The video tape of Officer William Cozzi beating a man handcuffed to a wheel chair is very disturbing, Cook County state’s attorney candidate Larry Suffredin said Thursday.

Calling the fact that Cozzi has not been fired “outrageous,” Suffredin said he  plans to create the “Police Misconduct Review Unit” to investigate and prosecute such cases of brutality if he is elected. 

“In too many communities, there is a lack of confidence in the willingness of the state’s attorney to go after police misconduct,” Cook County commissioner Suffredin  (D-Evanston) said. “As a result, people have lost faith in the police and our criminal justice system.”

With an administration that plans to respond to every police shooting and publicly release findings of its investigations, Suffredin is confident the unit can restore that faith.

But on Feb. 5, Suffredin must first beat Democratic nominees Ald. Howard Brookins Jr. (21st), prosecutors Anita Alvarez and Robert Milan, Ald. Tom Allen (38th), and lawyer Tommy Brewer. He would then ulitmately have to beat Republican candidate Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica. The current state's attorney, Dick Devine, is not running for re-election

Police corruption was also on the agenda at a forum for the state’s attorney candidates at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law Thursday.

Alvarez said it time for the judiciary system to “step up,” while Brewer advocated  more publicity on police corruption cases.

Suffredin’s “Taking on Guns and Corruption for a Change” campaign has earned the support of Pastor Roosevelt Watkins of the South Side’s Bethlehem Star M.B. Church.

Watkins said he has witnessed the “excessive force” of Chicago police officers too many times.

"We’re concerned about the way some incidents have been handled,” Watkins said. He added that while there are good officers, “it takes one bad apple just to spoil the whole bunch.”