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| NEWS > 16 August 2007 |
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Southington Police chief under
A complaint against Police Chief John Daly filed by members of his own department has created division within the department that was exacerbated Thursday as members of the Police Commission dueled verbally with rank-and-file officers during a heated meeting.
A complaint dated Dec. 30 and made public at the meeting highlighted at least 10 grievances with Daly’s actions as police chief by the Law Enforcement Alliance of Southington, the union representation of the department.
“We file this formal complaint in the belief that Chief Daly has violated numerous Southington Police ... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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Chicago Sun-Times - United Sta
16 August 2007
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Mistrust of police gives cover
In normal times, Aaron R. Harrison Jr. would not become a martyr. At the time of his fatal run-in with Chicago Police in a North Lawndale alley Aug. 6, Harrison, 18, was on probation for a 2006 drug conviction involving heroin. He had been arrested numerous times during the past year.
But his criminal past didn't matter Wednesday when Harrison was being funeralized at New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church on the West Side.
Nearly 1,000 people filled the sanctuary and the church's balcony to grieve the loss of yet another young black male to a "senseless killing." Elected officials representing North Lawndale even came to pay their respects, and the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson sent a resolution from the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.
The death of a young man from Harrison's background at the hands of police usually would have gone unnoticed.
But there is nothing normal about these times.
The tensions that exist between police and residents in North Lawndale, and other predominantly black neighborhoods where police have a strong presence, are at a fever pitch.
Even the Rev. Al Sharpton could sense that this situation is about to blow and recently opened a Chicago Chapter of his National Action Network to confront Mayor Daley on the police brutality issue.
Besides the recent scandals involving police, we've seen videotaped beatings of civilians, and black residents were the targets of the Jon Burge torture cases.
Even worse, the Chicago Police Department is in limbo. Not only is there no permanent police superintendent, but the unit charged with investigating allegations of police misconduct -- the Office of Professional Standards -- has a new chief.
Could we have riots?
You're not being paranoid if you're worried that there could be a repeat of the riots that broke out in predominantly black neighborhoods the '60s over police brutality.
Because when an 18-year-old black male is laid out in a casket, dead from a bullet fired by a Chicago Police officer and it is the police officer's word against the angry shouts of his relatives and community residents, it really doesn't matter what the truth is.
I seriously doubt even if an independent investigator concluded that the police shooting was justifiable, that would change anyone's mind. The perception is almost always that the police officer gunned down a defenseless citizen.
Unfortunately, so many ordinary law-abiding citizens have been mishandled by officers or have heard stories about bad cops that they no longer trust police.
This standoff means some really bad people are benefitting from the chaos.
Rapists, gun-toting drug dealers and gang-bangers who don't give a darn who's on the street when they go after someone, are being given unintentional cover, because as long as police officers and citizens are at each other's throats, criminals are able to operate with impunity.
And as long as citizens aren't cooperating with police, the heinous crimes are not getting solved.
Code of silence
The reaction to the Harrison shooting is symbolic of this conflict. We shouldn't be surprised that some people went so far as to throw bottles and bricks at police officers during a rally to protest Harrison's death.
This violent display of disrespect is partly the Chicago Police Department's own fault.
When officers upheld a code of silence that allowed rogue cops to plant drugs on people they wanted off the street and to rob drug-dealers -- not to mention torturing suspects into confessions -- it isn't hard to believe that Harrison was being harassed by authorities for no good reason.
Although under siege by drug dealers, some residents in these communities would likely believe the police officer lied when he said Harrison pointed a gun at him than to believe Harrison was carrying a gun in his waistband.
"You're suppose to serve and protect me, not harass and kill my babies," said an unidentified spoken word poet who joined a long line of people who made similar remarks about the shooting at Harrison's funeral Wednesday.
In normal times, Aaron R. Harrison Jr. wouldn't become a martyr.
These are not normal times.
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