COP ACCUSED OF BRIBERY
                           WAS HIRED DESPITE
                                       RECORD

                    By Jennifer Vigil
                    Tribune Staff Writer
                    May 30, 1999

The Chicago police officer charged last week with bribery pleaded guilty
15 years ago to felony charges stemming from the abduction of his child
in a custody dispute, department officials said.

Dennis McMurray was hired even though police officials were aware of
his record, police spokesman Pat Camden said Saturday, but subsequent
changes in department policy would not allow such a hiring today.

"If you have a felony conviction, you won’t be hired," Camden said.

 The changes took effect in January 1996, almost a year after McMurray
was hired by the Police Department. Those tougher standards were
revised again in February 1997, Camden said.

McMurray, 45, an officer assigned to the Shakespeare District, was
charged Tuesday with bribery and official misconduct after he allegedly
accepted a $50 payment from an undercover officer outside a North
Side nightclub, authorities said. McMurray has been suspended.

He is accused of asking for money from the owner of La Estrella, 2521
N. Milwaukee Ave., in exchange for not issuing tickets to cars parked
illegally outside the establishment, authorities said.

The owner notified police, and Internal Affairs investigators arranged
for
a detective to pose as one of the owner’s friends and witness the
alleged
payoff, authorities said.

At an appearance in Columbus Park on Saturday, police Supt. Terry
Hillard said McMurray’s arrest was an example of the department’s
commitment to rooting out corruption in its ranks.

McMurray received two years’ probation in 1984 after his conviction on
charges that he took his child while in a dispute over custody
arrangements.

The department was aware of the guilty plea, Camden said, but elected
to hire McMurray in spite of his record because he had no other criminal
convictions.

"When he was hired they looked at each case individually and he was
hirable," Camden said. "Since then there’s been an audit of standards
and
he’s an anomaly."

Camden said the department would not examine the records of sworn
officers for felony convictions.

Officials looked into the backgrounds of 13,500 officers two years ago
after the passage of a federal law that bans those convicted of domestic
violence from carrying firearms.

No officers were found to have been convicted of a domestic abuse
charge, Camden said. The records were not searched for other types of
convictions.

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– Outlaw Frog Raper –

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