Cop to ‘60 Minutes’: We lied on reports, stole money from suspects
One of Chicago’s Special Operations cops caught in a scandal reportedly admitted in a 60 Minutes interview that he stole money from suspects and was taught how to lie on reports by supervisors.
Keith Herrera, one of six officers charged in the scandal, was interviewed by Katie Couric for the report that will air Sunday. A short video clip and written excerpts were released Friday by CBS.
Herrera was already cooperating with authorities on the investigation into the Special Operations Section, according to sources close to the investigation.
In the interview, he also admits that he cooperated with the FBI to record the alleged ringleader of the group — Jerome Finnigan
“I don’t have my star or my gun, but I’m still a cop,” he said, according to exerpts.
The interview marks the first time any of the officers have publicly talked.
“Although I don’t condone, nor did I authorize, Keith going on 60 Minutes, from viewing video clip I don’t believe Keith said anything that was harmful to himself or that was damaging,” said his attorney, Robert Kuzas. “He is just bringing to light the problems that the police department is currently trying to correct.”
In the interview, Herrera said he once considered Finnigan an idol, calling him “Superman”. Herrera allegedly said Finnigan was “in charge” of what was going on.
In September 2006, Cook County prosecutors charged Finnigan, Herrera and two other SOS officers with breaking into homes and stealing cash and jewelry. The charges included armed violence, burglary and home invasion.
Since then, three more SOS officers have been charged.
Herrera, according to excerpts of the interview released by CBS Television, talked of bosses who, in an attempt to get cases to stick in court, showed him how to use “creative writing.”
“I didn’t just pick up a pen and just learn how to [lie on reports],” Herrera said. “Bosses, guys I that I work with who were older than I was … It’s taught to you.”
The example Herrera gives about lying on a report was writing that a gunman was holding a gun when officers really saw him toss it.
Herrera went on to to say that he took money during his time in the elite unit, which was created to tamp down crime in the city’s most violent neighborhoods.
“I’m going to tell a supervisor? No. And you just tell yourself it’s not going to happen again … No one is going to know,” he said.
Supt. Jody Weis, who was hired in February to improve the department’s image and address the potential for such scandals, also was interviewed.
On Friday, department officials said Weis talked of his continued efforts to create a “checks and balances” system where supervisors who ignore or encourage rule-breaking officers would be held accountable.
Weis — when asked about Herrera’s alleged comment that he could teach a class at the training academy on rogue officers — said it could be a powerful message for young recruits to hear a personal account of how an officer went astray.
Kuzas added, “I believe [the interview] is Keith’s way of trying to help other officers from getting in trouble.”
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