Chicago Police Misconduct Probes Delayed, Dropped

From [HERE] and [HERE] A Chicago police officer cracked Greg Larkins' head open with a baton back in 2006, requiring him to be stitched up at a hospital. Within a few days, several relatives of Larkins who said they witnessed the allegedly unprovoked attack gave statements to an investigator for the city. His mother also handed over photos of his injuries. Yet more than five years passed before the Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates allegations of wrongdoing against police, filed charges of excessive force against Officer Bruce Askew and called for his firing." And guess what? [T]he long delay proved costly. Late last month, the Chicago Police Board, which decides the most serious disciplinary cases, dismissed the charge not based on the evidence, but because by state law, the disciplinary action had to be filed before a five-year statute of limitations ran out." The agency tasked with investigating allegations of misconduct on the part of Chicago police is plagued by long delays in case work, some of which have led to the dismissal of charges, according to a published report Sunday.

The Independent Police Review Authority investigates some 2,800 complaints of police misconduct each year. In the five years since it was created by city officials, the agency has filed 40 complaints to the Chicago Police Board, which decides the outcome on serious cases. Those investigations took one to five years to complete, the Chicago Tribune reported Sunday.

Other cases also have been affected by the delays. “The delay is ridiculous, but what’s more maddening is the delay seems unnecessary,” said Thomas Needham, a lawyer who defends officers accused of misconduct. “No one is difficult to find. No one is asserting their right to remain silent. No one is recanting. They are fairly simple, straightforward cases that shouldn’t take months or years to investigate.”