DISGRACED

Jon Burge: Chicago Police Commander Linked to Torture of 100+ Suspects Dies

Black men tortured with cattle prods under his watch.

Disgraced former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge—who was accused of leading a group of rogue detectives who brutally tortured more than 100 suspects with cattle prods and guns—has died at age 70. Burge’s crew of detectives was alleged to have predominantly targeted black men between 1972 to 1991, allegedly shocking them with cattle prods and pushing guns into their mouths. Burge was never prosecuted for his crimes. He was fired in 1993 and sentenced to prison in 2011 for lying in a civil case about his actions, but it was too late to charge him criminally on the torture charges. Three years ago, the City of Chicago paid out $5.5 million in reparations to 57 of Burge’s victims. Some reported estimates of the cost for all Burge-related cases are as high as $132 million. The cause of his death is unknown.