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Jon Burge, the former commander of the inspector whose name has become synonymous with misconduct and abuse by the Chicago Police Service, died in Florida at age 70, according to police union officials. a funeral home in Florida.
The details of his death were rare, with union officials and family members refusing to speak with members of the media, who spent years reporting on the many cases in which Burge was accused of torturing suspects.
Burge was dismissed from the Chicago Police Department in 1993 for allegations of misconduct, but he was never directly charged with these alleged crimes. Instead, he was found guilty of lying to the federal authorities about his conduct and sentenced to a term of imprisonment in 2010. He was released in 2014 and returned home to the south. from Tampa.
The Fraternal Order of Police has expressed its condolences on social media with a message that Burge's complete story has never been told.
The funeral directors confirmed that they had received Burge's body but refused to share any other information, citing the wishes of the family.
"They (family members) let us know that they were doing nothing in the newspapers," said Sarah Zipperer of Zipperer Funeral Home in Ruskin, Florida. Burge lived at Apollo Beach.
Dean Angelo, former head of the Police Fraternal Order in Chicago, said he heard from an interruption in the murder trial of officer Jason Van Dyke that Burge had died.
"It was kind of a shock," Angelo told reporters in the lobby of the Leighton courthouse.
"Jon Burge put a lot of bad guys in prison who were … in prison," he said. "People have chosen a career that has long been considered an honorable career and a very effective career. I do not know if Jon Burge had a good reaction because of the years and years of service he has given to the city. But we will have to wait and see how that will end up in history. "
Burge and the detectives under his command allegedly tortured and ill-treated more than 100 suspects in order to confess to them the murders and other crimes committed in the 1970s and 1980s.
Although Burge has never been criminally charged with allegations of torture, he was convicted in a federal court in Chicago in 2010 on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice for denying having known of these abuses.
At his trial, a number of former detainees testified that Burge had used cattle shoots on genitals, plastic to smother suspects, and phone books to beat them.
Testifying in his defense, Burge denied ever torturing suspects or tolerating torture, claiming that he had never seen a cop abuse a suspect in his 30 years of service.
Burge continued to collect a police pension of $ 4,000 a month, despite the fact that lawsuits related to torture and beatings cost the city tens of millions of dollars in court costs. Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a lawsuit to challenge the decision, but the Illinois Supreme Court ruled she did not have the power to deal with the issue.
At last count, Cook County and County spent close to $ 100 million combined for settlements and legal fees related to Burge. In 2013, Mayor Rahm Emanuel made an unexpected public apology for Burge's stain on the city, calling it a "black chapter" that had to be put in the past.
Burge was fired by the police in 1993. But it was not until 13 years later that special prosecutors in Cook County found evidence of widespread abuse by Burge and detectives under his command. They concluded that the limitation period was spent on criminal charges.
MORE COVERAGE:
Chicago taxpayers have probably spent an additional $ 4 million to settle another case of torture in the Burge era
New Chicago Center for Victims of Torture is the first of its kind in the United States »
CPS to teach Grade 8 and 10 students about Jon Burge's legacy in repairs
Video played at court shows Jon Burge takes 5th place in alleged torture case »
City agrees to pay $ 9.3 million for wrongful convictions related to Burge detectives »
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