University of Illinois’ political science professor Dick Simpson, a former Chicago alderman, says that his in-depth study has found Chicago to be the most corrupt city in the country.
While many may say they knew this all along, there is now data to back up this statement. Simpson has gathered data from the United States Department of Justice which not only proves that Chicago is the most corrupt city, but also gives facts to back up the contention that Illinois is the third most corrupt state in the nation. With ex-Governor George Ryan still behind bars and ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich soon to begin his 14-year sentence in prison for corruption in office which includes the attempted sale or benefit of President Barack Obama's senate seat, this contention would not be easily contested.
According to Simpson, who is also labeled a corruption-fighter in Chicago, says corruption is costing $500,000,000. According to the analysis, the enormous amount of money is paid for or lost by the tax-payers of Chicago who end up losing the money when certain high-level crimes are committed. The crimes include ghost payrolls, bogus contracts, city official thefts, bribes, and the likely most publicized of bad behaviors in recent times – police brutality. The extreme costs, naturally, involve the high costs of prosecuting these cases committed by city personnel and city officials.
According to Simpson, his research shows that Chicago has a history of corruption that goes back 143 years. The first corruption trial was in 1869. In that trial, Chicago aldermen and county commissioners were found guilty of rigging a contract. He also claims that the notorious ‘machine politics’ of which Chicago has been known, politically, have been around since t871 – since the Great Chicago Fire. Simpson says that ‘machine politics’ breeds corruption, as has been alleged as long as most people can remember.
Simpson will be sharing the details of his findings at Chicago’s City Hall on February 15, 2012.
Prior to this analysis, NakedLaw.com named the six most corrupt cities in the county last year. According to their findings, the six cities were Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Newark, and New Orleans. CLICK HERE to read more about this study.