By: Mark Fitzgerald In a bizarre incident, two top police officials for the impoverished Chicago suburb of Harvey, Ill., on Wednesday instigated a crowd to taunt and physically intimidate a Daily Southtown photographer at an accident site.
"The commander and the deputy chief began to tell the crowd that (photographer Mary Compton) was an 'ambulance chaser,' and 'sick in the head,' and a 'paparazzi' -- and that they should block her from taking photographs," Southtown Managing Editor Dennis Robaugh said in a phone interview Thursday.
Harvey Mayor Kellogg called the paper Thursday to "apologize for what he called the, quote, 'alleged incident,'" Robaugh said.
Robaugh told E&P the incident was clearly payback for the several stories the Southtown has published documenting the many faults of the Harvey Police Department.
"Our stories have shown that the mayor has cut the number of sworn officers in the department dramatically, and also cut the number of officers on patrol at any one time dramatically, and hired guys who've been under investigation for alleged crimes of their own," Robaugh said.
In fact, the commander at the scene of the accident, Darnell Keel, was the subject of several stories, including one that named him as a reason why Harvey police "are not welcomed into the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force," the paper reported. Keel was forced to resign in 2002, but was rehired the next year when Eric Kellogg was elected mayor.
According to an account in the Southtown by staff writer Lauren FitzPatrick, Keel tried to block Compton's camera lens while Deputy Chief Dernard Eaves stirred up the crowd, which began to chant "paparazzi" at the 16-year veteran photographer.
"I identified myself as a member of the press, and (Keel) said, 'We know who you are,'" the story quoted Compton as saying.
The incident began when Compton heard a police call about a rollover accident. She arrived at the scene and began to photograph the accident. About 25 residents and witnesses had gathered, and at first they were not bothered by Compton's presence and moved out of her way as she worked, the paper reported.
Soon, though, Keel and Eaves arrived. Keel shouted, "Get her out of here," and blocked Compton's camera lens.
As Eaves encouraged the crowd to taunt Compton, Managing Editor Robaugh said, "the crowd got in her way, and at that point she felt physically threatened, so she left."
A Harvey police spokesperson, Sandra Alvaro, told E&P Thursday afternoon that the incident was still under investigation. She confirmed the identity of the two top officers.
"The Harvey Police Department is not capable of investigating itself," Robaugh said. "We'll probably file a complaint with the Cook County state's attorney."
Compton, a grandmother of four, told the paper that nothing like this had happened in the years she has covered Harvey.
"I think it's a shame we cannot do our jobs without feeling threatened because we want to tell the truth of what's going on," Compton told the paper.
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