Amanda Rivkin Photographs, Chicago Police Torture Survivors

From approximately 1972 to 1991, Chicago police officers, under the direction of former Area 2 and Area 3 Commander Jon Burge, engaged in systematic torture and abuse of over 100, primarily Black men. Burge and his “midnight crew” utilized extreme interrogation methods including beating, suffocating, burning and electrocution to elicit confessions, many of which were proven to be false.

Although allegations of abuse began early in Burge’s career, the extent of the actions committed by officers under his command did not start to fully emerge until the late 1980s. A 1990 investigation into Burge’s practices—prompted by both a series of anonymous letters sent to civil rights attorney Flint Taylor and reporting by Chicago Reader reporter John Conroy—found “systematic abuse” and “planned torture” in Area 2 and Area 3. The investigation led to Burge’s suspension in 1991 and eventual firing in 1993.

Over the next decade, survivors—most of whom were still incarcerated—began to come forward. Many were granted retrials, had their convictions overturned or were given monetary settlements by the city. In 2000, the Illinois Supreme Court reversed the death penalty convictions of six men whose confessions had been coerced by torture tactics, and in 2003, Illinois Governor George Ryan pardoned four additional men who were tortured into false confessions. A special prosecutor was assigned to the case in 2002, but after a four year investigation they failed to indict Burge despite finding evidence of widespread torture. Humanitarian and activist groups compelled the Chicago City Council and the Cook County Board of Commissioners to seek further action, and in 2007, the United States District Attorney announced a federal investigation. Burge was arrested on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in 2008. He was found guilty and sentenced to four and a half years in prison.

The Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission was launched by the Illinois legislature in 2009 to investigate claims of Burge-era torture; claims continued to be accepted and investigated by the Commission until 2019. In 2015, the Chicago City Council passed a $5.5 million reparations ordinance for survivors. The fund provided monetary compensation and additional City benefits to 57 men. No officers, other than Burge, ever faced charges related to the torture that took place in Area 2 and Area 3.

Amanda Rivkin is an American photographer, writer and researcher whose work has been featured extensively in publications in the United States and Europe, including The New York Times and Le Monde. Rivkin’s work is largely focused on “political, social and humanitarian issues” in her native Chicago, across the Midwestern United States and in Eastern Europe.

Following the passage of the 2015 reparations ordinance, Rivkin received a grant from the International Women’s Media Foundation to photograph and record stories of the survivors of Burge-era torture. Her exhibit Burge Victims Speak photographs + audio by Amanda Rivkin (featuring photographs from this collection) was displayed at the Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center from November 20, 2018 to December 29, 2019. Rivkin’s goal for the project was to provide a forum for the men to share their experiences in their own words, and to facilitate sharing these stories with the public. She notes that most of her work centers in some way around “excesses of state power,” and she sees a direct parallel between this body of work and the reporting she has done around the world.