Former Top DUI Cop Faces False Arrest Lawsuits

In late July, 10 people filed false-arrest lawsuits in federal court against a former Chicago police officer known as a top enforcer of DUI laws. Former officer Joe D. Parker is accused in the suits of falsifying information in DUI arrests. Five other lawsuits were filed against him earlier in the year.Parker, 60, retired from the Chicago Police Department on July 1, after the city’s Independent Police Review Authority and the police Internal Affairs Division launched investigations into dozens of Parker's DUI arrests on Lake Shore Drive. The Cook County state’s attorney’s office is conducting a criminal investigation of the former police officer once honored as a “top cop” for his DUI arrest record.Prosecutors have dropped dozens of Parker’s arrests because of questions about his methods. Parker’s field sobriety tests began to be heavily scrutinized after a police car video of a July 2008 DUI arrest was viewed by prosecutors. Parker’s arrest report described an “unsteady” and off-balance, drunken driver. The video showed the opposite: a composed, cooperative man effortlessly walking a straight line and performing other tests flawlessly. After prosecutors viewed the video, they promptly dropped the DUI charge against the driver in question. Another top DUI cop, Officer John Haleas, has been charged by prosecutors with falsifying information in a drunk driving case. An investigation of his DUI arrests led to dismissal of 156 cases.Chicago defense attorneys say police officers might lie in DUI cases for several reasons, including the accolades they receive and the overtime pay they earn for court appearances in the cases. Both Haleas and Parker were named “top cops” by the Schaumburg-based Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists.