CHICAGO — The city has finalized a $5.5 million package for victims of former Police Commander Jon Burge's torture tactics, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced in a press release Tuesday.
Burge was convicted in 2011 of running a "midnight crew" of officers who systematically tortured people in his district between 1972 and 1991. Last May, City Council issued an official apology for the disgraced commander and approved the multi-million dollar reparations package for victims and their families.
Of the 98 people who applied for reparations through the Chicago Torture Justice Memorials since then, 57 were approved to receive a piece of the payout, according to Emanuel's office. The mayor first publicly condemned Burge's actions in 2013.
“Jon Burge’s actions are a disgrace to Chicago and to the hard-working men and women of the police department, but most importantly to those he was sworn to protect,” Emanuel said in the Tuesday press release. “We stand together as a city to try and right those wrongs, and to bring this dark chapter of Chicago’s history to a close.”
On top of the cash, city officials will "prioritize" Burge's victims and their families for social services like job training, senior care and small business assistance, according to the release.
Burge, for his part, has excoriated the reparations package, telling the Chicago Sun-Times in April that those claiming to be victims of his district's tactics are "human vermin." Burge was released early after being sentenced to four and a half years in prison for perjury and obstruction of justice.
Emanuel has said city leaders will continue to highlight "the injustices that occurred...to ensure that they are not repeated," according to the release. As part of the reparations package, the Council directed Chicago Public Schools to fold lessons about Burge into its high school history curriculum.
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