Chicago, IL — “I didn’t write this to become a hero. I wrote it because I got tired of watching officers break down and disappear.” Those are the words of Jabril Gushiniere, a sworn Cook County Sheriff Deputy working as a correctional officer at Chicago’s sprawling Cook County Jail, one of the largest jails in the United States.
Gushiniere sent a 46-page exposé to Unicorn Riot titled “Beneath the Badge: Corruption and Administrative Abuse Within Cook County Jail” which we are publishing in full (pdf), along with 84 documents provided by Mr. Gushiniere, including an affidavit of facts (pdf) and a grievance statement (pdf). View all of the documents in our vault server; they’re summarized below.
The collection of documents sheds light from an unusual angle on a county jail system that was under federal oversight for more than 40 years due to repeated and systemic abuses.
Gushiniere wrote their viewpoint was “as a whistleblower, a survivor of administrative abuse, and a voice for those who’ve been silenced behind one of America’s largest and most secretive correctional systems.” In Illinois, the “State Officials and Employees Ethics Act” (5 ILCS 430/15 & 740 ILCS 174/20.2) “provides ‘whistle blower’ protections to State employees who report, or threaten to report wrongdoing” or similar, according to the Office of the Executive Inspector General.
He said his report “exposes systemic corruption, retaliation, contract violations, and union collusion” within the Cook County...
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