LeRoy Martin, a former Chicago police superintendent appointed by the late Mayor Harold Washington, passed away Saturday at age 84. Police department spokesman Adam Collins confirmed Martin’s passing, but could not provide details on the cause of death. Martin became the second African-American to lead the department when Washington tapped him for the job in 1987, a short time before the mayor’s death. At the time of his selection, Martin said his first priority was to tackle the city’s gang and drug problems. “I hope that I can leave my term knowing that I’ve lowered crime in the city,” he told the Tribune at the time. “Our youth are kind of running around without direction. I want to try and get a handle on that.” Martin, who joined the department in 1955, retired in 1992 and later became supervisor of investigators for the Cook County medical examiner’s office, according to past Tribune articles. He also made an unsuccessful bid for Cook County sheriff in 1998. Martin’s name became embroiled in controversy when allegations of torture surfaced against now former police Cmdr. Jon Burge and detectives under Burge’s command. Martin was named as a defendant in at least two lawsuits filed on behalf of alleged torture victims, according to Tribune articles. Martin briefly served as Burge’s commander in the department’s Area 2 detective division and denied any knowledge of abused suspects in that division, according to past articles. Martin moved to fire Burge after first defending him and other officers. Burge, who was fired from the department in 1993, was convicted in 2010 in federal court of perjury for denying under oath that he was aware of the abuse and torture of criminal suspects. He is serving 4 1/2 years in prison.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Sep 2013 03:05:02 +0000
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