At a time when the bosses of the Austin District were accepting national recognition for their old-fashioned community-style policing programs, officers in the tactical unit allegedly were using techniques that also are time-tested in Chicago: extortion and robbery.
Seven officers from the historically scandal-scarred police district, on the city’s Far West Side, were arrested Friday on federal charges of conspiracy to commit robbery and extortion for allegedly shaking down undercover agents they thought were drug dealers.
According to law-enforcement sources, substances believed to be narcotics were found in the personal lockers of at least five of the officers in the Austin District station Friday. The substances have not been tested yet, but are suspected to be crack cocaine, powder cocaine, marijuana and possibly heroin.
Sources said there would be no legitimate reason for drugs to be stashed in the lockers.
Prosecutors are seeking to have the officers held without bond pending trial, calling them “dangers to the community.” A bond hearing is set for Monday.
“This is a very sad day because these seven individuals were not only acting as cops but they were acting as robbers,” said U.S. Atty. James Burns, who was accompanied by Chicago Police Supt. Matt Rodriguez at a news conference. “The communities they were to serve, they did not. . . . They served themselves.”
Authorities, who have compiled both audio and video recordings as evidence in the case, suggested that more indictments could be forthcoming. Burns said the corruption probe, dubbed Operation Broken Star, was continuing.
Rodriguez said he was not convinced that the officers’ superiors were unaware of their illicit activities. “We will look into accountability here,” he said. “We will look at who should have known.”
Rodriguez, who stressed that the federal government began its investigation after receiving tips from the police department itself, said the arrests show that the department has “zero tolerance” for corruption.
“The seven individuals indicted today are traitors to their profession, the police department and to the communities they serve,” Rodriguez said.
The indictment–returned by a federal grand jury on Thursday but kept under seal until Friday–alleges that the seven police officers and an eighth suspect ripped off people they thought were drug dealers for more than a year.
Austin tactical officers named in the 21-count indictment were Edward Lee “Pacman” Jackson Jr., 26; Gregory S. Crittleton, 31; M.L. Moore, 48; Alex D. Ramos, 31; Lennon Shields, 29; Cornelius “Peanut” Trip, 34; and James P. Young. Also named in the indictment was Charles Vaughan, 25, of 3957 W. Thomas St., who is alleged to have assisted in the extortion scheme.
According to the indictment, the police officers robbed or extorted protection money from an undercover agent posing as a drug dealer for amounts ranging from $500 to $25,000–for a total of $65,990.
The indictment alleges that the officers, in some cases working in teams of two or three, extorted protection money or robbed undercover agents on 12 separate occasions, beginning in December 1995 and concluding little more than a week ago.
In one instance, the indictment alleges, Jackson, Tripp and Crittleton robbed an apartment that they believed was used by drug dealers as “a safe house” of $25,000 in cash and jewelry. In another instance, Moore allegedly received $500 for revealing the identity of a police informant to an undercover agent he believed to be a drug dealer, the indictment charges. And, the indictment alleges, Ramos received $2,500 for escorting what he believed to be a cocaine shipment.
The investigation grew out of complaints about Austin tactical officers to the police department’s Internal Affairs Division about two years ago, authorities said, and the FBI was brought in a year ago.
Authorities declined Friday to say whether the police officers were tied to street gangs. But law enforcement and gang sources have told the Tribune that Jackson is associated with the Conservative Vice Lords street gang and allegedly preyed upon members of a rival gang, the Four Corner Hustlers.
News of the indictments was met with both relief and a sense of outrage in Austin, where some residents participated in a public meeting in October to complain about the tactical unit.
“They just touched the tip of the iceberg,” said Melvin Delk, a West Adams Street resident who led the gripe session. “You’ve got the night shift, but what about (the officers on) the day shift?”
Mary Volpe, executive director of the Northeast Austin Organization, said residents in the area knew about the federal investigation by rumor.
“I was waiting for the shoe to drop, and I knew there was something wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it,” Volpe said.
Though Volpe said she is “very, very” glad the officers were caught, she said she hopes it doesn’t tarnish the image of the entire police force. “There are a lot of good cops out here and only a few bad ones. I believe that if they are dirty they should be indicted,” Volpe said.
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Burns said the officers’ conduct was particularly egregious because Austin is a community where residents have been aggressively trying “to do things in the community to attack the scourge of drugs.” The Austin District served as a backdrop for a campaign news conference in 1995 by President Clinton on gun control.
Rodriguez, whose police administration has been relatively unscathed by corruption, sought to assure residents that his department is committed to fighting drugs.
But although Rodriguez’s comments were couched in praise for the department as a whole, from City Hall there were critical statements about what was going on in the Austin District, one of 25 police districts in the city.
“Some sources have indicated that conditions in the 15th (Austin) District are the most pervasive examples of corruption in the history of the Chicago Police Department,” said Ald. Edward Burke (14th), a former Chicago police officer, Chicago historian and one of the biggest supporters of Chicago police and firefighters on the City Council.
Burke singled out for blame former Austin District Cmdr. LeRoy O’Shield, who recently left the police department to become head of the Chicago Housing Authority police force.
“It would be hard to imagine that kind of open dealing of narcotics could take place without the knowledge of the police commander,’ said Burke of O’Shield.
The former commander was not named in the federal indictment returned Thursday nor have authorities accused him of wrongdoing.
O’Shield said Friday that while district commander he followed established police procedures about reporting alleged corruption.
Asked if he was a target or subject of the ongoing investigation, O’Shield emphatically said, “No.”
Burke suggested that the indictments might cause Chicago residents to doubt the efficacy of the department’s highly touted community policing program. The goal of community policing is for officers to pre-empt crime by maintaining closer ties to residents. The Austin District ran one of five prototype programs.
“I would hate to think that was the case, but–as you know–perception becomes reality,” Burke said.
Ald. Ed Smith (28th), who has joined community groups in marching against drugs on many occasions, said the charges against the officers are a disgrace.
“I feel bad,” Smith said. “You never know how many people have lost their lives because the heat did not come down on the drug dealers on the corner. Had the pressure been on, there’s a good chance many people could have been saved.”