Chicago Police Chief Questioned Over Top Pick

The Chicago Tribune reports:

A Chicago Police Department internal affairs investigator wrote a memo in 2005 expressing frustration that for months his bosses had not approved a more aggressive probe of officers in the Special Operations Section, despite a growing pattern of misconduct allegations.

Police Agent Christopher Taliaferro notes in the memo that five months earlier, a colleague had sent a similar request to Assistant Deputy Supt. Debra Kirby informing her of the mounting evidence of wrongdoing, but that no action followed.

The memo, which was obtained by the Tribune, sheds light on why federal prosecutors decided last year to widen the probe into the SOS scandal to include the internal affairs division under Kirby.

It also raises questions for new Supt. Jody Weis, who last week promoted Kirby to be his top legal adviser. Weis, a former FBI official, was hired to clean up the department's image after a string of scandals, most notably the indictments of SOS officers.

He reassigned dozens of police commanders in a housecleaning move last week, but he promoted Kirby despite the ongoing federal probe into how the SOS officers were allowed to remain on the street for years despite hundreds of allegations.

Weis stood by the decision Friday. "The FBI has had a close working relationship with Deb Kirby," police spokeswoman Monique Bond said. "Supt. Weis has full confidence in all of the command changes he made."

Chicago police officials have maintained that they fully investigated the claims against Officer Jerome Finnigan and several members of his SOS team, and that they led the drive to secure charges against the men. The memo suggested that a confidential investigation would be the only way to catch the SOS team red-handed.

For more on "problems" from Chicago's Police Department click on this.Just think in Obama's Chicago you can't own a gun but corrupt police officers can.Nice logic.