CHICAGO — Mayor Emanuel took a break from celebrating his 2013 budget passage Thursday to rip disgraced former Chicago cop Anthony Abbate.
The city was ordered to pay $850,000 in damages on Tuesday after a federal jury found a "code of silence" pervaded the culture of the Chicago Police Department and had been instrumental in Abbate's infamous beating of bartender Karolina Obrycka, caught on security video.
"There is nobody who couldn't look at that video and not be repulsed by the actions of that officer," Emanuel said. "What he did was reprehensible and disgusting, and his actions dishonor the Chicago Police Department and all of us who live in the city."
While pointing out the incident took place under the Daley administration, the angry mayor skirted the issue of whether a code of silence persists in the Chicago PD with law officers protecting their own.
The federal jury found that the code of silence in the PD was a "moving force" in the beating because Abbate knew he could attack the petite bartender with all 265-pounds of his force and get away with it.
"I don't know whether there was a code of silence, but I do know what I want in a police department," Emanuel said.
"I believe there should be zero tolerance for this type of conduct, and there should be a culture inside the police department that if you're responsible for upholding the law and enforcing the law, whether you're on duty or off duty, you should act accordingly."
"I think any person looking at that video knows that individual was not upholding the values of this city."
The mayor said he had made clear to Police Supt. Garry McCarthy what he expected from his department.
"I want a culture that upholds our values and upholds what's right," he said.
