Devine Launches Excessive Force Review Unit

State’s Attorney Richard A. Devine announced today the creation of an Excessive Force Review unit that will monitor civil suits alleging improper use of force by police officers.

“We must examine all evidence in police shootings and excessive force cases,” Devine said. “The recent media stories on police shootings revealed evidence from civil suits in several police shooting cases that had not come to our attention.”

Devine said that the monitoring will be done by the Torts and Civil Rights section of the Civil Actions Bureau headed by Assistant State’s Attorney Patrick Driscoll.

The unit will examine lawsuits that have been filed in Cook County Circuit Court and the U.S. District Court alleging misconduct by police. Any information relating to police misconduct will be forwarded to the Public Integrity section of the Special Prosecutions Bureau, which investigates and prosecutes police officers.

“Since I took office in December 1996, we have prosecuted more than 150 police officers, including seven in the Special Operations Section of the Chicago Police Department,” Devine said. “Up to now we have relied on the Chicago Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards (OPS) for the initial investigation of the cases we have brought against police. This new unit will be charged with looking at another area where credible evidence may exist of police misconduct.”

“This is another example of State’s Attorney Devine’s willingness to look at whatever evidence is available with fresh eyes, even when a conviction has been rendered or a decision on prosecution has already been made,” said Kathleen Zellner, a prominent civil rights attorney. Zellner worked with the State’s Attorney’s office to examine DNA results that led to the exoneration of four young men convicted in the 1986 murder of Lori Roscetti. That same evidence later led to the conviction of two men who were the real killers.
 
Devine added that the office is now re-evaluating the way it investigates allegations against Chicago Police and will be working with the new superintendent and the new Independent Police Review Authority, the successor agency to OPS. That review includes what, if any, role the State’s Attorney’s office will play in police Roundtable discussions that have reviewed police shootings in the past.

In addition, Devine will be proposing new procedures that ensure all the evidence in these cases is presented to prosecutors, whether found before or after the roundtable.

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