Feds join in probe of Chicago 's elite police unit corruption probe

The Chicago Tribune reports:

The U.S. attorney's office has joined the ongoing criminal probe of an elite squad of the Chicago Police Department, working with Cook County prosecutors to investigate why police officials did not stop rogue officers who allegedly robbed and kidnapped civilians over at least four years, sources familiar with the investigation said.

The move raises the stakes for the Special Operations Section officers who now face the specter of harsher federal punishment and also signals that more cops could be swept up in the probe as law enforcement authorities reach back at least a decade for evidence of criminal conduct.

Federal prosecutors are focusing on how Officer Jerome Finnigan and half a dozen others continued to operate the alleged robbery ring even though numerous citizens complained to the department about their conduct between 2002 and 2006, the sources said..

The new federal push will look at "the entire SOS unit" as well as the role played by the department's Internal Affairs Division, which investigates allegations of wrongdoing against officers, the sources said.

Randall Samborn, spokesman for U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald, declined to comment on the expanding investigation. "We will continue to cooperate with authorities," said police spokeswoman Monique Bond.

No word yet from the gun banners on this one.Remember this is a town where you can't own a handgun.A town where the Chief of Detectives ran a nation wide jewelry theft ring.Is it a good idea to have police having a monopoly on gun use? How did Chicago get a gun ban, so corrupt cops would have a field day? This man was essential to the whole enterprise.