Shop

An investigation by WMAQ-TV revealed that "repeat drunken driving offenders, domestic batterers, cocaine dealers, burglars, stalkers and other violent criminals" all work as Chicago police officers, firefighters and paramedics. "During a yearlong investigation, (WMAQ-TV) conducted background checks on eighteen thousand police officers, firefighters and paramedics. After obtaining internal employee lists for both departments, (WMAQ-TV) began checking individual records the only way possible -- by looking up each name individually. ... The unprecedented investigation uncovered 139 firefighters and paramedics with drunk driving arrests. ... (WMAQ-TV) uncovered 200 other firefighters with criminal records, from burglary to sexual assualt, who are still on the job. ... In the Police Department, (WMAQ-TV) found at least 100 officers on the job despite drunk driving arrests. Also uncovered, police officers drinking in front of superiors and officers drinking while on the job. ... One of the most startling discoveries: 80-percent of the cases involving a Chicago police officer arrested by another Chicago police officer for DUI, was simply thrown out of court."