OPS's track record includes almost no findings of police wrongdoing in past events, and even when it does, no disciplinary action is taken and there is no public statement regarding the outcomes of the cases.
And even on those VERY rare occasions when they make a blind stab at doing the right thing, they can be overruled by the Superintendant of Police.
Officer Alvin Weems blew an unarmed, unresisting guy named Pleasance's brains all over the floor and walls of the 95th St. El station a few years ago. He made up an Art Bell style story about being "surrounded" and having people try to grab his gun. Even though his place of duty was the El station, he apparently never took note of the VIDEO SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS all over the station. They however took note of him.
OPS considered Weems's story, witness statements and the tapes and recommended that he be fired for: shooting an unarmed man, being late for work, being out of uniform, lying to investigators (proved 100% by the surveillance tapes). At this point the Superintendant of Police, Phil Cline, steps in. It seems that he was Weems's old boss back in the day. He overrules the review board and instead keeps Weems on the job with [for at BEST a negligent homicide] a THIRTY DAY SUSPENSION. Cline cites Weems's tardiness and having his finger on the trigger of his gun. Cline and other police officials repeat Weems's lies about the circumstances of the shooting.
I must digress here for a VERY important aside. I seem to recall that the gun with which Weems [murdered] Pleasance was a Ruger SP-101 double action revolver. Unless Weems cocked the hammer of the revolver prior to putting it to Pleasance's head (negligence in itself), I find it simply IMPOSSIBLE to believe that he ACCIDENTALLY pulled the trigger of a stock Ruger double action revolver, with the hammer down hard enough to fire it. The tape shows NO struggle, nor any aggressive action on Pleasance's part. Weems simply places the gun to Pleasance's head and pulls the trigger. Pleasance drops to the floor of the El station like a sack of bricks, his friend gaping at his dead body in astonishment. Weems continues to talk to the friend as is he'd merely brushed a piece of lint from his own sleeve.
Officer Weems has since been PROMOTED to DETECTIVE Weems. Not surprisingly, Pleasance's family is sueing the city and Weems. Oddly, the Chicago PD fought VERY hard to prevent the video from being released to the public. I guess they don't like getting caught in a series of LIES about a MURDER committed by one of their officers, and aided, abetted and REWARDED after the fact by the Superintendant of Police. There is an almost frame by frame analysis of the surveillance video put together by "The Reader" a Chicago free weekly newspaper. It's VERY interesting, especially in contrast to the "account" put out by Weems, Cline and the rest of the Chicago PD. Here's a link to it:
http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/killedoncamera/. You should watch it and keep it in mind before weighing the veracity of any statements made by the Chicago PD or its personnel about the shooting... or any other subject for that matter.
In connection with the lawsuit against the city and himself, Officer Weems has admitted UNDER OATH that the shooting was NOT justified. Since the shooting Officer Weems has been promoted by Superintendant Cline to DETECTIVE Weems.
I sure wish that committing [at best] a negligent homicide on MY job would get me a thirty day suspension and a PROMOTION.
Yeah, the guys in the bar who sat around and watched Karolina Obrycka get her head stomped by Anthony Abbate are filthy, gutless cowards. At the same time, they're alive.
Mr. Pleasance ISN'T.
Some of them may have drawn what they considered appropriate conclusions about how to deal with misbehavior by Chicago cops from that fact...
