Ex-Chicago Reader Reporter Thanked for His Focus on Police Torture

october 23, 2008  12:25 pm
When former Chicago Police Commander and alleged torturer Jon Burge was arrested this week for perjury and obstruction of justice, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown knew exactly where to point some kudos. "[John] Conroy was probably as responsible as anyone for keeping the police torture issue in Chicago's consciousness," Brown writes. Conroy's 1990 story in the Reader marked the first time the allegations of police torture came to light, and after that, Conroy kept writing about the issue until he left the paper last year. "His editor suggested he move on to the next subject, and he tried," Brown writes. "After all, he told himself, he wasn't having much impact. But he kept coming back."