More questions than answers on traffic stop involving CPD official’s car

These are known facts: The chief of the Internal Affairs division’s car was not impounded, her niece was not arrested, and the officers involved were removed from their street duties.

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A Chicago police badge hangs in front of the City of Chicago Public Safety Headquarters on December 1, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. Following public outcry over the way police handled the shooting death of Laquan McDonald by Officer Jason Van Dyke, Mayor Rahm Emanuel today announced he had fired Chicago Police Superintendant Garry McCarthy. McCarthy, Emanuel and Cook County States Attorney Anita Alvarez have been accused of trying to cover up the shooting. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A Chicago police badge hangs in front of the City of Chicago Public Safety Headquarters on Dec. 1, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois.

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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.

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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

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