Why Are Chicago Police and Prosecutors Failing to Convict on Illegal Gun Possession?

By Dean Weingarten

“Even though they’re winning seven of every 10 gun cases, Cook County prosecutors acknowledge they’re having a tougher time getting convictions,” chicago.suntimes.com reports. “In part, that’s because of the public’s concern over police tactics in the wake of high-profile shootings of African-Americans by police officers around the country, according to both prosecutors and defense attorneys. They say that’s caused growing skepticism among jurors about the credibility of police officers.” This in the city where a police officer tortured over 200 prisoners to force confessions. Who could have guessed? But apparently it’s worse than it used to be . . .

“It is probably more difficult to prove these gun possession cases than it has been in the past,” said Fabio Valentini, chief of the criminal prosecutions bureau for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. “I think it makes sense that the events of the last couple of years have affected the way that jurors look at police narratives.”

The article says that police collected about 7,000 illegal guns in 2014, and about 5,500 in the first nine months of 2015. In 2013, Chicago seized 6,800 guns. That’s a total of 19,300 guns for 2013, 2014 and …Read the Rest

Source:: Truth About Guns