Illinois Police Misconduct Cases

Police misconduct is defined as any unprofessionalIllinois allegedly committed very unprofessional actions
actions made by an officer that result in a wrongfulin the course of their official business.
conviction or denial of rights to the injured party.·Derrick E. King was beaten by Area 2
Police misconduct may include police brutality, falseofficers using a baseball bat and telephone book
arrest, racial profiling, falsified evidence and police· Madison Hobley was handcuffed to a wall
corruption. Often, we only think of police brutality asring and beaten by Detectives Robert Dwyer and
police misconduct. The truth, however, is that policeJames Lotito, kicked by Sergeant Patrick Garrity and
misconduct is more than police brutality as definedrepressed by Detective Daniel McWeen. Hobley was
above.later pardoned based on innocence and released in
The State of Illinois has a unique statistics on police2003.
misconduct over the years. On a survey made for· Leroy Orange was beaten and electrically
the Bureau of Justice Statistics by the Illinois Criminalshocked by Area 2 detectives. Like Hobley, he was
Justice Authority, twenty one percent of policelater pardoned based on innocence and released in
officers in this state said that they have seen at2003.
least one fellow officer engaged in the use of more· Andrew Wilson was kicked, punched and
force than what is necessary to arrest a suspect.electrically shocked and forced against hot radiator
Also, the study said that 5.7 percent of officers hadby Area 2 officers.
witnessed another fellow officer cover up excessive· Reginald Mahaffey was punched, kicked
use of force and 8.5 percent of officers had knownand thrown against the wall and smothered by Area
of another fellow officer failing to report the use of2 officers with plastic bag.
such force.These are just some cases of police misconduct in
The weakness of the study, however, is the refusalIllinois. There are a lot more cases of such
of the Chicago police force to participate in themisconduct in recent years, like the case of Robin
survey. The real scenario of the use of excessivePetrovic, a woman, who was allegedly abused
force in the State of Illinois might not be wellphysically by James Chevas of the Chicago Police
reflected by the statistics due to the refusal of theDepartment. Police misconduct in Illinois is a serious
said police force which is the largest force in thecase. If you or a loved one is a victim of police
state.misconduct, do not hesitate to come forward and
Below are some of the most notorious cases ofstand up against these abusive officers. An
police misconduct in Illinois. Let us take a look atexperienced Illinois civil rights lawyer can help you
some controversial cases when police officers offight for your right.