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As a Chicago police officer, Shannon Spalding has worked undercover in some of the city's most difficult neighborhoods. She discovered that some of the most dangerous criminals were police colleagues. She risked her life to stop them.
Shortly after joining the Chicago Police Department in 1996, Spalding had made a mission in one of the most violent neighborhoods in the city. "It was a total war every day," she said.
"It was like a movie set.I was shocked.I was shocked and impressed.It was a completely different world," she explained to the audience. 39; host of "Whistleblower", Alex Ferrer, in the first season of the series, Friday, May 24 to 8 / 7c on CBS.
To survive, Spalding relies on veteran cops like Ronald Watts.
"I thought he was fighting crime and was doing it with finesse and grace," she said.
In 2006, a decade after Spalding was trained by Watts, she was assigned to a new mission in the Narcotics Division.
"I was in. I was going out, I was shopping for controlled narcotics," explained Spalding.
His partner, Danny Echeverria, would rush and make arrests. But during interviews with the police, something strange started to happen.
"People would say …" I can not believe you're going to stop when one of yours is managing drug trafficking, "said Spalding.
Spalding learned that Watts and his team would plant drugs on the residents of the Ida B. Wells projects and extort money.
"Even the good citizens who live there, who are law-abiding citizens, are subject to this," she said. "We have heard … that he would put anything in a few bags to keep you for 10, 15 or 20 years."
In 2006, Delores Allen, resident of Ida B. Wells, witnessed this practice when her son Zarice was pushed against the Watts police car.
"He goes in his pocket, take out the medicine." If you guys, I catch you again, I'll put these drugs on your ass. "These are his exact words," said Delores Allen.
Allen says Watts has kept his word.
Later that year, Zarice was arrested and charged with possession of heroin and cocaine crack by the crime. he was 17 years old. Allen says the drugs were planted by Watts.
"I just saw all his hopes, dreams and all that will go," said Allen, emotional. "He was just put in the water from there."
Spalding and his partner would eventually learn The bad actions of Watts had been going on for years.
"If we do not report this criminal conduct, we are absolutely no better than Watts or any of those other corrupt officers, and if we do, we could just end our career and put ourselves in danger, said Spalding.
"So what did you and your partner decide to do? "Asked Ferrer.
"I convinced him that we had to go to the FBI, "said Spalding. My biggest fear was that because it was a longstanding criminal enterprise …, I had the impression that we would be sentenced to death. "
Spalding and his partner would spend years investigating Ronald Watts and his team.
In February 2012, Sgt. Ronald Watts and one of his officers, Kallat Mohammed, were arrested after being caught stealing a smuggler for $ 5,200. This mail was Spalding's informant and wore an FBI thread. Watts and Mohammed were sentenced. Watts was sentenced to 22 months and Mohammed to 18 months.
With the help of this survey, more than 60 people wrongly arrested by Watts and his team are now exempt – including Zarice Johnson.
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