survivors, their family members, African American communities and the City of Chicago; and
WHEREAS, the trauma and damage caused by these heinous acts will continue to cause egregious harm to those affected unless the City of Chicago and other municipal bodies enact reparations to mitigate the harm; and
WHERAS, the City of Chicago has been complicit in the torture practices and tacidy supported those acts by expending more than $20 million of taxpayers funds to defend Burge and other implicated detectives implicated in civil litigation, brought by the torture survivors^ and
WHEREAS, Mayor Emanuel has recently acknowledged that the torture scandal was a dark chapter in the history of the City of Chicago that stained its reput...
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