07-20-06 - Police show off new system to monitor interrogations

ABC 7 Chicago, by Charles Thomas--July 20, 2006

One day after a special prosecutor's report concluded that torture was used by some Chicago police officers in the 1970s and 1980s to obtain suspect confessions, Chicago police showed off a new high-tech system to monitor all police interrogations.

The Chicago Police Department had its PR department in full gear Thursday trying to rebuild public confidence after Wednesday's torture report. It dispatched the deputy chief of detectives to Area 3 headquarters to demonstrate how technology has changed and what happens inside interrogation rooms.

"The suspect goes in the room, and this button is pushed, and that activates the entire system," said Deputy Chief Michael Chasen, Chicago Police Department.

Chicago police claim their year-old, state-of-the-art digital recording system is the only one of its kind in the country. All 37 interrogation rooms at six different locations are now equipped with cameras and microphones that automatically record every action and sound made by detectives and detainees who enter those rooms during the period of custody.

Deputy Chief Chasen says he believes the new technology makes it virtually impossible for a murder suspect's lawyer to claim a confession was coerced by physical abuse.

"From the second their client enters this room to when they leave the room it is captured. You can't say we did anything to someone in this room," said Chasen.

Wednesday, a special prosecutor's report concluded that during the 1970s and 80s, dozens of criminal suspects were beaten, suffocated, burned or electro-shocked by a crew of Chicago detectives led by fired Commander Jon Burge. Criminal charges against the former officers will not be filed because the prosecutors say the state statute of limitations on the crimes has expired.

Attorney Flint Taylor has filed related civil lawsuits and wants the city to stop paying private attorneys to defend Burge and other alleged police torturers.

"I am appalled that the city is paying those lawyers to continue to defend the man who has been fired, who has been now not only accused but found by a special prosecutor to have committed criminal conduct," said G. Flint Taylor, People's Law Office.

While the new recording system does not account for a suspect's trip from the arrest point, it will track his or her whereabouts continually while inside an area headquarters. There, detectives who are under more scrutiny than ever, welcome the chance to show how professional they can be on closed circuit television.

"This is something I can stand on. There is no more he said, she said. It's me going into the room with this gentleman and talking to him," said Detective Thomas Flaherty, Chicago Police Department.

Also Thursday, in reaction to the Burge report, attorney Flint Taylor of the People's Law Office subpoenaed the special prosecutor for notes, transcripts and other materials related to Mayor Daley's interview during the investigation.

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