"Unwelcome glare in Chicago; Taped beating shines spotlight on city's police" by Don Babwin, Associated Press | December 9, 2008
CHICAGO - More than a year after he last wore a badge and months after his boss said he wanted him fired, a policeman videotaped beating a female bartender remains the best-known officer in the Chicago Police Department.
Footage of the 250-pound officer punching, kicking, and throwing the 115-pound bartender has aired repeatedly since it first surfaced. It would be embarrassing for any police department, but for Chicago, which has already withstood the humiliation once, it means much more - especially now.
As brightly as the media spotlight has shone on the department in the past, it will only get brighter because Chicago is the hometown of the next president of the United States and because the city is vying for the 2016 Olympics. It's unclear whether Anthony Abbate, the officer charged in the beating, will stand trial - it was supposed to begin today but has been delayed - or if the case will end with a plea agreement. A judge's gag order has prevented anyone from talking publicly about the case.
"I have to think it is important to get past [the case] not only from a PR standpoint, but Abbate has for the last two years defined what the department is," said Daniel P. Smith, author of "On the Job: Behind the Stars of the Chicago Police Department."
Yup, PR is EVERYTHING!!!
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Abbate allegedly beat the bartender in February 2007 after she refused to serve him more drinks.... It remains to be seen whether the Abbate case generates as much angst for the department as that of Jon Burge, the former commander of a unit that allegedly tortured black suspects decades ago.
See: AmeriKa's Chicago Torture Cell
Burge long has been a source of anger in Chicago, as politicians, community activists and others have complained that he remained free, living in retirement in Florida, while men they say were innocent and confessed only after being tortured remained in prison. It was not until this year that Burge was charged by federal authorities with lying under oath about torture.
"Burge has haunted them for years," said Wesley Skogan, a Northwestern University political scientist who has studied the department extensively. "The Abbate case is difficult [and] because we've all seen the tape 10 times, it will linger longer in the public imagination."
See how MSM brainwashing works?
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Of course, the Feds are being dinks, so there is a work slowdown: Chicago Cops Calming Down
Whatever happened to "To Serve and Protect?"
When did it become "To Abuse and Oppress?"
