Johnson seeks to remove man from CPD’s list of potential officers

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson is seeking to remove a man from the department’s list of potential future police officers, citing his previous arrests in incidents of alleged domestic violence.

In a Monday Circuit Court filing, Johnson said the city’s Board of Human Resources incorrectly reversed the police department’s April 2015 decision to remove a man from its list of people eligible to become probationary police officers.

The man is not currently on the city’s payroll.

Johnson said the police department initially removed the man from consideration because he had twice previously been arrested in incidents of domestic violence, once in 2003 and again in 2014.

In the first instance, the man grabbed his mother’s neck and threw her to the ground, according to the filing. In the second, he allegedly punched his female roommate in the head and face as the two were in his car.

Johnson stated that “despite the weight of the evidence,” the city’s Board of Human Resources recommended that the man be restored to the department’s eligibility list.

Salvador A. Cicero, chairman of the Board of Human Resources, declined to comment on the filing.