CHICAGO --
The federal government is investigating claims that Chicago police tortured numerous murder suspects and lied about it under oath, U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said Wednesday.
Chicago police have been haunted for decades by allegations that detectives at a South Side violent crimes unit dunked suspects in water, beat them and subjected them to electric shocks to wring out confessions.
Fitzgerald said at a news conference that his investigation focuses on possible false statements and obstruction of justice connected to pending civil lawsuits over torture allegations from the 1980s.
A $6 million, four-year investigation by two special prosecutors produced a 300-page report that said scores of suspects were tortured but the cases were too old to warrant criminal charges. Attorneys who have filed civil suits on behalf of five alleged victims have asked Fitzgerald's office to delve into the claims.
"We do officially confirm that the U.S. attorney's office is conducting a criminal investigation into allegations of perjury, false statements and obstruction of justice by members of the Chicago police department who served in the 1980s in relation to currently pending federal civil lawsuits which allege the abuse of persons in Chicago police department custody during those years," Fitzgerald told reporters.
Police department critics quickly denounced last year's report by the special prosecutors, who were appointed by the chief judge of Cook County's criminal courts, as politically motivated and a whitewash. They said that while the statute of limitations on acts of torture may have expired, there was plenty of opportunity to bring criminal charges against any former officers who have lied in pending civil suits.
The allegations focus on activities at the Area 2 violent crimes unit on Chicago's South Side in the 1980s under the command of Jon Burge.
While a number of officers have been accused in the lawsuits of taking part in torture, Burge is the only one fired from the department.
"I'm happy to hear that the government has announced that they are investigating at long last the torture at Area 2 by Jon Burge and his men," said G. Flint Taylor, an attorney for several men bringing lawsuits.
When notified of Fitzgerald's remarks, Burge attorney Richard Sikes said the allegations "have been fairly investigated by the special prosecutors" who found that there were no grounds for criminal charges.
Fitzgerald did not mention Burge's name in his remarks to reporters.
For Burge-connected cases, Chicago had paid out more than $7 million in legal defense fees, settlements, or costs related to post-conviction relief filings by prisoners contending they were wrongfully jailed, as of July 2006.
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