Gov. Edgar should veto SB 1789, a bill that would put a three-year statute of limitations on brutality and torture committed by police. This bill will de facto legalize practices that have been condemned by the UN and international legal bodies. No person or their children will be safe from such abuse. Effective control of crime cannot include tortured confessions.
Second, SB 1789 is probably in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Furthermore, this bill would make it impossible to bring charges against police officers. Within three years, a complaint would have to be filed with the police department`s Office of Professional Standards, an investigation held, hearings and, finally, a Police Board decision made. The state`s attorney is much too closely identified with the police department in most counties to expect that office to bring charges any more quickly.
This bill will make the U.S. one of the few remaining countries-along with Iraq and China-where police are given license to commit torture. Even South Africa officially denies such a policy. The respected human rights organization, Amnesty International, has already singled out Chicago as a place where such police crimes are commonplace.
