Police Misconduct: Top Chicago DUI Cop Under Investigation

Remember our Chicago DUI Lawyer report just a last week regarding police misconduct during DUI arrests? Well today the Chicago Sun-Times reported on another instance of police misconduct that our Chicago DUI Lawyers found eerily similar. It seems that another Chicago Police Officer who wrote hundreds of DUIs in Chicago is being investigated for misconduct as a result of his DUI reports. Here’s the full story:

2nd top DUI cop accused of false arrests

CASES IN LIMBO | 23-yr. veteran tagged for using disabled-parking spot

BY FRANK MAIN Crime Reporter/fmain@suntimes.com

Another Chicago cop is suspected of framing drivers with false arrests for drunken driving, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

Joe D. Parker, 59, an officer in the Chicago Police Department’s Traffic Enforcement Unit, has been placed on desk duty pending an internal police investigation.

The Cook County state’s attorney’s office, which is also investigating Parker, has moved to dismiss dozens of DUI arrests he made, according to sources who said investigators began scrutinizing the 23-year police veteran’s DUI arrests after video from his squad car did not appear to match an account he gave in an arrest report.

In another case, the city paid Vanessa Davis $100,000 to settle a lawsuit against Parker in which she claimed he wrongly arrested her for DUI in 2005. Davis, a well-known blues singer who suffers from multiple sclerosis, said her anxiety from the arrest caused severe medical complications.

The city also paid $5,000 to settle another false-arrest claim against Parker, who could not be reached for comment.

And he faces a federal lawsuit by Wayne Jackson, who said that, while driving home from work on Lake Shore Drive in 2006, he was stopped by Parker and given a field-sobriety test, which he said he passed. Parker’s arrest report said Jackson was swaying and that his speech was slurred.

Jackson said he passed a Breathalyzer test. Parker tried to explain that away, writing in his arrest report that Jackson “attempted to circumvent” the machine.

The scrutiny over Parker’s DUI arrests comes almost a year after another Chicago cop, Officer John Haleas, was charged by Cook County prosecutors with perjury, official misconduct and obstructing justice, accused of failing to take important steps in making a DUI arrest in 2005. Prosecutors said Haleas failed to perform a field-sobriety test and lied in his reports. As a result, they dropped more than 50 cases stemming from DUI arrests made by Haleas.

The criminal case is still pending against Haleas, who was honored three times by the Schaumburg-based Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists as the cop with the most DUI busts in Illinois.

Parker also made the private organization’s top DUI cop list when he made 153 drunken-driving arrests in 2006 — fourth-highest among Chicago officers that year, according to the group.

In 2007, Parker was spotlighted in a Chicago Sun-Times investigation, headlined “Handi-cop parking,” that revealed the Police Department was looking into a handful of police employees for suspected misuse of disabled-parking signs.

Parker was using a disabled spot in the 2700 block of West 86th Place even though he had been cleared for regular duty by the department, a police spokeswoman said at the time. He had been injured in a car crash three years earlier but was deemed “fit for duty” since then, the spokeswoman said.

Parker is still using the space, parking his Toyota Camry Solara in the spot — which still has disabled-parking signs on both sides.

In 2007, Chicago Revenue Director Bea Reyna-Hickey said she was going to ferret out disabled-parking cheaters. She did not respond to a request for comment on Parker’s continued use of a disabled-parking spot.

Bill Bogdan, disability liaison to Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, said Parker was given Illinois disability license plates in 2006, after a physician certified he was eligible. The plates must be renewed every four years, Bogdan said.

While it appears Parker received the plates legitimately, Bogdan questioned why the officer would be parking in a disabled spot if he had been deemed fit for police duty.

“If he is at work with no restrictions, you would want to question his use of a disability placard or sign in front of his house,” Bogdan said.

The Law Offices of James E. Fabbrini have years of experience protecting people charged with DUI. From first time DUI offenders to felony DUI, our Chicago DUI lawyers have successfully fought DUI charges in Chicago and the surrounding areas.

Protect your freedom, avoid trouble, and save yourself money. Contact our office today. All consultations are absolutely free. Call us at (312) 494-3131 or e-mail us your questions at Contact@WindyCityLawFirm.com