Brotherhood of Corruption

Juarez AUTOBIOGRAPHY $24.95 (CAN $37.95) BROTHERHOOD BROTHERHOOD “Juarez’s frank firsthand account of the culture former Chicago cop exposes the of corruption that pervades the Chicago Police A shocking truths about the abuses Department should send chills up the spine of all of power within the city’s police readers who care about fairness in law enforcement department in this memoir of violence, drugs, and men with badges. Juarez and justice in society.. A compelling read.” became a police officer because he PROFESSOR MICHAEL L. SEIGEL wanted to make a difference in gang- University of Florida Levin College of Law, Former Organized Crime Prosecutor infested neighborhoods, but, as this book and First Assistant U.S. Attorney reveals, he ended up a corrupt member of BROTHERHOOD the most powerful gang of all—the Chicago BROTHERHOOD police force. Juarez shares the horrific “Juarez gives us a chilling look inside the closed JUAN ANTONIO JUAREZ was a Chicago police subculture of corruption, brutality, and indiscretions he witnessed during his seven years of service, from the sexually police officer for seven years and has OF racism; as well as the empathetic and skillful work OF OFOF predatory officer X, who routinely stopped written for the Chicago Reader. He is now of dedicated cops. More importantly he shows us the CORRUPTION CORRUPTION CORRUPTION CORRUPTION a middle school teacher working with beautiful women for made-up traffic inner workings of a system that keeps good cops silent at-risk students. offenses, to sadistic Locallo, who often about the endemic abuses that characterize the Chicago beat gang members senseless. But while Police and other urban law enforcement agencies.” A Cop Breaks the Silence on Police Abuse, working as a narcotics officer, Juarez The author is donating one-third of the eventually joined his fellow officers in MARILYN S. JOHNSON Brutality, and Racial Profiling proceeds from the sale of this book to crossing the line between cop and author of Street Justice: A History of Police Violence in New York City Reading Is Fundamental. Juan Antonio Juarez criminal. Ultimately, his conscience got the better of him and he tried to reform, only to be brought down by his own excesses. From the perspective of an insider, he tells of widespread abuses of power, unmotivated acts of brutality, $24.95 (CAN $37.95) and the code of silence that keeps law enforcers untouchable. Jacket design: Arc Group Ltd Author photo: courtesy Shaunna L. Juarez Front jacket photo (top): © Ralf-Finn Hestoft/CORBIS Distributed by Independent Publishers Group Printed in the United States of America www.ipgbook.com BROTHERHOOD OF CORRUPTION ★★★ A Cop Breaks the Silence on Police Abuse, Brutality, and Racial Profiling Juan Antonio Juarez Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Juarez, Juan Antonio, 1966– Brotherhood of corruption : a cop breaks the silence on police abuse, brutality, and racial profiling / Juan Antonio Juarez.— 1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 1-55652-536-2 1. Chicago (Ill.). Police Dept. 2. Police corruption— Illinois—Chicago. 3. Police brutality—Illinois—Chicago. 4. Racial profiling in law enforcement—Illinois—Chicago. 5. Juarez, Juan Antonio, 1966–. 6. Ex-police officers—Illinois—Chicago— Biography. I. Title: Police abuse, brutality, and racial profiling. II. Title. HV8148.C4J83 2004 364.1Ј323Ј0977311—dc22 2003028193 Cover design: Arc Group Ltd. Interior design: Pamela Juarez © 2004 by Juan Antonio Juarez All rights reserved First edition Published by Chicago Review Press, Incorporated 814 North Franklin Street Chicago, Illinois 60610 ISBN 1-55652-536-2 Printed in the United States of America 5 4 3 2 1 To the great city of Chicago AUTHOR’S NOTE The life which is unexamined is not worth living. —PLATO I SPENT SEVEN YEARS as one of the thirteen thousand police officers who patrolled Chicago. Since my departure many police practices have changed, such as wanton and indiscriminant beatings and the closed-eyes approach once taken by the administration. Yet many questionable practices remain, such as the willingness to let rogue cops escape punishment and the prevalence of racial profiling in the name of the War on Drugs. While I was a cop I saw injustices that developed into patterns, patterns ill suited to those who were sworn to serve and protect the public. After I resigned from the Police Department and years later after finish- ing my second master’s degree, I had time to reflect, dig deeper, and look at my career. When I talked to my former supervisors I found more dis- turbing trends. While I never