CHICAGO (Sputnik) – Wingader, who worked with law firm Chapman and Cutler LLP for over 15 years, said that he does not think there is any more racism in the Chicago Police Department than there is elsewhere. However, Chicago detainees need to be informed more about resources they have available to them, he added.
"By and large, a lot of racial issues go into the mistreatment of prisoners," Wingader said. "On the flip side, police have a tough job," he admitted.
"Just making people aware of the availability of public defenders is important," Wingader said.
Some 80 former torture victims are reportedly in line for a share in the $5.5-million reparations package, according to the Chicago City Council ruling earlier this month. More than 100 former detainees, most of them African-American men and women, were allegedly tortured by Chicago detectives led by Police Commander Jon Burge during the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.
Wingader said he does think that allegations of torture against the Chicago police are true. "It sounds like there's enough proof [in those cases]," Wingader said. "I think it's fair."
In the latest disclosure earlier this year, Chicago police were revealed to operate a secretive interrogation facility at an abandoned warehouse where they extorted evidence from detainees. They reportedly beat, shocked, suffocated and sexually abused prisoners, while access to legal counsel was withheld from detainees.
