The package also includes public recognition of torture committed under police Commander Jon Burge for decades and counseling services for victims and their families.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in Chicago.
Nam Y. Huh / Associated Press
The package, which was negotiated with numerous stakeholders, also includes a public recognition of the torture committed by Burge and counseling services for victims and their families.
Burge was fired in 1993 after a police review board determined that officers under his command had tortured more than 100 suspects, many of them black men, since 1972. Among the methods used: mock executions, electrical shock, and burning, investigators found.
"Jon Burge's actions are a disgrace — to Chicago, to the hard-working men and women of the police department, and most importantly to those he was sworn to protect," Emanuel said in a statement.
Jon Burge leaves a federal courthouse in 2008.
Steve Nesius / Associated Press
Joey Mogul of Chicago Torture Justice Memorials and Flint Taylor of the People's Law Office — both of whom have represented torture victims and were at the negotiating table — issued a joint statement commending the mayor for helping to bring the package to fruition.
"We are gratified, that after so many years of denial by many, that Mayor Emanuel has acknowledged the harm inflicted by the torture and recognized the needs of the Burge torture survivors and their families by negotiating this historic reparations agreement," the said. "This legislation is the first of its kind in this country, and its passage and implementation will go a long way to remove the longstanding stain of police torture from the conscience of the city."
Since the statute of limitations had long run out, Burge was never prosecuted for the abuse, but in 2010 he was convicted of perjury for lying about it in court. In October, Burge was transferred to a halfway house after serving less than four years in prison. He has since been released.
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