questioned anything when I was a cop, I can no longer remain silent. This book may never have materialized if I hadn’t kept my FOP (Fra- ternal Order of Police) handbook from my rookie year, which informed me that one of my best friends today was the very first person I arrested. He was also the first citizen I ever witnessed receiving a beating by a Chi- cago police officer. In 1999, I began having vivid recollections about my first arrest that left me a bit puzzled. The arrestee’s image vaguely resem- v Brotherhood of Corruption bled a friend I had met in 1997, so I looked in my handbook and was mortified to find my friend’s name in my book. I called him to verify that he had been arrested in 1990. He told me he had and began telling me his side of the story. Discovering this amazing coincidence started me on a path that produced the book you now hold. This is my story, an attempt to detail the events that shaped and changed my life, for better and worse. To protect those who are a part of my story, all names have been changed except my own. Other than that, this is a work of nonfiction, based on conversations, interviews, public records, and personal recollection. Finally, it is my hope that the infor- mation contained in this book will raise public awareness about societal injustices and empower people to seek the truth. This is why I am shar- ing my story with you. vi CONTENTS Acknowledgments xi 1 A Taste of Authority 1 2 Shattered Family 5 3 Dreaming of an Escape 12 4 Out of the Shadows 18 5 Flight of the Phoenix 24 6 Initiation 33 7 Perks and Privileges 37 8 Good Cop, Bad Cop 42 9 Find ’em and Fuck ’em 54 10 A Piece of the Action 65 11 Prince of the City 70 12 Crossing the Line 83 13 Lucky’s Way 89 14 Sitting Ducks 99 15 The Need for a Change 104 16 Welcome to Paradise 110 17 Operation Iron Wedge 117 18 Operation Altgeld Gardens 128 19 Mistaken Identity: Wrong Place, Wrong Time 136 20 It’s Just a Numbers Game 143 21 Operation “Risky Business” 147 22 Big Money, Big Dope, Big Mistake 154 23 Hey, Where’s the Money? 158 24 A World Apart 167 25 Summer Mobile Unit 171 26 Nitwit Police 178 27 Dill Donald 182 28 Who Really Knows? 186 29 Time to Pay the Piper 194 30 The Youth Shall Pay 203 31 Summer Mobile Unit Redux 212 32 Tavern Team 223 33 And Then There Were None 235 34 We Just Having Ourselves a Little Fun 247 35 Mistaken Identity or Ignorance—“Hey, I Don’t Wanna Listen” 252 36 Last Call 257 37 The Airport Story 265 38 Facing the Music 270 39 Parting Ways 277 Epilogue 281 The Dirty Truth by the Numbers 286 Glossary 301 Sources 306 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I WOULD LIKE TO THANK Josiah Olson, Elaine O’Sullivan, Sheila Dun- lap, Dave Mitchell, Maurice Thornton, José Rivera, Nick Maiella, Ken- neth Saltman, Eddie, Robert, Stephen A. Perkins, and J.Q.R. Thanks to Steven R. Lowy for his expert bargaining. I also want like to thank Shaunna for her love, support, and understanding. Thanks also to my family; my publisher; my acquisitions editor and first editor, Cynthia Sherry; my substantive editor, Lisa Rosenthal; and most of all, the Great Creator. xi 1 A TASTE OF AUTHORITY “HEY, MOTHERFUCKER! Open the goddamn door before I kick it in!” Steve bellowed, bringing the ropelike vein in his neck to life as his face turned crimson. “I’m gonna give you ’bout two seconds.” The pounding hard-core punk music rattled Steve and shook the door as we stood on the front porch of 13— North Greenview Avenue for five minutes ringing the bell. We’d been called to a noise disturbance; the com- plainant was a neighbor. It was clear that this was a bona fide incident and should be settled with a simple radio code of 4 (noise disturbance)—either Paul (peace restored) or Frank (some other police action taken). At least that’s what I’d learned at the academy. “Hey!” yelled Steve. “Open this motherfuckin’ door!” This is what other cops loved about Steve; he didn’t take shit from anyone. He was a cop’s cop—hardworking and diligent with a penchant for aggressiveness. My father had met him when they worked the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) Public Housing North detail in the 1980s. Over the years they kept in touch. When I got out of the police academy, my father pulled some strings to get me assigned to the 14th District with Steve as field training officer (FTO). He was a Caucasian veteran of three decades. In his midfifties and short, he nonetheless had a vice-grip hand- shake and a jawline that perfectly matched his sharp military haircut. I was to pull on his coattails for the next sixty days.

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