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A group of partygoers is suing the Chicago Police Department for $10 million for what they say was misconduct and an illegal search of a La Familia Motorcycle Club in Logan Square. The suit claims police officers used stun grenades, held people at gun point for three hours, stole $3,000, and performed inappropriate and humiliating strip searches on female guests.
Surveillance video shows SWAT officers pointing assault rifles at people who are on their knees and using plastic handcuffs to restrain people.
The video does not show women being strip searched — or officers breaking open amusement devices and a safe. [The plaintiffs' lawyer] said he believes that activity was not on the video because officers pointed surveillance cameras toward the ceiling.
According to NBC 5, "though the time stamp on the tape said it was September 2007, police confirmed the actual date was May 30."
Police spokeswoman Monique Bond says the police executed a legal search warrant, and even though no official complaint has been filed with the Independent Police Review Authority, the department is still investigating the charges. [Trib, CBS, S-T, NBC 5]
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define "amusement device." an arcade cabinet? a bong? what?
Given the neighborhood and the type of club, I'd say the "amusement device" was probably video poker.
La Familia Motorcycle Club,
Sounds like a simple club to me?
I'm sure Fed Up or is it Ward Up( perhaps we should just combine the two?) will agree with me.
Hummmmmm I wonder does La Familia invite Vespa drivers to submit applications for the club?
This place is right around the corner from where I was living in Logan Square and all the folks hanging outside with their motorcycles seemed pretty chill. If any of these allegations are true it sounds like they were treated incredibly unfairly.
I think it raises some pretty interesting questions when the police notice surveillance cameras, and then block them, like thieves.
In other news:
"We're alleging conduct beyond belief involving the women searched and have breasts exposed and vaginal areas exposed in front of men, typical 1983 type of action."
OMG lol.
Thanks for making me feel all right-0wing Tanky! Yea on relfection, I've seen them too and they do seem chill. I just didn't know they called themselves "La Familia" which is a major street/ prison gang in Mexico and CAL., of course they don't have to be related. But the paper did say that the house was a major hang out for Latin Disciples. And I can't imagine that the police would be that stupid to use that much fire power on something completely bogus. Could they?
I believe they were referencing a section 1983 violation - paraphrasing: a civil rights violation by a government offical.
Sounds like a bunch of horseshit. Here are some cops trying to make the neighborhood safer. They get a tip from an informant. They bring the tip to a judge. The judge gives the cops a search warrant. The cops execute the warrant (contrary to some media reports, there WAS a search warrant).
When the cops enter and identify themselves, the persons in the bar try to run out the back. The cops detain them and search them. Not a single person is injured. No property is damaged.
The occupants supposedly "thought they were being robbed." That is a good one!
As it turns out, the informant had the information wrong. Nothing was found.
Now, as a result, a bunch of likely liars are making up allegations. No evidence. None.
And who will be the real losers? The law-abiding citizens in the community. They will not get the aggressive police work that they deserve.
Why should a cop bother? So many people, including reporters believe all these false allegations against cops. No wonder crime is up and the clearance for homicides is going down.
I'm a law-abading citizen who lives on the other side of the alley from this club. I see their back door from my back porch. I've met the owner of this club, a big guy named Sergio. He helped me push my car out of the ice that built up in the alley last winter. Afterward, he told me about what he'd done with his club and invited me and my girlfriend in for a tour of the place, which we thought looked pretty nice in an American Legion sort of way. As we left, he told us to stop by any time, and he meant it. He was a genuinely nice guy.
Mind you, I'm much closer to the Vespa type than the Harley type, and yet Sergio treated me like nothing less than a good neighbor. I've never seen any trouble from this place. They've never been loud, never obnoxious. I've barely noticed them ... at least until a hundred cop cars filled Fullerton when I came home from a party on May 30. They've never done anything to make me suspect anything untowered was going on there. They invited me in on the spur of the moment and let me walk around, for christ's sake. Drug lords and gang thugs don't do that.
So based on my personal knowledge of this place and everything I've seen from Chicago cops over the years, I'm much more likely to believe the party people. Personally, as a law-abiding citizen of this community, I say Chicago can keep its aggressive police work, because this isn't what any of us deserve.
I'm with BlueFairlane on this. I and a friend were walking by one night (after leaving the too-loud Burlington), and started chatting with some guys outside who were sitting on their bikes. They were pretty nice, so we decided to go in for a beer. The crowd was tough-looking but friendly, and the sound was no where as loud as most bars in Wicker Park.
But never mind my good experience: If the cops had nothing to be ashamed of, then why did they turn the cameras up toward the ceiling?
That's the part where I am dissapointed with the cops. I am trying to keep an open mind. Did they turn the video cameras away? If so, then they should be disciplined, whether they did anything wrong after that or not.
Furthermore, they were there for a specific purpose, i.e., because of information about a large stash of drugs. If they were there because of a large shipment coming in, there was no reason to go through the pockets of everybody there. Did they think they would find a million dollars worth of drugs in some lady's pocket?
The camera turning. The unecessary pocket searches, especially on women. If those things were done, then the cops were stupid.
BlueFairlane,mayflyofavondale, Tanky,
Thats for keeping me honest. Yea even for a true progressive it gets hard keeping the faith with constant onslaughtof dull mined unquestioning uncritical race and class based hyperbole. Next then you know some one like me ends up selling his neighbors down the river in the name of "community safety"
Nice to have neighbors like yall
Salute, make sure you raise on in the air tonight for yourselves