Chicago's 'Skullcap Crew': band of police accused of brutality evade discipline
Dogged by allegations of abuse, members of the group have been named in more than 20 federal lawsuits – yet have won repeated praise from department.
When Ebony Buggs followed the noise of commotion to a vacant unit below her apartment on Chicago’s West Side, she found a group of men beating teens from the neighborhood.
“I’m like, ‘Who the eff is you?’” she said of the February 2012 incident.
One man grabbed her and punched her in the face, according to Buggs, now 26.
Buggs’ mother, seeing her daughter lying on the ground, threatened to call the police.
“We are the police,” one of the men responded, as he grabbed her phone and threw it, Buggs’ mother recounted.
The man who Buggs alleges beat her is Edwin Utreras. He was part of a group of five officers that city residents dubbed the “Skullcap Crew”, who patrolled the city’s South Side public housing communities until they were torn down in the city’s redevelopment efforts, marked by forced relocation.
The members of this crew – Edwin Utreras, Robert Stegmiller, Christ Savickas, Andrew Schoeff and Joe Seinitz – have together faced at least 128 known official allegations from more than 60 citizen-filed complaints over almost a decade and a half. They have also been named in more than 20 federal lawsuits.
Citizens have repeatedly accused these men of acts of brutality, intimidation and harassment – costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal settlements. Yet over the course of their careers, these officers have received little discipline – a two-day suspension, a five-day suspension, a reprimand – according to city data. Instead, they have won praise from the department, accruing more than 180 commendations.
All of them remain on the force except Seinitz, who resigned in 2007.
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