jon burge goes on trial in chicago Police Terrorism is as Amerikkkan as Apple Pie.

Street Visuals May 27, 2010

A former police commander accused of overseeing the torture of more than 100 African American men goes on trial today in Chicago. Former Lieutenant Jon Burge is accused of lying when he denied in a civil lawsuit that he and other detectives had tortured anyone. He faces a maximum of forty-five years in prison if convicted of all charges. The accusations of torture date back forty years, but Burge has avoided prosecution until now. Go here for more on this.

In a seperate, yet related story, Seattle police are investigating whether members of their department tried to influence Q13 Fox into not running video of a Gang Unit detective telling a man he'd "beat the (expletive) Mexican piss" out of him before stomping him. A former employee of Q13 told Stranger reporter Dominic Holden that the station got preferential treatment from Seattle police while news editors would overlook stories that were unflattering to law enforcement. A current employee told Holden the station's official statement about why they sat on the video for three weeks was a total lie. Go here for all of that.