Former Chicago cop unwittingly reveals how things are really done in Daley's paradise

I'm more than a little embarrassed to admit that I know who he is, but Steve Wilkos is an ex-Chicago police officer who is/was the longtime director of security for the Jerry Springer Show.

Flipping around the dial on Monday, I noticed that Mr. Wilkos now has his own screamfest/Roman circus show on the air. I decided to watch for a few minutes to see if it was as bad as I thought it would be. It didn't disappoint.

Wilkos's first guest was a man who was stalking an ex-girlfriend, and who was refusing to stop doing so. Wilkos attempted to goad the man into a fight onstage, and during their heated argument, he stated the following:

"When I did have a badge and gun, I'd have you in handcuffs, and I'd be tuning you up, that's what I'd be doing."

For those who don't know, "tuning someone up" is cop slang for beating a subdued and handcuffed suspect, in order to teach him or her a few lessons about how to act on "their" streets. It seems to me that the Chicago Police like to use "tune-ups" as one of their tools in dealing with suspects that they feel are giving them problems, because a quick Google search turns up many examples, such as this case, and this case, and this case, among many others. Actually, there are thousands of cases to choose from. One person who knows all too well how corrupt and brutal the Chicago police are is University of Chicago law professor Craig B. Futterman, who in April of this year published a study which found that:

"More than 10,000 complaints of police abuse were filed with Chicago police between 2002 and 2004, but only 19 resulted in meaningful disciplinary action" (emphasis mine).

Futterman also found:

"that in 2004, about .5 percent of excessive force complaints filed were sustained by the department, compared to the 2002 national average of 8 percent. That means CPD complaints are 94 percent less likely to be followed through than those against other police departments." (again, emphasis mine).

What did the Chicago Police think of Futterman's findings?

"We don't respond to studies"

How adult and professional of you. I would expect nothing less from Imperial King Mayor-For-Life Richard Daley's goons. Daley consistently denies his peasants their right to arm themselves for self-protection against the rampant street crime in Chicago, while at the same time enjoying his own private army of 24-hour police protection.

Apparently the lessons that Wilkos learned while a member of the Chicago Police Department are hard to forget.