I was a resident of Chicago for over 75 years and worked as a Chicago police officer for over 33. I know corruption when I see it. Sun-Times reporters have uncovered a story that prompted me to think of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s phrase on his threshold test for obscenity: “I know it when I see it.”
The story involves a high-ranking police official, Yolanda Talley, the chief of the Internal Affairs division. Talley’s niece was behind the wheel of Talley’s Lexus when police said her passenger, Kenneth Miles, tried to ditch 84 packets of heroin valued at $6,300.
Heroin was found in the car, and Miles, who had a lengthy criminal record, was arrested on drug charges following the Feb. 1 traffic stop.
Three things are known: Talley’s car was not impounded, her niece was not arrested, and the officers involved were removed from their street duties.
SEND LETTERS TO: letters@suntimes.com. We want to hear from our readers. To be considered for publication, letters must include your full name, your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes. Letters should be a maximum of 350 words and may be edited for clarity and length.
Something is very wrong here and has a stench that needs a rinsing from the top down. There are more questions than answers from an administration that touts transparency.
There is a strange silence as to why cops doing their jobs were moved from their assignment. The low-hanging fruit of the working men and women are thrown out there for all to see, while the police brass remains largely silent.
Bob Angone, Austin, Texas
Putin and propaganda
Vladimir Putin, the ultimate bully, did what his kind do best: He bloodied the nose of the most defenseless kid on the block as the rest of the neighborhood watched in horror and total disbelief.
What exactly did they all think was going to happen anyway? Hadn’t he put everyone on notice of his intentions well before he struck the first blow?
And now Donald Trump is defending the actions of his favorite comrade, as is the leading voice of right wing fanatics, Tucker Carlson.
Yet to be heard from are any voices from the Republican establishment. What’s happened to the party that once authored the phrase “Better dead than red!” anyway?
It’s bad enough the party of Lincoln is now owned outright by Trump, but to think it’s also the propaganda arm of the Russian Federation should fill every red-blooded American with fear and dread.
Bob Ory, Elgin
