Report finds police torture in Chicago

CHICAGO, July 19 (UPI) -- A 4-year investigation by special prosecutors has found a fired Chicago police commander and other officers tortured confessions out of suspects for years.

The "systematic" torture of more than 100 criminal suspects allegedly included electric shocks, suffocation and burns and went on at the Area 2 and Area 3 headquarters on the predominately African-American South Side from the 1970s through the 1980s.

"There are cases which we believe would justify our seeking indictment for mistreatment of prisoners by Chicago police officers," said prosecutors. However, the long-awaited report released Wednesday said former commander Jon Burge and four detectives who served under him "regrettably" cannot be prosecuted because of the statute of limitations.

The report said former Chicago Police Superintendent Richard Brzeczek was guilty of "dereliction of duty" by not taking action against Burge or investigating allegations of abuse and mistreatment of prisoners, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley was Cook County state's attorney in the 1980s and his former top assistant, Richard Devine, is county prosecutor.

Burge was fired in 1993 for allegedly mistreating a homicide suspect and lives in Tampa Bay, Fla.