PUBLISHED: 02-23-09

Scoop in the Loop

Cops need to end brutality, earn respect

For several months I have been hooked on the hit HBO show, “The Wire.” My boyfriend and I start an episode and wind up in front of the TV for hours. But one thing about the show has always bothered me-the excessively violent way the supposed “good” cops treat the criminals.

In my attempt to see the world through rose-colored glasses, I have tried to convince myself that this violence was written into the script for purely dramatic purposes. But video of another violent incident involving a Chicago police officer has surfaced and it has, again, left me feeling as though the violent cop-on-criminal scenes depicted in “The Wire” are not as overly dramatized as they might seem.

On Feb. 13, an amateur video of what many would consider police brutality was captured on a No. 70 Chicago Transit Authority bus, on the 800 block of West Division Street. The video shows the officer, badge number 10677, telling an intoxicated passenger to exit the bus. When the passenger does not comply, the officer slams his head against the window. The video then shows the passenger stand up, quite possibly trying to exit the bus, but it was too late. The officer continues to swear at the passenger, while pushing him back into his seat. Again, he slams the passenger’s head into the window. He then holds the passenger down and repeatedly yells, “Do you want to fight me?” Eventually he punches the passenger in the face.

After the altercation ends, a concerned passenger on the bus asks the officer for his badge number. Required by law, the officer gives it, but turns around and shouts, “Why? You got a problem?”

The concerned passenger did have a problem-the unnecessary brutality that seems all too common among officers of the Chicago Police Department. The video surfaced, and the Independent Police Review Authority received a tip and has now launched an investigation.

But how many tips have to be sent, and how many investigations need to be launched before this type of conduct ends? Time and time again we have heard Mayor Richard M. Daley and Police Supt. Jody Weis commit to cracking down on police brutality. Chicago has a long history of forced confessions and brutality-a history that Weis was supposed to ensure stayed in the past and did not continue under his leadership.
It is important to mention that not all police officers find such brutality acceptable. But as videos like this continue to surface, it makes me wonder how many really do still live by their creed to protect and serve. The last time I checked, protecting the public did not involve engaging in acts of violence and brutality against members of the public, criminal or not.

As incidents like this continue to taint the reputation of Chicago police officers, the public needs to see a concerted effort by elected officials to crack down on police brutality. Police officers want the respect of the public, but they first need to start earning it.

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