Protecting Their Own
In a fine example of investigative journalism, "Shielded From the Truth," Sam Roe, David Heinzmann and Steve Mills of the Chicago Tribune show that the Chicago Police Department routinely clears officers who shoot innocent, unarmed civilians. The examples are chilling. Here's what happened when two patrol cars pulled over a handicapped driver for running a stop sign:
When one officer thought the driver raised a gun, he opened fire, shooting the driver five times before reloading and shooting him once more.
Eight hours later, as Cornelius Ware, a 20-year-old paraplegic who drove by pushing the pedals with a wooden cane, lay gravely wounded in the hospital, police supervisors cleared the officer of any wrongdoing.
They didn't check the direction of the bullets. They didn't interview all the witnesses, two of whom said they saw Ware's hands raised in surrender. And they didn't wait for the autopsy report, which showed two of the bullets struck him in the back of his hands.
The report includes outstanding graphics.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-071205cops-htmlstory,1,5301758.htmlstory