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Harvey Mayor Says He'll Cooperate With State Police
Police Raid Harvey PD; Residents Call Department 'Messed Up'
POSTED: 7:30 pm CST January 24, 2007
UPDATED: 12:05 pm CST January 25, 2007
HARVEY, Ill. -- Harvey Mayor Eric Kellogg vowed Thursday that investigators will get the city's full cooperation following Wednesday's raid on the police department in the Chicago suburb.
Kellogg said his city doesn't tolerate corruption "by any means."
State agents carried out boxes of information from the Harvey Police Department after it became the target of lawsuits and allegations of misconduct.
The city had turned away state police wanting to do audits in the past. This time, officials came back with a subpoena.
The action comes months after former Harvey Police Detective Hollis Dorrough was charged with official misconduct for allegedly smuggling a gun involved in a murder investigation out of the police department. Dorrough pleaded not guilty in October.
After the allegations surfaced, the Harvey City Council passed a resolution seeking an investigation of the police department.
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. said he's pleased that state and Cook County officials raided the department.
Jackson also called for an investigation. He said it's "a sad day when police departments have to police other police departments." But he added that he welcomes the investigation.
Some residents said the raid was long overdue.
"It's messed up and people are dying and I don't think anything is happening to stop it," said one woman, who lost her brother to a slaying in Harvey. "If they're not making reports, it's for their own purposes so they can say crime isn't happening."
Community activist Anthony McCaskill called for the resignation of Kellogg because of the number of unsolved murders and scandals plaguing the city.
At least 38 of the 52 slayings in the city during the past four years remain unsolved. The Police Department is also the target of several lawsuits filed in state and federal courts.
"Justice is definitely taking place here," McCaskill told the Northwest Indiana Times. "Unfortunately, 48 people had to die first."
Copyright 2007 by NBC5.com The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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